Large calorie deficit but high protein intake

[Ortiz7983]

Hey guys, Ive been trying to lose 30 pounds. I started fasting 2 months ago and went from 230lbs to 214lbs with no exercising. A month ago from now, I’ve been strength training. Pretty much to make sure I maintain some muscle. The only fat I have to lose now is my gut. I know it’s the last thing to go but I really want this to happen fast.


I exercise 6 days a week. Monday-upper, Tuesday-lower, Wednesday-upper, Thursday-cardio-forearms, Friday-lower, Saturday-upper, Sunday-off. I do supersets and I rest 1-1 1/2 minutes after a superset. Chest-back-then rest for a minute or minute and a half. Bicep-tricep-rest. Shoulders-traps-rest. 6-7 sets for each body part and I lift where I can only do 8-12 reps and more using proper form. I also take walks with the wife and kid at nights. I currently weigh 204 and my goal is to get to 195 with the major loss from my stubborn gut. The love handles have gone down but I feel like my small gut still hasn’t.


So here is my concern. I burn 1,000-1,2000 calories a day on exercise and being active. I walk a lot at work and climb stairs as well. My BMR is 2,279. So I basically burn 3,279-3,479 calories a day. I have no problem getting my protein a day. This is what I eat everyday for the past month. Mind you I work out at 5:30 am on an empty stomach. Morning-26g of protein from egg whites and 1 egg=160 calories. 25g of protein from shake of Dymatize 100=100 calories. Lunch, either saltgrass steakhouse grilled chicken breast with asparagus and a Caesar salad with dressing on the side or Chipotle with very little brown rice, double chicken, grilled vegetables, corn, and a tad of sour cream. It’s about 600-800 calories for lunch and at least 55g of protein from either meal. Dinner-same as morning. So I eat the same thing everyday and I only drink water and plenty of it. Nothing else.


I’m getting at least 150g of protein a day, at least. My lean body mass is supposedly 129.4 so I’m getting more than enough protein daily. Thing is my calories only amount to 1,200 a day the most. Is that good or bad? Will I lose muscle? I do see some muscle definition and my chest, arms, legs, and I do see some gains. Arms and chest are definitely bigger. I’m not sure if these little calories daily is bad or good. I don’t feel bad at all. I have enough energy throughout the day. I wake up ready to work out. I also take pre-kaged before my workout just so you know. Is this large calorie deficit a bad thing? Stomach has gone down when I’m standing up but when I grab my stomach fat with my hands as a curl over, feels like the same fat I had when I was 230. Let me know your thoughts please. Any questions, let me know.




Navy body fat calculator shows this.
37 years old
Male
5’-11”
Neck circumference 16”
Waist circumference 42”
Body fat 28.8%

 

[CJ]

You're too low of calories right now. 1000-1200 per day is borderline starvation, especially with your activity level.

Think of your weight loss as a stair case going down. You drop for awhile, and then when you start to plateau, you maintain for a little while, slowing bringing your Cals back up to get your metabolism firing, then attack another weight loss period when your Cals are high enough to give you room to drop again in stages.

You have nowhere to go right now, you'll do more harm than good by staying this low for too long.

 

[CJ]

Yes you will gain a little weight as you build Cals back up, but it's mostly water and glycogen. No worries, plus your workouts will feel better. You'll probably even look a bit better.

 

[Ortiz7983]

You're too low of calories right now. 1000-1200 per day is borderline starvation, especially with your activity level.

Think of your weight loss as a stair case going down. You drop for awhile, and then when you start to plateau, you maintain for a little while, slowing bringing your Cals back up to get your metabolism firing, then attack another weight loss period when your Cals are high enough to give you room to drop again in stages.

You have nowhere to go right now, you'll do more harm than good by staying this low for too long.

That’s what I figured. Although I don’t feel like I’m starving, I’m sure it will kick in eventually. So I would assume I get at least 1,700-1,900 calories a day correct? According my activity level? But if I do this, protein intake will go up even more. Isn’t too much protein bad for you as well? I don’t want to take 200+ protein if that’s too much.

 

[CJ]

That’s what I figured. Although I don’t feel like I’m starving, I’m sure it will kick in eventually. So I would assume I get at least 1,700-1,900 calories a day correct? According my activity level?

I'd slowly build Cals until you're at least at 3,000.

 

[BRICKS]

I'd slowly build Cals until you're at least at 3,000.

The key is slowly. You say you want to lose the gut fast in your OP. This doesn't happen fast, not if you want to retain muscle mass. You didn't put that on overnight, it's not coming off that way either. I work with a surgeon who lost 60+ pounds on a 1200 cal/day diet. He needed to lose the weight, but not that way. Sure he lost the weight, looks better in clothes, but in the locker room (unavoidable visual exposure) he looks old and shitty. Be smart. Be patient.

 

[Send0]

A few things.. while you read this be aware that there are a few "right" ways to do this. What I've written is just my own approach to weight loss based on studies, literature, and my own experiences. Diet and nutrition is far more complicated than excercises IMO, and all feedback provided from other board members will also contain very good information to help you on your journey.

1. Are you really only eating 1200 calories a day? This can work for some people over a short period of time (2-3 months tops), but you are effectively in starvation mode. This can take a toll, and the body will produce less testosterone as a result. The body will also go catabolic in an extreme calorie deficit, unless there is some kind of anabolic being used that would assist in preserving that muscle. In addition, the body will reduce it's BMR in an effort to conserve the little energy being taken in. This is true of the vast majority of people, though I suppose there can be exceptions. You can see how this becomes a downward spiral.

2. If you're really 214lbs @ 29% body fat, then I think you've over estimated your BMR. Using the katch-mcardle formula, and the stats from your post, your BMR comes out to ~1800. BTW, maybe I'm still half asleep... but (214lbs - 129lbs)/214lbs comes out to 39.7%... but I won't push that point because I'm questioning my own math this morning LOL. It seems more likely that you, or someone else, got the body fat% right but somehow got the lbm wrong. At 214lbs with 29% body fat, you would have a lbm of 152lbs (note, the BMR formula I used already took that into account).

3. I can't say whether your daily activity really burns an extra 1000-1200 calories a day, but let's say you really do. In this case your TDEE would be ~2800 calories. To lose weight/cut, I would recommend reducing calories by about 500 calories. Putting you at ~2300 calories daily.

4. Macro intake becomes key in a diet, especially in high body fat individuals. I'd recommend high protein, moderate carbs, and low fat... With attempting to limit as much as your fat intake as possible to coming from omega fats. I think a standard 50% protein, 30% carbs, and 20% fat would be a good starting point for you.

5. Weight loss at a more normalized calorie intake may appear slower, however you are preserving more muscle this way, resulting in more of the weight being dropped coming from actual fat. Even if you only lost 0.25lbs of fat a week, then this would be 13lbs of fat in a year, and if you stayed the same weight then and would give you a reduction of ~5% body fat. Lose 0.5lbs a week, and that's 26lbs in a year, and a reduction of ~10% body fat. You don't need to lose much on a per week basis to get a dramatic reduction in 1 year, and going slower yields better/keepable results!

6. If weight isn't coming off at 2300 calories, but isn't going up either, then I would advise you to either increase the intensity not your cardio, or to increase the duration/frequency that you do cardio. This keeps you from dropping your calories too low, and avoids a situation where your body begins to work against your goals.

Ending comment: I could write forever about this; I have a horrible habit of writing novels... sorry about that. I am a nerd, and legitimately have fun sharing information and ideas; especially about nutrition and pharmacology/pharmacokinetics. I will shut up, and watch this thread to see what other interesting suggestions others have for you.

Good luck man!

 

[Send0]

That’s what I figured. Although I don’t feel like I’m starving, I’m sure it will kick in eventually. So I would assume I get at least 1,700-1,900 calories a day correct? According my activity level? But if I do this, protein intake will go up even more. Isn’t too much protein bad for you as well? I don’t want to take 200+ protein if that’s too much.

I take in a little over 300g of protein per day (I'm not a huge guy... I just have an insane metabolism that works against me). More protein can be more taxing on the kidneys, but it's an insignificant amount as long as the kidneys are healthy and you're drinking plenty of water. The most common side effect I've seen in my friends from eating too much protein is that they either get constipated or they get the shits LOL!

The amount not protein you're taking in is perfectly fine.

 

[Charger69]

Well, everyone has touched most items. There are a couple of additions here.
For me to get down to single digit bodyfat, I am well above your calorie count. Also, look at your macros- what is your protein/ carbs/fat intake.
I always use cardio as a variable however I do know my body and it’s reactions pretty well.
I will select calories and macros and then up or lower my cardio to get the desired “weight loss”. I say “ weight loss” because I don’t shoot for a number, I shoot for what the mirror tells me.

 

[Ortiz7983]

My macros are 158g protein, 90g fat, 90g carbs. 35%, 45%, 20%.

 

[Ortiz7983]

I’m trying to post a picture but I have to get to 25 posts first.

 

[Send0]

My macros are 158g protein, 90g fat, 90g carbs. 35%, 45%, 20%.

That's more than 1200 calories.. (158*4) + (90 * 9) + (90 * 4) = 1802. Can you confirm if you are eating 1200 calories, or are you eating 1800?

Specific to your macros; this is just my opinion but I feel that your fat intake is too high IMO. Yes I know about the keto diet, but honestly I don't buy into it for sustained weight loss after you've burnt through excess glycogen stores.

Please read my original novel of a post if you haven't already (4-5 posts above this one). It touches on a number of things, with explanations provided as to why something may be good or bad, and guidance on what I think would be optimal. Below contains more commentary based on your macros.

1. To store fat as body fat takes zero effort for the body... its already fat, so it doesn't have to process it before storage. Comparing fat and carbs, gram for gram... fat has twice the amount of energy (calories) in it as carbs.

2. I think a feeling of being satiated during a cut/fat loss is very important, and I don't see that happening with a low calorie high fat diet. What would fill you up more, 1 large egg yolk (17g fat, 55 calories), or 228 grams of red bell pepper (15.2g of carbs, 3g fiber, 2g protein, 64 calories).

3. Carbs are stored as glycogen, of which 25% goes to the liver and the remainder is stored in muscle cells. Meaning your muscles will look bigger/fuller with carbs, which can give the visual appearance of looking slimmer.

4. Fiber, which comes from carbs, help to mobilize fat in the body, improve gut bacteria, and reduces appetite and cravings. This all leads to improved fat loss. Another benefit is that it's good for stabilizing blood glucose, and lower blood pressure.

I would still advise to do a 50% protein, 30% carbs, and 20% fat split... unless you have documented genetic markers showing your body is more predisposed to use fat as energy over carbs (pretty damn rare, but this genetic condition does exist).

 

[Send0]

I’m trying to post a picture but I have to get to 25 posts first.

Post the link where the image is hosted, without including the https://www. portion of the url. We should then be able to manually copy the link into our browser to look at the picture.

 

[Ortiz7983]

Finally got 25 posts. As you can see, I don’t think that’s bad for 1 month of working out. Especially from this.

 

[Send0]

It's clear you have muscle mass under there, most obvious in the tricep shot, but this picture also confirms the high body fat %. My eyeball guesstimate would put you at about 30% body fat, which is close to the stats you provided.

Since this is the case, I feel what I wrote in my previous posts is directly relevant for your success. Good luck!

 

[Ortiz7983]

It's clear you have muscle mass under there, most obvious in the tricep shot, but this picture also confirms the high body fat %. My eyeball guesstimate would put you at about 30% body fat, which is close to the stats you provided.

Since this is the case, I feel what I wrote in my previous posts is directly relevant for your success. Good luck!

Here is my food intake. So if I eat more, my protein intake will be up the roof! Is that an area of concern since that’s excessive protein that will turn into fat? Calories intake comes out to 1,215 a day.

 

[Ortiz7983]

This is also what I’m going by as far as what I burn through exercise and being active through the day. Plus full calories with BMR and Active calories. Yesterday was a really active day though. Usually it’s 1,000-1,200 calories a day through exercise and being active.

 

[CJ]

Protein is the last macro to turn to fat, and it almost never does.

In order of preference, your body will store dietary fat as bodyfat first, since it's already a fat. Carbohydrate comes second, as the body has to convert it to fat, which it doesn't want to do. Then lastly protein, because it's alot more energy intensive process to ultimately convert excess protein to bodyfat.

And if you're in a calorie deficit and training properly, nothing will be stored as fat over an extended time period.

 

[Send0]

You're overthinking things. Click here to read my earlier post where I responded to your concern about protein

If you're really worried about protein, and question if what I wrote is true, then you can adjust your macros to be 40/40/20 or 30/50/20 for protein/carbs/fat respectively.

Your body fat is high enough that calorie intake matters more than macros (within reason). Taking in 1200 or 1800 is not enough calories and your body will work against you at this deficit. You would see more benefit at 2300-2400 calories. However I would still adamantly advise that you optimize your diet by reducing calories from fat and put them into either carbs or protein.

 

[Charger69]

My macros are 158g protein, 90g fat, 90g carbs. 35%, 45%, 20%.

Everyone is different however I would probably raise protein and lower carbs and fat. What you have is somewhat similar to my bulk (talking %’s).
Maybe 45%, 40%, 15%.

Obviously raise the calories like the others stated. Give it a try for a couple of weeks and see what happens. NOTE: you will need to try it for a couple of weeks or your body will not have adjusted.