Calories and Macros for Fat Loss + Muscle Gain

Diet and Nutrition
1

Hi, like most guys I am trying to add muscle and lose fat. quick stats I am 44 weight around 200 lbs 6’ 1" tall. Not sure of body fat % but I am fairly lean and I am trying to lose the last bit around my waist and love handles.

I have added a bit of size this last year, nothing huge but in the 5-6 lbs range and mostly muscle gauging by what I see in the mirror. I have been focusing mostly on increasing protein intake over the last year or so and I feel that I have done ok with it. Now I would like to trim some extra fat and I was just curious about counting calories and macros.

The last year or so I was following a diet that consisted of:
3,170 cal
396 g carbs
106 g fat
159 g protein
2,300 mg sodium
119 g sugar

I focused mostly on the protein # and most days I hit or exceeded it. the other macros were a bit more up and down but overall fairly consistent.

I used an online tool to generate these macros. Now I used the same tool to determine what I need to do to lose about 10 lbs slowly. (lose 1lb a week)

I get these macros:

2,450 cal
306 g carbs
82 g fat
123 g protein
2,300 mg sodium
92 g sugar

To me I still think I need more protein as I want to add muscle while losing fat, is that correct? I want to make sure I can use something to help me track what I am taking in so I can correlate with the results that I see…

I realize that I have not mentioned training and calories burned but the expectation is that it will stay the exact same as it did before this ‘cut’. I have never had issues with energy or intensity while training before, but would dropping approx 700 calories have much effect?

I hope this makes sense, thanks!

2

200 at 6"1’?

That is relatively big.

My sweet spot at that weight was ~2500 at 6"2’.

Find your sweet spot and what works for you.

1 Like
3

Thanks, I guess I have never really thought of myself as ‘big’… in college I was very skinny… that was a long time ago…

So just out of curiosity, how many grams of protein would you consume per day?

4

Max of one.

Not including peri workout.

5

Sorry not sure what you mean by ‘Max of one’?

6

1gr per lbs of body weight max.

These days, I tend to stick to a little less.

1 Like
7

I would up your protein and lower your carbs. You should be getting a minimum of 1gram of protein per pound of body weight if you’re trying to maintain muscle mass on a deficiet.

8

Thanks for clarifying, yes that’s what I was thinking, I have been able to make modest gains on what I determined to be approx. 1 gram of protein per lean lb body weight… I will try to add in a bit more protein and cut the carbs

9

I’d also limit a large portion of your carbs to be eaten before and after workouts.

10

I’ll tell you what I tell everyone about this subject. Make cod the staple of your diet. You will get lots of protein without all the extra calories. The Rock definitely isn’t wrong because he eats 2 pounds a day and looks pretty good. It’s my go to weapon for leaning down quickly while keeping muscle.

Now building muscle while getting lean… That’s a subject I’m not willing to touch. But I will say this: I’ve noticed my body is extremely receptive to adding muscle directly after I get ripped. So I’d recommend not worrying about adding muscle now. Just focus on retention while you get as lean as possible. Then add some calories and go on the warpath with the barbells. That’s where I am now, and loving the strength gains. I’m back where I was before the cutting, and then some.

11

x2 I find 0.8-1 gram per pound is my sweet spot. Keep carbs high, fats low.