What should my calorie intake be?

[klbsa]

I spent the past few years eating garbage and getting fat...... When I first joined this forum I was 6'1" 215 at 10-11% bf...... Pretty good shape. The day after new years 2022 I was pushing 220 with half the muscle I had before.

So I immediately started dieting and by the end of January I was down to 200..... But my diet was extreme, and I was NOT training, just dieting. Then I got Covid and lost another 10 lbs in about 10 days.

Since recovering from Covid I gained back those 10 lbs and fell off my diet for a few weeks. Now for this whole month I have been eating 1600 calories a day, and burning at least 500 calories a day between cardio and weights. I have also been taking some methylated prohormones I had left from a few years back and I have managed to hold my weight right below 200 and my muscles are DEF growing...... But I am starving..... I'm so hungry that its hard to concentrate on anything else.

I'm about to start some real gear and I want to be 200 at 8%...... Do you think at my current trajectory I should be ok? or am I going to need to eat more? My diet is low in Cals but super clean and protein rich currently. Basically I am asking if y'all think I can achieve my goals faster by eating more to gain a little extra muscle or should I keep up what I am doing? Am I being too impatient?

 

[Lizard King]

Eat more clean protein, increase your calories if you aren't trying to lose weight. Check out a TDEE calculator for some estimates

 

[genetic freak]

I am currently sitting at 5'9" 208 lbs and somewhere around 7-8% BF. I was at 220 lbs a little over a month ago on 3000 clean calories a day. I kept dropping weight while trying to bulk, so I kept increasing the calories. I think I finally found my maintenance at this weight and my activity level, 4000 clean calories at 150 g of fat/400 g of carbs/330 gr of protein, which means I need to add some more calories to gain. The key is clean calories. If I eat some processed food I will balloon up quick even at 2000 calories a day.

 

[klbsa]

I am currently sitting at 5'9" 208 lbs and somewhere around 7-8% BF. I was at 220 lbs a little over a month ago on 3000 clean calories a day. I kept dropping weight while trying to bulk, so I kept increasing the calories. I think I finally found my maintenance at this weight and my activity level, 4000 clean calories at 150 g of fat/400 g of carbs/330 gr of protein, which means I need to add some more calories to gain. The key is clean calories. If I eat some processed food I will balloon up quick even at 2000 calories a day.

I have to wonder how clean protein shakes are...... They are the cornerstone of my diet right now. Dude, I am eating SO CLEAN...... Just meat, whole grains, veggies and fruit. Along with 3 shakes a day. I avoid sugar like the plague. So you think if I'm training super hard I can increase the good calories? It would make a huge difference in my mental happiness. I am eating such a low calorie count because I just want to lose fat as fast as possible.

 

[Mike_RN]

The shakes are not a great meal replacement. I would only use shakes to "bulk" and add calories to an already full eating schedule. You need to eat food.

 

[Lizard King]

Rotisserie chicken > shakes and just as easy

 

[Rock Diesel]

I was in the same boat. I carried around more body fat than I wanted to for a long time. Still trained, but ate mostly crap. I decided to trim down and dieted pretty extreme to lean up quite a bit. I cleaned up my foods, cut out all processed garbage, no refined sugar or anything that included 'added sugars, decreased my carb intake in the evenings, kept my protein high and even threw in some intermittent fasting. The results were great. I leaned out more than ever and loved it, although it took some getting used to being smaller.

Then came the hard part when I wanted to put on some size. How do I change back, without going back. Everyone's body is different, but what worked for me was increasing my food and calorie intake without changing the types of foods I was eating. Still kept out all processed crap, no refined sugar or anything that has 'added sugars ' listed in the ingredients. My protein was already high, so I gradually started increasing my carbs and adding in more healthy fats. I started feeling a lot better and began filling out nice without putting on the fat. My training intensity always stays high. I eat very simple and as long as I keep it simple, my body doesn't put on much fat.

Proteins: Turkey, fish, lean beef, chicken, eggs
Carbs: Mostly jasmine rice, oats and potatoes (regular potatoes and sweet potatoes)
Fats: Nut butters, Olive and Avocado oils, I include the yolks with my eggs (usually 3 per day)

I have some veggies with each meal. Usually spinach and carrots. (Just what I like) I also use a lot of red and yellow bell peppers when making my rice. I cut them up and include them in the rice while it's cooking. I snack mostly on berries and pecans in between meals. (Sometimes walnuts) Occasioanlly I throw in other fruit. I eat a ton of berries throughout the day. Blueberries, Raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. I put them in my oats in the morning and add them to my shake post workout. I don't eat much flour, or dairy. I'm not completely dairy and flour free, but it's extremely limited. Maybe once a week. I'll treat myself on the weekends with something out of the norm.

That's what works for me. I can increase and decrease my macros as needed while keeping it super clean and change my physique as I like. It also works well for my overall health.