BMR/Maint/cycling for the *eh-hem* big boned....

[knuckles]

Ok, I was reading

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/13weekstohardcorefatburningdiet.php

and trying to figure out what my caloric intake should be. So I did the math and came up with a BMR of

67 + (6.24 * 250) + (12.7 * 68) - (6.9 * 34) = 2256

and assumed a maint intake of 2950 (used 1.3 for light activity).

The question: 2950 cal/day would be what I would intake if I wanted to remain 250 lbs, correct? However, if you looked closely at the formula above, you would see that I am 5'8 - 250 lbs!!! However, my target weight would be closer to 185/190. So, do I now take the 250 calories a day away from 2950? Or do I go lower than that. I don't want to cross the threshold and stress my system out, as mentioned in the article, and end up being even more massive (note: 'massive' used in a negative context here...)

The next question: In my formula to determine maint weight, I used 1.3 for very light because I sit on my !@#$%^&* all day. So, once I start hitting the gym with my new nutritional regiment in effect, do I have to tweak it by adding the addtional cal/day? i.e. 2256(BMR) * 1.5 (moderate activity) = 3384 - 250(as recommended in article) = 3134 cal/day which is up 184 cal/day from my 250 lbs maint intake??? I am so confused.

Sorry for being sooo outta shape /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif and I know that many of these articles are written for bodybuilders and/or other active types that are already in reasonable shape, but I see alot of good fundamentals in Mr. Wilsons articles (I assume they are all his) and would like to put it to good use.

Any help would be great. Thanks.

[nozzle]

There's lots of hope! As long as you are motivated!!

The answer to your question is to drop 250 average calories from the maintenance level of 2950. Then the next week (or it might be two weeks...it's been a while since I've read that article) drop it again 250 average calories and so on.

You may find, if you have a lot of fat to lose, that it's more beneficial (by that I mean lose fat better and faster), to go on mini cut/bulk cycles. Cut as outlined in the 13 weeks diet for 13 weeks first, then bulk for 8 weeks (you'll increase your calories by 250 each week), then cut for 8 weeks (decrease by 250 again), and so on. You may find that by doing this, your body will be building more muscle which makes it more efficient at burning fat. Your metabolism may shut down, causing you to gain fat or plateau in your losses, if you cut for too long.

Also, it's easy to think that more cardio will help the fat burning. I would recommend that you keep it to two, three at the most, sessions a week for the first several weeks. If you find you plateau, throw in an additional session to kick start your body into fat burning again.

Hope this made sense and didn't cause more confusion!

[knuckles]

Nope, not confusing at all. Just so I am clear, however, I will lose 250 from 2950 for the first week. At the same time I will begin my training regimen. During the second (or third) week, I will lose some more cal/day and press onward. During week 7, intake at highest point in cycle, week 8 on out lose 250/250.

Great. I just wanted to get a good idea of where i should be starting out. I knew that starting too high or too low would ruin my effort and wanted to make sure all was not in vain. Thanks!

[Big Wave Dave]

Hi,
I'm no expert on calorie cycling, but I did put together a spreadsheet that does the BMR calculation using the three different methods: BMR Calc Sheet (http://home.comcast.net/~dstankus/BMR_Calc.xls)

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Dave