36 y/o Male - TDEE & Fat loss help

[binfoco]

36 y/o male - TDEE & Fat loss

So I’m a 5’11 36 year old male, been lifting on and off since high school. Have been an athlete all my life and in college. I’m currently around 187 lbs at I’d guess around 18-20% body fat with a decent athletic body and some muscle. However I have a very sedentary job where I’m at a desk for 8-10 hours a day. My TDEE says it’s about 2100 kCal. I am looking to get back down to about 175 and be lean again, but when I think about being at 1600-1700 calories a day, is that too low? Seems low to me. Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated. Lift by doing Stronglifts 5x5 currently 3 days a week, no cardio. Thank you all very much

 

[dawn16]

@binfoco Not sure of your height, but using the Mifflin Equation and using 5'9" I got between 2101-2714 as your fault calories, including activities. The former being sedentary, the latter working out 3-5 days per week.

http://www.ksmithwriter.com/Mifflin_Equation_For_Weight_Control.html

 

[binfoco]

@dawn16 Dang. Sorry. I’m 5’11. And that’s my concern is because I am so sedentary it’s showing me at 2,100 for TDEE which means to cut down weight I’d be at the 16-1800 calorie mark which just seems low as I’ve seen women eating more who are smaller.

 

[dawn16]

@binfoco No problem. So I redid it and used a number in-between for activity levels. Using the Mifflin Equation I got 2451 for maintenance. Minus 500 per day equals to 1,951 calories per day for weight loss.

 

[samamph]

@binfoco There's several calculators using different equations online. But I like Lyle McDonald's "just multiply your bodyweight X 14" method.

https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/how-to-estimate-maintenance-caloric-intake.html/

Its easy, simple, and will give you ~the same results as most of the formula methods. And the starting number is only an estimate, anyway. You'll change it as you go along to figure out your true TDEE. Your number comes back at 2,450 cals/day, just drop that by 500, and start there. Google "N Sun's TDEE spreadsheet" and start tracking. You'll have a better handle on your TDEE in 2-3 weeks. You may find that your TDEE is near 2,100/day, but that just sounds low for the average sedentary dude that works out.

You're not shooting for a very lean goal, so you probably won't suffer significant metabolic adaptations. 1,600-1,700 sounds low, and there's more danger of that being unsustainable, so I'd opt for a slow 1 lb/week cut. Plus, as you get closer to your goal, you'll have to adjust your numbers down a bit, and starting at 1,600/day would suck when you have to cut those numbers deeper. You can incorporate cardio in there to increase your deficit, but honestly, unless you really, really want to do cardio, I'd just eat my way to your goal weight.

I like to have a "toolbox" when cutting. Meaning, your first tool in the box is calorie deficit. When weight loss stalls, reach for another tool. Drop cals 100-150 day? Or introduce cardio? Increase daily water intake? Carb cycle? If you throw everything at it at the beginning, the only thing you can do when weight loss stalls is cut calories. And that just sucks. So save yourself some tools to use later.

Your goal is 12 lbs. You can knock that out in 12 weeks (3 months). That's a fairly short conventional cut and very obtainable. I'd add a couple more weeks, to account for life not always going your way, and you're looking at 14 weeks. So you reach your goal by St. Patrick's Day.

Good luck!

 

[binfoco]

@samamph Much appreciated my man. I’ve been doing 1900 for 5 days a week and not going crazy on the other two but does include some drinks and cookies and what not, and just been steady at 187-188 for about 2 1/2 weeks. So I appreciate you backing up the thoughts in my head, just need a bit more time and be more strict on those other two days.

 

[angie197167]

@binfoco I am around 5'11" and ~193-196ish and I can cut on anything under 2800-3k. I ride a desk all day too, but I am a little bigger and maybe a little leaner than you. 1600-1700 is outlandish man. I would cut slower, longer, and more comfortably...