Calorie Defecit Suggestions?

KaitlynM2188 · 10-14-2008, 09:50 AM

I just started stage 1 of NROLW. I have lost a bit of fat since the beginning of June through very careful calorie counting, eating at about 1400 cal/day. I know the book suggests eating at maintenance or at the most a 300 cal defecit. I also have read that a few of you have lost fat while on the program by maintaining a defecit. How much of a calorie defecit have you maintained in order to be successful in this fat loss endeavor? I know every body is different but I'm just looking for a bit of input, since my suggested intake by the formula in the book is so much higher than I'm used to.

Thanks!

missjane · 10-14-2008, 10:27 AM

I've been on about a 25% deficit from my maintenance calories.

realcdn · 10-14-2008, 09:10 PM

Give or take I did a deficit of about 30% (basing that on what I ate, what I lost, etc). Then again, I'm somewhat nuts.

KaitlynM2188 · 10-15-2008, 06:26 AM

Thanks guys! I never thought to calculate as a percentage of maintenance, though I guess that makes more sense than just slashing a certain number of calories!

krispy1138 · 10-26-2008, 05:05 PM

For those that did a deficit as a percent of maintenance, did you eat the same number of calories on training and nontraining days?

Espi · 10-26-2008, 05:31 PM

It will just depend on how much you can bear to eat less without losing energy/wits etc.
Generally 20% overall deficit is a safe margin for anyone training 3-4 times a week.
When you want a bigger deficit, you have to reduce training frequencly.

When OTOH performance is your preferred goal, go for smaller deficits like 10% and eat more on workout days. I've gone to something as extreme as eating 50% of mtn on rest days and 120% on workout days in order to arrive at a 20% deficit. No biggie.

realcdn · 10-26-2008, 07:15 PM

No, I didn't. I would eat more on training days (by about 300-400 cals) so the percentage would have been higher on non-training days.

newdawn · 10-30-2008, 08:17 AM

I'm just here to assert that one certainly *can* lose weight while building muscle. Although I just barely started NROLFW this past week, I'd been doing weights machines and Weight Watchers for months. I lost 15 lbs and gained a noticeable amount of muscle. What I did was eliminate almost all empty calories instead using my WW allotment for protein-rich high-quality foods. I ate more when I exercised, and I listened to my body as far as hunger goes.