Hi all,
I've been working with a trainer for the past few months but only been taking my diet seriously the last month. My trainer wanted me to do a Keto style diet but I was reluctant so we landed up with a compromise which was I could have porridge/oatmeal for breakfast and but then the rest of my carbs (up to 50g a day) would come from green veggies, etc and basically he has me on marco of 50% protein, 15% carbs, 35% fat. As I'm just 5ft 6ins and was 172 lbs starting and BF around 26% so he said I could go as low as 1200 cals as the high protein would limit the risk of losing muscle. BTW, should add I'm 44, male and my BMR is about 1650 and have a pretty sedentary desk job.
Anyway, I've been doing good on the diet, not really struggling with the food and I've lost 12lbs/5.4kg in just under 4 weeks. However I've been posting on a couple of body building forums and been getting ripped for eating such a low calorie diet. They seem to suggest I should be on 2000-2400 cals but the problem is I'm not lifting that heavy to (IMHO) eat anywhere near that far above my BMR.
Works outs are normally 3 or 4 x 30 mins split resistance training sessions a week and recently I've adding in cardio and try to burn 400-450 cals a session 4-5 times a week.
So what do you guys think? Is 1200 too low even with higher protein to compensate? What about the ratio's does it seem okay, healthy? To be honest all the negative BB form posts have freaked me out a little so I've upped my cals too about 1350 last week and was thinking of taking it up to 1500 if needed but not sure if I really need too?
Typical day
08:30 Porridge/Oatmeal
09:00 Protein shake
12:00 Chicken/Ham 100-120g, low carb tortilla, green salad, low sugar dressing, slice cheese (not everyday)
16:00 Pre-workout Protein shake
17:00 Workout
18:15 Post-workout Protein shake
19:00 Chicken/Steak/Meat, green salad, broccoli or green beans, spices or low sugar dressing
Thats kind of it most days. Have a little milk allowance for hot drinks, some days I swap out a protein shake for a low carb/high protein bar and usually have some olive oil in there when cooking, etc. I'm hitting my macros which I'm usually within 1-2% of every day.
I've been working with a trainer for the past few months but only been taking my diet seriously the last month. My trainer wanted me to do a Keto style diet but I was reluctant so we landed up with a compromise which was I could have porridge/oatmeal for breakfast and but then the rest of my carbs (up to 50g a day) would come from green veggies, etc and basically he has me on marco of 50% protein, 15% carbs, 35% fat. As I'm just 5ft 6ins and was 172 lbs starting and BF around 26% so he said I could go as low as 1200 cals as the high protein would limit the risk of losing muscle. BTW, should add I'm 44, male and my BMR is about 1650 and have a pretty sedentary desk job.
Anyway, I've been doing good on the diet, not really struggling with the food and I've lost 12lbs/5.4kg in just under 4 weeks. However I've been posting on a couple of body building forums and been getting ripped for eating such a low calorie diet. They seem to suggest I should be on 2000-2400 cals but the problem is I'm not lifting that heavy to (IMHO) eat anywhere near that far above my BMR.
Works outs are normally 3 or 4 x 30 mins split resistance training sessions a week and recently I've adding in cardio and try to burn 400-450 cals a session 4-5 times a week.
So what do you guys think? Is 1200 too low even with higher protein to compensate? What about the ratio's does it seem okay, healthy? To be honest all the negative BB form posts have freaked me out a little so I've upped my cals too about 1350 last week and was thinking of taking it up to 1500 if needed but not sure if I really need too?
Typical day
08:30 Porridge/Oatmeal
09:00 Protein shake
12:00 Chicken/Ham 100-120g, low carb tortilla, green salad, low sugar dressing, slice cheese (not everyday)
16:00 Pre-workout Protein shake
17:00 Workout
18:15 Post-workout Protein shake
19:00 Chicken/Steak/Meat, green salad, broccoli or green beans, spices or low sugar dressing
Thats kind of it most days. Have a little milk allowance for hot drinks, some days I swap out a protein shake for a low carb/high protein bar and usually have some olive oil in there when cooking, etc. I'm hitting my macros which I'm usually within 1-2% of every day.