Counting calories -- is it really necessary?

vmc wrote:
:: I've been lifting heavily now for 9 months. Up until two months ago,
:: however, I'd also been doing extreme amounts of cardio, really
:: limiting my gains. Since I quit the cardio, I've put on 12 pounds of
:: mostly lean mass. I think the beginner's gains are about up though,
:: as my bodyfat has finally started going up over the past few weeks.
::
:: I'd like to cut back and get my bodyfat level back down, and of
:: course I'd love to keep as much of the lean mass as I can. But I'm
:: wondering if it's really necessary to be so "scientific" about my
:: diet in order to accomplish this. I haven't the faintest idea what
:: my caloric requirements are -- before when I've tried to lose
:: weight, I've simply stopped eating so much and added more cardio. If
:: I try this same approach to cutting now (instead of meticulously
:: counting calories and nutrient proportions), will I lose a lot more
:: muscle than I should?
::
:: My current plan is to continue the same lifting schedule, but throw
:: in a bit of cardio -- maybe running or biking 3x a week, or jogging
:: for 15 minutes each day before lifting -- and just start eating a
:: bit less and a bit healthier, paying particular attention to the
:: amount of protein I get. Is this good enough? I only need to lose
:: about 3-4 pounds of fat to get to where I want to be.

Definitely keep lifting and getting sufficient protein.

As for the rest, well, it depends. the easiest way is to just eat less - go
hungry everyday until you finally lose the weight (mostly fat). But if you
want to keep eating the same, then add cardio. If you knew your maintenance
level of calories already, you'd have a place to start on counting. You
could spend a week or two to try to figure it out, or you could just start
eating at 10X your bodyweight in calories and see what happens. since you
only need to lose 3 or 4 lbs, I don't really see the big deal. You can lose
it inside a month.

"Roger Zoul" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

vmc wrote:
:: I've been lifting heavily now for 9 months. Up until two months ago,
:: however, I'd also been doing extreme amounts of cardio, really
:: limiting my gains. Since I quit the cardio, I've put on 12 pounds of
:: mostly lean mass. I think the beginner's gains are about up though,
:: as my bodyfat has finally started going up over the past few weeks.
::
:: I'd like to cut back and get my bodyfat level back down, and of
:: course I'd love to keep as much of the lean mass as I can. But I'm
:: wondering if it's really necessary to be so "scientific" about my
:: diet in order to accomplish this. I haven't the faintest idea what
:: my caloric requirements are -- before when I've tried to lose
:: weight, I've simply stopped eating so much and added more cardio. If
:: I try this same approach to cutting now (instead of meticulously
:: counting calories and nutrient proportions), will I lose a lot more
:: muscle than I should?
::
:: My current plan is to continue the same lifting schedule, but throw
:: in a bit of cardio -- maybe running or biking 3x a week, or jogging
:: for 15 minutes each day before lifting -- and just start eating a
:: bit less and a bit healthier, paying particular attention to the
:: amount of protein I get. Is this good enough? I only need to lose
:: about 3-4 pounds of fat to get to where I want to be.

Definitely keep lifting and getting sufficient protein.

As for the rest, well, it depends. the easiest way is to just eat less
- go hungry everyday until you finally lose the weight (mostly fat).
But if you want to keep eating the same, then add cardio. If you knew
your maintenance level of calories already, you'd have a place to start
on counting. You could spend a week or two to try to figure it out, or
you could just start eating at 10X your bodyweight in calories and see
what happens. since you only need to lose 3 or 4 lbs, I don't really
see the big deal. You can lose it inside a month.

Yeah, but he doesn't want to count.

You don't have to. If you keep lifting and get sufficient protein and eat
a little less than you are now, and keep reducing what you eat until you
start losing weight slowly, you will, to a first approximation, be fine.

Hugh

--
Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will attend no other.

Oprah's current diet is fairly simple.
She immediately trashes half of what she
gets in a restaurant order.

"rick++" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:1110294886.357357.279780
@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

Quoted message said:

Oprah's current diet is fairly simple.
She immediately trashes half of what she
gets in a restaurant order.

I did that back when I was travelling and eating in resturants a lot. I just
marked half the dish and that was mine--the rest went back to the kitchen.

Hard to tell yourself it's okay to waste food that way. But I decided it was
just as wasted if I ate it and it went into making me fat.

Hugh

--
Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will attend no other.

Hugh Beyer said:

"rick++" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:1110294886.357357.279780
@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

Quoted message said:

Oprah's current diet is fairly simple.
She immediately trashes half of what she
gets in a restaurant order.

I did that back when I was travelling and eating in resturants a lot.
I just marked half the dish and that was mine--the rest went back to
the kitchen.

Hard to tell yourself it's okay to waste food that way. But I decided
it was just as wasted if I ate it and it went into making me fat.

Hugh

I'm chasing the elusive 10% BF, and the [censored] is running away as fast as I
can chase him.
--
-Larry

Larry Hodges wrote:
:: Hugh Beyer wrote:
::: "rick++" <[email hidden]> wrote in
::: news:1110294886.357357.279780 @l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:
:::
:::: Oprah's current diet is fairly simple.
:::: She immediately trashes half of what she
:::: gets in a restaurant order.
::::
::::
:::
::: I did that back when I was travelling and eating in resturants a
::: lot. I just marked half the dish and that was mine--the rest went
::: back to the kitchen.
:::
::: Hard to tell yourself it's okay to waste food that way. But I
::: decided it was just as wasted if I ate it and it went into making
::: me fat.
:::
::: Hugh
::
:: I'm chasing the elusive 10% BF, and the [censored] is running away as
:: fast as I can chase him.

I can't blame the guy....if you only want him 10% of the time.

🙂