NDParry

32 years old, 190lbs, 5"10.

I want to lose the gut and get down to 170.

I think I eat pretty good. Today = Had a clif bar for breakfast, a chicken and veggie wrap on wheat for lunch, and I'm having soft chicken tacos tonight. (120 cals each x 2)

Tomorrow = Cheerios for breakfast, baked chicken breast and brown rice for lunch, not sure whats for dinner yet, but probably Tilapia and broccoli.

Point is, I love healthy food and have no problem eating it. If I snack, it's fruit. (peaches or apples usually. Maybe raisins.)

I drink water all day, nothing else. I do drink alcohol on weekends.

I run 2 miles a couple of times a week, occasionally ride my bike, and do 50-100 push ups a day, and mix in some p90x tapes.

Just writing that I cant believe I have this gut. Ha! But truth is, I've been slacking on exercise for a long time, and recently got back into it....

I'm open to suggestions about caloric goals for eating and burning, and any other additional thoughts.

Cool web site here! Glad I found it. Could be helpful....

almeeker

How many calories are you getting? It might not be enough. You might also want to look at your pie chart, and make sure your proteins are at least 30% of your total calorie intake. That has helped me more than just about anything, although having said that I still have a gut, but there is muscle under the squish nowadays.

NessaSonic

where are your fruits and veggies??? Not only does that not seem to be enough calories (trust me- I'm losing more now that I'm eating 1600-2000 as day than when I was eating 1200-1300 a day), but you are definitely not getting enough nutrients from it. Check out your nutrients on fitday and strive for 100% on nearly everything. I find I cannot accomplish this with less than 1500 calories of very healthy foods including a lot of fruits and veggies!

NDParry

Thanks for the tip on protein intake. I'll look into that.

my projections for the food I'm supposed to eat today comes in just shy of 1450 calories. That includes 2 pieces of fruit, and 2 servings of veggies. I have no problem eating more broc. I could eat it all day.

almeeker

With all the working out you're planning, your body will need lots of protein to rebuild the muscle, bigger muscles make you a leaner fat burning machine, well and bigger muscles are also much nicer to look at.

NedoCTB

You don't get a gut by not exercising, you get a gut by eating too much. I think you're severely underestimating your calories/food you're eating. There's no possible way that you got to 190lbs eating around 1450 calories and exercising even a little bit (which you are.)

If you're truly eating 1450 calories, I'd bump that up to around 1700-1800 and up your exercise a lot more.

rpmcduff

What is your caloric deficit? You should aim for 500-700 calorie deficit per day. If your go over you risk slowing down your metabolism and/or burning muscle instead of fat. As a previous poster suggested keep your protein levels at 30% or 1g per pound of lean body weight. Good Luck.

NDParry

maybe I misunderstand, but it appears that one person is telling me to cut calories, another is telling me to increase them....

I've taken steps to add more protien and cut carbs, and 8.5 miles on the bike last night, half uphill...

Lizzycritter

I think the confusion re: calories is what are you eating now that you're trying to lose vs. what were you eating that got you to 190? My rough guideline for weight loss is to figure out what you were eating to maintain at 190, then reducing your calories by 10%. After 2 weeks, reevaluate what you are eating vs how much/little you're losing, and adjust down by another 10% as needed. The other idea mentioned is "calorie deficit", which in the simplest terms is the difference between the calories you take in as food, and the calories you burn for exercise and just generally staying alive There are many online calorie calculators that can help you figure out an average for what you burn based on lifestyle, age, height, weight, and exercise level. Once you have that number, then you aim to eat 500-700 calories less than that. So if the calorie calculator estimates you burn 2000 calories/day, then you'd want to eat 1300-1500 calories a day in order to lose at a healthy rate of 1-2 pounds per week.

The other thing to consider is what foods you're eating. You want to get at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables to ensure you get your vitamins, and you want to eat good quality proteins to help build and repair muscle after exercise. Simple carbohydrates like white rice/pasta/bread and sugary foods cause blood sugar to be unstable for a lot of people, and when your blood sugar isn't stable, you'll get cravings and urges to binge eat. Protein and fiber can both help keep your blood sugar stable because they're digested slower than the simple carbs. So you get a steady stream of energy instead of energy spikes followed by a crash.

This is a pretty simplified overview, but hopefully a good starting point for you. It takes a while to figure out what works best for you as an individual. Good luck

NDParry

Super helpful, Lizzy. Thankyou.