Comments on: How Many Calories To Lose Fat/Gain Muscle?

By: Caleb_Lee

Caleb_Lee — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:11:36 +0000

Hi Randa,

I'll be putting together a special report on this. But basically it involves a REALLY strict diet for that short period of time.

And about 6 of those pounds were water weight, but still 17lbs of real fat/weight lost in 14 days is nothing to sneeze at

By: Randa

Randa — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:16:34 +0000

Hey Caleb. Thanks for the articles and advice. Its great! I have a question though, what do we do when we get ’stuck’ at a weight plateau. No matter how much we mix up food intake and mix up exercise intensity, it seems our bodies don’t want to let go of the weight.

A friend and I both have ~40 pounds to loose to be at our healthy weight. We’ve been working out 6 days a week for at least an hour and eating a 1000-1300 calorie diet mostly made of lean protein, veggies, and complex carbs. We’re taking out as much sugar and salt of our diet as much as possible and drinking 2 liters of water a day. We’re doing around 30 min. cardio (the panting and can’t breath kind/no slow walks here) followed by 30 min. resistance training, and ab workouts. In two and a half weeks, we’ve so far lost only ~7pounds each. Which is good, but frustratingly slow. How is it that you lost 23 pounds in 14 days like it said in your ‘life kicks you in the teeth’ entry?

By: annie

annie — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:15:00 +0000

I think Blaine makes a good point. I know there are a lot of women out there who do not eat enough (barely 1200 cals a day) and that definitely slows the metabolism, especially if they’re working out on top of that.

I also think it’s pretty outrageous to eat only 1200 cals a day to maintain, as stated in the original question. That was my diet for about a year, and it freaking sucked! I always felt like I was restricting and was often quite hungry. I’m 5′7 and weighted around 120-125. Once I started working out and eating a healthly1700 -2500 a day, I dropped to 116, and I’ve hovered there ever since. You’ve got to eat to lose!

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Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:54:35 +0000

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By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:18:28 +0000

Hi Caleb,

Just saw that my question was answered, thank you! To clear things up, I did mean fat loss while gaining lean muscle. I think I had bought into the “starvation mode” misinformation out there and was worried that I would work hard and not see results, basically being counter-productive. Not to mention all the other factors that play into minimal weight loss: lack of sleep, lapse in diet, unbelievable amounts of stress…when we think of “balance,” I believe we need to think further beyond the “balanced diet” and focus on a “balanced lifestyle.” I know that’s why I have gained so much body fat in the past 2 years, despite periods of cardio and weights. Let this be a lesson to all of you who push your workweek hours and sacrifice sleep!

By: How Many Calories To Lose Fat/Gain Muscle? | What Is The Fastest Way To Gain Muscle

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:45:02 +0000

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By: Brucie

Brucie — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:29:43 +0000

Caleb definitely has a better sence of it than you Blaine. Not that you’re entirely wrong, it’s just that when someone doesnt eat enough, they wont gain fat. Their body will not allow them to lose it as fast. Thats why people who starve themselves for a few days up to a few weeks see no major decrease in body fat as opposed to those who eat correctly and exercise. And then due to a lack of muscle (caused by a lack of proper nutrition and exercise) and body preservation mode, the crash dieters will gain any lost weight back with a rapid pace. As Caleb has said before, Rome wasnt built in a day. Some people realize this but most dont. But hey, gotta expect that. There’s alot of dumb out there.

By: Caleb Lee

Caleb Lee — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:31:19 +0000

@ Blaine: it’s actually really hard to put your body into the “famine” mode so many fitness “experts” say is so dangerous and that you need to avoid at all costs.

They’ve done studies where individuals were fasted — No food at all — for over 36 hours and their resting metabolic rate was unchanged even after those 2.5 days of going without any food.

It takes a while to get into that famine state everyone warns of. Think about it, the famine idea makes sense right? Your body stores fat for what? For fuel for you body when it senses it’s not getting enough calories … so eventually it’s planning on USING those fat stores, right? Yup! And as long as you’re resistance training – your body will preferentially burn the fat first for fuel instead of your muscle if you go into calorie deficit mode.

But on your final point, “Balance in everything tends to be the key…” I agree. My point is just that none of us reading this (because we’re in developed countries with plenty of access to food) have ever been anywhere close to this famine mode all the “experts” warn of

By: Blaine Moore

Blaine Moore — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:07:23 +0000

Great advice – I’d only add that you especially want to make sure you don’t eat too few calories because if you’re not bringing enough in then it doesn’t matter how active you are; you are going to gain fat. If your body thinks you are in a famine it’s gonna start storing fat so that you have reserves to keep you going when the food completely runs out.

Balance in everything tends to be the key…