Perfect Calorie Deficit - Body Building Lesson Part 2
You NEED to appreciate this concept.
It doesn't matter if you have fat-loss goals or muscle-building goals...
Not just more or fewer calories. You need the RIGHT amount of calories.
This is my Second Biggest Lesson and changes from my last prep, and an absolute game-changer.
So the big mistake last time I did a prep, I simply just cut calories to a minimum and it looked like this:
Protein - Initial Bodyweight in grams - 200g
Carbs - minimized to 90grams a day
Fats - bare minimum - what fat was in my eggs
Total calories = 1600-1700 per day
To put this into context.
If I were to give a 200lbs client a healthier calorie deficit, depending on their activity level, it should be much closer to 2200-2400 Calories.
Now in a bodybuilding prep, it is normal to slash your calories a great deal during show prep.
But too low of calories causes other problems.
Dive into Metabolic Adaptation
This is super important for you to know.
You think "I gotta lose weight so I'll just barely eat and move more."
You decide to NOT count calories, but literally just not eat.
If someone did count them for you, let's say you're similar to me and having 40-50% less than what you should have been eating to maintain weight
If your calories are too low, your body will adapt your metabolism.
Let's review what metabolism is made up of:
Basal or Resting Metabolic Rate (BMR/RMR) - Calories to keep your body alive if you did NOTHING all day
Takes up 50-70% of your total daily calories
Thermic Effect of Food - Calories to digest the food you eat
10-15% of your total daily calories
Exercise Activity Thermogenesis - Anything in the gym
10-20% of your total daily calories
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) - Any movement outside of the gym (work, life, fidgeting)
10-20% of your total daily calories
So of these categories, your adaptive system will think about cutting calorie output for you.
In a serious calorie deficit, you are showing your body you are in a food scarce environment, so it would make sense to tell you to move slower and more efficiently.
Thus the MAIN thing that gets reduces is NEAT - which is your daily life movement.
Now you've tried to cut calories, AND I'm willing to bet you've ramped up your workouts, so you're stressing your body even more.
The reason you can still workout intensely, especially at the start, is because exercise simulates your adrenaline. To the body, this feels like an emergency. It would be like you're running away from a threat or possibly hunting for food.
But once that's over, you'll drop down to very below average energy.
NEAT is 23 hours out of your day. And so you may think "Oh I'll just do it in the gym." that's actually not that many calories in proportion or effort.
Let's keep playing your eat less and move more scenario out
Your calories are 40-50% reduced
You increase your exercise output at least 60 minutes day
Some days you even say - "I'll do an additional 30 minutes of cardio"
Wow, that's a lot.
Here's what happening.
Initially, it works great because your calories deficit is massive
Your intake is 1000 calories and your output is near 2000 Calories/per day
Thinking that 3600 Calories is equal to 1lbs of body fat, that's wicked...for now.
Then your body starts trying to adapt to these workouts
Your output lowers from 2000 to 1800 Calories/day
This is normal from adapting to being able to do exercise more efficiently, so you burn fewer calories in the workouts
But you notice good weight loss!
This is due to both the deficit AND water loss from eating less food and fewer carbs. (Carbs will hold more water in your body)
Then another week
You lower from 1800 to 1700 Calories/day
But still has pretty good weight loss
The next week you slow down in life due to a reduction in NEAT
Normally you would have NEAT level contributing 300 Calories/per day
This progressively drops to 100-150 Calories
Now you're a month into your diet and training routine.
You notice very little weight loss.
You're mentally and physically exhausted.
You're hungry.
You want to quit and binge.
Sound familiar?
I know this very well.
In my last prep I dove RIGHT into the calories slash and immediately paid for it.
When I was trying to function in life, I literally felt like I was waking up at 3/10 for energy and operating most days at a 4/10.
I could get my energy surge when I had a good preworkout, during a chest workout, to bring me to a 7-8/10 but fly back down again after.
I mean any simple task was hard.
I remember one day, all I had to do physically (other than my cardio and workout), was cut a piece of plywood at the gym. And I felt I had to muster so much mental energy to cut ONE piece of wood and go home.
Again this isn't crazy for bodybuilding near a show day, BUT the major mistake is this shouldn't happen due to lack of calories. This should only happen because I'm so lean close to show date.
My Corrections
The first major thing is much more time. I gave myself maybe 13 weeks to prep last time and this year I started 17 weeks out.
Because I gave myself a lot of time I can choose just the right amount of calories to have a sustainable diet and deficit to still workout and function well.
And because my workouts will be better, this will help me sustain my muscle mass better, AND just enjoy life more before things get really tough.
So right now my calories are around 2000/day.
This has been allowing me to
Walk over 14K steps a day
Strength train 5 days a week
Posing 20-30 minutes 6 days a week (much harder than it looks)
And still, show up for life.
This is a significantly higher overall work output I have compared to when I was.
Your Lesson
I've played around with the low-calorie slash a few times over the years since the last show and I can tell you, with your deficit, there is a fine line you want to walk between Effect (so you see results) and Manageable (so you don't burn yourself down).
How do you know?
The biggest thing is to find your BMR/RMR.
Do NOT go lower than this.
These are the calories your body needs to repair and restore fundamental functions of life. And if you go below this, everything else is less important to the system and thus you will deal with metabolic adaptation.
To find your BMR check out this link here.
Now you still want to be ABOVE this number, because remember you have 3 other functions burning calories.
My estimated BMR was around 1800 calories so I fall into the adaption very quickly doing the old method.
Last competition lost weight and got down to around 183lbs at my lowest the week before the show.
From January 22nd at 216lbs to 195lbs on March 12th (7 weeks), I dropped my average weight of 20lbs.
I'm already seeing my weight projection that could be LOWER than my last show with possibly 15 lbs more muscle.
And it's easier.
That's the right calorie deficit.
There are still more considerations you need with YOUR calorie deficit and so I'll do a part II shortly and help you bring out the best food choices, food timing, and quality in that routine.
But in the meantime, I highly recommend you appreciate this piece of advice.
It's NOT about doing the MOST of anything in dieting in fitness.
It's about doing the RIGHT amount of anything for YOU.
Find the right calories, and you will be amazed at what you can do with your fitness and physique with less effort.
Eat Well My Friend,
Rhyland