Target Protein Target Calories?

You don't need to hit the bullseye every day to lose weight or gain muscle

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about specific dietary protein content for muscle building as well as specific daily calories for weight loss.

I usually answer with a general range of what is most likely going to be adequate. This however never seems to be a good enough answer. It seems that many people think there is an exact number of calories they must eat per day to lose a specific amount of weight (ex: 1 pound of fat loss per week)

Same with muscle building. Some guys think that they must eat a precise amount of protein each day in order to build a specific amount of muscle.

In both cases this is a flawed way of thinking. We can never know with certainty exactly how many calories we’re consuming or burning on any given day.

Likewise we have no idea how many grams of protein it actually takes to support muscle building.

Instead we have general ranges that we can approximate to be effective. The key here is that they’re ranges and not exact numbers.

If your goal is weight loss, then a calorie deficit (no matter how big or small) is your daily goal. There is a whole range of calories you can eat to achieve this (ex: if your BMR is 1900, any amount of calories less than 1900 with contribute to weight loss)

The specifics don’t matter, just the general trend.

John

Posted by johnbarban in Muscle Building, Weight Loss

Tags: body weight, Calories, protein and muscle |9 Comments

9 Responses to “Target Protein, Target Calories?”

Mike Says:
May 31st, 2010 at 3:33 pm
john,

if there is a general range of protein consumption to build muscle how do we find this range?

And let’s say someone says, “what is scientifically the fastest way for me to lose weight?” Now, from your past posts it seems the answer would be to stop eating all together for days on end, but obviously, that’s not a practical answer for the general population.

Do you have an answer for a reasonable, practical, every day weight loss client?

thanks.
Alex P. Says:
May 31st, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Hey John,

You may have seen this already, but you need to look at the website “70′s Big”. Absolutely (if unintentionally) hilarious, and perfectly illustrates what you’re talking about. (It’s basically a group of guys who decided that training for aesthetics is for pussies, and eat as much as they can while doing workouts of 20 1-set reps of olympic lifts.)

http://www.70sbig.com/
branko Says:
May 31st, 2010 at 4:49 pm
you gotta love those 70sbig guys heres one guote :
Eat Regularly: Though it can be tempting, it is important not to restrict the amount of food you are eating. Don’t skip meals as this will trick your metabolism into STARVATION mode. Instead focus on eating three healthy meals a day, and at least two snack

well atleast theyre shirt on big and they are lifting some impressive amounts of weights .
Brigitte Says:
May 31st, 2010 at 10:28 pm
LOL you got me laughing…I did send an e-mail asking that question…so childish..I think we ask because we wish we could loose on higher calories…or maybe because now that we have the truth available we have nothing to search for. Eat less eat less eat less…I get it now..Now that I have this figured out I have much more time to read other things on the net and have other interests in life (then my weight for exemple). I will go read the news good night everyone
Wazzup Says:
June 1st, 2010 at 2:49 am
Please explain BMR.. I always thought it stood for Basal Metabolic Rate.. as in the amount of calories your body burns when in rest (as in doing nothing but lying in bed all day long)

With a BMR of 1900 and some activity your actual daily usage may easily be 3000 Cal. Therefore losing weight would succeed at even an intake of 2500 Cal.

So I don’t get this “you have to be below 1900 Cal” stuff.
Josh B Says:
June 1st, 2010 at 10:46 am
@ Wazzup:

The reason BMR is a good number to use for target calories is because you never have the exact same amount of activity every day, therefore it can’t be predicted. And the amount of activity is usually grossly overestimated, especially the activity calculators you find online. You’d have to be extremely active to burn an extra 1000 calories on top of your BMR.

That’s why for the average working person, BMR is usually a good number to use when estimating calorie intake for weight loss. And in the case that you do underestimate your what your calorie intake should be (i.e. you burned 200-300 or more extra calories than you estimated what you needed to eat) then that’s more weight that you’ll lose in the end.
johnbarban Says:
June 1st, 2010 at 11:31 am
Josh,

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

JB
Robert Says:
June 1st, 2010 at 6:16 pm
The trend! THE TREND! Buddy. People don’t like to think in terms of trends. They’re all about the either/or. It’s so difficult to discuss that with people. I’m not sorry, but you’re not going to lose an appreciable amount of weight/fat if you don’t take the approach of making sure that your general trend is toward losses. It cannot ALWAYS be a loss. Some weeks you stop. Some weeks you gain. And some you lose. To lose big, you just need more weeks than not of losses. Having that understanding is crucial to not being a neurotic mess and losing a real amount of weight (not beach-ready 10 lbs).
Robert Says:
June 1st, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Regarding BMR:

I agree with your take. Online calculators are crap. Actual research that uses the various indirect, but much better than nonsense online BS, methods to measure RMR and whatnot always find them to be lower than people expect. I love telling people how low they are. They never believe me. Anyhow, I agree that people won’t know what their rate is and daily activity levels are never constant anyway. We’re not intensely active EVERY day. It’s periodic. Some days we’re busy and active and other days we find ourselves pretty lazy or just not busy. It’s absurd to think that we can vary our diets according to how busy we were. (not) Sorry, but that’s a maintenance kind of thing. If you’re desiring weight loss (which, be honest, why are we talking about this if you don’t want to lose weight?), then you HAVE to build in a guaranteed deficit. Otherwise, you’re going to spin your wheels and find that your weight is not tending to go down. As unpleasant as that may sound, that’s just the facts of the matter.

Target Protein, Target Calories?

9 Responses to “Target Protein, Target Calories?”

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