Firstly if you are still around Naxis, I just want to say thanks for changing my life!

I posted on here for the first time when I was 18, and now will be turning 21 in August, and finally I have reached my goals, and now I'm working even harder to exceed them.

I started at 215-220 pounds with horrible nutrition, and horrible exercise patterns. I tried so many diets, and different exercise programs, and nothing worked, it wasn't because of the program itself, but more because of the backbone behind the program, none saw the true problem with weight loss, which is the mental part of it.

That was until Naxis here on these forums recommended the book "Body-for-life" to me from Bill Phillips. It took me a year to pick that book up and read it, and when I did it changed my life. If it weren't for Naxis reccomending that book to me, I'm almost certain I would be stuck in the same vicious circle.

That book approached weight loss from an entirely different perspective, it had no shortcuts, no secrets, just pure raw ways to get in shape, universal undeniable ways, things no one can contest. Sure there are plenty of variants that work, but all the workout techniques that work fall into that same plain.

I now way 200 pounds, and have heard many compliments from friends and family on my improved physique. I'm definitely no longer in the overweight class, and it is a great feeling, my mind and body are better then they have ever been.

Anyways it may have been just a book referral, but it really is something I will never forget, thanks again.

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So all that being said I'm ready for round two(and then three, four five, and so on :)), and I thought who better to ask then the person who got me started on this great plan. Though I would appreciate others input as well.

Anyways I want to establish a much more strict calorie intake, to go along with my new work out routine which is:

Day 1: Upper Body Intense Training
Day 2: Intense Cardio (HIIT)
Day 3: Lower Body Intense Training
Day 4: Intense Cardio (HIIT)
Day 5: Upper Body Intense Training
Day 6: Intense Cardio (HIIT)

Using a calorie calculator, I found the following readings for my size, and workout routine:

Maintenance:
3069 Calories/day
Fat Loss:
2455 Calories/day
Extreme Fat Loss:
1841 Calories/day

My problem is that I'm currently still not in "great" shape at 16% body fat, but at the same time, I want to keep size and strength and don't really want to lose much more weight if possible, just lower my body fat.

What type of calorie intake should I consider to stay at my current weight or slightly lower and drop to a 6-8% body fat within 6 months. Any assistance is greatly appreciated, and if there is any more info I can give, please let me know.

Also it should be noted that I'm taking the following Supplements (all by EAS)

Phosphagen Elite
Myoplex Deluxe (not really a supplement)
Muscle Armor

Thanks Tons, Brad

I'm really glad BfL worked so well for you. I'm still a huge fan of the program. :)

As far as calories for you, calculators are a little "iffy". They are a little too broad in their considerations, so use those recommendations as a starting point only.
Do you know what your current calorie intake is? Do you know roughly your macronutrient ratios? Are you still losing fat or have you plateaued? Small changes can make a big difference, so don't do anything drastic just yet. ;)

Unfortunately yes I just lost another five pounds within about 1 and 1/2 weeks and that wasn't my intention, it seems some of that was muscle as I noticed my weights were lower in nearly every workout today(though I didn't get much sleep either, so that likely contributed). I think my calorie intake was too low, some days it gets as low as 1500, when I just cant find enough good stuff to eat, I rather eat less calories then more calories of junk, so I clearly need to get some shopping done and get my calories up.

I just bought the "bodybugg" to start to help me track how many calories I'm burning daily. That should give me a better understanding of how many calories I should intake?

Also I'm not familiar with macronutrient ratios at all, so maybe you can shed some light on that if possible.

Also maybe I should lose more weight, maybe I have the wrong idea, I'm 6'0 and 200 currently, but I would like to stay "big" and just have a lower body fat of something closer to around 8%. So I figure why lose the weight if I will likely just want to gain it back.

Anyways any suggestions are appreciated, I have my cardio, weight training and supplements honed in good, but I really need to get a more concrete plan for my nutrition.

Okay, first you need to stop worrying about your *weight* and focus on your body composition. If you're going to burn fat you are going to lose weight. Not necessarily muscle. When you get leaner, if you want to add more muscle, you can work on putting on lean mass (adding as little fat as possible). So don't put too much stock in the scale unless you have one that has electrical impedence also.

Second, I'd recommend that you cycle your calories rather than aim for a single number consistently. If you have several days of low cal (I wouldn't go any lower than 1700-1800, even then assuming your diet is very nutrient dense) and then a higher calorie day around the 2500 area (still CLEAN food) it keeps your metabolism high and prevents the thyroid from getting sluggish from long term calorie restriction. Three or four days low and one high is a good starting point to see how you progress and react to that kind of cycling.

As for macronutrients, that just refers to the percentage of fat, carbohydrates and protein that make up the sum of your calories. Shifting the ratios can make all the difference in whether you're losing muscle or fat (or losing anything at all). Obviously you want to keep starchy and sugary carbs to an absolute minimum, but getting healthy fats is just as important. Monounsaturated fats (olive oil, avocado, sesame seeds) actually help the body to burn its own fat, so getting 20-30% of your calories from good fats is definitely recommended. Moderate to high protein intake will help spare your muscle on a calorie restriction, but theres no need to get excessive with it. When the goal is not to build more muscle, you can usually get away with 1 to 1.5g of protein per kg of body weight (around 90 to 135g a day for you). One little trick to spare muscle is to drink 10g of whey 10-20 minutes before your cardio. I'm not 100% on the biology behind it, but it's an old bodybuilder's tip, presumably that if your body starts to look for protein to break down, you have some in the blood stream so it doesn't eat into muscle.

And I would definitely not recommend HIIT as your only cardio if you want to get leaner and save your muscle. 2 days a week tops or your legs never get a chance to repair, especially with a lower body lifting day in the mix. Try to do 4-5 days of cardio, 2 or 3 of them at a less intense pace for a longer duration (45-60 minutes). It's going to be boring at first when you're used to HIIT, but it's worth it. Bring music or whatever you have to do to make the distance. If you're doing cardio on a day that you're also lifting you can tack it on to the backend of your weight training or do them in seperate sessions with at least a couple hours in between.

So first thing would be to keep a food journal for a couple of days and figure out your actual calorie and macronutrient intake. When you have that in black and white it will help a lot in figuring out how to tweak that to your greatest benefit.

Yea you're right, I know a scale is not really important during weight training, just a bad habit to look at it. I have a fat loss monitor that detects body fat within a margin of error of about 1% and I have noticed I seem to be dropping about .5% body fat weekly or so.

Naxis as far as cycling calories like that, I do know it is very important to get my required daily nutrients, can I still safely get the nutrients I need with eating just 1700-1800 calories daily? Also what is the science behind cycling calories, as I haven't really read much about it.

Also as far as the macro nutrients, I'm roughly following the bfl plan for eating. Six meals a day, one portion protein, one portion carbs, one portion viggies(2 meals a day) and I usually cook with olive oil, or have a bit of natural peanut butter or whatever for fat daily. Is this good proportional eating?

One thing I kind of disagree is on the cardio. From a burning calories perspective, why run 40-60 minutes at a slow pace, when I can burn the same amount of calories, if not more in 20-30 minutes of more intense workout. Plus HIIT has proven to boost metabolism better then traditiinal cardio which further helps in my body fat loss. Now don't get me wrong I know you have far more experience in the field, and I totally respect your opinion, but couldn't I just use the elliptical or bike if my legs are feeling too sore? Also is 4-5 days cardio necessary? I want to maximize my results, but it seems like maybe thats overkill with doing weights three times a week and cardio three times a week already. And when I say HIIT, I don't necessary mean it to its exact definition at all times. Sometimes I make my own variations, basically anyway to really push my respiratory. For example yesterday I ran my first mile at a 7.0 speed on the treadmill, my second at 8.0 and my third at 9.0, and it was very intense, and really pushed me, and also didn't seem too bad on my legs, as I still seemed to do ok on my lower body exercises today. I know that when it comes down to it, any cardio is beneficial, but one thing that stood out to me in the bfl book was that a lot of people really do more then they actually need to, and I don't want to go into overkill if not necessary.

And yea I definitely need to get a food log going, I really have been slacking on that, so it is going to be tough to maximize my results if I don't do some testing with different calorie intakes, but in the mean time until I get it honed in perfectly, I have just been trying to eat my best, and so far have done just fine at it. I would guess I'm at about 2000-2200 calories daily, and I'm really watching the types of food I eat.

Fitness is such a life changing thing, I look forward to it every day, and can't wait for the day I'm at 10% body fat, only 5% to go! Then it will be time for my next goal:)

Anyways thanks as always Naxis, you have been a really huge help to me

Also one more thing I wanted to ask. Is there a specific calorie deficit I should shoot for. For example if I burn 2000 calories daily, should I change the calories consumed for that day?