| Eating Too Little or Too Less?
HI guys,
I'm a 20 year old man, 5'7, and currently weigh 160 lbs. This puts my BMR in the ballpark of 1750. I'm trying to lose more fat while maintaining the muscle I currently have.
My questions:
Is it possible to maintain all or most of my muscle mass while on a caloric deficit? I'm under the impression I just need to consume an adequate amount of protein, dependent on my current body weight, to maintain the muscle. I'm sticking with 1g protein/per lb of body weight, though this is proven to be too much, protein intake quotas are easy for me to fulfill as I love chicken, etc. Also, my protein quota is approx. 170, does this mean, because I hit my protein quota, I'm safe from muscle loss - even if my caloric deficit is reaching numbers as high as 1,000? Does this deficit matter? Will my protein be burned as fuel or converted into glucose because I'm consuming so little calories, and will this cause metabolism?
Concise: Is it possible to maintain muscle mass on a caloric deficit as long as I'm consuming enough protein? And does the size of the deficit matter?
Here is an example of an actual day scenario of mine:
Calories eaten(Counted in MyFitnessPal): 2920
Macros: Carbs = 370, fats = 74, protein = 214, and sugar = 168
Calories burned(FitBit tracker) : 4182
Hour of weightlifting
Walked 10.7 miles (25,800 steps)
Yesterday I consumed 2920 calories, but burned 4182
That's a total deficit of 1260 calories
1. That's a lot of calories, can that pose health issues even though I'm losing fat from the deficit? Obviously I need to be cautious of what I'm eating to avoid insulin issues, heart issues, etc. But are the calories an issue? If I do more, I need to eat more, right?
2. I consumed only 214g of protein, but burned over 4182 calories, ultimately ending up in over a 1200 calorie deficit. Am I losing muscle? Am I burning protein as fuel instead of utilizing it to maintain muscle mass because of the fact my deficit is so large?
My goal:
I want to maintain my muscle and burn the fat. Would this methodology work? Calories out > calories in = weight loss, but I want fat loss, and muscle preservation. I'm not worried about losing weight, it'll happen.
Thanks
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