Info about Calorie intake

[Lunarisara]

So I started dieting and exercising about a week ago. plan is to work out 3-4 times a week. I'm currently around 21% body fat and I want to reach around 10-12%. Some calculators I've used say I need to consume around 3100 calories a day. Is this correct or do I need to eat less/more?

[Boss Man]

Hi Lunari, good to talk to you.

I don't believe you'd need to consume that many calories as sedentary females need around 1,800 a day, so you'd only need, I think, 300-500 more than that.

It's all about the ration of carbs and fats to protein as well and in particularly the carbs and fats and you also don't want to consume more calories than you need otherwise you would hinder your ability to achieve the kind of fat % you're looking for.

I wouldn't necessarily aim for 10%-12%, I'd aim for around 14%, and then you're effectively aiming for 1/3 less fat %.

With your meals, you could use one of these three macronutrient ratios to help you plan.

33% / 33% / 33%. Protein / Carbs / Fats

35% / 30% / 35%. Protein / Carbs / Fats

35% / 35% / 30%. Protein / Carbs / Fats

It's not about being on the percentages though, it's about getting roughly what you need based on what strategy you choose, so you're not doing things like counting grains of rice or measuring out liquids with a pipette to be exact every time, or you''ll drive yourself to distraction eventually

If you feel you need more calories in the future, then experiment with a few more in some or all meals, but I don't think you need quite as many as you stated, especially as initially your cardio / and or weights regime will not be resulting in your hitting close to peak exertion, for around 6 weeks anyway.

[Lunarisara]

Thanks, that actually makes a lot of sense. Although I believe I was off when I did measurments for body fat % so I think it's actually 1 or 2 percent lower but I will still take your advice. I appreciate you getting back to me.