Diets - Macros and Calories, what do you really need?

Steedie / all, great read and worth a re-read every now and again. I'm looking for a bit of guidance for my goal of building lean mass with my diet if at all possible?

I've done some rough calculations for my BMR as follows:

BMR = 66 + [13.7 x 92(weight in KG)] + [5 x 186(height in cm)] - [6.76 x 28(age)]
BMR = 2067.12

1.2 = Sedentary (Little or no exercise and desk job)
1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Little daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week)
1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately active daily life & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days a week)
1.9-2.0 = Extremely Active (Hard daily exercise or sports and physical job)

I've picked very active as a multiplier due to:

1) Cycle 5 miles a day 5 days a week for my commute to work
2) Cycle 25-40 miles on a Wednesday, and cycle 40 - 70 miles on a Sunday
3) Desk job
4) Gym 3 or 4 times a week, mainly weights due to cycling activity keeps my cardio in check..

This brings my kcals in at - 3514.

OK, so I can take this as a stake in the ground and work from here, however I have no idea how to work my Protein/Carbs/Fats to get to the above total kcals. I can cook all sorts of foods and end up being 3514, but what proportion should be fat, carbs or protein?
 
I would be inclined to say you probably a bit over ambitious with the very active category. I would go for 1.6 top end of moderately active as a desk job really eats in to activity levels!
 
As Syla5 has said above, I'd say you'd have to be a builder or similar to get into that kind of activity level.

That said, this isn't an exact science. Eat a certain amount, and keep track of BW, and how you look in the mirror. If you're losing weight, eat more, if you're gaining too much weight, eat less.

kd
 
3000-3500kcals is probably a reasonable place to start for a guy who cycles that much, but you'll need to adjust as you go.

I'm not the man to ask about macro ratios though! Mine fall into stupid territory.
 
Thanks for the rapid feedback fellas.

I've knocked it down to 1.6 as a multiplier and it comes out just over 3300. Is the proportion of fats / carbs / protein vitally important for lean mass?
 
As long as you hit ~180g of protein every day and good amounts of carbs on training/high activity days you won't be doing much wrong.

That opinion is massively coloured by what works for me though, other people find that strict macro numbers work.
 
Fats/Carbs/Protein is pretty important. If you're not getting enough protein, you simply won't put on muscle, similar analogies can be made for the other two. Basically, yeah, it's good if you hit your nutritional targets, as ice has said though, it's more about hitting the certain amount, and different people find different things work for them. Some like strict diets, others prefer a more relaxed approach. It's all about what works for you. If it feels like too much of a chore, it won't last, and you'll go back into old ways...

kd
 
I would plan something to give you an idea of what 3.3kcals looks like, it's quite a bit without making the diet dirty (junk food etc)

180g protein and keep the fats in check (i.e. make sure as few as possible are transfats) this doesn't mean only 50gof fat a day, I think I am on around 90g at the moment, and might be increasing that as I change over to a new diet plan :)
 
I've just logged today's food (poor choices admittedly) but poor choices usually mean high kcals and I'm still 1200 kcals short of my 3300 target.

Wow, I think I'll be constantly eating?!
 
Anyone else doing carb back loading, and able to show me there diet plans.

I am used to having the macros written out in full, and when trying to pull together a CBL diet I can hit the cals but I just can't get close to the cards unless I have white rice every night!
 
If only it was that simple! Because I train in the morning it messes things about, and switch the load and off days as well.
 
Syla5 said:
Anyone else doing carb back loading, and able to show me there diet plans.

I am used to having the macros written out in full, and when trying to pull together a CBL diet I can hit the cals but I just can't get close to the cards unless I have white rice every night!
Click to expand...

Care to explain, I've heard CBL mentioned a few times, mainly by Ice.
 
I like the look of CBL but looks too structured for me. I'd find it very difficult to keep it up on weekends. I'll see if I can come up with a plan.
 
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