by kirk » Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:22 am
Try 2,000 calories for 1-2 weeks and see how you feel. If you ever feel extra hungry on a day, then just eat a 500 calorie snack. The best advice I can give you is to think long-term and to not over-think this. If you get too stuck on a specific diet plan, and get yourself to believe that deviating from it will lead to failure (it might sound dumb, but it's all too easy to get caught up in the process and become a huge perfectionist), then you'll end up ruining it through your mentality alone. People will often have an all-or-nothing mentality, where if they eat an extra 100 calories, their whole day is ruined and there's no point in trying to make it a good day. That's how binges happen, and it's especially common in people who started out overweight (like me, too).
2,000 calories, 150g protein (minimum), 80g fat (minimum), eat whatever you want with your remaining calories. That means you are eating 600 calories of protein, 760 calories of fat, so that leaves you with 640 calories of more protein/fat and/or carbs to fill in the rest of your diet. If you find yourself extra hungry on a day, make it 2,500 calories.
For the sake of general health, aim for 1,200 of your calories to come from whole foods - veggies, meat, dairy, fruit, etc. Otherwise, you can eat whatever you want. Ice cream, fast food, candy, starch, cake, etc. so long as you are within your caloric allowance. And so long as you don't have insulin resistance or diabetes or anything (I make these guidelines based on the assumption there's no medical complication).
Don't worry about meal timing, eating every 2-3 hours, or any shit like that. There's no benefit unless you plan on cutting to 5% body fat (you're not). Eat however you want, and whatever you feel is best for you. Personally I fast for 20 hours per day and eat within a 4 hour window, with 90% of my calories coming in a single meal. Others will eat a couple hundred calories every 2 hours. Just depends on what you want.
Try 2,000 calories for 1-2 weeks and see how you feel. If you ever feel extra hungry on a day, then just eat a 500 calorie snack. The best advice I can give you is to think long-term and to not over-think this. If you get too stuck on a specific diet plan, and get yourself to believe that deviating from it will lead to failure (it might sound dumb, but it's all too easy to get caught up in the process and become a huge perfectionist), then you'll end up ruining it through your mentality alone. People will often have an all-or-nothing mentality, where if they eat an extra 100 calories, their whole day is ruined and there's no point in trying to make it a good day. That's how binges happen, and it's especially common in people who started out overweight (like me, too).
2,000 calories, 150g protein (minimum), 80g fat (minimum), eat whatever you want with your remaining calories. That means you are eating 600 calories of protein, 760 calories of fat, so that leaves you with 640 calories of more protein/fat and/or carbs to fill in the rest of your diet. If you find yourself extra hungry on a day, make it 2,500 calories.
For the sake of general health, aim for 1,200 of your calories to come from whole foods - veggies, meat, dairy, fruit, etc. Otherwise, you can eat whatever you want. Ice cream, fast food, candy, starch, cake, etc. so long as you are within your caloric allowance. And so long as you don't have insulin resistance or diabetes or anything (I make these guidelines based on the assumption there's no medical complication).
Don't worry about meal timing, eating every 2-3 hours, or any shit like that. There's no benefit unless you plan on cutting to 5% body fat (you're not). Eat however you want, and whatever you feel is best for you. Personally I fast for 20 hours per day and eat within a 4 hour window, with 90% of my calories coming in a single meal. Others will eat a couple hundred calories every 2 hours. Just depends on what you want.