Calorie Deficits, Bulks, Finding your Maintenance
DISCLAIMER
In this article, I’ve laid out examples where I list certain calorie targets. The calories used in my examples are not indicative of what your calories should be.
Now with the boring disclaimer out of the way,
When it comes to specific fitness goals such as losing bodyfat or building muscle, you’ve probably heard of the terms “calorie deficit” and “bulking” before, right?
Eat more to gain more
Eat less to weigh less
And while that advice is true, to lose bodyfat we need to consume less calories and gaining muscle usually requires us to consume more, there really is more nuance to this subject.
Eating too little can have detrimental health effects and eating too much, although leading to a desired weight gain, may not be the type of weight you’re seeking.
This article will be covering how to assess your maintenance calories, how to program a bulk with minimal fat gain and how to program a deficit with minimal muscle loss.
ASSESSING YOUR MAINTENANCE
Regardless if you're trying to lose weight or gain weight, you need to know your starting point.
And the reason that’s important is because if you don’t know what your starting point is, how are you gonna know what too much is or what too little is?
Your maintenance is the amount of calories you need just to maintain your weight. Now without getting too confusing, it’s important to understand that your “maintenance” is not a specific set number, but rather a range of calories.
For example, your maintenance could range between 2,000 and 2,200 calories every day rather than just 2,000. Normally, we’re not eating the exact same foods in the exact same quantities every day, so a range only makes sense.
With that out of the way, there are calculators online that’ll predict your caloric maintenance fairly accurately.
From my own experience tracking and with my clients, I’ve personally found that Legion’s seems to be the more accurate of the four.
But no matter how accurate these calculators are, they are simply estimates and can and most likely will be wrong. You can use them by all means, but I would definitely take whatever number they throw at you with a huge grain of salt.
If using a calculator, try eating at the prescribed number and monitor your weight. If your weight drops quickly and you're experiencing intense hunger, then it’s probably too low. If your weight quickly adds up, then it's most likely too high.
If you want to really find an accurate number, then stick around cause I’m gonna lay out step by step how you can find your true caloric maintenance.
MANUALLY TRACKING
Download a food tracking app such as chronometer or myfitnesspal. Here, you’ll be tracking everything you consume for roughly 1-2 weeks.
Prior to tracking, pick a specific time to weigh yourself and re-weigh at that same time every day. Weighing daily is going to teach you about your body’s natural weight fluctuations which is important if you find yourself getting stressed out by the number on the scale.
Remember, the number is just data and is non-indicative of your self worth. The clothes you’re wearing, the food sitting in your stomach, and any liquids you consume can add to the number!
After finding your starting weight, continue to eat as you normally would, just as long as anything with calories gets logged into the app.
Your goal should be to maintain your weight within a 5 pound weight range.
For example, this may mean I’m hovering between 198 on the low end and 202 on the high end if my set weight is 200 pounds.
By the end of the tracking period (2 weeks), if you notice that your weight jumped quite substantially, then it's a safe bet to say you were consuming too high of calories.
In this case going forward, try slightly reducing your calories and see if you can maintain within that 5 pound range.
If by the end, your weight dropped a ton, then it seems you were consuming too little calories.
In this case, Slightly increase the amount of food you're consuming and see if you’re able to maintain it within that 5 pound range.
If you were successfully able to stay within a certain weight range, then collect the calories consumed on all the days and find the average number.
For example, if these were the calories I logged during 1 week of tracking,
2320 - 2182 - 1946 - 2423 - 1989 - 2132 - 2023
Then 2,145 would be the average, thus being my more accurate caloric target.
Though personally, I would just round this to 2100 calories to make things simpler.
The way you can quickly sum up the average would be to write the numbers down in individual cells in a spreadsheet and then highlight all the labeled cells. The program will automatically give you the desired number.
And with that, you’ve now successfully found your maintenance calories. At this point we now know where our starting point is and now we can choose if we want to just maintain, lose bodyfat, or build some muscle.
CALORIE DEFICIT
Calorie deficit means consuming less calories than what's needed for weight maintenance. Otherwise known as a negative energy balance, this can also be achieved by increased amounts of physical activity.
Though achieving a deficit through nutrition may be easier and is usually more sustainable.
Standard advice for fat loss dictates that there’s around 3500 calories worth of energy within one pound of body fat. A common weight loss protocol includes aiming for 1 pound of fat lost per week.
This means that to lose a pound of fat per week, a 500 calorie reduction would be a good target.
So if my maintenance is 2500 cals, then my deficit goal would be 2,000 cals.
If a 500 calorie drop seems to steep for you, then by all means, reduce the deficit to maybe a 250 drop.
So instead of being at 2,000 cals, I can set my calories at 2,250 cals.
You will lose weight no matter what if you are in a deficit! Regardless if it’s a 500 calorie drop or even a 100 calorie drop.
Just know that the smaller the deficit, the longer it will take for the weight to come off.
For some people, the best play is to go the slow route as that approach gives you the most food freedom during the journey.
I would aim for either 0.5 pounds per week / 1 pound per week / or 1.5 pounds per week for those who have a good amount to lose.
Anything more than 1.5 pounds may result in the body losing muscle which for weight loss, probably isn’t the goal. An excessive deficit may also lead to increased hunger, thoughts around food, and nutrient deficiencies.
PROGRAMMING A DEFICIT
After finding out what your maintenance is, we can now begin laying out a calorie plan to make this weight loss as easy as possible.
There’s a few ways you can go about entering a deficit.
Linear deficit. This is where you consume the same amount of calories every day.
Example maintenance = 2500 calories
Goal = 1 pound lost per week
Monday - 2000
Tuesday - 2000
Wednesday - 2000
Thursday - 2000
Friday - 2000
Saturday - 2000
Sunday - 2000
500 cal deficit x 7 days = 3500 cal reduction = 1 pound of fat lost
Undulation approach. Undulating your calories means having different calorie targets each day, so long as the weekly calorie goal is met. This means some days are higher in calories while others may be lower.
If my daily maintenance goal is 2500, then that would put my total weekly maintenance calories at 17,500 calories (2500 x 7 days). For a deficit, I could subtract 3,500 from 17,500 to get a calorie goal that’ll let me lose roughly 1 pound of fat per week.
Sticking with the listed example, the deficit goal would be 14,000 total weekly calories.
To achieve this, I could take the standard linear approach or I could change up my daily intake so long as my weekly target is accounted for.
Undulation Example = 14,000 total weekly calories
Goal = Lose 1 pound per week
Monday - 1800
Tuesday - 1800
Wednesday - 1800
Thursday - 1800
Friday - 1800
Saturday - 2500
Sunday - 2500
What’s nice about this approach is that it gives you more freedom on certain days where you’ll probably be out with friends, your kids, or maybe out on a date. And even though you're consuming more on some days, because you’re still within a calorie deficit, you’ll still continue to lose weight!
And which days you program your “high days” on is really up to you. If you prefer more freedom on the weekend, place them there. If you like to have more freedom during the week, then by all means. You can even have one high day if you want to.
As long as you’re able to stay consistent and not feel restricted.
Programming a deficit (Continued)
After you’ve figured out what a realistic deficit looks like, it’s important to note that you don’t always wanna be in one and that’s for a few reasons.
Hunger sucks. No matter what, you’re most likely gonna feel hungry in a deficit, it’s an ugly truth. You can minimize hunger by increasing protein intake, fiber intake, and portion sizes through low calorie fruits and vegetables, but eventually staying in a deficit for too long may cause the hunger to spike to the point it becomes uncomfortable.
Loss of muscle. Muscle requires more energy to maintain compared to fat. Your body will do everything it can to save energy, so by staying too long in a deficit, especially a large one, you do run the risk of losing a bit of muscle.
Less energy. This is also just reality, you’re probably gonna have less energy for certain activities such as weight lifting or sports. Calories are used to fuel our bodies. Staying too long in a deficit may lead to lethargy and lack of motivation.
Plateaus. Once again, an ugly truth is inevitably you are gonna see a halt in progress which is normal. But staying in too large of a deficit for months and months on end may cause the body to slow its rate of progress even faster.
Being in a deficit kinda just sucks. Probably the biggest reason why you don’t wanna spend too much time in a deficit is because you are limited to what you can and shouldn’t eat. When dialed in, you’re probably not gonna want to have drinks, have your favorite foods at your favorite restaurant, or indulge on game night. Taking breaks every few weeks allows you to regain yourself and make the process easier by not overwhelming yourself.
So how long should I stay in a deficit?
You can stay in a deficit for long periods of time, like months at a time. But for the aforementioned reasons, you probably will want some flexibility.
The following example is what I’d recommended for a general amount of fat loss (10-50 pounds).
Week 1 = 100-500 cal deficit
Week 2 = 100-500 cal deficit
Week 3 = 100-500 cal deficit
Week 4 = 100-500 cal deficit
Week 5 = Return to maintenance or slight 100 cal surplus above maintenance
Week 6 = 100-500 cal deficit
Week 7 = 100-500 cal deficit
Week 8 = 100-500 cal deficit
Week 9 = 100-500 cal deficit
Week 10 = Return to maintenance or slight 100 cal surplus above maintenance
You can continue this program up until you’ve lost your desired weight or when you feel comfortable with where you’re at. And note that you can definitely have two weeks where you’re returning to maintenance rather than one if you desire.
Just note that as your weight goes down, your maintenance will also drop slightly, so I would recommend during those maintenance weeks to monitor your weight to see if you stay within a 5 pound range.
For those who are looking to lose 100 pounds or more, I would have you spend more time in a deficit as just by having a larger mass to your frame, your maintenance is probably gonna be pretty high, especially if you do find yourself getting plenty of steps in each day.
Someone who is 350 pounds is going to have a much higher energy expenditure than someone who's 150 pounds. Because of that, you will have more freedom to eat more food while still losing weight.
For someone who wishes to lose 100 pounds or more, I would say try spending 4-6 weeks in a deficit before returning back to maintenance for 1-3 weeks.
What is a Bulk?
The word bulk may seem scary for you, or perhaps not. All "bulking" really means is just putting yourself in a slight calorie surplus with the goal of building muscle.
Bulking, lean gaining, and toning all mean the same thing.
Build muscle.
Now I want to make it clear that nobody accidentally becomes the next Mr. Olympia. To even build a substantial amount of muscle requires years of hard work, dedication, and the right mindset.
One of the cool things about strength training is that your mindset going into the workouts will have huge effects on what kind of results you get long term.
You don't wanna look like a bodybuilder? Awesome, you're not gonna.
You want to look like a bodybuilder? Great, with the right mindset and training, you will!
The word bulking may seem scary as that word is generally connected to the stereotype of "roided out meatheads" who're practically muscle bound.
This couldn't be further from reality.
In fact, focusing on building muscle through squats, deadlifts, and overhead presses with necessary accessories will promote better mobility and functionality of your body!
And remember, it’s really hard to become a bodybuilder, even with the right mindset.
Without the use of enhancement drugs, most people will actually develop a nice, athletic appearance when they focus on building muscle.
So don’t worry about whether we use the words bulking, lean gaining, or toning, as they all mean the same thing.
What is a bulk (Continued)
The way you go about a bulk is actually fairly similar to how you’d go about a deficit. The only difference is rather than a deficit, you’re in a surplus of calories.
You spend a couple to few weeks in a slight surplus, and 1 to 2 weeks at maintenance or a slight deficit.
I’ll explain my reasoning.
When in a surplus for long periods of time, eventually the body will want to use those extra calories to build up its fat storage (body fat).
Bodyfat itself is just excess calories saved for later use!
In order to maximize muscle growth and minimize fat gain, we need to be strategic with our surplus.
It doesn’t need to be super high
It doesn’t need to be super long
Before I show you how you can properly program a surplus, I feel like it's important to understand that no matter how small the surplus is and how dialed in with your training you are, you will gain a little bodyfat and that’s okay!
You’re not gonna go up 3 pant sizes
If done correctly, you’ll actually look leaner if anything!
But remember that bodyfat by itself isn’t a bad thing, it’s essential for our health.
But too much of anything can be negative. And that leads into my next topic which is the different types of bulks.
In fitness, you’ll hear about two types of bulks, Lean bulks and Dirty bulks.
A Lean bulk is the smart approach with a small surplus, a focus on whole foods, and focusing on small, steady weight gain over multiple months.
A Dirty bulk is the all or nothing approach that typically features a massive surplus, eating whatever, and not caring about how much bodyfat is gained, just as long as you get bigger.
I think you probably don’t wanna go the dirty bulk route, right?
Well you’re in luck, cause this article is about the lean bulk!
I’ll now get right into how to properly program a lean bulk to maximize muscle gain, and minimize bodyfat gain.
PROGRAMMING A BULK
Without wasting time, here’s how I would program a bulk to maximize muscle potential.
Week 1 200-300 calorie surplus
Week 2 200-300 calorie surplus
Week 3 200-300 calorie surplus
Week 4 200-300 calorie surplus
Week 5 Maintenance calories or 100-200 deficit below maintenance
Week 6 200-300 calorie surplus
Week 7 200-300 calorie surplus
Week 8 200-300 calorie surplus
Week 9 200-300 calorie surplus
Week 10 Maintenance calories or 100-200 deficit below maintenance
You really don’t need to go crazy here with how many extra calories you need. To put this into better perspective, a 300 calorie surplus could be just an extra half cup of oatmeal with some peanut butter.
Nothing crazy
You don’t need to be downing a whole pizza to get sick gains
Some people will do just fine with a 200 calorie surplus while others may favor the 300 calorie option. All in all, try it out and see for yourself what works best for you!
Your goal should be to gain no more than 2 pounds per month
Yep, 2 pounds, another hard truth, this isn’t a sexy process.
Building muscle takes time.
Just like losing bodyfat.
And you need to be okay with that. It could take a while before seeing substantial changes in your physique and that others may see progress faster than you.
Don’t let your ego tell you to speed up the process, that’ll only dig you deeper into a pit you don’t wanna be in. And that pit being jealousy, a poorer self image, and having to lose the excess body fat because you consumed way too much too quickly.
If I took 10 guys who all had the same height and bodyweight, followed the same exact workout plan, and put each of them in the same surplus to build muscle, some would see faster progress while others would not.
Don’t ask me why or how, but just know that’s reality. No matter what, others may see faster progress than you, and you need to be okay with that.
The most important person in this journey is you! Yes I am asking you to be a little self centered. It’s kind of a requirement to not let yourself become overly competitive.
And while being competitive isn’t at all a bad thing, when it starts to negatively impact your health is when you need to assess,
Am I in control or is my ego taking over?
HARD GAINERS (very rare)
A hard gainer is someone who has an abnormally fast metabolism and even in the aforementioned surplus, doesn’t build either muscle or bodyfat.
Before moving on, I do want to make something very clear.
Hard gainers are exceptionally rare!
Most people who say they’re hard gainers are not hard gainers. They usually just overestimate how much they're eating.
Most people either underestimate how much they're actually consuming caloric wise or overestimate.
This is why going through the process of manually tracking is helpful as weighing your food and logging it will give you an accurate insight into how much you’re actually putting into your body.
SHOULD I CUT OR BULK?
This is a very common question with several answers. And we’ll be covering each one!
Many people who are just starting out may ask the question if they should either diet down to cut bodyfat or consume more to build muscle.
Whether you start in a cut or a bulk depends on several factors.
Your current bodyfat percentage
Your experience with training
Your individual goals
Where your maintenance calories are
If you are starting out with a large amount of bodyfat to you wish to lose, then I would go the deficit route. How long you go through that process depends on the amount you wish to lose. By the time you’ve either reached your goal weight, or you’re happy with the progress you’ve made, feel free to go into a slight bulk to build some good muscle, speed up the metabolism, and maintain from there.
If you are of a lower bodyweight with the goal of building muscle, definitely go the bulk route. Be smart with how large your surplus is and try to gain no more than two pounds per month.
If you are considered underweight both from a muscle and body fat standpoint, then I would have you go in the bulk route with a slight modification. In this instance, I would put you in a higher caloric surplus (300-500 above maintenance) with the hopes of also gaining a little body fat.The reason being too little bodyfat like too much bodyfat can also be detrimental to our health. While going through this route, I would highly suggest working with your doctor and a therapist.
If you find yourself in the “skinny fat” category where you have less lean muscle and more bodyfat, then I would put you into a body recomposition or body recomp. This means slowly trading fat for muscle and while this process is difficult, if you’re a beginner, this will come easier for you. For a recomp, you would hover around your maintenance calories while consuming a high protein (1g/lb bodyweight) intake and focusing on getting stronger in the gym. After several weeks, you can enter either slight cut to reduce any extra bodyfat.
CONCLUSION
I just shared with you how to properly program a calorie deficit and a calorie surplus to best fit your goals. Remember, progress is individual, there will be times you’ll see others explode with muscle or seemingly melt off bodyfat. The only person you should be comparing yourself to is yourself from months prior.
If you’re a little stronger, you're kicking ass!
If you’re able to fit into a smaller pant size, you're kicking serious ass!
If you're feeling confident and have so much more energy than you did in the past, you’re kicking ass!
As long as you come into the gym with the goal of just getting a little better each time, you will succeed in your goals!
Trust the process!
Hope you have a great rest of your day!
Talk soon,
- Randy
