Calorie deficit depth.

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

Dr feigenbaum,

first of all, thankyou for all the amazing information BBM put out. I have managed to learn a great deal and consider myself a big fan of what you guys are doing.

I apologise in advance if what I am about to ask has already been covered here or in the podcasts, but I’m struggling to locate the answer. Any help with this matter would be greatly appreciated!

If someone with 38% body fat, who enjoys strength training and conditioning. In the interest of health and weight loss just how deep a calorie defecit could that person get away with. As long as protein was kept at 1.4g per kg b/w. My weight loss progress is terribly slow and I know from your teachings that I just be under recording my calories or over estimating my activity. On average I’m consuming 2700 - 3000 calories daily.

For reference.

Male.
5”11
30 years old
295 lbs
38% body fat
moderately active
early intermediate.

thank you in advance.
kind regards.
G.

2

G,

Thanks for the kind words and I hope you’re doing well. The specific answer to your question is “the limit does not exist”, as people have fasted for extended periods of time under medical supervision to lose huge amounts of weight. For you, I don’t think a very-low Calorie diet is likely to set you up for long-term success.

I think you’re likely eating closer to 3500-3800 Cal/day if you’re not losing weight, though I don’t think we need to track your Calories day-to-day to find out. Rather, I think adjusting your food and eating environments + meal construction to make ~2800 Calories happen automatically. To do that, I’d recommend:

  • getting rid of highly processed foods in the house
  • stocking the house with lean proteins, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, etc.
  • eat sitting down at a table around the same time each day without your phone, tv, or computer
  • each meal pick a palm-sized portion of lean-protein, a fist-sized portion of vegetables and-or fruit, and whole gains (do this ~4x/day + a protein shake)

I’d also recommend aiming to meet or exceed the conditioning requirements from the current physical activity guidelines.

-Jordan

3 Likes
3

Jordan,

thankyou so much for taking the time to reply to my post. I will follow the advice above. This is such a trip for me having you reply to my message, you have made my day.

may all your lights be white.

G.