Should I increase my calorie intake?

[rhetoric]

6'3, 195lbs. Thin build in general with a little more fat than I'd like at the moment all on my gut of course. I've recently lost 30 lbs and could probably lose 10 more lbs of fat.

My goal is to gain a little definition by late in the summer. I'm not expecting any real bulk, and am really not trying to become a bodybuilder, I just would like to not look like I have no muscle at all as I have most of my life.

Then, over next winter, I want to re-focus on losing the remaining fat. Then by next spring I want to begin focusing on adding some muscle size. That's my current plan. Let me know if that seems unrealistic.

Anyway, I know how important nutrition is. I did some calorie calculators to figure out what I needed to maintain my body weight, and they said around 2,400 calories. From there I added 250 calories since I would like to gain some muscle, so I'm currently eating 2,650 calories daily. My current calorie goals are 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat. Diet consists of Oatmeal, Cream of wheat, egg & egg whites, whey protein shakes, chicken breast, brown rice, wheat bread, fruits & veggies, cottage cheese, and tuna fish. I can give you a typical day if you need that.

I've been doing this and my new weight training regimen for 2 weeks.
Upper body Mon & Wed
Lower body Tues & Fri
Rest Wed, Sat, Sunday

My body weight pretty much hasn't moved. Maybe that's a good thing, I'm not sure. I've read that I should have a goal of gaining a half pound of muscle a week. But if I've lost a little fat in the process (which I understand can actually happen for beginners), then maybe I'm ok.

But I have this nagging feeling. I've seen several people say on these forums a general rule is to multiply 15-20 times your body weight to get your caloric intake. 195 X 15 = 2925 calories.

Is my 2650 calories still too little to accomplish my current goal of a little muscle definition for the summer? Am I still burning muscle instead of gaining muscle?

[Bouncer]

"muscle definition" means loosing the fat and water you are storing to be able to see the definition.

so i am not really sure what you want here. do you want to cut or do you want to bulk? since the summer is here i would recommend you focus on losing that bodyfat that you dont want, and then when winter comes along bulk up and add some size.

[rhetoric]

I see what you're saying. I'm having trouble with the definition of cutting. Does it simply mean losing fat? Whenever I hear that "someone is cut" I usually think of them as having well-defined muscle tone. And then I hear "cut" here and I believe it means losing body fat. So just correct me if I'm wrong there.

I suppose I'd really like to continue losing the fat primarily, but not at the expense of any muscle tone I can get. Right now, my arms, legs, and chest don't appear to have much fat on them at all. My arms are like twigs and my chest is virtually flat. The only shape I have in my upper body is a thin layer of fat that wraps around my stomach & sides.

Ideally, I'd like for that fat to continue to shrink as well as begin to show that a muscle might exist in my upper body this summer. I know that for experienced guys, it can be really hard to lose fat and keep muscle, but beginners may have an easier time with this for awhile at least.

I don't need the bulk yet, I really just don't want to feel like I usually do on the beach in August. I already feel a ton better because of the work I've done to take off the 30 lbs. And I know I have the work ethic now to do it. I've just read so many different things to do that I'm suffering from analysis paralysis a little. I'm on a track, I know where I want to get, but I'm not sure if the track I'm on is leading in the right direction.

[Bouncer]

"tone" "cut" "ripped" "shredded" just means your bodyfat is so low that you can see all the individual muscles etc.

You want what everyone wants, you want to be ripped while maintaining or adding muscle mass.

[rhetoric]

Yes, and I will get to that point by next year. Help me do the best I can do in the next 2 months first though.

[Bouncer]

its a mistake to chase both goals.

do one and then the other. since it is summer and you admit you are holding to much fat i would advice you focus on getting rid of it. once you are lean, then slowly add in cals to put on muscle without much fat.

[RAFAEL NADAL]

Yes,This is quite a common goal these days.Being getting ripped and also adding muscle mass.I think that you have to eat as much as you can,several meals per day and than try to work out as much as you can.1-2 hours work out is necessary the goal that you mentioned above...

[rhetoric]

its a mistake to chase both goals.

do one and then the other. since it is summer and you admit you are holding to much fat i would advice you focus on getting rid of it. once you are lean, then slowly add in cals to put on muscle without much fat.

Ok...I've decided to take your advice and am trying to cut the rest of the fat. I'm weight training 4 days / week and doing Interval Training 2 of the off days with Sunday completely off.

I've been doing a 50% carb, 30% prot, 20% fat breakdown of calories on weight training days. And a 40% carb, 30% prot, 30% fat breakdown on every other day.

According to the website I use to track my calories, I need about 2,450 calories to maintain my current weight. I've currently cut back to about 2,000.

Should I actually be keeping my calorie intake at 2,450? How much should I cut this back while I'm in fat loss mode?

[Scrumhalf]

I would go with a 50% protein, 30% carb and 20% fat breakdown myself if you can stay at 1.5g of protein /lb of bodyweight while doing so. You can bump up the carbs to 40% on the cardio days if you feel beat, but otherwise stick to 50% protein.

[rhetoric]

Wow! 50% protein seems like a lot.

Is that 1.5g per lb of LEAN body weight? or just my current body weight? I can't calculate my Lean Body Mass yet since I don't know my body fat %...but I did order a set of calipers the other day and they should be here soon.

I'll assume you mean Lean body weight. And I'll take a guess that my lean body weight is 165lbs. (I'm 6'3, 195 right now. I think I would look quite trim but not skinny at 180-185 probably)

If my lean body weight is 165lbs X 1.5g/lb = 247.5g of protein X 4 cals/gm = 990 cals of Protein. Feel free to correct any calculations I'm doing wrong.

If that's 50% of my total cals, then I should be at around 1,980 cals total. Is my math right there?

Thanks again!

[Scrumhalf]

No, 50% protein is not too much. If you are taking in 2000 Kcal, 50% of that equates to 250g of protein which is 1.3g per lb of your bodyweight, not too far from the 1.5g/lb that is generally recommended for bodybuilding.