a couple of diet approaches

[stevie]

what is a better approach for fat loss (approx 8kg fat preferably over a 3month period, but if it takes longer then it takes longer)?

1)reduce daily calories by 500kcals. when you stop loosing weight reduce by a futher 500kcals etc

2)immedeately drop from 20xBW cals (my current intake) to 12xBW cals, and remain at 12xBW cals for duration.

both methods would include cardio 3times/week.

also, how about the following?:

need to loose 8kg fat in 3months ~ 17lbs in 13weeks

1lb fat = 3,500kcals
therefore, 17lbs = 59500kcals under maintenance must be consumed over 13 weeks

59500/13= 4577kcals/week

so consuming 654kcals/day below maintainence would result in 8kg of fat loss over 13weeks: expect 1.5ishkg decrease in weight every 2weeks.

(just realised that this would pretty much equal 12xBW calories)

ok....we could reduce this question into much simpler terms: which would give better results, rapid fat loss/hard dieting or slow fat loss/moderate dieting? lets pretend i am a really patient man, and i have all the dedication to see whichever method through all the way. does it make any difference?

 

[KingProtein]

Quote[/b] (stevie @ Nov. 18 2003,7:06)]

Quote[/b] ]what is a better approach for fat loss (approx 8kg fat preferably over a 3month period, but if it takes longer then it takes longer)?
1)reduce daily calories by 500kcals. when you stop loosing weight reduce by a futher 500kcals etc
2)immedeately drop from 20xBW cals (my current intake) to 12xBW cals, and remain at 12xBW cals for duration.
both methods would include cardio 3times/week.

Choice 2, in my opinion, because how can you realistically tell when you've stopped losing weight? If you're shooting for moderate 1.5lb/loss per week, water fluctuations will make the scale too unreliable in the short term. By the time you've noticed that the scale hadn't budged in a while, you would have already wasted a week or so that you could've been dieting. I like the sure thing. And I'm not advocating 12xBW per se, that multiplier tends to be very individiual (and personally I find it better to base that number on LBM rather than BW).

Quote[/b] ]
also, how about the following?:
need to loose 8kg fat in 3months ~ 17lbs in 13weeks
1lb fat = 3,500kcals
therefore, 17lbs = 59500kcals under maintenance must be consumed over 13 weeks
59500/13= 4577kcals/week
so consuming 654kcals/day below maintainence would result in 8kg of fat loss over 13weeks: expect 1.5ishkg decrease in weight every 2weeks.
(just realised that this would pretty much equal 12xBW calories)

I've tried to quantify fat loss in just the same ways, for months on end too. I'd calculate what I thought my maintenance caloric level was, and figure I'd need to cut by X calories a day for Y days to reach my goal. Never worked out though, not even close - and I was very meticulous about measuring every detail. Perhaps your metabolism doesn't slow like mine though.

Quote[/b] ]
ok....we could reduce this question into much simpler terms: which would give better results, rapid fat loss/hard dieting or slow fat loss/moderate dieting? lets pretend i am a really patient man, and i have all the dedication to see whichever method through all the way. does it make any difference?

I hate to give you an answer like this, because I dislike answers like this myself, but this is very individual. I used to prefer cutting calories as low as possible, however I've had to rethink this approach because of a rediculous ratio of LBM lost while dieting. Thus in my last cutting phase I went with a lighter deficit and found my muscle retention was markedly improved. However, depending on factors like genetics and metabolism, you may be able to have a bit more flexibility. If time is no object, I'd play it safe and start with a 500 calorie or so deficit. If you don't truly know your maintenance level though, it could mean a lot of guesswork and tweaking for a few weeks until you get things set up just right.