I'm trying to go leangains by the book, so to speak. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly what my "maintenance" level of calories would be. So, I'm just starting somewhere and making some small adjustments as I go.
Here is where I started (bodyweight 163 lb., aprox. 12-15% fat)
Exercise Days (3 days per week):
40g fat
350g carbs
195g protein
Rest Days (4 days per week):
65g fat
80g carbs
195g protein
This averaged out to just about 2000 cal per day.
I shaved off about 10g of carbs from the workout days, because it just seemed a little carb heavy to me.
After about 2 weeks, I'm down to 160.5 lbs, so that's an average loss of 1.25 lb per week. Of course, it can fluctuate daily, so I can't be that specific. At any rate, I started thinking that 2000 cal was just too low for maintenance. I'm trying to go just a little under maintenance because my plan is to lean out a bit before trying to bulk (as suggested in leangains)
So, about 2.5 weeks in, I've upped the calories to an average of about 2100 per day, as follows:
Exercise Days (3 days per week):
40g fat
340g carbs
200g protein
Rest Days (4 days per week):
65g fat
100g carbs
200g protein
I'm tracking calories pretty tight right now, just to keep good records. I'm eating pretty much like paleo + dairy on rest days, and on exercise days, I supplement that with some oatmeal, beans, or pasta to up the carb intake.
It's been tough doing such a low fat diet, as I enjoy things like coconut milk or almonds, or fried food, or ice cream. I've been a little hungry on the low-cal days, but I think that's the point right now. I'm ok with being a little under on calories until I get to about maybe 155lbs, or maybe around 10% body fat. Then, I might be a little more careful not to go overboard with weight loss. My goal with this, after all, is to gain as much muscle as possible. I'm not too concerned with the "leaning out" thing, except that according to the leangains strategy, it's easier to gain muscle when lean, so I'll try that method.
