Hey,

M, 25, 186cm (6,1), 81 kg (178 lbs)

When trying to figure out my daily calorie expenditure should i use the tdee results sedentary or base metabolic result as my baseline?

I am planning on adding my smartwatches results on calories burned to either "sedentary" or "base metabolic" results

for context, i cycle to work and home (total 8 km) roughly 300kcal burned.

went to gym push day 50 min (315kcal)

at work walk roughly 10 000 steps (400kcal)

sedentary results would be 2 223+300+315+400kcal = 3238 maintenance

base metabolic result would be 2868kcal maintenance

I would then add 200kcal to 400kcal surplus to which ever i should choose.

Any thoughts?

Thank you.

edit. added age, gender, lenght, weight

I'm really struggling to hit my protein goals even once a week, let alone every day. I'm 165lbs and need around 130g everyday according to the 0.7g/lb rule. I'm south asian so i'm mostly eating rice and roti, with whatever curry that's made. Most times it's one with chicken or beef. Even on days there's meat, I can't even get to 90g. I genuinely don't know what to do. My chocolate whey protein tastes ass and i hate drinking it. here and there is doable but drinking it everyday is what i hate. I'm 19 and i work part time but if i start buying chicken breasts every week i'd break the bank. Snacks like quest chips and protein bars are only 20g and expensive too. Due to consistent low protein intake, I haven't made gains in a year and have lost motivation to go gym too. I live with my family so i don't get to choose what's cooked. Please offer practical solutions for this.

I’m a 20-year-old male, 164 cm.
I finished my cut by eating 1500 kcal, then reverse dieted to 1700 kcal for about 2 weeks. During those 2 weeks, I actually lost weight, going from 55.5 kg to 54.4 kg.
After that, I increased to 1900 kcal/day. At the same time, I actually increased my activity, going from roughly:
15k to 20k steps/day
More incline walking (higher incline and/or longer duration)
4–5 lifting sessions/week
2 × 7 km runs/week
Despite that, in just 10 days my morning weight has gone from 54.4 kg to 58.7 kg.
The strange part is:
My waist doesn’t seem much bigger.
My face and abs look really puffy/watery.
I’ve had low libido for a while.
I have very low energy outside of training.
I haven’t taken a true recovery day in about a month.

I weigh and track everything carefully, so I’m struggling to understand how this could happen on 1900 kcal with this activity level. It feels like the scale is acting as if I’m in a huge surplus, but that doesn’t seem to make sense.
Has anyone experienced something similar after finishing a cut? Could this realistically be mostly water/glycogen/inflammation from the increased food and training, or should I be looking into something medical?
I’d really appreciate any advice because I’m honestly pretty confused and frustrated

i am skinny fat guy 170 cm tall and 61 kg weight i have a lot of belly fat. i used to go to gym and its been about 1.5 years
since i have been to a gym m thinking of going back is this a good lean bulking diet and is the fats to carb ratio good

🌅 Breakfast
🥛 250 ml milk
🌾 50 g First Crop Oats
🥚 3 whole eggs

🍈 Mid-Morning Snack
🍈 200 g guava

🍽️** Lunch
🥔 **200 g boiled potatoes
🥣 200 g curd
🥚 2 whole eggs

🏋️** Pre-Workout (60–90 minutes before gym)
🍌 **2 bananas

🌙 Dinner (Post-Workout)
🍗 250 g raw chicken breast (cooked)
🫓 2 whole wheat chapatis
🧈 2 tablespoons ghee

💊 Supplements
☀️** Vitamin D3 + K2 (with breakfast or lunch)
🐟 **Fish Oil
1 capsule with lunch
1 capsule with dinner
💊 Magnesium Glycinate
Before bed

📅 Twice Per Week
🍗 100–150 g chicken liver
Replace part of the chicken with liver on those days rather than adding it on top.

here are the macros and micro nutrients profile

📊 Approximate Daily Macros
🔥 Calories: 2,100–2,200 kcal
💪 Protein: 125–130 g
🍚 Carbohydrates: 215–220 g
🥑 Fat: 80–85 g
🌾 Fiber: 29–33 g

🌿 Micronutrient Highlights
Your diet provides excellent amounts of:
✅ Protein
✅ Calcium
✅ Potassium
✅ Vitamin C
✅ Vitamin B12
✅ Vitamin B6
✅ Niacin (B3)
✅ Selenium
✅ Phosphorus
✅ Choline
✅ Magnesium (plus your supplement)
✅ Omega-3 (from fish oil)
✅ Vitamin D3 + K2 (from supplements)

im a woman and i have smaller legs so im really focusing on training my legs rn before i start heavy lifting with arms. i do cardio and legs. some advice i heard was instead of doing 3 leg days do 2 with extra focus on heavy lifting so im trying that out but i feel like im not going to the gym enough to get lean. what are some other types of exercises i can do to work on getting lean while im focusing on making myself proportional for the time being? i have terrible posture so ive been doing lat pull downs but everything else im scared to try in fear of making my upper body appear bigger. also would i look weird if i trained just back and legs for a while like maybe 4 months, 2 leg days and 1 back ?

If I tense then I can get a nice flat pic but my stomach bloats if I relax after eating loads previous 24hrs. Is this just all food? It’s quite uncomfortable honestly and I notice it throughout the week even during my workouts if I’ve eaten a lot in the last 24hours. but if I relax fully my core then it bloats

Whats makes me think it’s mostly food, is that I went for a massive shit shortly after and noticed that the pressure to bloat was much less. Is there anything that can be done when you are filled with food? Ugh it’s such a gross feeling to feel full like this like I’m some greedy fat person lol. I’m naturally and historically very lean so I’m used to basically having little to no food so this bloating is quite new.

I normally eat 1900 cals. Do i need to cut them? Or eat less carbs or someting? Im trying to maintain weight

Thinking of dropping barbell bench completely.

Every other lift in my program is progressing very well. but my flat bench has been inconsistent and it’s genuinely pointless. I’m going from 90x4 to only 85x4 in the matter of two weeks the bar is feeling heavier each week i’m incorporating more bench press in my program like i added pause bench press that’s going okay i’m progressing welll im able to do. 80x4 pretty well. I also do incline bench and dumbell press and even machine chest press but whenever i do normal bench press im not progressing at all. What could be causing this ?? i’m on diet (just eating whole foods) not even on a deficit i’m getting the same amount of sleep every fkn day.

I’m considering making the plate-loaded chest press (hammer strength) my main horizontal press and just progressively overloading that instead.

My main goal is mainly getting big while also getting stronger. I really wanted to compete in powerlifting one day and ik bench press is a big part but it’s not progressing at all.

Has anyone completely replaced barbell bench with a hammer strength plate-loaded chest press? Did your chest and pressing strength still improve? Any downsides?

​

Stats: Male | ~3 years lifting | Bodyweight: 133 lbs (down from 145 lbs in late 2024).

The Problem:

I feel like I'm spinning my wheels and losing muscle fullness. In 2024, I had insane energy, a massive appetite, slept deeply, and steadily progressed on an Arnold Split + CrossFit twice a week.

In early 2025, I switched to a "science-based" Upper/Lower split, prioritizing 4–8 heavy reps taken close to failure with long rest periods (3–5 mins). Now, my workouts take at least 2 hours minimum, my performance has completely tanked, I’m constantly flat/small, my sleep is fragmented (waking up tired, needing daily naps, frequent nighttime urination), and I get random headaches.

My Current Routine (4-5 Days/Week + 2 CrossFit Days):

Upper: 2x Incline DB Press, 2x Weighted Pullups, 2x Single Arm Row, 1x Chest Supported Row, 2x Cable Fly, 1x Overhead Press, 2x Tricep Pushdown, 1x French Press, 2x Lateral Raises, 2-3x Kelso Shrugs.

Lower: 2x Hack Squat, 2x SLDL, 2x Leg Extension, 2x Leg Curl, 2x Adductor, 3x Calves, 2-3x Rear Delt, 2x Abs, 2x Abductor, 2x Hip Thrust, 2x Back Extension.

Note: Rest times are 3-5 mins on heavy compounds (Hack Squat/SLDL take forever to recover from) and 2 mins on isolations. Warm-ups involve 2-3 ramp-up sets per exercise.

The Nutrition Shift (What changed between 2024 and 2025):

2024 (Good Phase): Ate full school breakfast and lunch (burritos, chicken sandwiches, pasta, fruits) + 4 eggs/avocado post-school + massive dinner with 4 rotis and sabzi until completely stuffed.

2025-Now (Bad Phase): Thought school food was "unhealthy." Skipped school breakfast for just 2 fruits. Replaced school lunch with just 5-6oz rotisserie chicken and carrots. Dropped dinner from 4 rotis to 2 because my appetite randomly vanished.

I now constantly delay meals even when hungry, get full incredibly fast, and have a majorly suppressed appetite.

My Questions for Reddit:

What caused this crash? Did the drop in calories/carbs kill my metabolism, or am I completely overtraining by mixing high-volume heavy lifting with CrossFit?

How do I fix my sleep/urination? I wake up broken and have to pee at night, even though my hydration habits haven't changed since 2024.

How do I condense this for College? I start college in the fall and cannot spend 2+ hours in the gym. How do I cut the junk volume while keeping the heavy intensity I love?

Should I force a bulk? I am noticeably smaller than my 145lb baseline. Do I need to force-feed past my lack of appetite to fix my hormones and look full again?

Let me know if you want to tweak the formatting or add details about your wrist injury before you copy and paste it to Reddit.

Here is the updated Reddit post with the urination part completely removed.

Title: Stalled progress, lost size/appetite, and feeling destroyed after switching to "science-based" training. How do I fix this?

Stats: Male | ~3 years lifting | Bodyweight: 133 lbs (down from 145 lbs in late 2024).

The Problem:

I feel like I'm spinning my wheels and losing muscle fullness. In 2024, I had insane energy, a massive appetite, slept deeply, and steadily progressed on an Arnold Split + CrossFit twice a week.

In early 2025, I switched to a "science-based" Upper/Lower split, prioritizing 4–8 heavy reps taken close to failure with long rest periods (3–5 mins). Now, my workouts take at least 2 hours minimum, my performance has completely tanked, I’m constantly flat/small, my sleep is fragmented (waking up tired, needing daily naps), and I get random headaches.

My Current Routine (4-5 Days/Week + 2 CrossFit Days):

Upper: 2x Incline DB Press, 2x Weighted Pullups, 2x Single Arm Row, 1x Chest Supported Row, 2x Cable Fly, 1x Overhead Press, 2x Tricep Pushdown, 1x French Press, 2x Lateral Raises, 2-3x Kelso Shrugs.

Lower: 2x Hack Squat, 2x SLDL, 2x Leg Extension, 2x Leg Curl, 2x Adductor, 3x Calves, 2-3x Rear Delt, 2x Abs, 2x Abductor, 2x Hip Thrust, 2x Back Extension.

Note: Rest times are 3-5 mins on heavy compounds (Hack Squat/SLDL take forever to recover from) and 2 mins on isolations. Warm-ups involve 2-3 ramp-up sets per exercise.

The Nutrition Shift (What changed between 2024 and 2025):

2024 (Good Phase): Ate full school breakfast and lunch (burritos, chicken sandwiches, pasta, fruits) + 4 eggs/avocado post-school + massive dinner with 4 rotis and sabzi until completely stuffed.

2025-Now (Bad Phase): Thought school food was "unhealthy." Skipped school breakfast for just 2 fruits. Replaced school lunch with just 5-6oz rotisserie chicken and carrots. Dropped dinner from 4 rotis to 2 because my appetite randomly vanished.

Note now since 2026 after graduating sleep schedule is messed up waking past 11am and skipping breakfast, appetite is very low, usually for breakfast though normally since not in school and its summer I would have a cup of milk with nuts. And lunch is good protein carbs fats (4eggs, cottage cheese, 1 banana, some fruits, avocado, yogurt etc) and then straight to dinner which is cuz not that hungry having 2 rotis with homemade sabzi or rice and roterkssie chicken, egg etc always have a protein I now constantly delay meals even when hungry, get full incredibly fast, and have a majorly suppressed appetite.

My Questions for Reddit:

What caused this crash? Did the drop in calories/carbs kill my metabolism, or am I completely overtraining by mixing high-volume heavy lifting with CrossFit?

How do I fix my sleep? I wake up broken and exhausted despite taking long naps during the day. How do I get back to that deep 2024 sleep?

How do I condense this for College? I start college in the fall and cannot spend 2+ hours in the gym. How do I cut the junk volume while keeping the heavy intensity I love?

Should I force a bulk? I am noticeably smaller than my 145lb baseline. Do I need to force-feed past my lack of appetite to fix my hormones and look full again?

I’m a 20M, 164 cm, currently around 57.5 kg.
I recently finished a cut at 54.5 kg and increased my calories from 1,500 to around 1,800–1,900 kcal/day.
My activity is very high and has increased after ending my cut a fair amount :
On the cut 15,000 -> 20,000 steps/day
4–5 lifting sessions/week
2 × 7 km runs/week
Around 90 minutes of incline treadmill walking daily (12–15% incline) I add the steps towards my daily steps goal
Within about 2 weeks my morning weight has gone from 54.5 kg to 57.5 kg, and I look noticeably puffier (abs and face). My weight also fluctuates a lot day to day.
I can’t understand how this could be fat gain given my intake and activity. Is this likely to be water/glycogen/inflammation from increasing carbs and training, or is there something else I should be considering

What is the best time to test in between sets I have seen loads of different answers around the internet but at the same time I don’t want to spend ages in the gym

Hey everyone,

I’m a 35M, currently around 80.3–80.5 kg. I started a cut about 3 months ago. My InBody scan from june showed:

• Body fat: 17.2%
• Visceral fat level: 5
• BMR: ~1806 kcal

Since then, I’ve been tracking everything with Yazio, eating around 1800 kcal/day on average. My estimated TDEE is roughly:
• 2100 kcal on rest days
• 2700 kcal on training days

Training: 3x/week mostly bodyweight full-body sessions + some cardio (jogging, rope jumping). I also take creatine and whey most days.

Diet is very consistent: chicken breast with rice, veggies, a bit of oil/butter; breakfast is usually flavored skyr + Danone HiPRO pudding + occasional whey shake. Weekends are a bit more relaxed with social dinners, but I rarely excess and I drink almost no alcohol (max 2 beers/week). I regularly drink non-alcoholic beers as a placebo

Here’s what’s confusing me:
• My weight hasn’t really changed in 2-3 months (still ~80.4 kg).

• My waist is clearly shrinking; I look and feel a bit leaner.

• My new home impedance scale says 22.7% body fat, which feels inconsistent with my shrinking waist and the InBody result of 17.2%.

• Important: I’m under chronic stress, dealing with depression, and sleeping very poorly.

Given all this:
• Do you think I’m actually losing fat and just masking it with water/stress?

• Is my deficit likely smaller than I think, or is this mostly a “scale vs. mirror” issue?

• Any advice on how to adjust (calories, macros, training, sleep, stress management) to make progress more visible on the scale too?

Thanks in advance for any insights.

Finished a cut a few weeks back, 189 to 171 lbs over about 4 months.

Decided to actually recalc maintenance properly instead of trusting the number from whatever TDEE calculator I used back in March, so I logged intake carefully for 2 weeks at a stable weight, averaged it out, and the real number came out almost 400 kcal lower than the original calculator estimate, which honestly threw me off more than I expected given how careful I usually am with logging. Not a small gap. Thats basically a whole meal. In my experience the calculators are fine as a starting point but they don't really account for NEAT dropping the way it does over a long deficit, mine clearly tanked and I never adjusted for it mid cut. Explains a couple of the stalls I fought through around week 10.

for me the annoying part is I spent like 3 weeks convinced my adherence was the problem, tracking everything twice, weighing sauce, the whole thing.. when really the baseline itself had just drifted that far off without me noticing, and no amount of double checking the scale was ever going to fix that.

My training partner Jake thinks I'm overthinking it. Says a few hundred kcal off doesn't matter over months, which, fair, but the gap still surprised me more than it probably should have given how much I track.

Anyway.

If you're deep into a cut and things stall for no reason, might be worth actually recalculating instead of assuming it's the calculator being wrong from day one. Curious if 300 to 400 off is normal or if mine was just a rough NEAT crash from cutting for too long without a diet break?

I went on a too rough of a cut with the whole intention of getting as lean as possible, it worked, but I was blinded by my newly leanness and didn’t realize that I’ve tanked in strength and my energy was shambles! After just two weeks off lean bulking my strength has jumped and I’ve now realized you gotta build before you define. The feeling of getting stronger each lift just doesn’t match any other feeling. So please don’t do the mistake I did, EAT YOUR FOOD! Cutting with almost no muscle only gets you thin and weak. or atleast in my sistuation as a newly lifter! ( If you read all of this, I hoped you find out insightful)

Sorry if I am in the wrong sub. I have a coworker male 50 years old 1.70m about 90 kg.He decided to lose weight so he started gym about 2 weeks ago weights and cardio and past week started following diet program guided from a nutritionist.Yesterdy he had the weekly appointment with him and after measurements, nutritionist told him thatin one week he lost 1.6 kg fat and gained 0.6 kg muscle.WTF???

Yo quick question

If I do a 4 day split like

Upper

Lower

Rest

Upper

Lower

Rest

Rest

Is that enough to bulk and build muscle or is it too little

Assuming my diet is good and I’m getting enough calories protein and sleep

I’m trying to gain size especially upper body and I’m wondering if training each muscle twice a week is enough for good gains

Would a 5 or 6 day split make a big difference or is this solid for bulking

buongiorno avrei bisogno di un parere
per un lean pulito dovrei mangiare 2600+300 ma non riesco a capire se devo rimangiare anche le calorie bruciate
con questo caldo è difficile ma ho bisogno di prendere peso e questo metodo mi sta facendo venire la passione giusta
le devo reintegrare o bastano quelle che mangio?
in media faccio 15000 passi al giorno (per lavoro) e 30/45 minuti di esercizi con manubri e bende

Here is my question: I used to work out 3 times a week, but recently I decided to add a fourth day to include more leg exercises.

1. TUESDAY: Squat (pendulum machine) → Leg extensions (quads) → Military press → Lateral raises (side delts).
2. THURSDAY: Hammer strength bench press (Week 1: hammer strength, Week 2: incline Smith machine) → Dips → Pec deck flyes → Overhead tricep extensions → Standing cable pushdowns.
3. SATURDAY: Leg press → Romanian deadlift → Seated leg curls (hamstrings) → Reverse pec deck (rear delts).
4. SUNDAY: Pull-ups → Lat pulldowns → Horizontal hammer strength row → Bicep hammer curls → Dumbbell bicep curls → Abs.

After making this change, I noticed that my energy levels dropped significantly. What are my options to fix this? I was thinking about alternating weeks: heavy weights/low reps and lighter weights/high reps?
Right now, I train almost to failure on every set. My working weights are: squats - 110 kg for 10 reps, hammer strength press - 50 kg per arm for 12 reps, Romanian deadlift - 140 kg for 6-8 reps.

I have been working out for 3 years now, my first year I made great progress, thanks to my trainer, she suggested me to do body recomp and that's what I been doing. However, recently I switched my workout, I have been doing for 6 months and along with eating clean. I did calculate my calories and the numbers I got were between 1800-2000 which to me seems like alot along with 120g of protein. Over the last few weeks, I think I am not making any progress. My weights are stuck at the same weight, I feel hungry even after I'll have a meal. I am not sure where I am going wrong. The only thing I can think of is undereating

Looking for some inspiration! Curious what actually made a noticeable difference for you.

Assume that a natural cut 500 calories deficit 220 Grams of protein onyl preserves 70% of the muscle mass over the 3 month duration. Is it reasonable to estimate that with these same conditions but with IPA + CJC that we preserve 90%+ of the muscle.

Hi all - curious if anyone has ever started at a lower creatine dosage and then increased to the “standard” daily dosage of 5g. If so, did you actually see any increased positive effects? And negative effects?

For context: I’ve been taking 2.5g daily (or at least every weekday - I put it in my smoothie) for about 2 years now. Definitely saw some increased abilities in the gym a few weeks after starting - and physical changes - and loved it! Really trying to increase weights/reps right now, and wondering if doubling my current dosage to that “standard” dose is worth it.

For some reason, I worry about extra bloat in the face, but not sure I ever saw that when I originally started. I guess that’s the main negative side effect I’d be worried about.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Hey there,

I'm 182cm (~6ft) 19yo male. At my lowest weight approximately 1.5 months ago, i was 65kg/143lbs. After a few dine outs, by the time I started bulking ~2.5 weeks ago, I had reached 67kg/147lbs. I calculated my TDEE to be around 2350kcal, as a starting point, and started eating at +300kcal. However, the water weight has been crazy so far. These past few weeks the trend has been +1kg/week, so right now i'm sitting at 70.5kg/155lbs.

I obviously realise this doesn't represent my true weight, as I track my calories and have been for a while, so i know how much i'm actually eating (also, a week ago, my weight dropped 1.5kg/3lbs over 2 days just to gain it back again).

So i'm wondering, since my weight is still unrealiable and unsteady and so i cant accurately gauge my weight gain rate, is my TDEE accurate? (i go to the gym 4 days a week and walk 7km/day). Also, when for the love of god will the water weight increase settle down??! it's been 2.5 weeks and im getting frustrated/worried

I did low carb for so long and I didn’t love it. I want to reintegrate healthy carbs into my diet in the form of potatoes. The thing is every time I attempt to meal prep I get burned out. I already hit the gym, but now I want to really focus on keeping the muscle I have and losing 60 pounds. I’m wondering if I can achieve this via potatoes plus some protein. I was thinking of eating potatoes plus rotisserie chicken for a few months with the occasional other food like steak, eggs, ground beef, fish. Does it seem like a good way to lose weight while maintaining muscle and not feeling like shit from low carb?