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Are my calculations correct?

jcandrus Posts: 16 Joined: 2002/10/08	2009/01/19, 04:27 PM Ok, I've FINALLY sat down to figure out exactly how many calories I need to lose weight while trying to keep muscle mass. I've checked out several sites and this is what I've come up with, please let me know if it looks right. First off, I'm 5'11", 225lbs and I lift weights and do some cardio 5x week. The cardio varies from 20 to 30mins each day. If I'm running late I sometimes only do 10-15 mins with the exception of Thursdays when it's always 30mins as that's group PT at work (Air Force). Based off of some sites it appears I need 2346 calories to lose weight (2900ish to maintain, which of course I don't want). I then used an "Activity Multiplier" calculator on www.bodybuilding.com to make sure I didn't get too low in calories due to working out. It put me at 3636 calories. I've read around and the macronutrient setups I've seen go with a 40/40/20 for Protein/Carbs/Fat or a 30/40/30 which follows the Zone diet. If I go with the 40/40/20 setup, it equates to 363g protein, 363g carbs and 80g fat (272/363/121 for zone). So my big question is do my calculations jive with my goal of losing weight (not rapidly) while keeping (and hopefully gaining) muscle mass? I've always read to do a 1g protein per lb of body weight so 363g of protein seem really high. Should I have done my macronutrient calculations before adding on the "activity multiplier" calculations? That would put me at 234/234/52 for the 40/40/20 and 175/234/78 for the zone diet. I hope this isn't too confusing...I tend to ramble when I speak AND when I type :)
jcandrus Posts: 16 Joined: 2002/10/08	2009/01/19, 05:20 PM I just realized my last paragraph made no sense. If I calculated before the "activity multiplier" I would be calculating my nutrition based off of not exercising at all. So the question in the second to last paragraph still stands =)