What to eat??? page

[cmpitre]

I know in the Primal Blueprint we do not count calories but I am just starting out on this amazing journey and have a few questions about nutrition.
First off I will be using the P90X weight videos for my LHT days. The remainder of the week will be one day of sprinting up this really huge hill in my neighborhood and the rest of the days either playing golf (walking 18 holes no cart involved) and walking or playing with my dog.

My question about nutrition has to do with calories though. Can anyone tell me how many calories I should consume per day.
I am aiming for around 2300 to 2400. I am trying to stay at around 80 to 90 grams of carbs so the rest will be protein.
Any input from the rest of the blogging community will be greatly appreciated.

[DFH]

[HillsideGina]

Mark's Daily Apple Newbies Start Here

Start reading, and welcome!

[tradawg]

Eat until you're no longer hungry, but not until you're stuffed. Try it for a few weeks, if you start gaining weight, cut back a little. You have to experiment to see what works for you.

Also, you said 80-90 carbs and the rest protein....what about fat??

[cmpitre]

I also meant to add Fat.
Sorry I wrote that kind of quick.
I am not sure how to reach that caloric goal with that small amount of carbs. i almost have to eat 1.8 grams per pound of body fat in protein and a good bit of fats to reach this.
I came up with that amount of calories because I am looking to gain weight. I am not as lean as I want to be but I am tired of losing weight. I am 6'3 and weigh 175 lbs. I would like to be at 190 but I also want some lean mass and a low body fat %. Maybe I am tackling this the wrong way.
Should I just try to lean out now matter how much weight I lose then try to gain weight.
I do know that the P90X weight training days are pretty intense and can be taxing on your daily caloric intake.

[gojirama]

Picard facepalm! +1000000000

[tradawg]

I also meant to add Fat.
Sorry I wrote that kind of quick.
I am not sure how to reach that caloric goal with that small amount of carbs. i almost have to eat 1.8 grams per pound of body fat in protein and a good bit of fats to reach this.
I came up with that amount of calories because I am looking to gain weight. I am not as lean as I want to be but I am tired of losing weight. I am 6'3 and weigh 175 lbs. I would like to be at 190 but I also want some lean mass and a low body fat %. Maybe I am tackling this the wrong way.
Should I just try to lean out now matter how much weight I lose then try to gain weight.
I do know that the P90X weight training days are pretty intense and can be taxing on your daily caloric intake.

When you add fat to everything the calories add up quick. But if you're looking to gain, I'm not sure why you want to keep carbs low? Carbs will help you put on mass...eat em up!!!

[DFH]

cmpitre-

I should explain the Picard face palm above. I was just giving you a hard time. It's my way of saying welcome, noob!

All I can add is put the calculator away. That stuff comes from conventional wisdom nonsense, usually anyway.

Do Primal and eat real, healthy food. Calories are only estimates anyway. When I read sites where people start adding, dividing, and making ratios, it just looks like a bunch of nonsense and I quit reading it.

[cmpitre]

Thanks for the hard time DFH. I appreciate it. I know I shouldn't be using the calculator but I just feel I have lost enough weight (not body fat). I really do not want to lose weight but I would love to lose body fat. So I am not sure how to approach this issue. Should I a) lose the body fat then try to put on mass, or b) try to put on mass then lose the extra body fat. Is it possible to do both, especially following the Primal Blueprint.

Tradawg,
Are you saying that I should boost up to the 100 to 150 range of carbs.
If so should I also boost up the protein from say 1 gram to 1.5 grams per lb of lean mass.

I am looking at the BMR calculator online suggested by Mark as well as using the Harris Benedict activity factor.
If my calculations are correct my Total Average Daily Caloric Expenditure is 3,386 calories.
Now if I want to stay at the weight I am at but lose body fat should I eat this many calories with about 80 to 100 grams of carbs, 1.5 grams of protein per lb of lean body mass, then the rest made up of fats?

I am lost on what I should do, the examples in the book are about people wanting to lose weight but I am tired of losing weight, I just want to lose body fat and stay at the same weight or even gain some weight.

[RezH]

Guessing you don't want to mess with a leangains recomp, and all its macro-counting. One of the few proven ways to add muscle/lose fat simultaneously. Slow process though, one I'm doing right now.

If you want to gain weight, eat above your maintenance. Keep carbs around your workouts, low or zero carb at other times. Protein can be anywhere between 1-1.5g per lb, depending on how hungry you are.

One thing you should do is figure out your BF%. If you are still above 12%, lose some more before trying to gain muscle.