the question is how does one calculate the minimum calories one should intake before going in starvation mode and burning muscle or slowing the metabolism?
"Starvation mode" doesn't exist. The truth is that in any caloric deficit you are going to experience muscle consumption to some extent. Slowing of the metabolism will also eventually happen in any caloric deficit.

Quote Originally Posted by Taylor
As I understand it (with only about 50% confidence, mind you) - if you're reducing your caloric intake and not exercising/strength training, you are likely to lose both fat and muscle (without "starvation mode") - muscle loss increases if you reduce your caloric intake below your BMR.

This seems to suggest that you should (ideally) shoot for the number of calories required by your BMR, and create the deficit through activity/exercise.
This is only partially true. As I said above, muscle consumption to some extent happens with any caloric deficit. To limit or offset this as much as possible, you need to perform some kind of progressive resistance training - i.e. weightlifting.

Quote Originally Posted by evanescence

Mega, do you know your BMR? Figure that out, a rough estimate, and eat right at that while exercising.
Uh, no. DO NOT DO THIS. Your BMR is your caloric maintenance level if you were laying in bed all day, i.e. being a comatose vegetable. Your real caloric maintenance level is going to be significantly higher, and is calculated by multiplying your BMR by a factor dependent upon your activity level. If you want to determine how many calories to eat to lose weight, use a calorie calculator to determine your caloric maintenance level (not BMR), and subtract 300-500 calories from this.

I have had nothing by success with that approach. Increase protein intake keeping in mind that your basic requirements are 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily. 10% of your diet should be fat. Eat very little saturated/transfat, but do focus on Omega3/6 fatty acids. The unsaturated fats are necessary for some metabolic processes, higher brain function, as well as vitamin B12 absorption. Completely cutting carbs is a terrible idea because that is the body's most basic fuel. Instead concentrate on whole grains instead of simple carbs.
Protein intake should be higher, somewhere in the range of 1.0-2.0g per lb lean body mass. After that, it doesn't really matter to any significant extent how many carbs or fat grams you take in. And cutting carbs out of your diet isn't a terrible idea because, first, that's pretty much impossible and second because your body is conditioned to adapt through ketosis and the conversion of dietary fat into energy. Lyle McDonald has written extensively on this subject.

Quote Originally Posted by megaprogman
About 60 lbs
I already wrote a guide on fat loss. Look through this forum, you'll find it probably on page 2 or 3.

Calculate your maintenance level, subtract 500. Calc out your required protein. Build a diet around this or just count calories (I prefer to do both, as it's easier to stay on a diet and then whenever I deviate I can make sure I'm still in my range). Lift 3x/wk. You don't need to do cardio for weight loss but you can if you want. That's it.

Ok since I am me (and I am nerdy like this), I built a chart yesterday for data analysis. This is what I have so far, which should answer some of the questions asked of me. I am off to walmart today or tomorrow to get something to measure my belly.

Today's data is not complete as the exercise minutes is a target, but the net calories worked out fairly low today so its probably best if I don't go any longer.

My BMR was calculated at 2796 once I put in my activity level at the everyday health website (where I log my food). In terms of activity, I am probably lightly to moderately active. I tend to be moving all day long at work (I am very hands on in how I like to do things) and am doing exercises or weight lifting every night with this P90X thing.

My weight hasn't moved much (about 5 lbs total) but I have gone down 2 notches on my belt. However, I am planning on getting a measuring tape since belt notches isn't exactly the world's best measuring standard.
I highly suggest that you don't get super anal about calculating out your required calories. Calories seriously are never going to be accurate enough for this to matter: the amount of calories you burn is going to vary even if you do the same thing every day. Also, caloric values on food packaging isn't entirely accurate. The best course of action is to just pick a rough starting point, hit that caloric value, and evaluate progress every three weeks. Make sure you're taking progress photos, weighing in and writing down your lifts so that you can get evaluate progress from three different perspectives (for example, your weight might not move, but if your lifts went up then you probably offset your fat loss with muscle gain). If you're not seeing any significant difference, then adjust your calories accordingly and run it for another three weeks.


Use a program like My Fitness Pal to track your calories and don't think about it so much throughout your day, just plug it in when you're eating and go about your business. Don't overthink/overanalyze it, you'll get burnt out.