“How do you figure up what your maintenance calories are? And how much deficit you should have. I’m 5’06. 185-190. Would like to lose 5-10 mainly around my belly.”
Most calculators are bullshit, to some degree.
The only bulletproof way to determine your maintenance calories is through trial and error. Your body is your body, not some arbitrary calculation.
Your maintenance calories are the number of weekly calories required to maintain your current bodyweight, divided by seven.
Then if you want to lose weight, get yourself into a 10-15% calorie deficit based on the above maintenance number.
“How I can stop feeling sluggish after a eating food? Plz help me”
This is especially common with guys who are doing IF, are new to IF, and then break their fast at meal 1.
If you’re feeling sluggish after eating, then it’s because your relative blood sugar increase has been too drastic. You’ve got to eliminate sugar from your diet entirely (whenever you eat it, no matter what time of the day, it’s permanently screwing up your stable energy levels).
Secondly, limit the carbs at meal 1.
I usually focus on meat, veggies and eggs on my days off, and on training days I’ll have fruit. No bread, pasta or anything else at your meal 1 – guaranteed lower energy. Meal 2 is fine.
“Wanted to ask your opinion about what to do regarding my upcoming trip. I will be in Europe for 2 weeks and know my routine will take a hit. Any tips on maintaining all the progress I’ve made while knowing I will be eating and drinking throughout the trip.”
When travelling, I always suggest OMAD (One Meal A Day). This offers you maximum flexibility and enjoyment while travelling (your evening meal), without going overboard on the calories. Calories are #1 – never forget that.
After that, you need to make sure you’re getting enough protein, and for this, I suggest taking a load of protein powder with you. You can have a protein shake (with water) either just before or just after your main meal (whichever works best for you).
Another tip: Make sure you’re doing plenty of walking – this should be easy if you’re in cities, or you’re hiking somewhere in South America (I’m aware a lot of you American guys do this), and this may be more difficult to do if you’re on the typical beach vacation. Either way, get walking more and burn off some extra calories. My clients have had HUGE success with this.