Calories-

Now this is the part where I feel most people restrict themselves too much. Hopefully, I can let you see the angle I'm coming from here.
Its time to start talking about numbers, It's common when people start talking about getting in shape, they assume the most important numbers are the numbers of sets, reps or weight on the bar!

We all know the saying you can't out train a bad diet...

Calories in your diet are like space in a room.... Usually at the start of your diet your calories are high. You have tons of room - you are without restriction.
If you cut to big a chunk out of those calories or cut to quick - your gonna have nowhere to go, start getting claustrophobic, stress sets in and your room now feels like a prison and you just want to GET OUT!.

WHATS THE RUSH?....

The problem is, I thought the quicker I cut the calories the quicker I would get in shape. But if you want to preserve your muscle mass you gotta take your time...It's a process that's not gonna happen over night.

All depending on genetics the average amount of muscle mass you can build on a training program is 1/2 lb per week(Menshealth - Stuart Phillips, Ph.D. McMaster University in Ontario)

Now it got me thinking... If the muscle building process is so slow... What happens if I flip that for fat loss. If my goal is to preserve as much muscle mass as possible then maybe my fat loss should be as slow too. As I mentioned earlier a lot of litterateur on the internet states for a fat loss program to cut 500 calories from your diet a day. This equates to 3500 calls over the week which is supposedly all you need to cut to lose 1lb a week, but unfortunately - for me that never happens! I end up losing 4-6lbs in a week and probably some hard earned muscle- and that my friend is an unsustainable long-term process and will result in an unproductive cutting phase.

SO! If my theory is correct that we can only lose fat as efficiently without sacrificing muscle in a similar fashion to how efficiently we can gain muscle then, then it's not a 3500 calorie a week deficit I will need(1lb/week) but a more conservative 1750(.5lb/week) calorie deficit...

Anyway

all in all, I have a different method to how I calculate my numbers...

STARTING CALORIES

I like to lift weights 3 days a week.

Resources for cutting calories on the internet generally recommend somewhere around the 11 to 14 calories per lb of body weight and when you're bulking it's 17 - 20.
But what I'm going to do for my diet, I will be starting around the middle at 15 calories per lb of body weight(woman generally come in around 13 calories per lbs). This will work out at the calorie intake for someone looking to maintain their body weight working out 3-5 times a week. Yes, I said MAINTAIN.