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Are my calories COMPLETELY OFF? Please help.


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Hey all,

 

I'm new to the forums, and I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

 

I've been vegan for about 6 months, and have been going to gym steadily for about a year and a half. The gym has been mostly to gain general fitness, no real goals in mind.

 

About 6 months ago, I decided to start training "properly" with the intention of getting into shape and looking the way I've always wanted to look. I am 33, 189cm tall (6'2") and weigh 86kgs (190lbs). My bodyfat percentage (measured on a crummy old machine at the gym) is around 12-14%. I feel pretty good about how I look, but definitely want to put on more mass. I know that it's not an overnight thing, but I definitely feel like I'm not get bigger as fast as I should/could.

I go to the gym 5 times a week, for about 1 1/2hrs at a time. I have just started a 5 day push/pull split routine (I was doing a more upper body/lower body routine before), and do cardio at least 3 days, if not 4 or 5 (stationary bike or skipping rope).

 

I am currently on a 2100 calorie diet (for the past few months), aiming for 60 / 20/ 20, although it's generally more like 65-70 / 15 / 15. I really struggle to get my protein intake up. On most days I am just below 100grams/day. Ideally I would like it to be up at around 25-30%, but I just cannot fit it into my caloric amount. I am also not keen on taking supplements. I am hoping to do this just with the food that I eat.

I've done a couple of online calorie calculators and have had varied results. The most recent one I did was this one (http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator) which suggests that my calories should be up around 3000+ Is that possible, that I'm off by 1/3 of my calories, yet I still feel fine?

I've read so many stories of vegans talking about how they struggle to eat all of their calories in a day. In my case, I feel like I'm restricting myself on a daily basis. Not that I'm constantly hungry, It just seems like I'm eating a smaller amount than I should. I do generally feel quite satiated.

I have also read about metabolic damage, and have wondered if I might be in a state of metabolic damage, but I feel great 99% of the time. I have non of the symptoms that I have read about.

 

Any ideas/suggestions as to where to go with my diet? Any input and help would be hugely appreciated!

 

Thanks you and apologies for the long post!

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2100 calories for a 189 cm man is not nearly enough! Even if you're cutting, you should probably be eating more than that... I was losing weight rapidly on a 2100 cal diet, and i'm 175 cm, 67 kg... remember that your caloric expenditure increases as you get more muscular, and if you're also doing a lot of cardio it can really add up..

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The thing is that I've been on roughly this many calories for quite a few months and I haven't really lost much weight. A few kgs. But as mentioned, I've been hitting the gym pretty hard, and haven't really put on much weight either, in the form of muscle mass....

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