Lesser of two evils...

[dangeraardvark]

So my FitDay account says that my maintenance calories are around 4800, taking my job into account (on feet all day, lots of heavy lifting) and hitting the gym every day. I've been dieting for about a month so far. So, my problem is that for a month I've been eating WAY under what my supposed maintenance is; always under 2000 calories a day and often around 1500.

My main concern is that I've slowed my metabolism down to the point that I'm losing weight slower than I could be. I mean at the rate of calorie usage that Fitday says my body should be at, I should be losing about half a pound per day. And that definately ain't happening.

So, on to my real question... I've come to the conclusion that I should eat more. The problem (seems to be a lot of these) is that healthy food is expensive. And more to the point, completely rehauling my diet is going to take a while. In the meantime, what's better: eating randomly at the right amount of calories to try and speed up my metabolism or continuing on my current diet of eating relatively clean but at the expense of always eating too far under maintenance.

[Unholy]

On the real I would not expect to lose 3.5lbs a week steadily.

[monkeyarms]

So my FitDay account says that my maintenance calories are around 4800....
How long did you track your calories to come to this conclusion? You can't really get an accurate reading until you've tracked for a few months--especially if you start tracking at the start of a cut or bulk, or if you switch between bulking/cutting a lot....



My main concern is that I've slowed my metabolism down to the point that I'm losing weight slower than I could be.
I really doubt that is happening. You can slow down & speed up your metabolism to a point, but if you're working hard every day and hardly eating, your body HAS to dip into its fat (and probably muscle) stores to survive.....


I mean at the rate of calorie usage that Fitday says my body should be at, I should be losing about half a pound per day. And that definately ain't happening.

How long have you been on this cut?


So, on to my real question... I've come to the conclusion that I should eat more.
You should, but not because you've slowed your metabolism down or any of that nonsense--because you don't want to lose muscle!


The problem (seems to be a lot of these) is that healthy food is expensive.
Some is, some isn't.


In the meantime, what's better: eating randomly at the right amount of calories to try and speed up my metabolism or continuing on my current diet of eating relatively clean but at the expense of always eating too far under maintenance.
I would eat 500 (or at the MOST) 1000 cals below maintenance, lift hard, and break the meals into however many you need. Personally, when I'm restricting calories I absolutely cannot eat 6 meals a day because the portion sizes have to be so small that I feel like I'm teasing myself and never actually get a decent meal. I normally eat 7 meals a day while bulking, and 3 or 4 while cutting. Again, personally I don't think that meal frequency is quite as big of a deal as some make it out to be. Just make sure you hit your calorie goal for each day, give it some time (be patient!) and you'll be fine.