I’m 23 yr old, 5’11 and currently 185lb.
I’ve lifted since I was 13 yr old.
Back last May I weighed 210. I began my first cut with a goal to cut down to 170 and then begin a lean bulk. I started my cut at 2300 calories. When I stalled out I would make adjustments by cutting my calories a little at a time. My cut lasted through August. There were a couple of 1600 calorie days in this time frame toward the end but my weekly average never got below 1700. The lowest my bw got down to was 179 and I stalled again. So I decided about the middle of September to go to maintenance for the next few months and continue my cut after the new year. I gained about 5lb during this time. So here we are a week into my cut (1800 calories) and the scale has held at 185 every day for a week. My question is how long will I have to eat at maintenance for my metabolism to return to normal? Is eating maintenance even the answer or do I have to do the reverse dieting thing to get my fast metabolism back?
I didn’t read the wall of text but here’s the thing: if you are trying to stay TOO lean and are experiencing metabolic slowdown and dieting “symptoms” (I’m assuming that’s what you mean by “metabolic damage”), then it’s not about how many calories you are eating.
You will HAVE to gain some fat if you want to get out of that condition. Yes calories do matter, and eating at maintenance may not be the answer anyway (rather a surplus), but you probably shouldn’t be seeking the way to gain the least amount of fat possible because gaining fat is probably what you need to do in your situation.
Look up “3DMJ recovery diet.” That is not the same thing as a reverse diet. The latter has been found to be ineffective apparently.
Edit: all of this assuming that you are in fact actually very lean and having metabolic slowdown issues. Otherwise you’re just tricking yourself or miscalulating calories.
I estimated myself to be about 10% bf when I was at 179 so I was lean but not that lean. Im currently 185. I really don’t think I’ve been miscalculating my calories unless I need to be taking in less than 1800 calories.
Then have a look at the recovery diet by 3DMJ. Maybe you just need to gain a little bit of fat.
If you’ve been at maintenance for a while and you still feel rundown like when you’re dieting, you either aren’t actually at maintenance, or you need to increase your body fat levels by just a bit.
What was you daily intake during maintenance? 1800 is a pretty low intake to start at. I’m the same weight as you and I start a cut around 2500 calories. Also, it’s been a week… Fat doesn’t just melt off at high speed because you dropped your calories.
More than likely you need to focus on what your taking in food wise more than the calories. Even if your eating clean everyone’s body uses nutrients so differently it can really mess with you. Carb sensitive? Maybe your body doesn’t process certain fats well?? what proteins does your body use most effectively. it goes on and on.