This is Day 2 of p90x and the diet went well yesterday but I am told (from the beachbody forum) I should eat more, I want to get a 2nd,3rd,4th, etc...opinion.

I am a 5'11" male who weighs 220lbs. I have muscle but it covered in fat. My #1 goal is to lose fat. I can have up to 3200 calories but I went down to level II so my max would be 2999. I had about 1700-1800 calories yesterday and I felt fine, not hungry at all.

6:30am - p90x recovery drink
7:30am - protein shake, skim milk
10am - banana
12pm - 6oz chicken, 2 cups lettuce, 1oz feta cheese, 2tbl low-fat dressing
3pm - fiber one bar (close to a protein bar but less calories but also less protein)
6pm - 6oz chicken with 3 portions of veggies
7pm - another protein shake , skim milk

All this adds up to about 1750 calories or so

I do want to build muscle as well but my primary goal is to lose fat.

Should i force down more food?

Thank you in advance!

i would say be careful getting too LITTLE calories, as those others have cautioned you. you may feel ok now, but a few days (or weeks) from now, that may not be the same story. when does the workout occur in your schedule?

i would try to bump that up a bit, and where you can bump that up is breakfast. all you're having from the time you get up till lunch are 2 shakes and a banana? you're stunting your metabolism for the day by doing that, meaning you wont "rev" up your body as you would with a fuller, more balanced breakfast. and what better way to lose weight than to ramp up your metabolism for the day with a good breakfast.

just my $.02

I appreciateyour .02 cents

I workout at 5:30am so i usually finish about 6:30ish 7...depending on the workout. I have the p90x recovery drink right after and I was told to hold off from eating anything else until an hour has passed. I am assuming this will allow the recovery drink to do it's thing. You are right, I should eat more in the morning but I am at work an hour after my p90x recory drink. Maybe I will have something easy but solid along with my protein shake.

Today is only day 2 which I had plyo this morning. I can tell you I felt better yesterday at this time so I will consume more calories today.

I just do not feel right forcing food down when my goal is to lose fat.

Can i just react to how my body is feeling? I will not exceed my calorie intake but if I feel great, should i really force food down? My body fat is 18% so I have fat to burn.

They're right, you need more. You're going to start dragging ass in a couple days if you keep up the low calorie intake. Your body is going to adjust to your low calorie intake, so if you eat this little for very long you're going to pack on the pounds if you increase the calories any.

If you're bound and determined to be stubborn about eating so few calories, there are foods that have "negative calories". These are foods that result in a net loss of calories upon digestion of the food. These include most green vegetables, strawberries, and celery. Google Michi's Ladder. Pretty much everything on Tier 1 is either a negative calorie food or close to it. Print out a copy of Michi's Ladder and tape it to your fridge.

Also, if you eat too little calories you're going to lose muscle along with the fat. Don't be in such a hurry! That's how most diets FAIL. Go along with what the experts have to say who are much smarter than either you or I about this subject. They're the experts for a reason.

Thanks for the tip, i will google that.

Not one person has told me on this forum or the other that i am doing the right thing so i will eat more.

QUOTE:
I just do not feel right forcing food down when my goal is to lose fat.

i'm not sure if you watch the "Biggest Loser", but there was a prime example of this last season. Father and son, Ron and Mike, 2 fairly large guys, and the son was only 18. which means he should have been losing weight at break-neck speed. but they werent. why? because they werent getting enough calories to support the workout. they were so focused on this weight loss thing they kinda starved themselves. once bob or jillian (i dont remember who their trainer was at the time) got a handle on that, the pounds started FLYING off, especially for mike, being a young guy.

so yes, you must restrict calories, but to a point. you dont want your body thinking that you're going to starve, because it will start metabolizing your MUSCLES first for energy, and not the fat. it takes less for your body to maintain fat on your body. think of it like a car, if you're on a budget, and you have 2 cars, an expensive luxury import(muscle), and reliable regular car(fat). since the regular maintenance on the luxury will cost more (requires more calories just being there), you're gonna get rid of that first, if you're ever in a financial crunch (starvation).