Help me out - too many, or too few calories?

[malkore]

Ok, so for about a month now, I've been sticking as close to 2,000 calories a day as possible.
Lift full body, 3x a week, mostly compound stuff (very much liek Chad Waterbury's Total Body Training from T-nation.com). do cardio 2-3 days a week, sometimes its a jog, a fast walk, or elliptical.

I'm 5'9", 29yrs, male, 193lbs, approx 24% bodyfat (ugh). my job is a computer tech over the phone, so very much seated work, minimal walking required.

BMR comes up at 1950cals. dependign on my 'activity modifier' for the harris benedict formula, my actual daily intake estimates anywhere from 2,400 to 2,900 cals per day.

So, here's the issue. In the past month, I've not lost any total weight, nor any body fat per my Tanita scale, which is consistent with itself. Also a 4pt skinfold caliper showed the same bodyfat % (23.5%).

Is the consensus that my daily calorie needs just aren't very high...that 2,000cals plus 5 hours a week of activity still isn't enough calorie deficit to drop the weight?
Or, am I simply under-eating, and thus hindering my progress?

I need some educated opinions on this so I can either drop another 200cals and see if that does it, or, if I need to increase my 200-300 cals to get outta starvation mode. Last thing I wanna do is breakdown muscle mass for energy (though I can't say I've felt lethargic).

Here's my fitday food log so you can see I'm eating good stuff, 6 times a day.
http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJ...l?Owner=malcor

(yes, there are a couple cheats in there, but i try to build them into my total daily intake so I didn't exceed 2000).

I'm just rather frustrated and paranoid about what I need for maintenance. 5 years ago I did Body for LIFE, and was down to 148lbs, but still had some stomach flab. Then I bulked up a bit, then turmoil in my life blew away all my progress.

but i felt like body for life caused some muscle loss due to their diet setup.

and if you think 3x a week fullbody is not conducive to fat loss, please explain why, and offer up suggestions.

thanks in advance.

[RobLL]

I'll bet your current diet and workout is close to a solution. Patience and perhaps some adjustment. Not an expert but there are many on site. I am always suspicious of body fat measurements. This is a parameter which is incredibly difficult to accuratly measure. What is happening with your dimensions, like waist etc? Good Luck Rob

ps any body interested in a thread on body fat measurement?

[Lost Dog]

It can go in waves. Give it more time. If maint is 2400-2900, it doesn't seem like you are too low.

3 times a week, total body is great.

[RacerBill]

LD is right. A one-month plateau is nothing unusual. Often I'd stall out for 6 weeks or so, then begin dropping another pound or so a week for a while.

Stay with it, and be patient.