Should I Still Lift Hard While Eating a "College Diet"

Hi ladies and gentlemen,

I would consider myself to be pretty strong. I've been playing around with heavy squats, deadlifts, benches for two years. Of course, those two years I was lucky enough to be blessed with a mom who knows how to cook good, healthy dishes. Now that I'm 18 and I'm off to be an in-debt college student, I will not have the time nor money to continue a healthy 3000 calorie diet. 

Orginally, I thought college will be a great time to really get cut. Easy way to get myself to 8% BF in a couple of months while getting my education. But should I continue to lift heavy with only a salad and hotpocket in my stomach? I certainly don't want to lose my hard-earned arms/chest/legs, but I certainly don't want to end up in the emergency room. So my question is: if I cut to a 1500 calorie diet, is it safe to continue on my heavy routine?

its safe you just wont gain muscle..

"Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated."
"The only thing you are guaranteed at birth is death. You have a right to that. The rest is earned."

You'd be crazy not to. Lifting hard while on a caloric deficit will go a long way towards keeping muscle size and strength while cutting. You'll probably lose a little bit, but it will be a hell of a lot better than the alternative. Just make sure protein is the last thing you are sacrificing on your reduced calorie diet. This is all just my opinion from my experience. One of the gurus here might be able to give you better advice.

Age: 26 Height: 5'10
Weight as of 8/31/08: 160lbs.
Current weight: 178lbs.
Semi-Clean Bulkin!
Current Maxes as of 6/4/08:
Squat: 250lbs.
Deadlift: 255lbs.
Bench: 285lbs.

Keep lifting heavy just make sure form is still intact and you get your sleep that's all I can say.

Thanks for the advice peeps. Yea, protein is definitely the last thing I'm gonna sacrifice. 13 bucks for a protein-powder jar is still in my budget. As for getting enough sleep, I dunno bout that, hope my profs aren't too crazy lol.

Cutting out on calories is bad enough in the sense that you cutting out the essential vitamins and minerals your body needs to just function well so it becomes hard to be able to lift heavy correctly.

So by not receiving the needed sleep you need you just making it even harder to lift heavy with correct form. So just be careful on that and try to buy a multi-vitamin that comes from whole foods instead the diet section I think talks about which ones to get.

What kind of college are you going to?  Mine had a meal plan, that included an all-you-can-eat cafeteria.  We would stock up on milk & cereal there, in bottles and bags, and take it back to our room to have on hand.  not to mention, while in there, it was all-you-can-eat.

just because u go to college does not mean u have to stop eating.

get a meal plan. i have been at college for a little more then a week nowand i still am eating at least 3500 calories a day. u just got to hit the cafeteria and eat as much and as healthy as u can!

dont lose ur dedication

[id=tmppasteie1218149165564]Current: 18, 5'11", 194

bench:290 squat:405 deadlift:420

[<font]Always lift hard and heavy

"True genius, in many fields of human endeavor, is often revealed in elegant simplicity."

- A smart man

1500 calories?  Where is that coming from?  I thought people get fat from a "college diet"

You can't get a meal plan and eat breakfast?  Or are you just being lazy?

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errr....The difficult part of bodybuilding at college is getting the 1 hour (plus travel) to workout, the nutrition part is easy as heck, just get a massive cooking pot, stick in 5kg of pasta (thats 11lbs, buy massive bags of the stuff)

Then cook craploads of chicken breasts, and buy tonnes of tins of tuna.

Now get tupperware boxes (big ones)

fill with pasta and chicken, pasta and tuna, and other vegetables etc, keep in fridge, should last 2-3 days each when kept truly airtight, and repeat after the next 3 days ish.

Takes 1 hour out of the day, and pasta you can just simmer and do whatever while its cooking, even chicken breasts if cooked in the oven can be left.

vegges can also just simmer.

Cooking is easy, quick, and simple, working out is the hard part as it takes up a lot of time.