macronutrients or calories?

[Buttersweet]

I had a small discussion in my journal but I'd like more people to tell me what they think.

I'm currently supposed to eat 1700-1800 cals a day. My balanced clean diet is around 40:40:20 ratio of carbsrotein:fat. I want to lose fat and build muscle. Lifting is 5 times a week, split, cardio 3-5 times a week, mostly fasted low intensity, for the purpose of cheering me up, rather than losing fat.

However, when I'm a little low on money, I can't afford enough clean sources, so my total daily calorie intake goes down to about 1500 or less. But it stays clean. This of course slows down my progress.

Now, the question is: should I forget about the macronutrients and go for less clean food which is cheaper but will get me enough calories, or should I keep it clean and have (less than needed but still in the right ratio) proper macros in?

As I've stated in my journal, my logs show that higher carbs and fat help my depression, whereas keeping the ratio, and proteins high, even if I'm not eating enough (although I'm not really hungry), helps me prevent depressing episodes, but it also prevents muscle growth which makes me feel terribly frustrated, but not depressed.


But, back to the question, if food didn't affect my mood, would you recommend eating less clean but close to the designated calorie intake, or simply keep the macronutrients in order, no matter what? (I do understand I don't get enough of them in grams per body weight, but I still get them in the right ratio...)

Tnx.

[jsalazar]

ill go for cheap calories to meet your requirements,