Help! Still losing weight!

mk2fit

I went on maintenance in May. Since then I have lost 11 more pounds! I know, I know, we all ate a bazillion calories to get large so why is it so hard to stop deficit eating? MFP has me at 1540 calories. I eat between 1600-1800. I exercise on the elliptical 1 hour each morning, do some dumbbell exercises most days and about 1/2 hour rowing machine and 1/2 hour bike most days as well. Sorry, my diary is open to friends only, but this information should be enough. I am 56 years old, 5'7" 124# (down from 190). Do I need to eat more? What should I eat? Exercise less? Nope, I really like my exercise routine.

ardenbeachlvr

It looks like you may need to eat more than 1540 calories with that level of activity. What activity level did you put into the MFP calculator? Are you adding additional calories for the exercise? Start adding some extra calories from protein, healthy carbs and a little healthy fat (like nuts or peanut butter). Most folks recommend up your calories by 100 or so per week until you find your balance point.

DancingMoosie

1540 is not enough to maintain above 124. Have you put your stats in mfp and changed your goal to maintain? Do you log all of your exercise and eat those calories? If not, then that's a place to start. If you already do that, then you can assume that your base calories are off, add 100 a day for a while until your weight evens out.

mk2fit

I have upped my calories to close to 1800 over the past weeks. I should probably up my activity level. Currently at 45 minutes/day. Thanks.

DancingMoosie

I put your stats into IIFYM calculator (using "every day" as your exercise level) and came up with 1943 for your TDEE.

mk2fit

I have always added calories to my day. I just went to MFP calculations and added more minutes to exercise and it lowered my calories/day to 1480! LOL, I entered 1800. We shall see. Thanks, ladies!

aasharp7

If you don't want to loose weight, eat more calories. That's the only way to solve your problem. If you're having difficulty because you're stuck up on trying to find the magic number right off the bat, then try reverse dieting. Essentially, you add 100-200 more calories to your daily diet for about 1-2 weeks, and you weight yourself consistently throughout. If you've lost weight after those two weeks, then you add another 100-200 to that already increase daily amount. Weigh yourself for two weeks, and then reassess. Have you gained? Lost? No real change? Keep adjusting until you have found the amount that doesn't make the scale move.

I would guess that you're maintenance is right around 2000, give your height, activity levels, and age.

As for what you should be eating, the answer is pretty much just more. Do you track your macros? If so, it rarely hurts to up your protein intake. This could mean more lean meats, tuna, greek yogurt, beans, etc. The increase protein intake will help your muscles recover and grow stronger. You could also just eat 2 servings of peanut butter every day or three glasses of milk everyday. That will fix your deficit problem without feeling like you have to stuff yourself with high volume foods.

mk2fit

*slaps head with V8 slap* Thanks.

Patttience

Why do'nt you calculate your TDEE on another calculator.