Diet break or lower net to get back on track?

Koldnomore

Hi guys/gals,

I’m looking for some input regarding my current course of action. I am losing roughly .25/lb very inconsistently every week or 2 or 3. MFP has predicted that with what I am doing, I should still be losing 1lb/week which I still consider reasonable since I have over 30lbs to go to my goal (where I will re-*kitten*) But this is not the experience that I have been having for about the last 2 months. This is roughly the time that I re-check numbers and see if there is any way to streamline the process. I just want to be losing something every week and not every 2 or 3 as I have been doing. Right now, I’m eating between 1900 – 2400 calories / day (with a 500 – 1000 cal burn)

According to my calculations my BMR seems to be around 1400 based on the averages of Mifflin/Harris and Katch (1,412/1472/1332). My body fat is roughly 38.4% (estimated based on measurements – though I tend to think it’s lower based on the way I look – I have a lot of visible definition apart from my belly fat). I do not do any set activities daily and thus cannot calculate an accurate TDEE since It’s always changing. HOWEVER what I have been doing is finding a sedentary TDEE and eating back ALL my calories from my FitBit (this should have the same effect as TDEE - cut) which was working great until about 2 months ago.

Using Pu’s formulas in the advanced fat loss tactic thread ( http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975696-advanced-fat-loss-tactics-must-know-your-bodyfat ) I have calculated my sedentary TDEE at 1686 Following through on this method has me at a 1261 net (roughly 150 lower then I have been eating right now). The issue I am having is that I have been REALLY hungry lately which should not be the case at all (hungry = not eating enough) SO..something isn't right here…

Apart from the fact that I am ravenous lately (not ToM) I have not changed anything. I have been weighing my food for the last year and do so religiously. I add all my recipes and stick about 90% to MFP items or those that I have entered myself so I can be quite certain that I am getting accurate calorie counts. I have been using my FiTBit to calculate exercise because 99% of what I do during the day is walking (which is easily tracked by this device) I have had my FitBit for 6+ months and was losing my expected 1lb/week perfectly for about 4 months with that method. I don’t ‘work out’ in the traditional sense and I do not use MFP exercise calories. Basically I am trying to figure out what has changed to cause me to slow down almost to a stop on my losses.

I’ll be leaving for a 3 week vacation on Friday and was also toying with the idea of a diet break during my vacation as I have been eating at a deficit for almost 1 year now so possibly it has just gotten to be too much for my body? I have no idea.
I would like some thoughts with respect to dropping my intake to net 1261 instead of 1400 and or thoughts on the ‘break /reefed ‘ and how many calories I should be aiming for there.

Stats:
Age 40
Height 5'6
Weight 159

Koldnomore

Hmm I guess I'd have more luck if it actually was a 1200 calorie thread..that makes me sad.