Netting way below 1200.. help? :)

kaylatee0

Afternoon team!

I’ve been using MFP religiously for awhile (since August ’13), now and have lost 20 pounds so far! (5 before I started using MFP).

I am 5’3, 123.4 lbs and 23 years old.

Needless to say (don’t roll your eyes just yet!!), my weight loss has stalled a bit, sometimes I lose less than .5 lbs, sometimes nothing at all, I’d like to lose another 10 lbs total.

My calorie budget is set at 1200, but as you can see in my diary, I often eat more than that.

I’ve been doing a lot of research through these forums, and the consensus seems to be that I shouldn’t net any less than 1200, forget what I eat, but net at least 1200.

When I look at how much more food that is, I can’t help but feel like I’m going to end up gaining, because on some days, that’s an extra 400-700 calories over my 1200, because I exercise so much, I don’t even know where I’m going to find that much food.. because I’m full with my diet as it!!

I’ve always been a huge cardio junkie, I know there’s more effective ways to manage my cardio, but I really like my routine. For years now, I’ve gone to the gym at least every day, some days I go twice. My morning routine is usually 30 or so minutes on the elliptical, and 20 minutes on the bike at a high resistance. When I exercise in the evening it’s either body pump class (Mondays and Thursdays), or a evening run.

I guess my question is, am I ruining my metabolism by netting so low? I weigh and measure everything, so can assure you that I’m tracking accurately and my diary is open to be critiqued. I’d love for some of you to poke around my diary and tell me if you see any opportunities, I really just could use some advice 

Before you say anything, here’s a few things about the quick add calories in my diary:
The breakfast quick add calories from this week are an apple cinnamon quinoa bake that I made on Sunday and portioned into this week’s breakfasts, so that is accurate.
I had a caramel macchiato this morning, which is the quick add for today.
The last 2 Saturdays I’ve done some quick add calories because I was at a buffet 2 weeks ago, and had a big night out with dinner, desserts and drinks this past Saturday and really lost track of what I ate.

Any input is appreciated. Sorry for the lengthy post!

Escape_Artist

You seem already at a good weight so losing at this point is gonna be much slower. Aim for 0.5 a week.

Speaking of weight, considering 123 is quite good for 5'3 are you sure it's a matter of weight itself and not your body composition that makes you wanna drop another 10lbs?

The reason I ask this, and this tends to happen mostly with people that mostly do cardio, is because there us a big difference with not being satisfied with the way your body looks when you face a miror and carrying extra weight

And yeah not fueling your body properly can and will stall your weight loss on top of potentially causing health issues

kaylatee0

You seem already at a good weight so losing at this point is gonna be much slower. Aim for 0.5 a week.

Speaking of weight, considering 123 is quite good for 5'3 are you sure it's a matter of weight itself and not your body composition that makes you wanna drop another 10lbs?

The reason I ask this, and this tends to happen mostly with people that mostly do cardio, is because there us a big difference with not being satisfied with the way your body looks when you face a miror and carrying extra weight

Fair enough! I actually agree with you that I'm at a fairly decent weight for my height, I seem to be still carrying some extra fat in my midsection and thighs that I would like to see gone. I squat, dead lift etc.. on a regular basis.. midsection work I do maybe once per week(not my favorite).. saying that, I understand spot reduction isn't possible. I dont know if 10 is the real number, maybe it's 5.. but I feel like I'll know when I get there.

Mr_Knight

I’ve been doing a lot of research through these forums, and the consensus seems to be that I shouldn’t net any less than 1200, forget what I eat, but net at least 1200.

No, there is no "consensus" on that. If you are active, you aren't "ruining" your metabolism.

kaylatee0

meaning there is a difference between eating less than 1200 and netting less than 1200? Sorry, I'm a bit of a newbie

Mr_Knight

At your size, even your BMR may be below 1200 calories. There is nothing magical about that number. If you are doing something that is working for you, and it is less than 1200, then there is no reason to change.

One of the biggest advantages of being physically active (which you appear to be) is that your body will tell you in no uncertain terms if you are under-nourishing it.

MelissaPhippsFeagins

I’ve been doing a lot of research through these forums, and the consensus seems to be that I shouldn’t net any less than 1200, forget what I eat, but net at least 1200.

No, there is no "consensus" on that. If you are active, you aren't "ruining" your metabolism.

funny....I ruined mine by purging my binges with exercise. OP, are you netting 1000 calories per day? If so, just accept that your weight loss will slow down as your body reaches its ideal weight (which my be more than you think it is.)

kaylatee0

I’ve been doing a lot of research through these forums, and the consensus seems to be that I shouldn’t net any less than 1200, forget what I eat, but net at least 1200.

No, there is no "consensus" on that. If you are active, you aren't "ruining" your metabolism.

funny....I ruined mine by purging my binges with exercise. OP, are you netting 1000 calories per day? If so, just accept that your weight loss will slow down as your body reaches its ideal weight (which my be more than you think it is.)

My typical net at the end of the day is anywhere from 400-700 depending. I only net around 1000 if I've really gone off my rocker LOL!