Am I thinking of this correctly?

JGT2004

So I have been using MFP for a little while and have read a lot of posts about exercising, starvation mode, eatting exercise calories back, etc, etc..... I am currently trying to lose fat and want to focus on building muscle later. The reason I say later is... and I know it sounds stupid but I'm competitive and have to at least try....I entered a Biggest Loser competition at work and it is based on weight loss %. I have read about needing to lose the fat before you can see the muscles underneath (mainly thinking of my stomach/ab area) so I don't think its insane for me to want to focus on losing fat. The contest runs through the end of March and while I have lost some, I am still not where I was thinking I would be about 1/2 way through the contest. The odds are already stacked against me as I am trying to go from 160 lb to 120/130 lb. I am afraid part of my problem is from not having eatten enough. So my question is this....

BMR is 1,500
1 lb = 3500 calories

Looking at the numbers, if I want to lose 2 lb a week....

I would need to eat 2,500 calories a day and burn 1,000 calories a day exercising? I know I am not supposed to eat less than 1200 at the minimum and that it takes time but by god I want to lose at a 2lb a day rate! It is only for a little over a month and then I will focus more on strength training. My diary is open and right now I have been trying to eat healthy at 1200.

I am a #s person and this is confusing me and as always there is a ton of conflicting views/opinions but I would appreciate help figuring this out. My exercising has been off this past week as I have been frustrated with the slow pace. (I know it takes time, it took me 2+ years to lose the 1st 90 lbs but I am ready to be done with the final 30!)

Yacki

I am confused too! You are not alone, on this one. I do not have the answer on this at all. When I finish my day and hit the calculate button - it tells me that I am eating too few calories and that I can be going into stravation aswell. Waiting for an answer on this one.