What am I doing wrong?

m0dizzle

I've been strict on my 1200 cal/day diet and using MFP for months now. I haven't lost since January and I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. Should I be eating more/differently? Help!

Mommapea2012

You are most likely eating too little on average I believe a woman needs at least 1500 calories

mrsmariasheehan

Have a read of some of these topics, regarding eating your exercise calories etc,

Hope they help.

Maria :-)

sorry I lost my mind and forgot to paste in the link to the articles....

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/index2.html

cmriverside

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/439140-refeed-diet-break-or-cut-calories-lower-a-plateau-discussi

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/395881-people-who-lost-weight-eating-more

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/403565-research-behind-eating-more-to-lose-more

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/395948-caloric-intake-results

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/444535-does-resetting-metabaolism-really-work?page=1#posts-6367170
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/475726-very-low-calorie-diets-and-metabolic-damage

SamosaurusRex

I haven't lost in 2 weeks. I changed my calorie intake to 1,200 and followed the guidelines but it slowed my weight loss waaaaaaay down. I would advise you up your intake to around 1,500 calories which is 1lb per week, do short intense workouts every day, MAKE SURE you don't miss out strength training (weights, squats, crunches etc.) and eat back your exercise calories. I know it doesn't sound ideal because you want to believe it's as simple as "eat less, weigh less," but it's not. If you don't eat then your body doesn't have enough energy to burn the calories. So eat a bit more than usual (healthy of course) and make sure you eat back the calories you've earned from exercise. If that doesn't work then I don't know what will!

kperk91

Calculate your BMR and eat at least that. My BMR is 1371 but I eat 1550 calories.
I have lost 3lbs total but I've lost more body fat % by eating more calories to sustain my lean muscle

Jennyisbusy

Hi Modizzle! It's tough trying to figure all this out. I have found out that I was severely underestimating my activities and therefore my calories burned in a day.

I have started to use the spreadsheet and calculator located here:
http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced

and aim for a deficit based off of those numbers. I have also joined a group for support cause it can be hard to wrap your mind around eating more. I invite you to come hang around and see if this fits you!!

The group link is here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/17-women-eating-2-000-calories-per-day