my last solution is that i must eat more?

runninghome

I soooooo hope you guys respond. I'm sure you get questions and stressed out people like me all the time on MFP. I have been losing weight now for over a year. I started at 230 pounds and am now 180. I'm 32 and 5"4. Still obese for another 5 pounds. I exercise 5 days a week running and cross training. I shake up my routine weekly and do some weights and toning. I'm always pushing ahead, never doing the same routine twice. I stopped losing weight in November of 2011. When i mean stopped I mean STOPPED! I have had my thyroid checked among a few other things. Been checked for PCOS. No indication that I have an internal problem. I have not even lost a pound in four months. I continue to exercise hard and count calories. I know you guys understand this incredible frustration! It is eating me alive! I have concluded that I must not be eating enough. I eat between 1200- 1500 a day, usually around 1300 to 1400. I burn between 350 to 650 on a given day of exercise. Do I eat those back? not really. No matter what exercise I do I'm usually eating less then 1500. I can only assume this is the problem. I have no idea what else it could be. Anyone deal with this and know what should be done. How do I up my calories? How many should I eat? Is this what we call Starvation mode? How do I get out of it? How long will it take to get things moving again.

Thx

cocobutterr

The more you eat the more you loose! ofcoarse i dont mean filll up with bad foods but you should bump ur calorie intake to 1600 at the least! i was having the same problem you we having with not seeing results but yesterday my trainer told at more and bump up my cal in take and i will see results! just fill up on healthy foods!

mrmoustache

Your BMR is at the very least 1600. That means your body needs 1600 calories just to survive. With the amount of exercise you're doing, you're probably gonna need closer to 1800 - 2000 just to lose weight. Eat back your workout calories. You can add calories by adding oil and butter to any dish, buying full fat milk instead of skim, avoiding low-fat products, and eating nut butters. You might gain weight at first, but that's just because your body will have more food in it, and more food weighs more. Good luck!