Needing advice, little losing slump

ErinI5787

Needing good advice. I started at 192lbs at 5'3" in December 2011. I'm now 160. I seem to be a little stuck. I'm sure it could be a number of things. I'm eating at the very least 1200 calories a day but when I exercise more like 1300-1400. I'm seeing a lot of posts about not eating enough calories because MFPs database sets them a little low. I figure that could be part of the problem. I also now that I need to strength train more. However, I've been scared to do that because I know I'll gain a little (from muscle). I know that's a silly fear. I need to gain muscle to continue losing and be healthy. So my question is with that information, how much I eat and knowing I do cardio 6x a week..... what would you suggest to help? Should I up my calories? Should I do anything else I might not have said here? Just a little clueless at the moment and really would like to progress.

ErinI5787

anybody????

YogaRunner

Great job so far! Now, as you know, you need to tweak thing. Don't be afraid to weight train. Muscle is an active tissue that burns more calories even when at rest than fat tissue. When you gain muscle, your metabolism will increase. This is a good thing! Cardio is great, but it won't get you to your goals alone. When I added strength training (ChaLEAN Extreme) I went from a size 14 to a 6 in less than 90 days. So, I say go for it! Lift heavy and do fewer reps (10-12) of each exercise. It works!

ErinI5787

Darn. I'm not a fan of lifting lol oh well. I guess I will have to do that. I'm a size 11/12 now and would love to be a 6/7 or less. Thank you