Completely Clueless

kalyn_QT

Ok first my stats:
female
21
5'5.5
SW 219
CW 210
GW 165

i've lost 9 pounds (6 of which before i joined MFP). MFP has me eating about 1200 calories a day (2 pounds a week option). i did this and lost 3 pounds in almost a month which doesn't seem like much at all. i just started yesterday to try to zigzag my calories to hopeful break this standstill i've had for almost 3 weeks now. Am I not losing weight because i was only eating 1200 calories? Any idea how many calories i need to eat in order to lose weight a bit faster? btw i only burn between 100-200 calories for workouts when i do cardio and i only drink water.

joconnor09

You might want to up your calories a little. See how many they give you for 1 pound a week. That's what I'm on, and I feel like it's a pretty good pace. It might be that you need more than 1200 calories during the day to lose weight without going into starvation mode. Especially if you have deficits- which, looking at your diary you do quite a lot- it will be hard to lose weight. If MFP only gives you 1200 calories, then you've got to make sure you're eating all of them just to stay healthy. Deficits at that calorie level aren't good, so upping your calories will allow you to have a deficit without going too low.

It also looks like you aren't eating regularly throughout the day. Having one meal in the morning and one at night is going to throw off your metabolism and your body isn't going to like the idea of not eating regularly. Unless you're someone who doesn't eat consistently throughout the day normally, your body is not going to know what's going on or why it's not getting food regularly anymore, and it will hold on to every pound because it has no idea when it's going to get fuel again.

So, just make sure you're eating regularly throughout the day, make sure you're getting at least 1200 calories a day, and make sure the food you're eating has good nutrition. 1200 calories worth of fiber and protein-rich foods will go a lot farther than 1200 calories of french fries. And check to see how many calories MFP has you set to burn at each workout, and how often you're supposed to work out. You might not be losing as much because you're not burning all the calories MFP has you set to burn. I know when I don't go to the gym or workout, I don't lose as much because I'm not following the calorie track MFP set up for me. Good luck!