Feeling overwhelmed over my calorie amount!!

dakotababy

So i have been at 1400 calories now since I have started. I have plateaued now for the last 3 months at 222lbs. I am wondering if increasing my calorie count would be better. I was thinking around 1600/day.

I generally eat healthy with the occasional "cheat", but I always log it and typically, I am under my current goal of 1400. I am just concerned because of this plateau.

I am about 5'7 - currently 222lbs. My body fat % is higher...though i do not actually know exactly what my bf% is. I do not have a regular exercise routine, but I usually walk 2 or 3 miles (4mph) about 2 or 3 times a week...if i feel hungry, i eat back those calories - if i do not feel hungry, i will not.

My job also allows light activity through out the day.

Any thoughts?

ErinGBragh

I say try it for 2 or 3 weeks and see what happens. I have seen a lot of people who said upping their calories helped them lose again. MFP has me at 1200 to lose 2 lbs a week but I upped it to 1500 because I noticed my muscles were getting weak doing things that used to be easy for me, like my crossramp workout at the gym. I feel better and am still losing about 2 lbs a week (and I exercise moderately...2 days a week walking on the treadmill at a moderate pace for 45 min., 3 days a week doing the crossramp for 45 minutes...nothing intense but enough to bring up my mood and make me feel less sluggish).

Oh, and I am 5'3" and started at 169 lbs (down to 161 as of this morning).

km202

When I plateaued, I increased my calorie count and it kickstarted my weightloss almost immediately.

Good Luck!

JesterMFP

Try it for a few weeks and see. What can it hurt if you've been at a plateau for 3 months? Unless you have serious metabolic issues, there's no way that 1600 is more than your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), so you're not going to gain fat. You might gain a few pounds initially because of having more food in your system, and water retention, but it won't be fat. Chances are, 1600 is under your BMR too, so if you find 1600 works ok, you might want to take it even higher than that after a while. You won't do yourself any favours long-term eating at such a big deficit.

PurpleTina

When I was at that sort of weight (I am 5'7") i was losing weight on 1850 calories a day. HTH.

WendyTerry420

I agree to try it, but give it 4-6 weeks to see whether or not it works. It will take your body a while to adjust to it. You may even go up a pound or two in the first 2-3 weeks, but be patient. Many people find it takes 6 weeks for their body to adjust then register a large loss.

MelissaGraham7

Absolutely - you have to experiment until something works and keep fine tuning.

neverstray

Have you tried the helloitsdan method yet? I'm guessing that you are way under eating. Try this method if you are willing: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

I went from around 1600 per day and constantly stalling, to over 2,200 and losing body fat, to now up to almost 2600 per day. The jury is still out on the 2600, but the way I feel is amazing. I have so much energy for my workouts. You really have nothing to lose, except and little time.

Its a lot to read, but very simple. Feel fre to ask me, or probably Dan, any questions if you're willing to try it for a month or so.

dakotababy

Have you tried the helloitsdan method yet? I'm guessing that you are way under eating. Try this method if you are willing: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

I went from around 1600 per day and constantly stalling, to over 2,200 and losing body fat, to now up to almost 2600 per day. The jury is still out on the 2600, but the way I feel is amazing. I have so much energy for my workouts. You really have nothing to lose, except and little time.

Its a lot to read, but very simple. Feel fre to ask me, or probably Dan, any questions if you're willing to try it for a month or so.

Well actually, I had seen "helloitsdan"s posts, and thats what kind of inspired me to try increasing my calories. I was feeling really nervous yesterday about this - but I am so grateful for all of this support this morning. Im really hoping this works - it is just breaking the idea that the more you want to lose, the less you have to eat method.

Thank you so much everyone for your responses, i feel a lot better about doing this.