ADVICE PLEASE! To little calories? or not?

liliana51886

Hello all,
I am at 255.2 lbs and I lost only .4 this week, which is much better than a gain... yes. BUT here is the problem. About a month ago I dropped by cals to 1400 a day ( to lose 2 lbs a week) so I could make my bday goal of 250 ( 5lbs left now my May 18). But this week I only lost .4, should I up my cals back to -1.5 a week (that would be around 1600 a day)? Do you think I might not be giving my body enough? Or has my body gotten used of the 1400 and need to trick it? (I heard that every 19 days your body gets used of your diet, and you need to change...)
Please any advice ;-)
Also open to new friends...

rhogr000

Hello all,
I am at 255.2 lbs and I lost only .4 this week, which is much better than a gain... yes. BUT here is the problem. About a month ago I dropped by cals to 1400 a day ( to lose 2 lbs a week) so I could make my bday goal of 250 ( 5lbs left now my May 18). But this week I only lost .4, should I up my cals back to -1.5 a week (that would be around 1600 a day)? Do you think I might not be giving my body enough? Or has my body gotten used of the 1400 and need to trick it? (I heard that every 19 days your body gets used of your diet, and you need to change...)
Please any advice ;-)
Also open to new friends...

Happy early b-day! My mom's b-day is also 5/18 :-)

I think this really depends on what you've been eating. Personally, I think it's important to not get so wrapped around the numbers on the scale every week, as that'll drive you nuts. Your weight will fluctuate due to a number of factors. Remember, you want your weight loss to be gradual so it can be maintained. It's important to not think of it in terms of a "diet" but rather a lifestyle change.

To your other comment, I'm not familiar with "every 19 days your body gets used of your diet, and you need to change...". That sounds like some kind of gimmick to me. I'm also not completely sold on the whole "tricking your body" thing.

HydroTerra

I'm not an expert by any stretch of the term so please view my advise with that in mind. With that said, my experience is that changing things up helps. I've heard the term used "Calorie confusion", a play on Tony Horton's "Muscle Confusion" concept. In my experience, your body does get used to your diet, exercise routine, etc. So, changing things up on a regular basis keeps it guessing and minimizes the plateau effect. For example, I started exercising last year by doing P90X. Towards the end of the 90 days (just before the last month to be exact) I stopped losing weight. I couldn't figure out why. I was pushing hard during exercise and eating 1200 cals a day (the same meals by and large every day with little variation). Then I read a blog post that suggested the "Calorie confusion" method. Basically, eat varying types of food each day, changing up your macro-nutrient percentiles, and the amount of calories. The trick is to make sure that your WEEKLY calorie intake does not exceed your limit and your macro percentiles average out to your goal. I.E., 1400 cals/day target, eat 1300 one day and 1500 the next, and so on as long as you don't break 9800/week. Don't go under 1200/day though, that seems to be the magic number here on MFP. Once I started doing this, I lost three pounds that week and was able to lose an extra ten in three weeks. It worked for me and it may work for you too. Hope this helps.

liliana51886

Thank you both. I might do the calorie confusion as it was suggested by another friend as well.

O and thanks for the Happy bday ;-)

Fit_French

Happy early birthday! Just a tip, I found I lost weight the quickest when I cut out dairy and grains but kept my same calorie goals. Hope that helps!