A little Confused???

Your goal is to lose 15lbs and your losing at a high rate now, so what's the rush? Eating more to lose weight is generally a miscalculation in cals in, but in extreme cases eating more can kick start metabolism somewhat....and of course the magically 1200 calorie diet has special properties that make all other logic null and void...j/k

If you are happy with your loss rate, not hungry, not fatigued, etc then there is no reason you have to up your calories. If you are hungry or tired then you can increase your calories and lose a little slower. I dont think you "need" to increase your calories but it wont hurt if you do, especially if you are trying to build muscle and not just lose fat.

Ok so i am currently losing weight at 1200 calories...i do not eat back my exercise calories.....i am steadily losing an average of .4lbs a day so i hear everyone saying that if you eat more you will still lose weight?....should i wait for a plateau and then start increasing my calories a little at a time to see how it works?? or should i eat more now...can somone explain this to me please? Thanks in advance!

So let me get this straight...you are eating less than 1200 cals a day net? Meaning, after you factor in the cals you burned by working out, you are eating less than 1200 cals? If that is true, you are eating far too less. It might be true you are losing at a fast rate now, but two things are likely to happen: 1. You will eventually hit a weight where your body won't lose at that calorie level or 2. Once you stop this diet, you will start packing back on weight because your body is not conditioned to live on such a calorie deficit.

It's really up to you. If you are hungry all the time on 1200 then eat more. You don't need to be miserable while losing weight. You may also find it easier to switch to maintenance once the weight is lost if your diet while losing is not so extreme. If you only have 15 to lose, you may not hit a plateau before losing it all at very low calories, but the transistion to eating normally again without gaining might be tricky.

this... i lost weight at 1200 calories, and then when i started eating normal again (1500-2200) i gained most back. now i eat 1800 to lose and 2200 to maintain and i am gaining muscle.... so yeah you will lose weight, BUT how much of that is fat and how much is muscle....??....with only 15 lbs to lose, you want to realistically only lose .5/week to make sure u lose fat not muscle

If what you are doing is working for you, then why would you want to change based on what is works for someone else? As long as you don't have any indication that what you are doing isn't working (i.e. you stop losing, or you start feeling run down) then you don't need to change anything. If you want to eat a bit more, you certainly can and still lose.

so yeah you will lose weight, BUT how much of that is fat and how much is muscle....??....with only 15 lbs to lose, you want to realistically only lose .5/week to make sure u lose fat not muscle

This.

I lost weight eating less than 1000, and at my goal weight of 130 pounds, I was a size 8 with a muffin top, back fat rolls, double chin, lots of cellulite, etc.

I lost weight this time eating closer to 2000 calories total (after exercise calories), and at 135 pounds, I'm a size 2 or 4 without any extra lumps and bumps.

So ask yourself what's more important... the number on the scale that no one sees but you, or how you look and feel?

I ate 1200-1300 calories daily for 7 months and did not eat my exercise calories back. I lost 70 pounds during that time. I then plateaued for a month and a half. I went to a nutritionist who suggested I up my calories to 1400-1500 and see how that went. I ended up getting past my plateau and started losing again and lost another 20 pounds. I then upped my calories to 1800 and lost another 9. She was all about trial and error and seeing what happened. I would just suggest doing what makes you feel best and maybe try and up them and if you gain tweek it a bit and see what happens.

If you're losing 0.4lbs/day, then you're definitely shedding muscle as well as fat.

Up your calories so that you're losing ~0.5lbs/week, and make sure you're eating lots of protein (~125g/day) to preserve your muscle mass in the process!

If you're lifting weights, you'll want to eat more on days that you work out. And be sure that you don't overtrain!