Help!

You probably set your weight loss to 2 pounds a week. Unless you have more than 50 pounds to lose, this is going to default to the 1200 calorie minimum the site sets automatically.

1200 calories a day is the minimum amount recommended to adults to prevent malnutrition, that is why it is the default on MFP.

Try setting your weight loss at half a pound a week. Most people here find that 2 pounds a week is way too aggressive unless you are morbidly obese. It usually back fires and people will either re-set their goals or give up completely.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm

Weight loss is a funny thing. You don't necessarily lose weight equal to how much you food you cut out in a linear manner. There's only so fast your body wants to lose weight. So, please eat at least your BMR, and it sounds like you could comfortably eat about 2,000 calories a day and still have a significant caloric deficit.

You'll probably be more successful at 2,000 calories as well, rather than unnecessarily punishing yourself and making weight management feel horrible instead of healthy!

Thank you for the information... I think I'm going to increase my calories... will prob help with my hunger on certain days too... I was trying to lose weight to fast and I think it caught up with me...

Weight loss is a funny thing. You don't necessarily lose weight equal to how much you food you cut out in a linear manner. There's only so fast your body wants to lose weight. So, please eat at least your BMR, and it sounds like you could comfortably eat about 2,000 calories a day and still have a significant caloric deficit.

You'll probably be more successful at 2,000 calories as well, rather than unnecessarily punishing yourself and making weight management feel horrible instead of healthy!

Thanks for this reply. I'm stuck too and I know it's because my calories in are around 1200 or 1300. I'm not starving but that's still too little food.

Ok sorry I just started my journey of losing weight and the MFP put my calories at 1250 but reading all this stuff about tdee and bmr has me thinking maybe I'm wrong and idk what to do now! My tdee is 2835 and my bmr is 1661 , does anyone have any idea on what I should be doing? I just want to lose weight !

If your TDEE is 2835, then take out about a 20% deficit (567), and eat around 2268. For a more aggressive weightloss now at the beginning, you can even take it down to around 1800 or so. I'd keep a good buffer above BMR.

^^good approach.

Droping your calories down to 1200 or less is never a good idea!
To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

Then if you want to gain weight add 500 more calories and if you want to lose weight you just remove 500kcal.

You have to make sure to eat the exact amount of calories everyday not less because that may leads to muscle loss and we actually want FAT LOSS. For that all you need is a healthy lifestyle, don't call it a diet because it's not. You have to eat as healthy as possible; which means lots of veggies and fruits, protein and fat but also carbs (GOOD ones)
To help you lose weight you'd have to lower your carbs intake because that's often the main reason why people are gaining weight.
-Bad carbs= White bread, white rice, pasta, chips, alcohol everything that is processed and full of sugar= biscuits, candies, breakfast cereals, sodas, juices, pastries, nutella and so on. Those are low in fiber and nutrients, high GI (Glycemic Index), the calories are converted to fat, they increase your insulin level which will increases your cravings, make you feel tired..

-Good carbs= veggies, fruits, whole grains, brown rice, quinoa.. those are called complex carbs, they are high in nutrients and fiber, low GI and they also stimulate your metabolism!

Believe me chosing between good carbs and bad carbs will really make a difference in your weight loss!

Also you'll need to drink water, TONS OF WATER. Give up about all the sugary drinks, they're full of unecessary calories so useless, have water instead, or green tea (= boost your metabolism), coffee.

Weight loss is about: 80% diet and 20% exercice, so for an efficient weight loss you'll need to exercice 5 to 7 days a week at least for 30min: Cardio will help you lose fat from ALL your body so I have to tell you that you cannot spot a reduce, like doing crunches everyday won't help you lose fat from your tummy but from all your body, you cannot choose to target an area, your body will! Cardio means running, walking, biking, dancing ... everything that will increase your heart rate!
Start lifting weights, seriously! 2 weight lifting sessions a week can help reduce body fat by 3% in just 10weeks. Because the more muscles you have, the more calories you burn, the more fat you lose! So you really need to concentrate on muscles gain, don't worry i'm not talking about getting bulky like bodybuilding or something haha! In order too gain muscles it's super important to NOT starve yourself, which means never eat below 1200kcal and eat between 50 and 100g of protein everyday!

Don't forget that patience is key, it's gonna be taugh, but you have to stick to it! Because if you want it bad enough, nothing can stop you! Push yourself, learn to love the burn and listen to your body, if you need a rest then rest, if you crave chocolate then have a piece of dark chocolate but not the entire bar. Treat yourself once a week, have fun and remember to stay positive!

I'm sorry for the bad english, i'm french actually haha. I'm not a nutritionnist, but i made tons of researches so you can trust me, find what works for you, if you don't like running don't run for example, just enjoy and don't frustrate yourself, remember it's a lifestyle not a diet! Hope it helped, you can ask me stuff if you want, i don't know everything but i can still try to answer!

GOOD LUCK, YOU CAN DO IT SO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Eat somewhere in between your bmr and tdee. Maybe 1800 or 1900 and see how that goes.