Plateua/too few calories?

Holy crap yes you are having too few calories. Do yourself a favor, eat the calories MFP suggest for you to eat and eat your exercise calories back. Depending on how much work you want to put in you can check out the thread "in place of a roadmap" and read up on BMR and TDEE.

The short story is... eating as low as you are and working out on top of it, you are probably losing much more muscle mass than if you lost weight slower. This is going to decrease your metabolism and make it easier for you to gain back once you "stop" dieting. You WANT to retain as much muscle mass as possible while losing fat mass.

I'm also 5 feet 6 inches and currently 143 pounds. I've lost 4 pounds in the past 2 months...

You need about 1400 calories a day just to maintain your organ function...you burn that if you're in a coma. So, that info coupled with the fact that you're burning at least an additional 300-600 calories exercising means you're eating way below what you need to live. Try increasing your calories by 100 each week for the next four or five weeks and see if you start getting over that plateau. This strategy helped me. I am your height and approximate weight and have been maintaining at about 1900 calories a day. I exercise 5-6 days a week and average 450 calories per workout, so we are probably pretty similar.

You are eating way too little. You ARE starving yourself. Put your goals into MFP and follow the amount of calories it tells you to eat. You're not going to lose weight faster by eating less, at least not at the level you're doing. ESPECIALLY if you are exercising a lot.

Holy crap yes you are having too few calories. Do yourself a favor, eat the calories MFP suggest for you to eat and eat your exercise calories back. Depending on how much work you want to put in you can check out the thread "in place of a roadmap" and read up on BMR and TDEE.

The short story is... eating as low as you are and working out on top of it, you are probably losing much more muscle mass than if you lost weight slower. This is going to decrease your metabolism and make it easier for you to gain back once you "stop" dieting. You WANT to retain as much muscle mass as possible while losing fat mass.

I'm also 5 feet 6 inches and currently 143 pounds. I've lost 4 pounds in the past 2 months...

^^This^^

You might also want to think about sustainability...You want to be able to find a calorie level you can live with. My thoughts on this are that it needs to be a lifestyle change, not a "diet."

Just my $0.02.


ETA: I joined in '11. I did really well the first few months...on 1200 calories...but I was miserable, and gave up. I tried again last year. On 1200 calories. Wasn't terribly aware of the forums, BMR, or TDEE. Did a lot more exercise that time. Gave up again, because I was so hungry and cranky. THIS time around, I actually did some reading, and am consistently losing inches and weight since I figured it out. With NO exercise, I'm eating 1600 calories.

Eat more. I'm 5'6'', 139lbs, and eat 1750. I have been losing about 2-3lbs per month.

Eat at least your BMR and add some extra calories/protein on heavy workout days. You don't need to starve to lose weight.

You don't necessarily need to eat back your calories, but you do need to make sure your body is getting enough nutrients and calories for normal function. For the long term nobody should really be below 1200 calories a day, especially unsupervised. For a person of your age, gender, weight, and height your resting metabolic rate is 1389. That's the minimum amount of calories your body needs to function properly.

Re-figure your BMR and TDEE and pick a value in between as a general rule. Make sure eating a well-balanced diet and you should be good to go

I asked a nursing student recently if starvation mode is a myth or not as argued about so much on this website. She busted out laughing and asked if people were seriously arguing over that. She finally answered me after she stopped laughing and said no, it is not a myth. Eating too few calories can seriously hurt your metabolism. It puts you under some major stress and your body may end up breaking down body mass other than fat to get the missing nutrients needed to function. It will steal nutrients from your bones and muscles to power vital organs.

Also, she said the main reason there is a benchmark of not eating under 1200 calories is that it is nearly impossible to get balanced nutrition any lower than that, and even at 1200 is it very, very difficult to make sure your body is getting what it needs. She said people pay too much attention to calories and not enough to nutrition and that nutrition should weigh more heavily in the decision-making process when losing weight. If your body is getting proper nutrition and energy calories, your body is not going to be as stressed and will likely be more receptive to weight loss attempts. The chances of losing fat rather than other body mass will be better as well. Your immune system will be stronger and your body better prepared to meet the challenges of an active lifestyle. So while you may not understand why eating more is needed calorie-wise, remember - the more active your lifestyle, the higher your nutritional needs are going to be as well. Please do not forget such an important factor.

Thanks everyone, i really appreciate it! My BMR is 1326 and then i used 1.5 factor for moderate exercise resulting in 2055/day. 2055-1000 (lose 2 lbs / week) would be 1055.... is that simply too fast? That's what i was doing. And my fitness pal auto sets at 1200. If i targeted -500/day that would be 1550 calories. Should i go from 1100 to 1500? or too much? I am losing inches by walking at 13% inciine also, so that feels good. I've never been able to figure the science to get the right # of calories when i'm used to running nearly every single day. I've tried running 3x/week but then i feel sluggish and stiff on the days i don't run.

As for not paying attention to the settings-I have done that for years past and DONT LOSE the weight!!! HELP. The only system that's worked is WW, the points seem a better indicator than calories ? . I am eating a good balance of foods and nearly eliminating anything processed. No soda either.. and watching salt. This time I am using MFP and WW simultaneously which is really time consuming.

Do not eat less than 1200 calories average per day. 2 pounds per week loss is way too much for your height and weight. You only have 10 pounds you'd like to lose. Aim for 1 lb per week loss. I'd say eat 1400-1500 calories a day for the next month and see what happens. It's not a race! Give your body time

Thanks everyone, i really appreciate it! My BMR is 1326 and then i used 1.5 factor for moderate exercise resulting in 2055/day. 2055-1000 (lose 2 lbs / week) would be 1055.... is that simply too fast? That's what i was doing. And my fitness pal auto sets at 1200. If i targeted -500/day that would be 1550 calories. Should i go from 1100 to 1500? or too much? I am losing inches by walking at 13% inciine also, so that feels good. I've never been able to figure the science to get the right # of calories when i'm used to running nearly every single day. I've tried running 3x/week but then i feel sluggish and stiff on the days i don't run.

As for not paying attention to the settings-I have done that for years past and DONT LOSE the weight!!! HELP. The only system that's worked is WW, the points seem a better indicator than calories ? . I am eating a good balance of foods and nearly eliminating anything processed. No soda either.. and watching salt. This time I am using MFP and WW simultaneously which is really time consuming.

Do not eat less than 1200 calories average per day. 2 pounds per week loss is way too much for your height and weight. You only have 10 pounds you'd like to lose. Aim for 1 lb per week loss. I'd say eat 1400-1500 calories a day for the next month and see what happens. It's not a race! Give your body time

If you are trying to lose only 10 more lbs then you'll want to set yourself to 1/2 lb a week to lose so that you can set your body up for better maintenance to stay at the same ideal weight once you hit it.