Is too little really a reason for not losing weight???

I can tell you that when I dropped my calories down to 1200-1400/day and was working out 6 days a week I plateaued for two months. Upped my calories to 1500 and started dropping again. Now I'm closer to 1800 and still losing.

I'm just too scared to try incase i put weight on and i don't trust how many calories it says i am burning

Simple solution: get a Heart Rate Monitor.

The problem is on this sight we stress too much of a calorie deficit and for those of us who understand math, that should be less is better. But in terms of metabolism it does not mean that at all.

Your body adapts to function on less calories if you let it. It is not a starvation mode but a more efficient energy mode. In other words your BMR gets reduced. This was great when we were hunting for food and having to survive in harsh conditions. Today it does really nothing but cause metabolic resistances and weight gain.

That is what happens when you constantly put your body in a serious calorie deficit and make it go lower and lower and do nothing to improve your metabolism. People need exercise and macro nutrient balance to help fight this.

A women at 160 lbs should be able to maintain quiet easily on 1600-1800 calories a day. But if you have metabolic resistances your body will gain at that amount. The only way to fix it is to put the scale in the closet a few months, change your eating to more protein and fat and less carbs and go to the gym 3 to 5 times a week. Eat the calories that MFP tells you, but be sure to eat up your exercise calories and move your body as much as possible, and get plenty of protein and fat. IT is possible to reset your BMR (I did it), but it takes work.

I recommend to use the mirror more as your guide than scale alone. Water retention can really play a role in any weight fluctuations during a weigh-in.

If you happened to eat a carb dense meal the night before your weigh-in, you'll be carrying alot of water the day after. Likewise, if you eat less carbs the day before , you're going to hold alot less water.

I think the scale should be 1 tool among other to measure progress. I personally like using the mirror and how my clothes fit (or how it doesn't fit me anymore).

Conclusion: stop worrying about "weight" and worry more about how you look and feel.

You can try increasing the calories slowly. Eat 100 more per week until your body gets to a more comfortable spot. But really, if you're scared about gaining weight now then what are you going to do when you reach your goal and need to switch to maintenance? Are you going to under-eat for the rest of your life or do you want to learn good, healthy habits now so that you don't have to?

QFT....

I always worry about these ladies who seriously under-eat...if they can't wrap their minds around the fact that if they're exercising 5-6 days per week, their maintenance is likely around 2300 - 2400 calories...and they're worried about gaining if they just net to 1200...yeah...gonna pretty much be screwed at maintenance.