Anyone find they have to eat lower in order to lose?

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jaz050465
jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am within healthy body weight but 36% fat. I've used fitbit, BMF, MFP and online calculators which all give me VERY differnt TDEEs. I keep being told that as I haven't got much to lose, I should work on a 250-500 deficit. I'm not losing though- scale weight, inches or changing in photos. Has anyone found they have to eat at a larger deficit in order to lose.
I have given up for the last few weeks so dont look at that diary. I've been eating at about 1600 for about a year with no,change. I'm 47, female, 5ft 7 and weigh 149 pounds.

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  • mgobluetx12
    mgobluetx12 Posts: 1,326 Member
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    Me! I've been eating 1200-1300 and losing steadily for months. I changed from losing 2lbs per week to just 1lb and it put me up to 1700 cals. I have lost one pound since April. I kept thinking it would catch up with me, but I guess that's just too high. I'm 6'2, so I thought I would get to eat more, but apparently not. You just have to find what works for you.
  • b61983
    b61983 Posts: 5
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    yep. or excersize more
  • thatonegirlwiththestuff
    thatonegirlwiththestuff Posts: 1,171 Member
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    I hit a plateau a long time ago. I have to eat around 1600 just for maintenance! I started the diet I did a year ago when I lost 15 lbs gain today to lose the last 5ish pounds. Nothing else has worked.
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    I hit a plateau a long time ago. I have to eat around 1600 just for maintenance! I started the diet I did a year ago when I lost 15 lbs gain today to lose the last 5ish pounds. Nothing else has worked.

    So what did you find worked. I'm confused.
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    Also- have people find it important to up the protein?
  • thatonegirlwiththestuff
    thatonegirlwiththestuff Posts: 1,171 Member
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    I hit a plateau a long time ago. I have to eat around 1600 just for maintenance! I started the diet I did a year ago when I lost 15 lbs gain today to lose the last 5ish pounds. Nothing else has worked.

    So what did you find worked. I'm confused.

    I started the diet AGAIN today, not gain, my bad. It worked like a charm a year ago, and since nothing has worked in the last few months, I am going this route.
  • thatonegirlwiththestuff
    thatonegirlwiththestuff Posts: 1,171 Member
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    The diet is from the book " the 17 day diet"
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
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    i started out around 1500ish calories back in september, after 1 full month, nothing! no loss! i dropped down to 1300ish, started losing a little, not enough to keep me motivated tho, so then dropped down to 1200 per day, and have lost almost 80 pounds in 8 months!
  • FoxynFit
    FoxynFit Posts: 4
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    I'm 5'2" and 174 lbs, I keep thinking 1200 calories is too much for me to consume daily. However I've lost 6 lbs in about 5 weeks. I was thinking of trying 1000 calories instead, your thoughts.
  • Cocozest
    Cocozest Posts: 28 Member
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    I'm 5'2" and 174 lbs, I keep thinking 1200 calories is too much for me to consume daily. However I've lost 6 lbs in about 5 weeks. I was thinking of trying 1000 calories instead, your thoughts.

    Generally, 1200 is the minimum you would want to eat to sustain your normal bodily functions. People have eaten just 1000 calories and been okay with it, but it really depends on your body dimensions (height, frame, age). I would advise against eating 1000 calories unless advised to by a doctor.
  • FoxynFit
    FoxynFit Posts: 4
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    I'm small boned and petite, but at this weight currently I feel fat. But I'm also finding myself unable to eat so much food 1200 seems like a lot for me.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    Actually, I am just the opposite. I wasn't losing anything...well actually I was losing/regaining the same 2-3 pounds for months...until I increased my calories to 1800. Since I've done that, I've started losing about 1/2 pound a week and my body fat is now close to just 20%. I'm in the camp of eat as much as you possibly can while still getting results to lose weight. Of course, if you have to eat less to do that, then you gotta do what you gotta do. I just hate how so many people out there don't have to do that, but they do it anyway, because they think to lose weight you have to eat like a bird.

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