Should I be eating less than 1,200 calories?

No weight loss plan is sustainable; you would wink out of existence eventually. Whenever anyone pulls that term out, I get the feeling they are trying to win a debate with words instead of substance. Anyway, I still stand by medical science even if you have links to places on the internet that know better.

I mean sustainable in terms of the period of time in which you are losing weight. Many people find that eating so little causes them to break and binge.

The link is from Lyle McDonald, who is a pretty well-respected source. Of course you don't have to accept him as a credible resource, but I do.

ETA: It's not my intention to derail this thread with yet another 1200 calorie debate. I've put my POV out there for the OP, so she's got more than one option moving forward.

I do respect Lyle; he has a lot of opinions, but has stated a few times that after a thorough examination of studies there is no point at which reducing calories does not increase the calorie deficit. He is based in reality.

Yes, it is difficult to stay on a reduced calorie diet. That's one reason the failure rate is so high. I think people are more likely to stay on it if they see results, so I do not encourage anyone to eat more than the medically accepted minimum for nutrition if they are willing to try that. If they can't stick with it, then they should eat a little more. But that's the only reason; not because it doesn't work as well as eating more.

So if you really want some answers:

1) It takes your body 2-4 weeks at minimum (more like 2-6 weeks) to adjust to changes in eating. You're trying to reprogram your metabolism to lose weight. That doesn't happen overnight - or even in a week.

2) What is your age, height, current weight, exercise level (how often do you exercise, for how long?) and target weight? We can get a look at your Basal Metabolic Rate and Daily Expenditures (all estimates) and help you set some appropriate goals.

3) Open your diary so we can see what you're eating. There are lots of things that affect weight within 2-5 pounds simply through water (for example, sodium, sugar, working out...)

4) Be patient. There are lots of times the body will drop a few pounds then wait a while...but just from your input here we don't have much idea about how you're going about it.

Hang in there!

This^^ my reply

Absolutely NOT. Eating less than 1,200 calories is very unhealthy. In fact, for most women, 1,200 calories is too little. You have a BMR, or basic metabolic rate. This is how much you burn by doing nothing...like if you were in a coma. Since you are 161 pounds, it is definitely over 1,200. Plug in your height, weight, and age on a BMR calculator and eat roughly that number and MORE if you exercise. The most accurate equation for BMR I have found is the Harris-Benedict equation.

BMR for women: 655.1 + (9.563 x kg) + (1.850 x cm) - (4.676 x age)
or
655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age)

If you're sedentary, multiply the number you get from this formula by 1.2.
If you're lightly active, multiply the number by 1.375.
If you're moderately active, multiply the number by 1.55.
If you're very active, multiply the number by 1.725.
If you're extremely active (usually only if you're an athlete doing heavy training) multiply the number by 1.9.

When I first started losing weight, I was only eating around 900-1,200 calories at most per day (very healthy calories too with exercise) and could not figure out why I wasn't losing weight. Then I found out my BMR, ate that or a little over when I exercised, and the pounds dropped off and now I'm 25 pounds lighter. Also, calories aren't the only important thing. It's also the QUALITY of calories. Say your BMR is 1,500 and you eat that to lose weight. If you eat 1,500 calories of Taco Bell and McDonald's, you will hardly lose any weight. However, if you eat 1,500 calories of very healthy foods like eggs, quinoa, avocados, lots of fruits, lots of veggies, lean meat, lean fish, peanut butter, almond butter, raw honey, nuts, beans, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and whole grain breads, weight loss will be MUCH more likely. In fact, when losing weight, exercise isn't even half of the equation. I've heard to lose weight, you need to focus 30% on working out and 70% on your diet. That's how important your quality of food is. It needs to be something you can stick to, also, or the weight will just come back on once you go back to the way you ate before. That's why people who go on fad diets often just gain all the weight back. It's not something they stick to.

noo!! lol google tdee's and bmi's and bmr's and eat what it suggests

When I lost 21 pounds last year on MFP, I started at 1330 and didn't lose anything. When I moved up to 1500, 1600, 1700 - that was when I lost 21 pounds.

Did your exercise increase ? or the type of food change ?

I plugged your information in a fairly reliable calculator on-line and for a 35 year-old female who is 5'5" and 156 lbs, your basal metabolic rate, BMR, is 1468. This is the number of calories your body needs to function if you were in a coma or laid in bed all day. Your total daily energy expenditure, TDEE, is just over 2000 (based on doing 1-3 hours of light exercise per week); this is the amount of calories your body needs to maintain your current weight at your current activity level. You should be eating between your BMR and TDEE to lose weight safely. Therefore, targeting 1500-1600 calories per day would give you a loss of about a pound per week. I would also suggest upping your exercise to help with increasing your losses. If you exercised 3-5 hours of moderate activity per week, your TDEE would go to 2275.

Eat what you need to, and follow your hunger cues. Honestly I eat between 300-2300 kcals/day based on what I am doing that day, if I feel like eating, and what is going on health wise. My weight loss has it's ups and downs day to day and I am okay with that.

I weigh everything on the scale, and diligently track everything in a notebook. Go by weight not volume if you want to be more accurate.

My diet is mostly plant based, and I usually choose foods that are low gluten. That leads to a diet that is naturally pretty low cal. But sometimes I just want a steak and avocado sandwich, homemade pasta with lemon and butter, or bacon with my Brussels sprouts so I eat it, and my calories for the day goes up.

I never feel deprived, and after 3 months I have lost almost 30 lbs so it works for me.

I plugged your information in a fairly reliable calculator on-line and for a 35 year-old female who is 5'5" and 156 lbs, your basal metabolic rate, BMR, is 1468. This is the number of calories your body needs to function if you were in a coma or laid in bed all day. Your total daily energy expenditure, TDEE, is just over 2000 (based on doing 1-3 hours of light exercise per week); this is the amount of calories your body needs to maintain your current weight at your current activity level. You should be eating between your BMR and TDEE to lose weight safely. Therefore, targeting 1500-1600 calories per day would give you a loss of about a pound per week. I would also suggest upping your exercise to help with increasing your losses. If you exercised 3-5 hours of moderate activity per week, your TDEE would go to 2275.

Thanks! I've been trying to eat up to 1,500 today actually. It sounds silly but I'm finding it hard to increase as I've started eating healthier food from the diet chef company for mealtimes, and their dinners and soups don't add to all that many calories, so it seems like I have to eat a lot of extra snacks to get up to 1,500-1,600

I concur with this calculation and target -

To bump up your intake, try a handful of almonds, peanut butter, avocados (make guacamole, just watch the salt), a slice of cheese.

Good luck!