My weight loss is slow. Do I need to eat more calories?

Hi Rhye, I agree that you could get some more protein in your diet. Good for you for thinking in that direction. Try if you can to start eating more clean foods and not packaged snacks. They are FULL of sodium and sugar. Hard boil some eggs to have on hand or grab a can of tuna with some mayo and pickles. All are great sources of protein. A piece of cheese instead of crackers, that kind of things. Little substitutions can make a big difference, both in calories, and on your hunger scale. I stay fuller longer when I "snack" on protein instead of carbs. In fact, I don't really snack when it I eat higher protein/lower carbs. Carbs are a great source of energy when they are used for energy and just don't sit around.

Do you lift any weights? That's a great way to build the muscle that will help amp up your metabolism. If you do, don't rely on the scale so much as how your clothes fit and if you are losing body fat.

Hope this helps

I know the idea is that if you do that you will lose weight faster even than now, but what if I don't?

Actually, the idea is centered more around dietary adherence. The smaller your deficit is from maintenance (i.e. the more you eat), the slower weight loss will be. BTW...it's supposed to be slow...anything from 1/2 Lb to 2 Lbs per week is right where it should be.

Eat more to lose is really about the idea of a VLCD vs a sustainable deficit where you aren't deprived and hungry and cranky, etc. You lose slower...but adherence is usually better...thus less binge, secret eating, cheat days, etc, etc, etc...in the long run, people with more sustainable deficits tend to lose more consistently and often keep that weight off because they've just learned to eat better in the process.

Personally, I'd keep doing exactly what you're doing...this isn't a sprint, it's a marathon...you didn't put the pounds on over night, and they aren't coming off overnight. Do not compare your weight loss to others and shows like the biggest loser, etc. Much of that kind of stuff isn't "real"...and when you see people dropping a lot of pounds fast, most of that is water; you can only oxidize so much fat in a 24 hour period.

Just keep on keepin' on. If you aren't already, I'd suggest using a food scale for most things...especiall calorie dense things. It's far more accurate than measuring and way more accurate than just eyeballing. People are shocked when they actually weigh, for example, 30 grams of peanut butter vs. the alternative 2 Tbsp...just a hint, it's less than what most people would stuff into 2 Tbsp. If you're not weighing and measuring you could easily be consuming 20-30% more calories than you think you are.

Honestly when I had 70 lbs to lose, I went with the 'lose 1lb a week' goal on MFP and didn't eat my exercise calories back for a while because I had no idea how much it was... I started by eating 1650 a day, and have pretty much been eating that on and off since, I've just increased my activity to match that, and it's what TDEE-20% gives me now anyway (use http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ to calculate your TDEE).

As others said too, weighing everything is extremely important, you can easily miscalculate everything by 30% or something if you use measuring spoons or cups... Food scales are cheap and the best investment you can make.

Your BF is probably over 31% - it's not something you can really calculate at home unless you have calipers and whatnot. Don't even worry about it, it shouldn't really affect your diet one way or another anyway.

Exercise, yeah your muscles might retain water for a while so you might not lose right away. It's ok. Keep doing it. Frankly I wasn't very active at all the first months, it just became easier, and now I typically just walk or workout one hour a day.

If you're worried you're going to starve, go with whole, filling foods. I ate a LOT of greek yogurt with fresh fruit the first month, and pretty much every snack I eat has some protein in it still. Lots of lean meats, fish etc.

"I am currently losing weight, so does it make sense to switch?"....i stopped reading here...if something's not broken, why fix it?

OP...I'm also noting a lot of inconsistency in your diary. This thing is all about consistency...consistently logging...consistently achieving your calorie goals...consistently weighing out your portions and measuring your liquids...consistency, consistency, consistency.

Just setting targets won't get you the results you want; you have to MEET your targets. Starting with your net calorie target, and including that very modest protein target. If you need more protein, eat protein-rich foods. I get over 100g nearly every day with a net calorie target of 1460. It's not hard, but you do have to actually think about what you're putting in your mouth. 50 grams of protein? You can get that in 200 calories, leaving 1,900 for whatever else you feel like consuming. Really, that's pretty darned easy. If you picked the worst option on the list below and ate 25 tablespoons of shredded Parmesan cheese (ugh, but do the math with me here) ... you could get your 50 grams of protein in only 525 calories. Still leaving you over 1,500 calories for anything else you want every day. No protein shakes required.

1 oz deli turkey - 25 calories - 6g protein (4.25 kcal/g)
1 egg white - 17 calories - 4g protein (4.25 kcal/g)
1/2 pound snow crab legs - 95 calories - 20g protein (4.25 kcal/g)
6 oz chicken breast, cooked dry - 165 calories - 35g protein (4.7 kcal/g)
2 oz Starkist tuna - 50 calories - 10g protein (5 kcal/g)
1 oz deli ham - 36 calories - 6g protein (6 kcal/g)
3.5 oz grilled rainbow trout - 126 calories - 18g protein (7 kcal/g)
1 serving Siggi's skyr (strawberry) - 110 calories - 14g protein (7.86 kcal/g)
1 portabello mushroom - 26 calories - 3g protein (8.67 kcal/g)
1 egg - 70 calories - 8g protein (8.75 kcal/g)
6 oz Chobani Greek yogurt (strawberry) - 140 calories - 14g protein (10 kcal/g)
1 oz Swiss cheese - 90 calories - 9g protein (10 kcal/g)
1 T shredded parmesan cheese - 21 calories - 2g protein (10 kcal/g)

Oh yeah I didn't look at your diary either... If you eat 2000 calories, you should easily have 120g of protein in that. You're eating way too many carbs. Try to change the settings to 40% carb, 30% fat, 30% protein. Protein will keep you full longer too.

Also I don't know what that rubharb scone is, but a generic entry of a high calorie food is often a bad idea, you could be off by 100 calories or more every time.

Anyway, if you're not weighing and still going over your calories a lot of the time, it's not really a wonder you're not losing very fast. You really need to look at what you're eating and make healthier choices. You're probably hungry a lot from all those carbs too.

It's definitely possible. I do measure out or weigh portions a couple times a week to see if I am eyeballing correctly but a shamefully high amount of my food is pre-packaged processed foods so those calories at least I know. If this is happening, I think it's a minor effect. Or at least, I try to keep any "eyeballing" to a minimum.

It's good to weigh the portions you are eating even if it's prepackaged, in case the labelling is off, and there are, say, 2 servings in a package instead of 1. This has happened to me before.

A rhubarb scone is a scone made of rhubarb. My husband baked these and told me the calorie content for each one based on what he put into them. Instead of asking him to list the entire recipe for me so that I could make it a food on MFP, I found a generic rhubarb scone and adjusted the amount until I hit the right calorie content.

Even if my partner makes dinner and tells me what's in it, I always, always, add the recipe. Even though I'm sure he's not trying to be sneaky (and he uses MFP also), I need to be in control of my portions and know that I am logging as accurately as I can. Also, people can be bad at math.

You need to eat more protein. You already said you know you do, but you actually have to. Otherwise, you're losing lean body mass as well as fat when you do lose. You can easily swap a few things and up your protein intake. For example, try Greek yogurt with fruit instead of Yoplait.

Here's the thing...
all of the calculators are necessary only if/because you don't have actual data about your own actual body. But you do have that.
Average out your last month in calories. Subtract 500 calories a day. Hit your numbers consistently (as in, within 50 calories in either direction). Try that for a month and see how it feels?

But listen -- you're ahead of the game, actually. You already know you can lose at 2500 calories plus. You're not losing at 1200, desperately hungry all the time, and terrified of bumping it up. And being able to log no matter what your intake requires courage. MFP is chock-a-block full of intermittent loggers...you see the good days, and the partly good days, but then blank days....you're looking at the situation with clear eyes and that is probably the hardest part