How can I get back on track without having to starve myself?

Are you following MFP's guidelines based on your current weight, goal weight, amount of exercise, net calories?

What size are you and what makes you think you are supposed to be 120lb?

If you train a lot and have muscle, than you will weigh more. And look better.

Did you measure yourself by any chance? becasue sometime you gain weight , water retention, muscle gain, time of the month there's all sorts of reason, but your measurements stay the same...

I haven't lost much weight but my measurements have decreased quiet a bit over the past week since begining a new plan of action... Hoping to stay on this track for a while

What size are you and what makes you think you are supposed to be 120lb?

If you train a lot and have muscle, than you will weigh more. And look better.

I'm 5'1. I've been lifting for a month now which might be why I'm also gaining weight?? I used to only do cardio.

LOL. Yes, muscle weighs more than fat. Have someone do a body composition analysis and find out how much body fat you really do have...

LOL. Yes, muscle weighs more than fat. Have someone do a body composition analysis and find out how much body fat you really do have...

Agree with a slight modification to the wording (if I may): A pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat. That's where the measurements become important! You could weigh the same or more but in fact you are leaner than before.

As a woman you shouldn't go below 1200 net calories on a daily basis. If you have eaten 1200 calories and then exercise to burn off 100 calories you need to eat that 100 back so that the net calorie intake (Calories Eaten - Calories Burned) is at least 1200 calories. (MFP can help you if you log your exercise.)

You should be also eating more often and, if you are doing a lot of exercise, you may want to bump up your protein intake and even it out throughout the day so that you are getting approximately 1/6 of your daily protein intake with each meal/snack. Lower your sodium intake and increase your water.

You're going to get there, you just need to adjust things a little bit more.

As a woman you shouldn't go below 1200 net calories on a daily basis. If you have eaten 1200 calories and then exercise to burn off 100 calories you need to eat that 100 back so that the net calorie intake (Calories Eaten - Calories Burned) is at least 1200 calories. (MFP can help you if you log your exercise.)

You should be also eating more often and, if you are doing a lot of exercise, you may want to bump up your protein intake and even it out throughout the day so that you are getting approximately 1/6 of your daily protein intake with each meal/snack. Lower your sodium intake and increase your water.

You're going to get there, you just need to adjust things a little bit more.

The first paragraph is good advice. The second paragraph isn't. Meal timing and nutrient timing have no effect on weight loss. Sodium is irrelevant, and increasing water is unnecessary, and will actually just increase water weight.

In short, yes you did lose weight but figuring out from where is tricky when relying only on a scale.

The thing about weighing yourself on a scale is that it includes everything - bones, muscle, fat, water, partly digested food...the lot. So it can be tricky to say where the loss is.

I have a scale that also measures water and body fat, which I find more helpful.

Losing 6lbs in 3 weeks isn't too bad but it could be losing weight too fast. It depends on your body though as some people (usually with lots of muscle beforehand) can lose weight super fast. However, you don't want to stress your body out as it needs time to adjust, which is why losing 1lb a week may be more realistic.

The weight you put back on could very well be muscle (especially since you go to the gym so regularly), which is a good thing.

I know it can be discouraging to see your weight go up after so much hard work, but you need to keep in mind that it could be adding muscle on to your body. So don't take it too badly. I have been advised before that putting on 1lb of muscle per week is realistic.

Also, when do you weigh yourself? You should do it in the morning the same time every week. If you do it during the day it will include food you've eaten or if you do it after a work out it will include all the water you (should) be drinking. Weigh yourself in the morning (after going to the bathroom if you need to - gross!) as your body should be empty (after 8 hours of no food or drinking).

One of the best ways to determine if your putting on more or less fat is to go get zapped (the bioelectrical impedance analysis). This sends a small electrical signal throughout your body and measures the resistance from different materials in your body. It gives a reasonable measure of body fat percentage.

Most gyms offer this service, or you can buy one yourself.

Note too that women usually need more fat than men because of our differences in biology. Not me that thinks this, mother nature does

I'd also avoid using BMI as a measure of progress, it can be a good starting point, but it measures all the bits of your body whereas the problem with people being overweight is too much fat.

A 6-foot 250lb person with 40% body fat is unhealthy, a 6-foot 250lb person with 5% body fat is probably a lean, muscly athlete. But the BMI would be the same. I'm 6'1'' and used to be 235lbs with 30%+ body fat, I'm now 200lbs with 15% (much healthier), although I'm still considered overweight using BMI.

Finally, when you change your caloric intake significantly, your body gets confused. Like I mentioned before, it can go into starvation mode and hold on to the food it gets (which increases your weight).

If you want to reduce your calories do it slowly rather than in a dramatic fashion. But reducing calories isn't always the best thing if you are very active - you need to keep the machine running.

So eating 2000 calories and burning 500 calories means your body is running on 1500, and if it needs 2000 just to keep running it could go into starvation mode - holding on to food and fat longer than you want, which makes losing weight more difficult for you.

I need about 2500 a day doing nothing, but to loose 1lb a week I need 2000. I usually burn 400 in exercise a day. So if I eat 2000 and do 400 exercise my body is running on 1600, 900 under what I need! It's better (and healthier) to eat 2400 - slightly less than what I need - and burn 400. Then I'm right where I need to be.

This week I've lost 2lbs and .4% body fat and have increased my weights at the gym, which suggests the weight lost is fat.
For that week I needed 18,200 calories. I ate 17,201 and exercised 3,035 for a deficit of 4,034 (my target is 3,780). That is slightly more than what I expected, but next week it might slow down or I may need to eat some more to not lose weight so fast.

Starving yourself isn't the way to go because it is unhealthy and stresses your body out. Remember, this is a lifestyle change, so it may take a while to get into the habit.

Hope this helps, and keep at it!