Upping Calories from 1200 and Terrified!

I am currently at 2500/day. I went up to 2800~which is my true TDEE. Did I gain? Yes...about 3-4 lbs. But measurments didn't change....clothes still fit better. I have never felt better. I have struggled for years with my energy level after working out. Not anymore. My body is finally getting the nutrition it needs. My skin and hair are looking so way better too! (naturally I lift and workout at least 3-4 days/week)

I would say you're not afraid of eating more, you're afraid of gaining weight. Don't let fear make any decisions for you! Take the chance, increase your calories--slowly and get your body healthy! You can look at my profile to get more info if you want! And BTW....you look amazing--and have obviously worked very hard to get where you are now! Think of eating more and working out as the next adventure!! HTH!

Hey,

Well done on your weight loss so far! Yes 1,675 a day sounds absolutely fine. As long as your calorie output exceeds your calorie intake you will definitely lose weight, even on a smaller deficit.

I had a little look at your food diary - I think it's hard to say how many calories you're ACTUALLY taking on board as a lot of it looks like a lot of the food is estimated... in tablespoons and cups also you log things like a 'slice of generic ciabatta'. It might be an idea to weigh every last little morsel so you can really nail it down and know where you are at.

A cruise... you lucky thing! Enjoy

This is a good point. If you are going to up your calories, you really should consider being as accurate as possible with your logging. This is an excellent post about that: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
And here is the Youtube link mentioned in that post. It's a real eye-opener, if you haven't been using a scale.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

Congratulations on 36 pounds in 10 months! That's great! You've averaged closed to a pound a week for a substantial amount of time, and to me that's a great thing. If I'm still losing weight 10 months into this, and I start to feel that it's going slowly, I hope somebody will remind me that as long as I'm making progress, there's nothing to be worried about.

I'm not going to pretend I know the answer to where to set your calories. I've only been on MFP for about seven weeks, and I've seen a lot of threads arguing over starvation mode and eat-more-to-lose and whether TDEE - 20% is the best or only way to lose, and I'm trying to stay away from those fights. However, it seems to me that if you can lose weight at a reasonable pace (and I think a pound a week is a reasonable pace -- it's what I set my goals for, although with one thing and another, I have been averaging more than that in actual loss in these early weeks), why make yourself miserable with a really low calorie allowance?

For what's it worth, I'm roughly the same height and weight as you and have been losing at an average rate of more than 2 lbs for seven weeks while aiming at 1450 net calories, which is what MFP gave me for a 1 pound a week loss based on a sedentary life style (desk job). I do net average a little lower than that, but not enough to explain all of the extra weight loss, and I just chalk it up to the accumulation of estimation errors (my basic life style is probably somewhere between sedentary and lightly active, and maybe I'm too conservative when I have to estimate calories consumed in situations where I can't weigh and measure, and maybe for heavier people who are moving more weight, MFP's one-size-fits-all exercise database actually underestimates calories consumed walking, which is the majority of my exercise?) Anyway, I rejected MFP's suggestion that I lower my daily calorie goals by 100 calories a day now that I've lost close to 15 lbs, because that kind of scares me. Psychologically, I get daily encouragement out of coming under my net calorie goal by even 10 calories, and even going over it a little doesn't bother me because I can look back over the past week and see I have a bit of a calorie deficit cushion, and of course I know that as long as I'm not going over maintenance, I should still be losing weight, albeit more slowly. If I reduce the goal and it's hard to stay within it, I'm pretty sure it will discourage me. But that's me. Other people may react differently.

Maybe it's a little hypocritical after I just admitted to being scared of decreasing my calorie goal (although I really do think I'm also being rational, since I'm losing at the current goal), but ask yourself exactly what you're terrified of? You're not going to gain back that 36 lbs in a week or even a month just by eating an extra 150 calories. In fact, you'll probably end the month at couple of pounds lighter than you are now, even if the eat-more-to-lose arguments are completely invalid (just saying "if," folks), because you'll only be cutting into your deficit, not eating over maintenance. If you go ahead and make that adjustment, and give it a month, you can reevaluate then.

Best of luck!

If you're afraid to increase your base calories, try staying where you are (and have been successful) and adding your exercise calories from your new program. If you also reduce your processed foods (and sodium) and up your water intake, don't expect to gain. You've done very well so far. Adding more exercise and improving your food quality will probably give you even better results.

I'm 54, and I'm taller and have less to lose than you do. I set myself to sedentary (financial analyst) and eat some of the calories for exercise/work I do. MFP gives me a base of 1440 for a half pound a week rate, and I'm getting a bit more loss than that. It's a lot easier to get enough fat and protein with a few more calories to work with.

Good luck!