Am I doing something wrong??

give it time. your body probably just needs to adjust to the activity. it'll happen! :flowerforyou:

Don't eat what you burn. Stick to the 1200 calories and it will melt off.

Dont get discouraged. it sounds like you have come to a halt.. your body may be used the activity that you have been giving it.. Switch it up every week.. from brisk walking one day. to a run the next. lifting weights , zumba , yoga. It challenges your muscles more. and re boots everything again.. lots of change.. changing your distants and speed ect.. also weight training is key.. the more muscle mass you have the more calories you burn..

As has been said multiple times by multiple people, MFP builds in a calorie deficit - you do not need to create one yourself. Eating your exercise calories is great. What you may want to try doing is eating 1200 one day, 1500 the next, back to 1200, for a week or two to keep your body guessing.

I'm in no way an expert, but my understanding is that you need a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. So, that means you shouldn't be eating the calories you burned doing zumba and walking. You should stick to the 1200 calories, and add your exercise without eating more.

This is actually incorrect. MFP does not work like other counters/plans. MFP creates a built in deficit, based on your chosen loss per week goal, regardless of exercise. It adds cals to maintain that deficit, keeping it steady - and therefore your weight loss steady. Eating under goal will not necessarily make you lose faster, and can result in slower metabolism and burning a higher ratio of muscle, rather than fat.

Here's a couple of threads that discuss this:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/117726-eating-exercise-cals-slowing-your-weight-loss-read-this

Don't eat what you burn. Stick to the 1200 calories and it will melt off.

Fail!

Don't eat what you burn. Stick to the 1200 calories and it will melt off.

Fail!

Precisely!!! You have to eat them!!! Else it will slow down your weight loss....((spoken from experience))

Don't eat what you burn. Stick to the 1200 calories and it will melt off.

^This, I never have and never will eat exercise calories. 107lbs lost in 6 months shows what works lol :laugh:

Don't eat what you burn. Stick to the 1200 calories and it will melt off.

^This

no. that is unhealthy advice especially for women.

I show on MFP I should have 1200 calories a day which I stay very close too. I lost 3 lbs the first week, then I added in Zumba and walking about 4-5 times a week. I always put my workouts in. I have a Polar HRM so I put in what it shows for calories burned. Then I eat the calories it shows. (my 1200 plus what I've burned) But the last 2 weeks I seem to have not budged really. Am I doing something wrong?? I don't get it.

I'm in a "holding pattern" too. And I'm a little sad and frustrated, and wondered if I was doing something wrong too. I've been working so hard at the gym doing lots of cardio. I've been making healthy eating choices, logging, and staying within my calories. It's hard when I see other people losing so much so quickly. Let's hang in there. What's the alternative? :grumble:

no. that is unhealthy advice especially for women.

It's totally healthy and safe actually (1200-1600 calories per day), recommended, tried and tested, Doctors even recommend it, the problem is it isn't the "MFP Way" so must be wrong! lol

Sorry FK - It may have worked in your circumstance, but IMHO, this is poor advice. The MFP site and recommendations for eating back exercise calories is tried and true and more important, it is sustainable in the long run for Most people (you may be the exception, which is great for you, but not so great for everyone else).

Don't eat what you burn. Stick to the 1200 calories and it will melt off.

^This, I never have and never will eat exercise calories. 107lbs lost in 6 months shows what works lol :laugh:

Sorry, I don't agree at all. and 107 is 6 months is not considered healthy weight loss, that is way more than the 2lbs/week that is considered safe and healthy.

Most doctors or nutritionist knowing you workout will not give you so few calories. Most likely if you workout 4 days per week a nutritionist will give you 1600 ish calories/day to lose weight. MFP will give you 1200 and tell you to eat your calories back. If on those 4 days you burn 600/day MFP will give you 10,800 cals for the week (1200*3 + 1800*4) and your nutritionist will give you 11200 (1600*7) which is pretty close after taking into account exercise 10,800 vs 11,200. Which is why MFP tells you to eat your exercise calories.

On days you workout if you only ate 1200 and burned the 600 you would net 600, which would be like eating 600 calories and not working out. this is not enough calories at all.

Are you using a food scale to weigh everything you eat? Most people drastically underestimate how much food they're eating. Even using measuring cups and food labels can be misleading. For example, I eat Quaker old-fashioned oatmeal for breakfast. The nutrition panel says "1/2 cup (40 grams) per serving." However, when I use a food scale to weigh a leveled (not heaping) 1/2 cup measuring cup, it actually weighs 54 grams. There are many other instances where I find even greater differences using measuring cups instead of actually weighing the food. Just a thought.

If you just added the exercise, it's possible your body is in the process of building muscle which wieghs more than fat. Likely you will begin to lose again soon as your muscle building evens out but your fat loss continues.

I have a Polar HRM so I put in what it shows for calories burned. Then I eat the calories it shows. (my 1200 plus what I've burned) But the last 2 weeks I seem to have not budged really. Am I doing something wrong?? I don't get it.

Are you eating the entire amount that your HRM tells you your burned? Because if you are, you're doing it wrong, lol. You definitely *should* be eating back your exercise calories- but first, you have to do some math. You can't just input the number that the HRM gives you. What you need to do is subtract the number of calories that you would have burned anyways, at rest, and then only eat back what is leftover. Wear your HRM someday while you are lounging on the couch and doing nothing for 10 minutes. It will vary, so you can do it a few times over the course of different days and average the results, if you want. When you see how many calories you burn in 10 minutes doing nothing, then you'll need to do some math when it comes to calculating how many of your exercise calories you can eat back. Let's say you worked out for an hour. 60 / 10 (because we're calculating in 10 minutes intervals) = 6. Then multiply that number by however many calories you normally burn at rest (for me, it is about 18). So 6 * 18 = 108. Now, take the total amount of calories your HRM told you that you burned during your workout and subtract your resting calories from that. Let's say it was 300 calories. 300 - 108 = 192. So ONLY eat back that 192. If you eat back the full 300, you will be overeating which could definitely account for your slowed weight loss.

You should also remember that if you've just added the workouts, your body is (hopefully!) building muscle. So it may be the case that you are still losing fat, but gaining muscle, and that is why you haven't seen a loss. Now, this doesn't happen overnight, it takes time, but it is a possibility that may be happening. Which is why it would be good to take your measurements and record those too, not just your weight, so you get a better/more accurate picture.

I also agree with the posters who asked about how you are measuring your food. Get a cheap food scale, if you don't have one already... it just takes the guesswork out. This way, you'll definitely know that what you logged is completely accurate. You may be going over without realizing it.