I am confused to hell!

How tall are you? What do you weigh? What is your BF(body fat)?

Looks like you've done well so far but you're closing in on your goal. I would suggest re-evaluating your calories - find your TDEE and subtract a percentage to lose 1/2 lb per week now. You'll probably find that you'll be upping your calorie intake. Stick to lean meats, veggies, some fruit and healthy fats - it will happen! You've done great - congratulations!

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

Personally, If I have a friend at 1200 and they are eating at 1200, I'm good with that-BUT, if I notice they are consistently going under that 1200, I want nothing to do with that. Where it is not my business what someone else does, I can't consciously tell them good job or nice day if they are starving themselves. That makes them no longer a good fit for me and we part ways.

^This! I have friends that have 1200 calorie goals and that's their goals....but then I see them eating 1000-1100 and then burning 300ish calories or more and then they're netting WAY too little. I simply can't support that let alone like or encourage that.

Having said that, I don't unfriendly them because in the back of my mind I keep hoping that they'll see in my diary that I am eating 1800-2200 a day and losing an average of 2 lbs a week, all while eating (gasp) pizza and fast food occasionally. I post how happy I am, how much I enjoy my food, how food is not bad IMO.

I encourage in other ways and try to be there for them when they are having a hard day....which, let's face it, eating too little would eventually give someone a hard day.

*unfriend them (not unfriendly)!

I recommend running

According to fat2fitradio.com your BMR is 1,411. At 156 pounds, goal weight of 152, 66 inches, age 60, gender female, and (I assumed) body fat 32% your sedentary caloric intake is 1,735, and lightly active is 1,988. If you go to the site and use the BMR calculator and read the "How many calories should I eat?" it indicates to speed weight loss you can have 200-300 fewer calories based on activity level. So if you do nothing IE--desk job and your intake ought to be 1,735(less 200 calories) this is 1,535.

If you are consuming 1,200 calories with the expectation you'll continue to lose weight this is akin to saying I'm cold and taking wood off the fire. Fuel the body and be patient. An easier way to say this is" EAT DAMMIT and be patient(meaning give 1,535 of accurate logging 2 months) and see if there is a change. You are close to goal and metabolically you need the calories to lose the weight. Yes, increase caloric intake. Next caller. . . .

OP - your "friends" are close-minded morons. Let them de-friend you; who cares.

Here is the deal, you are a 60 year old female that doesn't exercise. Your BMR is about 1300 calories by calculation, but considering you don't exercise and don't have a physical job, your muscle mass is probably a little lower than normal. Therefore, your BMR may actually be a little lower than that. These are just estimates based on statistical info - not set in stone, personalized numbers.

1200 calories is not that unreasonable for you. 1200 calories of cookies and ice cream is bad, but if you are careful with your nutritional intake, you are fine. You need to make sure you are eating plenty of protein to help retain your muscle mass, though. The "1200 calorie rule" is just based on if people don't pay attention to the nutritional value of their meals. I'm 6' tall, 190 lbs, and carry a decent amount of muscle and when I want to cut quickly, I've been known to drop to 1200ish calories for a week or 10 days - but I'll still get in 200g of protein per day.

Because of your age and amount of muscle mass, you just don't have many calories to work with. You have aggravated this by being on a caloric deficit for a year and not exercising, so your muscle mass has decreased, giving you even less calories to work with. Here is how to fix it - eat at maintenance for a month or two and lift weights, then lose those last few pounds if you need to. I know it isn't what you want to hear, but thats how to fix it. Otherwise you can drop your calories a little bit more, but you will continue to lose muscle mass and you will need to be much more diligent with your nutrition.

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

Personally, If I have a friend at 1200 and they are eating at 1200, I'm good with that-BUT, if I notice they are consistently going under that 1200, I want nothing to do with that. Where it is not my business what someone else does, I can't consciously tell them good job or nice day if they are starving themselves. That makes them no longer a good fit for me and we part ways.

When you're out at the store and someone tells you "have a nice day", do you first ask them if they're eating at least 1200 cals/day before telling them to "have a nice day", as well? Weird.

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

Personally, If I have a friend at 1200 and they are eating at 1200, I'm good with that-BUT, if I notice they are consistently going under that 1200, I want nothing to do with that. Where it is not my business what someone else does, I can't consciously tell them good job or nice day if they are starving themselves. That makes them no longer a good fit for me and we part ways.

I agree I unfriend people who consistently eat under 1200 as well. I will make suggestions to up their calories first and watch if they do...

If they don't they are not with me on this little "journey" we are on...different perspective on the healthy way of doing it...

As well I have friends who are in recovery and they don't need to see that sort of thing on my wall either...

OOOOkkkk...
Unfriending people because they don't meet your criteria of health is not my mojo for sure, so let them go sweety and forget about it! Diets and life changes are a journey, not a destination, if takes lows and highs and you have being on this for a "short time" and have lost tones of weight, (28 pounds if significant and you are looking good!) ... So adjust your calories, try to watch your sodium, I eat 1200 net calories a day, run almost daily, and eat back my calories (so I can hit 1200) some days I don't meet my 1200's some times I eat a few more... and I still loose close to 1.5 pounds per week... do what works for you!!

My mum is almost 78 (in 2.5 months) and she was 5'6" but from aging she is about 5'1" now. She doesn't exercise, except doing regular daily activities around the house. She eats everything also but in moderation. She eats more than 1200 calories a day and maintains. I would estimate her intake to be around 1500. On occasion she eats more than that and still maintains. Her diet is a good balance of the various food groups.

Maybe you are not eating enough? Maybe you are eating too much salty stuff and you are retaining fluid. Maybe you are underestimating what you are eating. Maybe your food choices are mostly one food group or one macro. Maybe you have already arrived at your appropriate weight... have you asked your doctor about it? It's hard to tell most things because we cannot access your diary, and we don't know what you have tried/not tried.

With regards to your friends, maybe you asked for help repeatedly and they gave suggestions but you didn't listen. I know that can be frustrating for friends trying to offer help (it drives me crazy). Maybe you never opened your diary or interacted with them. I have some like that and what is the point? Maybe you undereat and it is triggering people who have food issues; I have some friends like that and it is starting to mess with my head and what I am doing ... so it's likely I will need to drop them for my own well being. It's hard to say why they dropped you ... Maybe they had too many friends and needed to pick the ones they had the most in common with.

Regardless, I hope you figure out what you need to achieve your goals in a healthy way. Take care

I am 5'6" too, weigh 161 lbs, and eat generally 1500-1700 calories a day. I lose weight at about 1 lb every 10 days. My TDEE is not very high, about 2100 on average per my fitbit and that's with exercise most weeks. A sedentary day for me is about an average burn of 1800-1850 calories. You could easily go up to 1400 calories and still lose. ALSO, I started out at 1200 cals a day and didn't lose much weight until I upped my to 1500 or so. Everyone's different, but I would def try upping those cals for a couple of weeks and see what happens. Good luck :drinker:

muggzie399 wrote: »

jkal1979 wrote: »

muggzie399 wrote: »

PrizePopple wrote: »

I'm not on MFP to @ss pat people who are being unhealthy. It's also not my job, nor my place, to tell you that you're hurting yourself. Not unless you ask specifically for opinions.

I removed someone for asking what was wrong with looking at "thinspo" pictures.

I removed a few people for collecting friends.

I'll remove for being under 1200 too. I had a friend who was about to get cut, but they owned up to not eating enough and have been making a very awesome effort to correct that.

I might also consider removing someone who continuously goes over calories with no obvious intention of correcting it.

MFP is a tool for me to utilize to make myself healthier, and having people around me that don't have the same goals in mind is counterproductive. End of story.

This was not a friend request. Everybody has a plan. Was looking for change in mine. Advice being welcome.

You mentioned that you were losing friends over this, and that is why it is being addressed. Did you reach out to your friends and explain what was going on and that you need help? It's very possible that they thought that you didn't want help and it was easier to unfriend you than to give unsolicited advice and/or support what they believe is an unhealthy way to lose weight.

Went to quote you and flagged you by mistake. The advice I would receive from these people was directed toward my exercising and buildiung muscle and fat and all the stuff I was not familiar with. They don't consider your time frame being a member. 6 mos. compared to 3 years has a whole different perspective.

My time back on the wagon is 8 weeks.

Yeah. 8 weeks.

Guess what, exercise is part of it. Eating at a deficit is the bulk of it ... But deficit =/= under 1200 calories. I've been eating roughly between 1570-1700 calories a day and I've lost 16 pounds in 8 weeks. I've had some *kitten* days where I'm over, and some where I'm more like 1300. It balances out though, and I exercise. I've begun "running" and will soon start out lifting light weights. My friends are awesome and know their *kitten*, and I love them for that.