Will upping my calories help me lose weight?

Are you using a gram measure food scale and also measuring liquids like oils that you cook with? Are you counting everything you drink as well as what you eat? You're verifying the labels and WEIGHTS not quantity right (if it says 1 tbsp [28g] you weigh 28g, not 1 tbsp), etc?

At 1200 calories, if you're not losing weight and are that active, something is off... you're logging incorrect, you're "eating back" exercise calories, you're eating more than 1200 calories, you're moving less than you estimate (or at less intensity), or you have a metabolic disorder. More food will not yield more weight loss.

BMR(female) = 10 * weight(kg) + 6.25 * height(cm) - 5 * age(y) - 161

BMR = 10 * 63.5029 + 6.25 * 162.56 - 5 * (age in years) - 161

So your BMR would be something akin to 1400 at age 18, 1090 at age 80.

That DOESN'T count exercise or activity level *AT ALL*.

With your food diary locked from public view, it's hard to see where you might be making likely mistakes... but eating more, if you want to lose weight, is not the answer.

("Starvation Mode" doesn't work how many people perpetuate it here. See also: http://www.nowloss.com/starvation-mode-myth.htm, http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/, etc, etc, etc.)

1200 calories is about the lowest you should go if you aren't very active. Since you're so active I would shoot for 1500.

Yep, just like putting a ski jacket on will help you cool down in summer.

leanneconnolly975 wrote: »

psuLemon wrote: »

So let me state this. At some point, when you want to maintain, you'd have to increase calories. Secondly, there are a lot of factors that can influence total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). Someone blindly saying, that answer is never to eat more calories is wrong. There are a variety of factors that can influence TDEE and it's components. Severely cutting calories, while having an active job and exercising is most likely not doing you any favors and more than likely doing more harm. And while there are not a ton of studies around the topic, some of the experts like Lyle McDonald, Layne Norton, etc.. can see improvements in metabolic efficiency with their clients by removing them from a large deficit, such as in the below post: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html .

Many people look at TDEE as a static number. But it's not. In fact, it's highly variable because it not only includes metabolism (BMR), but calories burned through exericse (TEA), daily activities (NEAT) and calories burnt during digestion (TEF). As you already noted, you are often exhausted which is one indicator that you are not receiving adequate nutrients. This in turn would suppress calories burnt from TEA and NEAT; eating low calories would also decrease TEF.

So what I am getting at, if you feel that you have addressed logging accuracy and consistency, I would recommend increasing calories by another 300 to 500 calories and monitoring progress over 4 to 6 weeks (know that if you increase carbs as will replenish glycogen/water, so you might show a few lbs on the scale within the first week or two... this is why you need to evaluate over a prolonged period to do an accurate assessment). I went from 1800 to 2300 and saw more consistent increases. I attribute it to greater compliance, ability to push harder in workouts and increases to daily activity increase my TDEE a lot.

Considering all things, most women I know (especially those exercising) see good loss around 1600 to 2000 calories (some even more). So it's not too unreasonable to have a starting point at the lower end of that. Whats the worst thing that could happen, you gain a few lbs and you will have had a good diet break.

Thank you

I'd go with this. Having had an Eating Disorder in my younger years (BMI 11) i also find it very hard to loose weight now. For me lowering my calories too much and over-exercising results in water retention, pain, misery and eventually uncontrollable binge eating. By trying to loose weight in this way I caused unneccesarry misery. Go to your doctor, get all your blood tests and hormones checked (i had low vitamin D, increasing levels helped me in many ways). Remember weight loss is about overall health, you should feel better on loosing weight and adopting a healthy lifestyle not worse. It took me years to work this out!

gebeziseva wrote: »

So many fat people out there. If only they were eating more...

Exactly

It sounds to me like you should see a dr about possible health issues preventing you from losing weight. Sorry but at 1200 calories and all of the activity that you get, you should be losing weight, even if you are underestimating calorie counts here and there, like everyone here thinks you are doing. Just my opinion.

One of my best friends and I are the opposite sides of this argument.
We're both about 5' 5" and 60-62kg or so, so very comparable in size with the OP.

My friend
- Has had eating issues for years and years. Will often eat nothing all day then eat a ton of chocolate and drink wine in the evening. Struggles to eat healthily or regularly. Sees food as the enemy. Believes she should be on a horrendous calorie restriction of 1,200 or similar and often is (although sometimes it's formed entirely of chocolate and gin!).
- Exercises to excess, mostly long distance cycling, with some core workouts, and a small amount of weights.
- Has a little "pot belly" of stubborn stomach fat that she can't shift, and makes her really unhappy.

Me
- Dieted to oblivion to get to racing weight (48.5kg) as a cox'n in my early 20s, including a brush with bulimia and a 7 year battle back to a healthy mindset. Have crash dieted to racing weight since, but not since 2011.
- A bit OCD and very willing to follow a food and exercise plan, as long as it's set by someone else.
- Followed The Body Coach 90 day plan a few years ago, and discovered that HIIT is basically a disaster zone for me. My body responded super badly to 5 sessions a week for a long period of time (more than the 3 months). Ended up seriously scrawny and not looking good.
- Working with a PT since August last year, weight training 3 times a week with incidental cardio (I walk a lot) and eating 1,850 calories on a rest day and 2,000 on a training day. I track my macros.
- I now have 17% body fat, a nice flat stomach, and toned shoulders but am not scrawny. I am SUPER happy with how I look. (My boyfriend called me "buff" the other day!!)

So for me, I totally needed to up my calories, fuel my body appropriately, and hit the weights often enough to make a difference, but not so often that I end up wiped out.
It hurts me to see my friend failing to lose her tummy under such a deficit, but I haven't managed to convince her that she may do better by changing her approach to nutrition.

To the OP - see a qualified trainer. Explain what you've been doing, how your numbers have been stacking up (both nutrient intake and exercise output), and listen to what they say.
The right macros and the right training programme could change things totally, although you may have to be prepared for the first few weeks to feel like you're going backwards before you go forwards. More exercise/less food isn't always better for your body, and maybe you've just hit that point.
Some people never find it (all the "just eat less and you'll lose!" people), and I guess they're lucky, but bodies are very, very complicated and individual things. You only get one, so it's worth spending the time and effort (and a little money) to figure out an approach that truly works for you.