Completely at a Standstill

I get what your asking about the 1200 cal being healthy,but as a RN I feel that it is individual I find that 1200 works for me,but someone else may need more calories to lose weight.If you eat to few calories your body will go into starvation mode so I make sure not to eat less than 1200 cal/day
kim

kayovercomer, I have a couple of questions to ask. First, do you know what your BMR and/or AMR are? You can calculate your BMR (Basil Metabolic Rate) in the tools section on this site. If you google AMR (Active Metabolic Rate), you can find a calculator for that very easily on the internet.

What these numbers will tell you are the number of calories you need to eat per day to sustain life (BMR) and to sustain your life plus normal daily activities (AMR). These are very important numbers because they will tell you how many calories from which you need to create the deficit. For instance, if your AMR is 2000 calories a day, a 500 calorie a day deficit will take you to 1500 calories a day. But if your AMR is 1500, then you can see where it is impossible to create a 500 calorie deficit without falling below the 1200 calorie limit (which really isn't good to fall below). I think these are good things to know.

So I would recommend you try to calculate those things to see perhaps why MFP is suggesting 1200 calories a day.

My second question is whether you have tried to work out with more intensity than the current walking you are doing. It is going to be much easier to lose the weight if you are exercising with more intensity than that. And by more intensity, I don't mean going for a five mile run. But if you are on a treadmill, have you tried incline training (which is no impact) on that treadmill? Have you tried to add any upper body resistance training when you are walking (for example, doing simple bicep curls while you are walking). I think you might find that simply changing the intensity of your workouts would probably shock your body into starting to lose weight.

I am not going to tell you that 1200 calories is too low because for many people it isn't. My AMR (without exercise of course) is only about 1450 calories, so, for me, 1200 calories is very doable and very safe. But I think you might need to understand your numbers better and if, like me, you can't create an effective deficit with food alone, really look at your workouts and try to increase the intensity there over time.

And, finally, I understand the frustration, but be patient. Especially be patient if you alter your workouts at all because it does take the body a couple/few weeks to respond. But when you find the right combination of diet/exercise for you, it will respond. So keep trying!

From your BMR of 1388, you can now calculate your AMR. There is a math formula for doing that, but I'll just toss a couple out at you in hopes it makes it easier. If you live a primarily sedentary life (outside of exercise), then your AMR is 1526. In other words, that's how many calories you need to eat to MAINTAIN your weight if you aren't exercising. If you lead a moderately active life (spend a good part of your time on your feet), then your AMR is 1655. A very active lifestyle would mean your AMR is 1783.

It is from your AMR that you want to calculate your calorie deficit. So, for instance, if your AMR is 1526, and you eat 1200 calories a day (which would be safe even though it is below your BMR because you are more than 10-15 pounds overweight), then you are going to lose a little more than half a pound a week. And that is if you are very religious about 1200. If you are like me :bigsmile: sometimes 1200 means 1250 or maybe even 1300. And those extra calories make quite a bit of difference.

In order to create a deficit if your AMR is 1526 of five hundred calories a day (one pound a week weight loss), then you need to workout. Given that you've been walking for 30 minutes a day for a year, I'm thinking your body has metabolized to that and you probably aren't burning too many calories during that activity. I don't know that for sure, but it is likely. So as you've indicated, it is probably time to shake up that activity.

These factors (a low AMR and your current workout regime) could very well be why you've not noticed any weight loss in the past 2-3 weeks--because your deficit isn't enough yet to actually register a significant weight loss.

So my recommendation to you is to NOT increase your calories (unless you are leading a very active lifestyle) too much unless you really start pushing the intensity of your workouts. Instead, if I were you, I'd focus on the workouts first and, eventually, try to get an accurate reading on what you are burning once you've increased the intensity of the workouts (for example, with a heartrate monitor). Whether you are sedentary or mildly active, I would say that once you start burning over about 200-300 calories a day, then maybe start eating back some of your workout calories--but just those above about the 200-300 burned. (In other words, if you burn 500 calories, maybe eat back half of those).

It is very frustrating for those of us with low metabolic rates to lose weight, and I so understand that because I'm totally in your boat. But once I figured out how much I really am supposed to be eating to maintain my weight if I'm not exercising (which is, like I said, 1450 calories a day), then I came to a much better understanding of how I was eating too much because, quite honestly, I never dreamed my maintenance calories without exercise would be so low (I would have guessed 1800, which would have me gaining nearly a pound a week!)

Again, these are just my recommendation based on what you've said here, and I can't guarantee they are the right recommendations. But I wish you the best of luck!

Good luck girl! let us know how you do!