Advice Please :)

Decrease your calories per week until you get down to a level where you're losing the weight you want. I'd say eat 1800 a day next week, 1700 a day the week after, etc etc. Of course, don't do this until you're starving yourself. 1200 seems to be the generally excepted lowest, but everyone's different. Might be 1400 for you.

Also, how much are you exercising? Can you exercise more? Or with more intensity?

And wow, 45 pounds lost. That's awesome!

Half a pound a week is really good, sustainable and gives your skin time to adjust so you are less likely to have sagging skin issues.

How much exercise are you able to do? Adding a bit more may help. Reducing cals slightly may help, maybe adjust every 2 weeks down to about 1500.

Being stuck behind a computer all day sucks. You can sneak in some activity that will help. Every hour (use the computer alarm) stand up and do some exercises like squats, arm windmills, pushups off your desk, lunges or just 10 or 12 giant steps around the office. You only need to do 3-6 of each if you're pushed for time. There are websites which will give you more info on this too. If you're self conscious about other workers comments you can go to the kitchen and exercise there, or the bathroom or just tell them you are rocking your awesomeness (thankyou Mrs Floyd for this suggestion).

And if you are already doing all this then great. And I agree with Stephanie re: the weight loss.

Decrease your calories per week until you get down to a level where you're losing the weight you want. I'd say eat 1800 a day next week, 1700 a day the week after, etc etc. Of course, don't do this until you're starving yourself. 1200 seems to be the generally excepted lowest, but everyone's different. Might be 1400 for you.

Also, how much are you exercising? Can you exercise more? Or with more intensity?

And wow, 45 pounds lost. That's awesome!

Yeah, I can definitely up my workouts, and I know that will help a lot. But according to the site I should be losing 2 lbs a week (even when not factoring in calorie burns), so I'm not sure what the deal is. But yeah, I'm working on getting more physical activity in, which will help. Just wish I knew a good place to set my base calories at which won't leave me hungry all the time.

I like your idea though, I guess I can just gradually start decreasing the cals every week until the scale starts moving again.

Give yourself time to adjust. You might be hungry at 1700 for a few days before you get used to it. Doesn't necessarily mean that you need to eat more calories. And a little hungry is different than starved.

Ok so MFP gives u a caloric number to slowly help u reach ur goals because it is safe n helps you maintained the steady progress towards ur goal. I would not suggest u eat less because this can actually slow down your metabolism n u end up burning less calories bc ur body goes into starvation mode n wants to store everything. I would suggest u do the manual option and decrease the % of calories u eat from carbohydrates...so try to eat more proteins n less carbs..

I'd try it for a bit longer before you reduce calories. It sounds like you are loggin really accurately which is great.
The other thing to check is - are you overestimating exercise?

If that's accurate, then I wouldn't change anything yet - give it another few weeks, then you could drop 100 cals or so - but you are so right to want to stick to a realistic number of calories - I know that I won't stick to anything that is too low, so there is no point going there.

Hang in there, you will see changes!

I've stopped completely my diary awhile ago and I can tell that I'm maintaining right now-I'll probably start losing again in a month or so. When I was strict with eating I was at 1200-1500 cals a day with or without exercise include. I wasn't hungry and I wasn't sick. I lost on average 2lbs/week. My exercise routine was 6 days a week, 40 min cardio which burned about 415-460 cals plus I did another 45 min or so of strength training. gym sessions were and still are 1-2 hrs/day.

My starting weight was about 180 and I'm staying at 159-160 now, My height is 5'4".

Feeling hungry doesn't always mean you are. A lot of times it means you need more water. If you are involved in sedentary activities such as working at a computer and watching tv or a movie it tricks you into feeling hungry. Also, it takes certain people a lot longer to get used to proper portion sizes.

If you can't get to a gym look up at home routines to do. There are a lot of exercises involving bodyweight and object around the office or home that can be very helpful.

Drink a lot of water, eat a lot of fruits and veggies and get your protein from the leanest sources possible. Try to eat as few processed foods as possible.

Remember that a loss is a loss, It may be slow going at first but just stick with healhty eating and exercise. Even if it's only a brisk walk for 20 min a day starting out. MFP gives you guidelines on what to do, and I take them into consideration, but I don't get super freaked out or concerned when they say I should or shouldn't do certain things. I've seen healthy eating and exercise work for me so that's what I do. Of course I suppose what is considered 'healthy' and what is considered 'exercise' are relative.

Hey Stacy,

Have you ever tried Herbalife? I dropped my body fat percentage 3% in just five weeks by replacing a bad meal with a nutritious smoothie instead, and started getting some proper nutrition. These smoothies have 1500 calories worth of nutrients in under 300 calories per smoothie -- They're amazing. My email is LuellaMH@gmail.com if you'd like to chat more about it!

- Luella

ISAR - Ever heard of astrosurfing?

Decrease your calories per week until you get down to a level where you're losing the weight you want. I'd say eat 1800 a day next week, 1700 a day the week after, etc etc. Of course, don't do this until you're starving yourself. 1200 seems to be the generally excepted lowest, but everyone's different. Might be 1400 for you.

Also, how much are you exercising? Can you exercise more? Or with more intensity?

And wow, 45 pounds lost. That's awesome!

Yeah, I can definitely up my workouts, and I know that will help a lot. But according to the site I should be losing 2 lbs a week (even when not factoring in calorie burns), so I'm not sure what the deal is. But yeah, I'm working on getting more physical activity in, which will help. Just wish I knew a good place to set my base calories at which won't leave me hungry all the time.

I like your idea though, I guess I can just gradually start decreasing the cals every week until the scale starts moving again.

Stacy, your body will tell you this information. If you can drop down to about 1400 calories just to start. After this if you are still hungry throughout the day then you need to up it to 1500. i think that since your eating 1800 and only losing 1/2 lb per week 1400 would be a good starting point. Never go below 1200 calories. If you get to that point then I would say that you need to find more ways to exercise. Also just for a suggestion. I have a friend who sits at a desk like you are saying and she uses a large ball to sit on at her desk. The reason for this is because she has to balance herself on the ball the whole day and she is working muscles while she is trying to balance. Might want to give it a shot it might be something you like. Obvisouly the ball has to be as high as your computer chair.

Hey Stacy,

Have you ever tried Herbalife? I dropped my body fat percentage 3% in just five weeks by replacing a bad meal with a nutritious smoothie instead, and started getting some proper nutrition. These smoothies have 1500 calories worth of nutrients in under 300 calories per smoothie -- They're amazing. My email is LuellaMH@gmail.com if you'd like to chat more about it!

- Luella

ISAR - Ever heard of astrosurfing?

You dont need any meal replacement stuff if you're on a good website like this. This is "real" life!!

Some people say when they plateau they switch to eating maintenance cals for a week and then go back on restriction and that works. I've never tried it, just throwing suggestions out there for you! I really want you to suceed!

I'll take a half pound weight loss each week. That is terrific. I too sit in front of a computer for long hours each day (often 8-11 hours). I just started forcing myself to get up every hour to take a walk to the breakroom for a cup of water. This helps me to get in the 8 glasses of water and helps my circulation and burns a tiny bit of calories. Merry Christmas and keep up the good work!

I would increase cardio 20 minutes a day before lowering calorie intake.
And I would also consider the notion that I am adding muscle which has a higher density that fat, so you might want to include body fat measurements as well.

Here is a great site I use for that:
http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

And one final point!
Congratulations on your success. At the end of the day, you are heading in the right direction.