I have to do what!?????

Other people will explain why, no doubt. Don't kill yourself trying to stay down at 1210 calories... I'm five inches shorter than you and would find that excruciating. Add a few hundred more healthy calories, play with some new recipes, try new things. Good job sticking with your workout plan so far and with the 12lbs!!!

I'm 5'4" and I usually eat 14-1500 calories on days i don't exercise. Days I do exercise I eat around 1800. It might give you more energy to get outside.

The more veggies and protein you take in the fuller you will feel, and veggies are very low in calories (however, you can't smother them in cheese or butter) the trick is to eat 4-6 small meals a day, if you save all your calories till dinner you will have a tendency overindulge due to starvation. When you hit a plateau you have to change something up to get past it more quickly, up your workout time or intensity, change what you're eating, etc. Make sure the breads and pasta you eat are made with whole grains and not white or bleached flour ( a pasta i LOVE is Barilla Plus, it's not whole grain but it's made with Duram wheat and chickpeas but it tastes EXACTLY like white pasta, my hubby can't tell the difference.) they will take longer for your body to process and keep you full longer. If you're food diary is public people can help you figure out what to change.. also try the recipes forum for tasty healthy food.. remember, the rest of us here aren't fat because we like tasteless food

I'm assuming you have your goal lbs to drop per week at 2lbs? If so, I'd change it to 1 or 1.5lbs/wk and MFP will give you more calories. I think your body needs more fuel and anything below 1200 for a period of time will actual hinder your weightloss. Also, make sure you eat back your exercise calories. You should see a NET of at least 1200 calories on workout days!

Hi Marnie! I am new here, just joined last week. I am also trying to restrict to 1200 calories per day. In addition, I'm trying to quit smoking and start exercising. I know how you feel with the hunger. I think the first day was the worst for me. I have previously done Atkins, any time I've wanted to lose a little weight. However, I got married in September, the diet went out the door, and I put on 25 pounds! Now I have high blood pressure and am trying to lose weight through watching what I eat, instead of cutting carbs.

Anyway, back to the 1200 calories a day. I use the mobile app that this website provides to add all my foods as I eat them, and sometimes to plan out my food for the day. I've found the food database is very thorough, there's nothing I haven't been able to find and log. The app really helps track the calories as you go. As far as the hunger goes, I am trying to space my snacks and meals out so that I am not so hungry all the time. First, instead of waiting until I have hunger pangs and am ravenous, I am grabbing a small snack (1 tablespoon of sunflower seeds or a piece of fruit) and eating it as soon as I feel even slightly hungry and before my brain convinces me I want macaroni and cheese for lunch instead. I follow that up with 8-16 oz of water to get a fuller feeling.

I am also a stay at home mom and have trouble mustering up motivation to exercise. I would suggest, if you have a Wii or Playstation, that you try Dance Dance Revolution. It is a bit frustrating when you begin, but will quickly burn calories equivalent to a fast run. Plus it is much more fun than running on a treadmill while staring off into space or constantly eyeing the display to see if your time/distance is up yet. In addition to that, I do yoga poses with Wii Fit, which is also good for accurately tracking your weight.

Another thing that helps get me motivated is to remind myself that, if I don't get up and do the exercise when I'm thinking about it, I will likely never get around to it. I also like to think of how great I feel afterward and that usually gets me going enough to at least to a little.

Hope this helps a little!

One thing that might help is to focus on eating a bit more protein and I know this sounds sacrilege, but a bit more "clean" fats. Both fats and proteins will help you to feel full throughout the day. Also, not really sure what your caloric burn is during exercise, the key to weight loss is a steady state of daily calorie deficit from your daily caloric need. Typically the average person burns around 2000 calories a day, you're getting 1200 as an intake and possibly losing between 200-400 during exercise. If this is your actual daily routine, then your net calories might be in the range of 800-1000 a day. This might be a bit too low. One possible explanation is that your body may feel that it is in starvation mode (which may explain the cravings and hunger pangs you feel) so to compensate, your body may be trying to save calories simply for survival. Super low calorie diets will also cause the body to retain more water than normal. That's another key ingredient, drink a whole lot of water throughout the day. Try to replace all other forms of fluid with pure water. 1200 a day isn't bad, as long as you achieve 1200 daily, meaning that what ever you burn off during exercise needs to be replenished. Researching clean foods may help too, Paleo is really big on a clean diet. Banishes refined carbs for clean natural carbs primarily from vegetables and fruit and lean cuts of meat (chicken, turkey, and fish) it also banishes all dairy. But if you're going to work out daily, it may be beneficial to supplement with complex carbs. I usually mix a half cup of old fashion oatmeal to a protein shake. HOnestly pasta (in any form) is the worst thing for a diet for so many reasons. HIghly processed, loaded with simple sugars. Whole wheat pasta is somewhat better, but ultimately I would refrain from pasta until you are much closer to your goal.