Calories per day......

Fiber, protein, water, and mental fortitude. It'll happen, but you have to train yourself. The cravings don't go away automatically.

Is the binging an emotional response, or...?

Oh, and if you up your cals slightly from 1200 I HIGHLY doubt it'll cause you to put weight on.

With only 16 lbs to go your weekly loss goal should be set at 0.5 or 1lb/week at most. Try changing your goal this will give you more calories. You can also throw in a bit more exercise as when you exercise you need to eat more, and MFP will add the cals in for you.

More protein and a nice protein filled breakfast, eggs, greek yogurt, grilled chicken and/or fish. And try not to drink your calories, your morning coffee has enough calories to be a full meal.

I noticed one day in your diary you had 1000 calories in snacks before lunch, and then for lunch you had a piece of fruit. What time was this 'snack' where you were really hungry?

I would try for 5 small meals a day. The food in my diary is not the picture for perfection - but the time schedule I have works really well for me and I do not feel hungry. When I'm eating the right foods and not going out of town, I'm sticking to my calorie limit and still having 5 filling meals a day.

For me, when I saw my diary was "breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack", it messed with my brain and my eating for some reason. When I changed it to specific times it helped me eat much better.

Look at the quality of food and plan snacks through out the day so you feel more full.. like maybe some Yogurt in the morning, then maybe a healthy snack a couple hours later and then a good lunch.. followed by another snack after couple hours and then you are good till dinner.

Start out with a strong breakfast. Something with whole grains, fiber, and a little bit of protein. I'm a snacker too, but I just try to eat a good breakfast, 3 smaller snack-type meals, dinner, and then sometimes an evening snack. I'm at 1200 calories a day too, and sometimes I have those days where I'm just feeling like if I don't excersie I'm going to go above and beyond my daily allotment. But just remember, in order to keep your body in check, you should be eating at least your 1200 calories a day. Don't focus on trying to be way under everyday, focus on trying to meet that 1200 and if you go a little bit over, it's no big deal.

Cut back on the sugars, they tend to make you more hungry.
Instead substitute proteins and fiber.

You'll stay full, you'll feel the difference really fast.

1200 is the lowest deficit MFP will let you have. The only way to gain weight would be to go over your Maintenance calories.
But if you feel 1200 is too few, then feel free to up them a little. This journey is to help you maintain a weight you love yourself at. And you shouldn't feel deprived at any point.

MFP has me at 1200 calories per day....
i always eat back my exercise calories
have not lost any weight:sad:

do i have my goals set wrong?
am i eating too much?
am i eating the wrong things?
am i not exercising enough?
i am so confused right now

It's possible your goals are too aggressive. Try setting your goal at 1 lb per week and eat back 50-75% of your exercise calories. Also, eating below your BMR isn't smart as it will cause your metabolism to slow down.

1200 is the lowest deficit MFP will let you have. The only way to gain weight would be to go over your Maintenance calories.
But if you feel 1200 is too few, then feel free to up them a little. This journey is to help you maintain a weight you love yourself at. And you shouldn't feel deprived at any point.

MFP has me at 1200 calories per day....
i always eat back my exercise calories
have not lost any weight:sad:

do i have my goals set wrong?
am i eating too much?
am i eating the wrong things?
am i not exercising enough?
i am so confused right now

do i have my goals set wrong? maybe, here is a guide for setting weekly weight loss goals:
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

am i eating too much? Maybe, depending on how you are calculating calories burned (if you use the machine or MFP I would only eat back 60-75% of them, if you are using a HRM 90-100%)

am i eating the wrong things? For weight loss it is all about calories in vs. calories out (you may be under estimating how much you are eating. If you are not already, try weighing solids and measuring liquids

am i not exercising enough? This will have a 0 sum effect as you are supposed to eat those cals back anyway. MFP is set up so you lose your goal amount of weight with no exercise.

don't eat back your excercise calores

Thanks for supporting/explaining your recommendation. This is so helpful.

well sorry for commenting! it just seemed that if she's eating them all back and not losing then maybe don't eat all of them back...i don't..i don't worry if i go over my daily goal a bit but i don't eat them all back...doesn't make sense really!

With only 16 lbs to go your weekly loss goal should be set at 0.5 or 1lb/week at most. Try changing your goal this will give you more calories. You can also throw in a bit more exercise as when you exercise you need to eat more, and MFP will add the cals in for you.

this. as you get closer to your goal, you should INCREASE your calories, as you body will find it easier to lose weight. slower, yes, but easier.

Eat pickles, broccoli, celery raw without the dip and eat a lot of it and make sure you are drinking plenty of fluid. The foods I listed are considered negative caloric intake which means you actually burn the calories from the food to digest them so they don't technically count against you.

Couple of issues here with the - cal thing. MFP already accounts for digestion in your caloric intake, so they are not neg cals as the burned part is already taken into account. Not to mention pickles are full of sodium and will most likely lead to water retention (scale go up or stay the same even if you lost fat)

Eat pickles, broccoli, celery raw without the dip and eat a lot of it and make sure you are drinking plenty of fluid. The foods I listed are considered negative caloric intake which means you actually burn the calories from the food to digest them so they don't technically count against you.

Broccoli and Celery have calories in them so they do count and pickles are loaded with sodium, so they count as well. I will say, the calories are very little (30 for broccoli and 16 for celery per serving) so you can load up on them with minimal affect, but they count none the less.

good thing i found this...i joined MFP last year sometime, i don't really keep to the diary cz i REALLY dnt understand much of it. how does it work..my BMR is 1547..I don't exercise at the moment but i want to start spinning again 3 times a week. which will burn (according to MFP 420 cal). I am jst wondering how accurate the calories in the foods are? I take 2 meal replacement shakes a day..and then in between when i get hungry i eat..just finnished a whole can of baked beans. I cant eat big breakfasts, i actually get very nauseous if i eat solids early morning. and lunch times i also have a meal replacement cz it's just easier. I am very busy at work and i find that it's better for me to take a shake than nothing at all.

If MFP says i should take in 1200 cal a day and i burn an additional 420 cal 3 days a week - it's now telling me I ate too little??? how does it work? must i eat back that 420 cal on the days i exercise?