Not losing weight

1200 to 1600 calories is perfect for weight loss... it depends on what you are eating.. there are foods you can eat to speed up your metabolism. If you eat the right foods the weight will come off. Eat lean meats, baked chicken, baked fish, turkey from the deli (not from packages), fruits and vegetables, whole grains, 100% whole wheat bread, green tea, eggs, tunafish, flax or chia seeds, almond milk or lowfat milk, goji berries, cayenne pepper, etc.... then also as well as cardio you have to lift weights..... lifting weights improves your lean muscle mass... when you have more lean muscle mass you burn more calories while you are sleeping or sitting there.... you burn 40-120 calories an hour with lean m uscle mass, if you have fat mass you only burn 3 calories an hour while you are sitting there.... tons of things you can do to see progress!

I find that if I hit a plateau if I go off the diet for a few days and boost my calories, it helps to shake it up and I lose weight. Nothing crazy but I'll add in something high calorie that I might not have eaten normally.
I've seen this happen enough that I just changed my weight loss goal to .5 a week from 1 lb so that I have more calories to play with to see if that helps.

I've read enough posts on here that some people don't lose weight on the calories recommended but actually lose more weight when they eat more. I know that before I started MFP I wasn't eating enough and I was gaining weight.

Also, eat back your exercise calories. That topic has been done to death here and I'm still surprised by how many people don't get it. You want to lose weight in a HEALTHY, SUSTAINABLE manner. Don't eat your X calories and you might lose weight but your body will pay the toll.

Don't get frustrated. We started at a new gym and I have been doing 7 workouts a week. The first month I gained weight!! I am finally seeing scale results, but long after I saw my clothes getting too big and accomplishing things at the gym I NEVER thought I could do! Make sure you are drinking plenty of water and measure inches not lbs. Sometimes the scale just needs to cach up with what is happening in you body!

I knw how that feels,i have been at it for one month also and i havent lost any weight.its kinda frustrating but giving up isnt an option so we just have to stick it out until something happens!

I can definitely relate to that! I have personally decided to try not eating my exercise calories. Every day brings a new challenge-1 stepp at a time.

I am going through the same thing. It gets very frusterating. Eating you calories back is not the best thing to do. If you eat a few of your calories back it is ok but try to stay away from doing that. Also take your measurements and see if you are loosing inches. Muscle weighs more than fat so you might be gaining muscle which also burns the fat. Try to consume more water and stay hydrated. Good luck!

I have to disagree with you! Eating back your calories is important actually. Some may ask "Why not just eat 1200 calories, rather than work out, gain an extra 200 calories, then eat them back? Aren't I working out for nothing?" Well I used to wonder that as well and did a lot of reserch, here and on other sites, and the truth is that exercising is going to help you retain your muscle when you do burn fat, lowering the amount of weight loss that comes from muscle decrease, and making it a higher percentage of actual fat. Not to mention, the more muscle you retain, your metabolism will slowly start speeding up.

Also I know there is the common saying that muscle weighs 3 times more than fat, yada yada yada, but IF you are at a calorie deficit, it is very unlikely you are building muscle, just toning. It's nearly impossible to build muscle while at a calorie deficit! So getting more muscle is likely not your problem.

p.s. How much water are you drinking? I know that until I got up to about 8 glasses a day I did not lose anything, and once I did, I started seeing much better results! Also as the above poster mentioned, check your inches! I have only lost 2lbs since starting here (lost some prior to MFP) but I have lost around 8 inches and that is where I see my big improvement! Dont worry about that scale if you are losing inches!

I've hit the same situation. Working out 45 min everyday, once a week with a personal trainer, doing interval training, eating low fat/low cal/low carb/low sodium food, drinking tons of water....and I am stuck at a 12 lb loss since August. It is beyond frustrating. I took a "health test" at my gym yesterday and my numbers said I was at 37% BMI according to the handheld gadget they used. Well, I was in the obese/very high risk area. MFP calculated 30% BMI. Still high but, not as bad. My body is getting tight/less jiggle, and the clothes are better. I've had many comments from friends and family (don't know if I should trust them though) that I look Great and there is NO WAY I am in the Obese range. But, a lower number on the scale and a size lower in the jeans would make me feel MUCH better right now. And, being on the verge of tears because of numbers is awful! I AM TRYING! If another person tells me to eat chicken, salmon, spinach, egg whites, almonds and drink water....I'm going to go insane or start clucking for them!

Thanks everyone, I am still trying to figure all this out and from other sites it tells me I need to have an intake of around 1400 calories. Please keep in mind I have a really bad back and have to watch what sort of exercise I am doing, also I am on hormone replacement estrace due to having a hysterectomy 2 years ago at the young age of 31, since then my weight got out of control. I have checked out many sites and some say eat your calories back and some say do not eat your calories back. As I've said before when I wasn't counting calories I lost 8lbs, since I have started I have lost nothing..

You should definitely not eat calories you burned through your workout plus daily intake. That leads to a waste of time and energy, unless you are only trying to maintain weight and stay healthy. Try tweaking your workouts and drinking more water..

So I guess the thousands of people on here eating their exercise calories and losing tons of weight are just wasting their time? SMH. Don't spout off bad information as truth. The deficit is built in BEFORE exercise. It's not rocket science, people!

First, I am of the opinion that most people over estimate how many calories they burned working out. The machines at the gym, even those that allow you to put in your age, weight, etc- can be off by more than 25%. The only way to really have a good idea of how many calories you burned is to wear a quality HRM.

Second, are you weighing food or are you using measuring cups or counting items. For ex: Chips might be 28 g OR 1/4 cup OR 12 chips. I find that weighing is the only way to go- and you must count each and every calorie. Cough drops have calories, many vitamins have calories. Count every single thing that goes into your mouth.

Third, it can take awhile for your body to realize you are not going to starve. What I mean is, I think that when we cut back on food, our body thinks there is a food shortage or something- and can hold on to calories tighter. I also think that after awhile, if you consistently feed your body good things and don't go too long between meals, etc- your body starts to trust that there is not a famine or something, and then BAM, the pounds can come off. I swear, every 10 lbs I lose, I will have weeks of not losing or barely losing- then WOW, 4 lbs will come off.

Fourth, mix up the workouts. I see that you may be limited due to an injury- but in general, I LOVE intervals and circuit training. I feel that weight training is SUPER important, although the results may take awhile to see. I also like to do one long cardio a week to shake things up.

Fifth- whole foods make a difference.

For me- I keep my daily pretty low (like 1050), but I eat all my workout calories (usually 500 a day)- I usually take one day a week off from working out- and that day I will actually eat about 1300. That's why I go low the other days- I want my weekly average to be about 1100 per day- does that make sense? I kind of earn my extra calories from my "off day" from all the other days.

I also find that my workouts suffer if I don't eat enough.

Good luck.