MFP LIED.......HELP!

a tip from my nutritionist (I have one because of my upcoming surgery...) - if you really CRAVE that chocolate bar, walk for it. Don't keep it in the house. Walk to your corner drugstore or to your grocery store and buy ONE candy bar. Then walk back.

It will make you think twice about eating it and if you really want it, you have to work out for it. I have a candy bar (still unopened) that has been sitting in my kitchen for over a week now - and I did walk for it! I just decided after the walk, I didn't want it that much afterall.

So five weeks ago MFP said maintain this calorie count and you will weigh 205 in five weeks..well guess what I still weigh 220...the first two weeks I lost ten pounds and there I have stayed..the last two weeks based on advice from others I have increased my calorie count and yet here I am still at 220....I cut out bread cut out my protein bars...what else do I need to do....

Lower your calories. If you don't lose why are you increasing calories. I will never get that. Ask a doctor how many calories you should eat. People here can offer advice, but we are all different, I use my friends as support. If I need advice I see a doctor.

It is true that SOMETIMES you need to decrease calories to lose weight and true that SOMETIMES you need to increase calories to lose weight. By increasing the number of calories slightly, 100 - 200 per day means that your body has to work slightly harder to process the extra food so you metabolism increases to obtain the extra energy it needs, but it takes a few days to do this. Now that you have increased you metabolism you can reduce the number of calories again by 100 - 200 and you burn more than you consume so again you lose weight. Your body is continually adjusting to suit the amount of food you eat against the amount you need.

Increasing exercise also burns more calories but it also works the cardio-vascular system and like anything that gets worked, it improves with each session so you actually get better at performing a certain exercise and need less energy to perform it meaning that you need to exercise more to burn the same number of calories. Increasing calories is the only option sometimes. After all there is a limit as to how much you can exercise before you damage the body!

To the OP ... be brave and consume you 1200 calories every day plus some of your exercise calories at least. What do you have to lose except weight. And, you are not at the moment so you may surprise yourself. You were brave enough to join MFP and brave enough to post this question so now be brave enough to do what MFP and these people are suggesting. If you stick to 1200 + exercise religiously for two weeks and you are still 220lb then you probably have either a medical condition preventing the weight loss or what is loosely referred to as a 'stubborn metabolism' and will need a different approach. Give yourself a break and try it.

Hi, I'm not been mean as when I have asked for help on these forums I have came across some awful people who are just rude and mean but when I looked at your diary YES your calorie intake is low but your not eating proper meals and a lot of chocolate/treats..... My diary is public so feel free to have a noisy but I'm struggling to eat my full calorie intake but I'm eating healthy foods with a good range of fat, protein and carbs but I'm still only reaching around 1000 a day, sometimes more but sometimes a lot less.... Personally if this happens to me I'm gonna try exercising more but eating more low calories food to top up..... Good luck

Hi Steph ... there is a limit to the amount of exercise that you can increase to. As I eluded to in an earlier post, the more you exercise the better you body gets at it so you end up increasing exercise but burning very little extra. Imagine you decide you want to run a marathon next year and you try to run 26 miles this afternoon. Assume you take 10 hours and you barely make it back breathing. Three months of training gets your heart and lungs working more efficiently and you find that you can do it in under 8 hours say! (All made up figures here) Not only did you return feeling better, you took less time and burnt far fewer calories than you did first time. Your cardiovascular system has improved its ability to use the oxygen you breath and needs less energy (calories) to do it. Bottom line you need to increase exercise proportionally more each time until you get to a point where you can't increase further without the risk of injury.

nothing wrong with substituting low cal foods for slightly higher cals. just keep on an eye on substituting good food for processed crap!