TERRIFIED to increase my calories....

Best wishes. I'm super happy I increased mine. 1450->1700. Losing at the same rate and doing more energetic workouts.

I was nervous about the move from 1200 to 1400 but it turned out to be a good thing. Good luck to you :-))

My weight was pretty much at a standstill, and sometimes climbing UP until I upped my calories for a week. Now I'm losing again!

BAM! me too, although I never really had a set in stone calorie goal. mines is my BMR 1800+ ish

I went from 1200-->1320 and just last week up to 1560.
I am not going to weigh myself for a few weeks, give my body a chance to adjust, but I can tell you I FEEL way better netting the 1560 than I did at either of the other levels. I guess we'll see how it goes! Best of luck!!

See what works for your body, increased energy, stamina, and more flexibility with being able to eat treats and not be so strict with eating certain food groups.
I have a healthier perspective on my losses and gains because it's all relative and I can always go back down to a larger deficit if I start gaining excessively.

I don't know if this will help, but here's what my journey has looked like. Maybe it will make you feel better...

For 7 months I ate 1200 - 1300 calories a day - Massive weight loss.

Adjusted up to1600 - 1800 a day for 3 weeks - was still loosing ~2 lbs a week

Adjusted up to 2000 - 2200 a day for a month - still loosing ~2 lbs a week

Adjusted up to 2300 - 2500 a day for a month - loosing 1 lbs a week after a 2 week "stall"

Adjusted up to 2500 - 2700 a day for the last three weeks - still loosing about 1 lb a week after a 2 1/2 week "stall"

Don't be afraid of the calories. Adjust up a little, give it a couple weeks and see what happens. I "gained" 1 - 2 lbs the first week of each adjustment, but them started blasting through it.

Eat more to lose more, awesome concept. I can now, because of my LBM and exercise levels, eat as much or more than I used to if I wanted.

-M

I was scared at first too. I was eating 1200-1300 and doing entirely too much cardio. Then I went up to 1500. And still wasn't really losing. Now I'm at 1800 and doing strength training 3 times a week and cardio twice a week, building muscle and I haven't gained weight! The scale was stuck around 158 for the last few weeks, and it's dropped down to 156.5 this morning. It's finally starting to move again, but you can go up a pound or two at first as your body adjusts to the extra food. But honestly, I'm eating 1800 a day and not gaining pounds a week, so it doesn't hurt!

I keep hearing that you lose weight from the increased calories, but I am too scared to do it.

<---- Is proof eating more to lose more works.

When I upped my calories to 2000 a day, I lost 17lbs in 5 weeks. It works. Your body NEEDS food in order to function properly. Low calorie "diets" work short term, but once your body realizes that it isn't getting adequate nutrition, weight loss usually slows way down or stalls.

I'm increasing as well! I'm really scared! Gone from 900 to 1300 in the past month, and started this week hitting my BMR, which is 1443.

I'm just like you - really really scared!!!!

Good luck