This is a "hot topic" and you will get a lot of responses.:laugh:

I see from your ticker that you've lost 29 pounds so you must be doing SOMEthing right.:flowerforyou:

If you start to see your rate of losing stall, maybe add some calories SLOWLY.

Personally, I do not lose when I net 1200 calories ( "actually" eating arund 1600), but that's ME.:blushing:

My "trademark word of caution" to you: be careful about counting your calorie burn for the JM workouts. Many people using MFP or other calculators are greatly overestimating their burns. Get yourself a HRM if you don't have one yet to get your actual burn!
(as an example~ I weigh 200, am 5'0" and age 51 and was burning 150 calories at the MOST for weeks 1 & 2 workouts)

Meanwhile, hang in there and stick with it~ Jillian is a proven winner and I think you'll be pleased with your results!!

For me it depends on how I feel. If I am starving, I will allow myself to eat back 50% of my exercise calories and on days when I am full and content, I don't. I think the most important thing is to listen to how your body responds to the program.

I eat based on how I feel. 1200 calories is not enough for me; I feel terrible at this level. I'm sure that's because of my size. During Body Revolution, I average 1500 a day. On a high day, I'm at 1700 (which is probably once a week) and on a low day, I can be at 1350/1400. Typically, though I'm around 1500 (especially during the week...I seem to eat the same stuff during the day). This has worked for me in the past and is now. I've lost 9 lbs in my first 10 days on the program and I've been at that calorie level since the beginning.

I use an HRM for workouts and I burn between 300-350 in the workouts (I'm still on workouts 1, 2 & Cardio 1). I try to do as many advanced moves as possible to keep my heart rate up. I'm not adding extra exercise everyday and am basically following the workout calendar.

For my size, muscle mass, etc., 1200 calories is not comfortable. In my previous workout program (which was actually a bit easier than JM), I lost 38 lbs in 90 days. During that period, I averaged 1350-1400 most days, but had a higher "high" day as I allowed myself to go out to eat one time on the weekend.

It's about how you feel and what works for you. While I have read a number of articles that talk about 1200 calories and the feared "starvation mode", I agree with Jillian in that obese individuals (and I'm in that category, with another 80 lbs to lose) can do so without causing that impact...if they do not do that for the long term. The problem with eating fewer calories than your body needs to operate (BMR...not counting extra burn, like daily activities), is that the body then starts to break down muscle tissue for fuel (in addition to fat cells). I am trying to find the balance where I have a solid deficit, but I'm not losing as much muscle.

You just have to find the sweet spot for you. Try 1200...if you don't feel well, add 100 calories each day until you feel like it's manageable. Of course, low calories is more manageable with the more veggies that are eaten; I've experienced that just in the last few months.

Good luck!

I tried eating back/getting to that net goal for a while but when I did, I just wasn't losing the weight and it was frustrating me.

Instead I've moved onto eating about 1600 calories a day. 1200 is far too few for me, I'd feel too hungry, be weak, my work outs would suffer, and I'd be more likely to binge eventually. When I started this weight loss I ate about 1300 calories a day - lost about 2lbs a week - but since I'm closer to my goal weight, willing to take it at a rate of about -1lb a week, and exercising a bit more, 1600 calories is best for me. Occasionally when I work out more (say yesterday where I did cardio 1, walked about 1.5 hours and swam for half an hour) I eat more, definitely. And on rest days I'm usually a bit under.

If 1600 doesn't work for me, I will readjust it. Basically thought I've calculated this number through using numbers like my height, weight, and even gender comes into the equation. It's sort of like what mfp does but this equation factors in your exercise habits so you don't have to eat back your calories. It's my BMR and Harris-Benedict that I use for these equations.

BMR (probably have heard about it but I'll say anyways) is your Basal Metabolic Rate which is the total amount of energy you expend when just lying in bed all day - only keeps your vital organs (heart, lungs, nervous system, liver etc) functioning.

Because you're more than just the vital organs and you do more than just lie in bed, Harris-Benedict equation is used to get a more accurate calorie goal. It goes a little farther than the BMR and accounts for your exercise. The number you get from the Harris-Benedict is how much you need to eat a day to maintain your weight.

The equations for anyone interested:

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

Then using the Harris Benedict equation, you use the BMR as well to calculate your daily calorie goal.

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

So me, at 5"4 150lbs and a female of 19 years, my BMR comes to somewhere around 1520 calories. Then with Harris-Benedict, I said that I was moderately active (I only burn about 250 calories per work out so I didn't think that was enough for me to say it was very hard) and my goal came out to something like 2350 just to maintain my weight when doing the BR.

This is getting a bit mathy and I don't know why I'm going into it that much but then to calculate weight loss...

"There are approximately 3500 calories in a pound of stored body fat. So, if you create a 3500-calorie deficit through diet, exercise or a combination of both, you will lose one pound of body weight. 3500/7 days=500 calories you need to cut out.

If I wanted to lose 1lb a week, I'd need to subtract 500 from 2350 which equals 1850. Except I wouldn't mind losing a little more, so 1650 is my goal. With this format you don't eat back your calories because the equation has already taken into account your exercise.