I generally eat about 1500-2000 a day depending on if I exercise or not, or if I go out with my friends and have a few drinks. I have been losing at about 1-1.5 lbs a week at that about so 1800 sounds like a proper amount to lose .5-1 lbs a week.

I struggle with the same thing. I get so confused. Now that I have finally figured out that I have to consume 1550 calories a day, work-out or not, I have adjusted to eating back some of my workout calories. The thing is...I am STILL stuck at a plateau for 3 weeks now. It is very frustrating. I was working out like mad with 90 minutes of cardio a day and strength training 4 times a week and eating about 1400 calories a day...So I got advice on here to scale back the cardio and up my calories to get to my MFP recommended calories...and I did that. Have been doing that for a week, but no results. I am 2 pounds up, but I believe it is water weight because of my period this week (sorry for the TMI).

Any additional advice is definitely appreciated. On the days that I work out I literally find myself in the fridge or the pantry trying to figure out what to eat...usually end up with fruit, peanut butter or avacado... I worry about eating because I have to eat those calories back even if I am not hungry. It feels really unnatural to me and I hate to say it, but I miss all my cardio and last time I ran it felt like I had lost some of my endurance since scaling back. I am starting to get discouraged and frustrated that this is so difficult all of a sudden! Still pounding away, and I won't stop, but would love to see some results.

Wow! Last week was my first attempt at staying within a calorie range and tracking my calories. I average about 1500call per day and lost 2.6lbs. This was more then I wanted to lose in a week. I really want to lose .5-1lb per week. Don't know what to do now...will probably keep calories the same for 1 more week.

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