Cals help,

Your metabolism is working. I would try lower.

DO NOT LOWER YOUR CALORIES..lol Seriously.. Do you want long term weight loss or short and fast and gain it back? Mine is set at 1431 plus I eat ALL my exercise calories. This is a long journey.. The faster you drop the weight by eating to little the harder it will be to keep it off..

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ do not eat below your bmr.

Now myself, I'm getting married in 3 weeks. Still eating about 1600-1700 calories a day including work outs. When I get back from my honeymoon, I will increase my calories to where it needs to be. But I still don't eat below my bmr.

It will be better in long term success if you lose 1lb a week..for a month i lost nothing..but i stuck to it then 3lbs came off but it didn't happen till I ate more to be honest..

ok great, so maybe go to 1200 for a few weeks and see how that works out???

Did you read angleu's post?

I'd have to say about 98% of all my logged days here on MFP have been well below (400-500+ cals) below my BMR, and I rarely eat back all of my exercise calories. I understand the whole "eat more, lose more" argument, but I've never had a problem losing while eating below my BMR. If you'd like, try eating more for a couple weeks and see if anything changes. If not, then your macros (fat/protein/carbs) may be a factor. Personally, I could eat 1200-1400 calories a day without feeling hungry, and if I'm not hungry, I won't eat. Also, make sure to drink plenty of water!

The advice to not eat below your BMR is from a site called Fat 2 Fit Radio, which is run by two dieters, though one is a PE teacher. I don't see any other qualifications.

I have never run across any medical or otherwise qualified recommendation to not eat below your BMR if you're overweight and it doesn't put you below 1200 calories/day.

If you do the 2300, you do not eat back your exercise calories, because activity is factored in. The more weight you need to lose, the lower calories you'll be able to get away with at first, but eventually you'll stall. This is a lot to read, but it's good information. http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/

I'd have to say about 98% of all my logged days here on MFP have been well below (400-500+ cals) below my BMR, and I rarely eat back all of my exercise calories. I understand the whole "eat more, lose more" argument, but I've never had a problem losing while eating below my BMR. If you'd like, try eating more for a couple weeks and see if anything changes. If not, then your macros (fat/protein/carbs) may be a factor. Personally, I could eat 1200-1400 calories a day without feeling hungry, and if I'm not hungry, I won't eat. Also, make sure to drink plenty of water!

This biggest problem is people don't understand the ramifications of under eating. Like yourself, they think that hungry is a signal of whether or not a person should eat. Well here is the problem with hunger signals, it can be suppressed. All you have to do is go a week without eating higher calories and your body will adjust. Now multiply that out by months and you can see where it gets you. Also, your body doesn't know the difference between a lb of chicken vs a pound of carrots. Quantity is still the same but calories are different.


Now, as a man, you have more nutritional requirements to maintain muscle mass. So what happens when you don't feed your body to run properly... simple, it coverts the amino acids from muscle into energy and stores fat. And what happens when you lose muscle... your metabolism slows down and your body becomes less effective at burning calories. That means, you burn less calories at rest and while being active which makes it even harder to lose weight and even easier to gain body fat. Now, I understand it may be working for you now, but long term, when you are in a healthy range, it's going to be very very difficult to lose the last few pounds. If you want to track your body fat in correlation with your weight loss, you can see how much lean body mass you have lost.


OP,

Below is a good article I suggest you read. It describes the issues I discussed above. Also, you should aim to eat 20-30% below your TDEE (30% is fine until you are within 50 lbs of your weight goal). Simply put, calories are fuel and if you don't feed yourself enough, your body will fight to preserve the calories. You have to remember our bodies are designed to withstand famine, which means it will store body fat when it feels there isn't enough coming in. Now, if you really want to tighten your body and become smaller/slimmer, then you should incorporate weight training. WT will cut more body fat than cardio will and it will help maintain your muscle.

And I would have you eat around 1800 calories (35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats).


http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/core_march_8.htm

I am 5'4'', so pretty short too. I was going with the daily calories and adding exercise. I wasn't really getting anywhere. Now I eat at my BMR, and if my deficit for the week gets too high with exercise factored in, I will take a day or two to eat more. Also, any calories I earn after 5 pm, I'll add to my daily allowance. I do my main workout in the morning, so it usually isn't a whole lot more. I track my calories using my FitBit. (My daily intake, before any 'extras' is 1900. I workout moderate/high intensity 45 minutes 5-6 mornings a week +walk 1+ hours a day most days)

when i started here, i was on 1400 cals, and i lost 11 pounds in 3 weeks. yay! since then, about a month, i havent lost anymore. I went into my settings and realized that i was not being honest with myself. i hadnt put my settings in properly because i didn't think i could *only* eat 1200 cals and not be hungry. so i changed my settings, it lowered my cals to 1230 and guess what? i am not hungry! hmm. i haven't weighed in since i change my cals since it was just a few days ago, but i am very curious to see if it makes a difference. i am also adding in some new exercises, since all i have been doing is walking. i am starting 30 day shred today, wish me luck! (also can add me as friend if you like. i need more friendly motivation. this applies to anyone!) good luck!

This biggest problem is people don't understand the ramifications of under eating. Like yourself, they think that hungry is a signal of whether or not a person should eat. Well here is the problem with hunger signals, it can be suppressed. All you have to do is go a week without eating higher calories and your body will adjust. Now multiply that out by months and you can see where it gets you. Also, your body doesn't know the difference between a lb of chicken vs a pound of carrots. Quantity is still the same but calories are different.


Now, as a man, you have more nutritional requirements to maintain muscle mass. So what happens when you don't feed your body to run properly... simple, it coverts the amino acids from muscle into energy and stores fat. And what happens when you lose muscle... your metabolism slows down and your body becomes less effective at burning calories. That means, you burn less calories at rest and while being active which makes it even harder to lose weight and even easier to gain body fat. Now, I understand it may be working for you now, but long term, when you are in a healthy range, it's going to be very very difficult to lose the last few pounds. If you want to track your body fat in correlation with your weight loss, you can see how much lean body mass you have lost.


OP,

Below is a good article I suggest you read. It describes the issues I discussed above. Also, you should aim to eat 20-30% below your TDEE (30% is fine until you are within 50 lbs of your weight goal). Simply put, calories are fuel and if you don't feed yourself enough, your body will fight to preserve the calories. You have to remember our bodies are designed to withstand famine, which means it will store body fat when it feels there isn't enough coming in. Now, if you really want to tighten your body and become smaller/slimmer, then you should incorporate weight training. WT will cut more body fat than cardio will and it will help maintain your muscle.

And I would have you eat around 1800 calories (35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats).


http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/core_march_8.htm

^^^ This.

I think eating more calories to "get your metabolism working" is a mistake. What makes you think there is something wrong with your metabolism? If you eat less calories, you will lose more weight. It's simple math. But, you do have to eat enough calories to stay healthy (my guess is 1100, as one poster said, is too little- and I thought MFP does not let you go beneath 1200). Honestly, eat the calories MFP says to eat and be happy that you are losing weight every week, even in 1/2 pound increments.
I'm on 1200 calories myself (at 5'1"), but I generally get to eat 150-200 more for exercise every day. The first few months were very hard- I felt extremely hungry. But, I am seeing a steady weight loss of about 1 pound a week and I'm thrilled. Seeing and feeling this transformation has been really exciting for me- I'm not bored yet.

Sounds like you are doing fine, weight loss should not happen super fast anyway, it is healthy to lose a pound a week.

I think eating more calories to "get your metabolism working" is a mistake. What makes you think there is something wrong with your metabolism? If you eat less calories, you will lose more weight. It's simple math. But, you do have to eat enough calories to stay healthy (my guess is 1100, as one poster said, is too little- and I thought MFP does not let you go beneath 1200). Honestly, eat the calories MFP says to eat and be happy that you are losing weight every week, even in 1/2 pound increments.
I'm on 1200 calories myself (at 5'1"), but I generally get to eat 150-200 more for exercise every day. The first few months were very hard- I felt extremely hungry. But, I am seeing a steady weight loss of about 1 pound a week and I'm thrilled. Seeing and feeling this transformation has been really exciting for me- I'm not bored yet.

Unfortunately, bodies NEVER follow simple math, otherwise weight loss would be easy. And it's not as simple as eat less, exercise more. That theory has been proven to be wrong by hundreds and hundreds of threads on this board alone. But if she follows MFP (at 1400 calories a day) and eats back exercise calories (which is the MFP suggested way), then she will be almost exactly what I stated (1700-1800).