help!? eating 1200/day but no results!

Don't know if anyone has said it yet but I plugged your details into the BMR calculator on here and got....

Your estimated BMR is: 1,429 calories/day*

*BMR based on the Mifflin - St. Jeor equations. Please remember that even the best BMR calculators provide only a best guess and should be used as a guide only.

That was using...
Female
160lbs
24 years old
5ft 2 inches

So...why are you eating 1200? *confused*

OOOOOK ladies and gentlemen, I see what all this BMR discussion is about now. I was thrown off by the whole "BMR is a myth" when obviously it isn't. Your BMR is the amount of calories your body needs to carry out it's normal functions. You almost HAVE to eat below your BMR to lose weight unless you are doing VERY rigorous (sp?) exercise. If you want to lose weight without exercising, you can. It will be slower, you will burn fat and muscle (not just fat), and you will have to eat below your BMR. Weight loss is caused by a calorie defecit (sp?! LOL). So if your body needs for example, 1400 calories to sustain itself at the weight you are at, you have to consume LESS than your body "needs" to lose weight. SO, if our original posters BMR is actually 1429, and she is actually eating 1200, that's a 1603 calorie defecit in one week, assuming she does no exercise and is mostly sedentary. So that comes up to about half a pound of weight loss in a week (a pound is 3500). I know for some of you, all this is old news, BUT to our original poster (who this discussion is for in the first place, not to argue with eachother ) if this is the case, it would explain why you haven't really lost weight over the past 3 weeks. At this rate, it's going to take you around 3 weeks to lose a pound Sounds reeeeeallly slow and awful right?! Well, girl, I'm in the same boat. I have to work my butt off for every pound. I have to watch EVERY calorie. But I've added in 5-6 days of cardio and strength training, and I've lost 4.8 pounds in 3 weeks. Now, one last thought. If you start exercising heavily, you will find it almost impossible to stay with 1200 calories. You will feel weak, tired, and HUNGRY. So this is when you might be able to eat at or above your BMR and still lose weight. Because during exercise you will burn calories creating a larger calorie defecit, and it will improve your metabolism. I sure hope this make sense, because weight loss does NOT have to be difficult at all. But reading a lot of these posts make it sound that way. You just have to get into a nutrition/fitness routine that works for YOU (not anyone else!!!!) and stick with it. And sometimes that is trial and error