greedygirl118

1750 without exercise cals, presumably? I do way less exercise than you - mainly walking, pilates and zumba/ballet - but my TDEE is about 2,300-2,400 on average (I wear a Fitbit). I am 5'8 and 140 lbs, which is a good weight for me with my hourglass body type. I fast once a week, and am maintaining, but people keep asking…

12 years or so for me, with some fluctuations. I make sure I get plenty of exercise, and monitor my weight to prevent the "creep" you get from normal life - holidays, Christmas etc. I recently decided to lose 10 "vanity pounds" and did that with 5:2 fasting, which I loved. So easy. Maintaining now by fasting just one day a…

Not sure about that - Fitbit and MFP give me roughly the same amount of calories at the end of the day.

I was only just bordering on overweight when I lost more than twenty pounds, back in 2001/2. I went below my goal weight initially, then maintained at around 147-150 lbs until January this year, when I decided to lose the ten pounds that had been bugging me for years! I've been maintaining at 140lbs since Easter (i'm 5'8).…

I worked most of Easter, with the exception of Good Friday when I went out and drank red wine and ate pizza. I've been on a bit of plateau recently, but in the past ten days I have lost about six pounds and am now at goal! Bodies are weird things, that's for sure....

Two weeks isn't really a plateau. Weight loss is rarely linear - it's normal for it to go in fits and starts and average out at about 1 or 2 pounds a month. If it helps, I stayed the same recently for nearly a month, then suddenly lost 6 pounds over the course of a week or so. I'm now at goal. I know it's frustrating, but…

MFP thinks you're on maintenance or thereabouts because of the number of calories you're consuming. I don't think there's any way round that - you just have to ignore the message!

I go for long periods without logging, and only return to it if my weight creeps up a little, for example after a holiday, or Christmas period. My weight is actually pretty constant at around 10.5 stone (I am 5'8, so that's a healthy weight for me). I'd like to lose that last seven pounds of "vanity" weight, so am logging…

I make my own - usually extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice or vinegar in a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio. You only need enough to lightly coat the leaves, so maybe a Tbsp of oil per person. Plus it's healthy fat. I can't eat prepared dressings, especially the low fat kind, which are very artificial tasting. Plus it's much cheaper…

A recent Swedish study which followed a sample group for 25 years makes interesting reading. High-protein, low-carb diets are very popular in Sweden. Basically, there's been a big spike in cholesterol, and people have got fatter anyway.…

A recent long-term study showed an unexpected spike in cholesterol in Sweden - where the Atkins/low carb diet is especially popular. And average BMI went up. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/06/11/health-atkins-diet-blamed-cholesterol-heart-disease_n_1585766.html

If you're exercising 4-5 hours a week you're probably moderately active. I have similar stats to you, apart from I'm 42 not 18, sadly. I am 5'8, 147 lbs and exercise for 6-7 hours a week. I have been eating 1850 cals a day. I am probably more active than you day to day though, as I work full time and live in London so walk…

^^^ This. In my opinion, you need to eat more.

I just did No More Trouble Zones wearing a heart rate monitor for the first time. There's actually a lot of cardio in it - I went out of my "zone" a few times and I'm reasonably fit. I also burned 465 calories, which surprised me but proves that NMTZ is quite effective as a calories burner. Better than zumba for me in fact!

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Studies have shown that, as a proportion of income, Americans spend far less than, say Europeans. Only around 10% of income, compared with around a third fifty years ago. The truth is that you need to spend more to get good quality food - just ask the French or the Italians. And lean ground beef is more expensive because…

I don't know the answer, but I wore my HRM for the first time the other day, and the calories burned almost exactly corresponded to the MFP calculator, which I thought was pretty amazing!

It depends completely on where I am. I put on four pounds in a week in France recently, but it came off again pretty quickly. Sometimes I put on only a couple of pounds, sometimes as much as 6 or 7 pounds if it's a two or even three-week holiday. Sometimes it can be nothing - if it's a trip to South-East Asia for example,…

Honestly, I think you're overestimating your activity. I would say your activity is moderate rather than strenuous.

I really have no idea, as I don't do a weekly shop. Typically, I spend around £40 at the farmer's market on a Sunday if I'm not working that day, and around £80 at Lidl every few weeks. The rest gets picked up in local shops - delis, the butcher, fishmonger etc. Probably around £100 a week for two people and two cats,…

I would only count the bike ride, personally. Fifteen minutes of walking is not really exercise, it's part of normal life.

I was lucky enough to go to the Olympics on Tuesday, and I was very taken with the Paraguayan javelin thrower, Leryn Franco. http://lerynfrancopictures.blogspot.co.uk/ (How do I post pictures here?)

Are you sure you have your activity levels set correctly? Personally, I wouldn't count the short walk to work as exercise, as I see it as part of normal activity. Judging by what you posted, you're only lightly active, so TDEE of 2600 cals seems like a lot.

Thanks mphlab, that's very helpful.