When I started losing weight back in January 2009 I didn't really know what I was doing. First I started a low carb diet but in November of the same year I started counting calories. The first few months I stuck to about 1900 (I was 16 at the time, 200lbs+ and growing. I needed that much!) but then I came up with the genius idea of restricting to 1200 calories.
And so my personal little **** began. I lost slower and slower. In a year and a half I only lost about 10lbs. I was deprived and on the verge of a mental breakdown. Eating only 1200 calories per day (which was and still is WAY below my bmr! Not a good way to go) meant I couldn't eat things I wanted. I restricted to the point where I'd binge every other day. I think I lasted about 5 days tops without a binge and, obviously, this slowed down my weight loss considerably.
I didn't lose at the rate I wanted, the scale just wouldn't budge. I started researching and found the concept of eating more to lose weight. Could this really work? Everything I've heard about weight loss is that if you're in a calorie deficit you'll lose weight. The lower the better! Surely I lost weight but at a ridiculously slow pace. As I said, I lost 10lbs in a year and a half. Not impressing. I didn't dare up my calories because a voice in the back of my head told me that less calories were the way to go. Thus I continued with my restriction and binging episodes.
I did everything I could to lose weight in 2012 but I only saw a 3lbs loss during the entire year. I had no idea what I was doing anymore - am I really unable to lose weight? I had my metabolism checked - it was fine. During Christmas 2012 I ate whatever I wanted for 3 days. Ten days later I weighed in to a 5lbs loss.
I went back to researching eating more and BOY this is the best thing I've ever done for myself. I have no idea if I'm losing or not but for the past two weeks I've upped my calories to 1600 and I feel like a new person. I don't obsess over eating anymore because I know I can actually afford good stuff for my calories. I don't binge. THIS is what losing weight should be like. A life style change, not something that breaks you down. I might lose, I might not... All I know is that I'd rather not lose weight in 1600 calories than not losing on 1200 calories.
TL;DR: Eating more can be the way to go sometimes. If you count calories and find yourself at a stand still I would recommend you to up your calories to at least your BMR and to make an accurate calculation of your tdee just to see how you do. Most of us can't take a deficit larger than 500 calories. The less we weigh the smaller the deficit our body can handle. Don't starve yourself and hurt your body! Don't make yourself go insane and deprive yourself! WL isn't easy but it's completely unnecessary to make it more difficult than it has to be.
