[Breannaj1215]

Does that mean I need to chg my diet or up my cals?? Ahhh. I work out a lot but ive beem doing 1200 cals and thats how i lost these 21 pounds. Now im not losing and i find myself binging. All the websites tell me to eat to many calls. Should i go to 1600-1900 range?? Whats too high? Is 1500 too low for my age and weight?? HELPPPPP

[ThicknPretty]

Change it up.

I'm not a scientist or a weight loss guru/professional, but I think it's good for our bodies and our metabolisms to calorie cycle (whether this is from day to day or on a weekly basis, whatever). Keep your body guessing. A lot of people have found that if they up their calories for a week after having eaten the same amount for an extended period of time, they will have a whoosh or kick start their loss again.

Good luck and good job so far, great progress!

[Kristi78]

I am in a similar situation. Are you vigilant about your calorie counting and use measuring cups and/or a scale? If not, it's possible you are eating more than 1200 calories. If you are pretty sure you eat at 1200 it might be worth increasing your calories. I think our bodies get used to those low numbers and become too efficient. Do a shock day of 2000 calories, then back down to 1500 again. I am experimenting with this right now.

[Breannaj1215]

ok sounds good. Thanks

[Lissare]

This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. Scale did not budge for 2 weeks. I did up my calorie intake for 2 days. And I also changed my exercise routine, and with more intensity. I lost 4 lbs that week! So it did work for me.

[thesame7lbs]

I really think you should try eating more calories each day. I am 5'6", 38 yrs old, and I lost steadily on 1700-1800 a day. I exercise about 60 mins/day, 5x/week. But I started at 137 lbs, so my daily caloric need was almost certainly quite lower than yours to begin with. You should have no problem losing at well more than 1200 (accepting of course that we are all individuals and will have variation within reason).

There are several sources out there that recommend not eating below BMR. Makes sense to me. Not because of "starvation mode," which I agree is overhyped and applies more to people eating extremely low cals for an extended period. More that when we restrict too much, we make ourselves miserable and cranky and more likely to binge. Our bodies are begging us for what we need just to get through the day! Then when we binge we feel like failures, etc.