Okay so the other night i went out to dinner with my boyfriend. We went to a mongolian BBQ buffet. UH OH. Well I stayed away from all the fried stuff and pasta and rice. So pretty much i had seafood, sushi and 1 piece of cheesecake. I ate much more than i had intended too. Then i had a wedding there was lots of greek food there. Some good for you some horrible. I had one small piece of cake and 2 fuzzy navels. Okay so the real point of this is i have been stuck at 212 for what seems like FOREVER. Im gunna guess and say 2months. So i weigh today and im down to 210! Also this week i had rallys and DQ (some of you may have read my post on how i had a epiphany) and so i did listen to my body and i didnt go over board. But how is it that i lost? Could this mean that i need to up my calories??? I was at 1600, then i stopped losing so i went to 1,500 and still nothing. Im 20 yrs old, 5'5 and 210. I didnt think it was possible that i needed to eat more than 1600 a day. Also i worl out 5 days a week. 2 hours of yoga, 3 hours of Zumba, 2-3 hours of strength. Suggestions?

Courtney, it is entirely possible that you need to up your calories. That being said, my experience has been that I actually lose weight when I mix things up a bit. We travel quite a bit, and as long as I make smart choices while traveling and keep up the exercise, I usually lose the weight I gain plus a bit more once we return home. Some folk calorie cycle to get the same effect.

Hey! Well, sometimes more can be better, but I don't want you to get the idea that you can overeat and lose...

Still, how did you come up with 1600 to start? Did you use an estimate from FitDay or another online calculator?

Jay

I used a few different calculators. They averaged 1750. But mostly i just thought it was a good number and figured if it wasnt working theni would adjust it from there. Now that i think about it i prolly should have started a little higher.

I dont plan on overeating to lose, i just was thinking that maybe my calories were too low and that the extra calories i had boosted up my weekly total and helped me lose. If that made any sense

I know that sometimes when I mix it up, like counting down said, I lose weight too. Sometimes the body reacts to changes in your diet. I feel like it's good to schock your system once in a while to get out of a plateau.. but if you do it too often, it wont work.
congrats on the loss and good luck!

Sometimes mixing it up a little does help. I wouldn't make it a habit, but I've found that sometimes if I get really stuck, taking a day off (not being excessive, but just relaxing my counting) and giving myself a little leeway gives me a bit of a boost.

Who knows. Our bodies are just crazy anyway!

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If I've been very "strict" for several weeks without seeing the scale move, then have an event and let loose to a degree, I usually see a drop. Breaking up the routine ("mixing it up") really does seem to help a lot in getting over plateaus. I'm not sure mixing it up with fun food is the best way to do it though. :P

Mine does the same thing like the others said, but I have to be VERY careful to not use this as an excuse. In the past a binge would have been 3000+ calories now it's more like a 2000 calorie day once every couple of weeks. Congrats on your progress!

The thing about calorie restriction is that your body will start to burn *only* that amount of calories. If you vary the amount of calories you eat your body will usually adjust to be the most efficient, so it will usually continue to use the peak amount of calories that it can which will cause you to lose weight.

I always notice that i'll usually drop 4 or 5lbs after my 'time of the month' week because i'm always *starving*, so i'll eat a lot more than usual.

I just broke through a plateau, I was at 139 for over a month and I managed to push through by increasing my calories by 200-300. It's entirely possible, IMO.

Congrats on losing more weight!