So.. i was reading around the site and i keep seeing these post about how many calories is to little. On one side it says that weightloss is based on calories in vs. calories out. just that simple.. but then people are saying that well if u eat to little then u are going to stall your weight loss and go into starvation mode. so i am . i ask because i entered what i ate into fitday yesterday and saw i was at about 900 for the day not intentionally, just kinda fell that way. but i know i eat like this pattern of food m-f for the most part. so.. do i need to up my cals in order to get the scale to budge or is it still cal in v. cal out? I have lost inches, just seems the scale is really reluctant to wanna budge. HELP

You will love this answer . . . Yes and No . . .

The real truth about "starvation mode" (although I can't say that I like the name) . . . This is one of the most misunderstood and misused terms around 3FC, (or in any weight-loss circle) unfotunately. Anyway . . .

It does exist (the YES) . . . if you consistently deprive your body of the nutrients it requires to keep everything functioning, it will begin to conserve what you do give it for fear it is never going to get properly nourished again. For the average woman, a consistent calorie level before 1200 is not recommended because below that level it is difficult to obtain the proper nutrients required for health. However . . . (and this is the NO) . . . notice that I've italicized a certain concept . . . one or two days of a lower level of calories is not going to put you into the infamous "starvation mode". If you are eating below 1200 calories all the time (or almost all the time) -- i.e., consistently, you could very well be harming your metabolism over the long haul. Eventually weight loss will slow down because your body has forced itself to learn to exist on fewer calories.

Additionally, the body can be inconsistent in how it uses energy and weight loss does not occur on a timetable. The body does become complacent sometimes, too. So shaking things up a little in either the calories-in or the calories-out areas can sometimes help. Usually, however, if you are eating at a sensible level, and exercising at a sensible level as well -- one that should be resulting in about a 500 to 1000 calorie deficit per day as compared to a sensible BMR level -- the weight will eventually move.

It may not move as quickly as it does for a non-diabetic, unfortunately, (nore as quickly as we would like it to) but move it will.

BTW . . . I put your BMR at about 2200 to 2500 calories (depending on activity rate). So, you should be able to lose about 1 pound a week at a calorie level of 1700 minimum.

Thanks Meowee sometimes peaking around the other forums on here i tend to forget that the non-diabetics react a whole lot differently when it comes to weightloss. which is one reason things can get a bit fustrating I just find the whole cal in vs. cal out kinda misleading too, because if u are going by the numbers then hey i should be dropping weight like no bodies business. this is also why i try to avoid the calorie counting stuff & fitday, it puts me in a bad frame of mind and then i start obessing over why
the "formula" isn't working. I've already managed to suck the joy out of my NSV man.. sometimes this stuff sucks.

AHHHHH now im really confused. i don't eat like that even on a good day, because i just can't eat that much food and i work out for an hour a nite 6-7 days a week. AND i don't have a car so i walk everywhere!!! and yet i have gone up 1 lbs and can't seem to get that freaking thing off no matter what i do. whats wrong with me?

Hang in there, girl . . . nobody can promise you "easy" . . . but with a little help from our friends . . . we can manage the disease and the weight loss. Always remember the tortoise . . .