Okay everyone. Been here almost two months now and I haven't really lost any weight. I just keep bouncing around between 220 and 225. I eat around 1,400 cals a day. I meet the recommend servings of fruit and veggies every day. I usually have chicken or fish...red meat maybe twice a month. I have cut down on the carbs and only eat multigrain when I do have bread or pasta. I log, measure and weigh every morsel of food that enters my body. I also drink several bottles of water a day. Along with a multivitamin and fish oil capsule.
I'm exercising an hour a day at the gym about 4 times a week. I alternate days of weight resistance machines/pilates and cardio. The days I'm not at the gym at least one of them is spent hiking with my dog and boyfriend.

I'm getting a little frustrated because I'm not seeing results in the form of pounds. I tired on a pair of size 16 jeans that were before too tight, and I can at least now get them on zipped and buttoned...with a severe muffin top though lol.

Anyway...I just typed my info in a calorie calculator where you enter height, weight, age, activity level, etc with a goal of losing a pound a week and it said I should be eating in the calorie range of upper 2000's!!! Is this crazy?? Or is this what I need to do. I'm not sure that what I'm doing isn't working--this is the first time in my life I have consistently been working out. I know I'm building muscle because when I first started on the weights I could barely lift 30 lbs and now I can do 60 lbs. And, it takes more effort to get my heart rate up. So my cardiovascular endurance is increasing--but the weight is sticking!! In fact, it's holding on for dear life!!

I decided to take the weekend off of exercise. No hiking. No pilates. Have only been walking my dog. I want to give my muscles a break and a chance to let go of any water they're holding on to. But what do you guys think?? Do I need to up the cals or keep plugging away? Well over 2000 cals a day just seems soooo high!

At your weight without exercise I'd recommend 1650 calories, on days you work out I'd probably go up to 1800 calories.

1400 is pretty low considering your weight and you are working out 4 hours a week.

Try going up to 1650 for 2 weeks see if there is improvement, if the weight still doesn't budge go up to 1800.

Contrary to popular belief less is not more. If you don't get enough nutrients your body can't burn fat effectively.

While I generally agree that eating too little isn't a good idea, it shouldn't cause your weight loss to grind to a halt for eight weeks. If you've been on plan the entire time--including weighing and measuring all portions--and have not lost weight on 1400 calories a day with your exercise level at your weight, please see a doctor.

You may well have a hypoactive thyroid or other glandular issue that is causing you to stop losing--again, assuming that you have gone over your diet with a fine-toothed comb and made absolutely 100% sure that you are getting exactly the calories you think you are (no eyeballing portions, no "just a taste"s, no rounded measuring cups).

You might also be retaining water. Scales only measure weight, not fat; if you're losing fat, but replacing it with water, you'll fit better into clothing without being noticeably lighter on the scale. I'm kind of dubious that this is the case for a two-month span, though; that wouldn't be just a salty meal here or there.

"Starvation mode" is largely a myth. You certainly might slow your weight loss, you might make yourself so miserable that you snap and binge, you might get too few essential nutrients, but you won't stop losing weight altogether from cutting your calories too low. It's against all the laws of physics and physiology. If human bodies worked that way, people enduring a famine would look robust.

Exactly correct. Something else is up. Ultra restrictive diets (way below 1400 calories) + too much exercise (much more than 4 hours a week) can cause some weird things to happen but not in someone who weighs 200+ lbs.

You're either not accurate with your calorie counting or you should go see an endocronologist. Maybe you're sleep walking?

Can you post a couple days of your food log? Maybe you're making an error that we can spot for you.

Not everyone's metabolism is the same and while she may or may not be in "starvation mode (I don't care to argue if it exists or not)" there is something to be said when a lot of members come here who eat minimal calories with no loss then up their calories and start to lose again.

I still think upping a few hundred calories can't hurt.

I'm a huge advocate of eating more to lose. However, that's only because it worked for me. We're all different.

I'd say it's certainly worth a try. If I were you, and I'm not, I'd give 1600-1800 a try.

I lost weight best in the 1500-1700 range, even towards then end when I was closing in on my goal. I also exercised 6xs a week though, so factor that in. It's all a big experiment on what works best for you.

I agree that eating more is certainly worth a try. As I said, it can slow things down to cut too low--but it's hard to see how everything could stop from going too low.

I definitely don't think that 1400 calories is too high or that you need to cut back more, though. I'm still eating 1500 a day and losing at my current weight, and I don't exercise as much as you do (I know, shame on me ). I realize everyone's body is different, but I don't know that yours is SO different that you can be stuck at 1400 calories and 220 pounds for two months.

That suggests something else going on.

Read up on hypothyroidism; you may find the solution there, but only a doctor can tell you for sure. I have a hypoactive thyroid controlled with medication, but it's still at the low side of normal; I recently got my dosage upped after my last round of blood tests and I've shed more in the past month than I did in the previous month and a half--I'm convinced that my bum thyroid was slowing me down.

Another possibility is that you're just too close to the issue to see something that a more distant perspective would reveal immediately. Maybe your doctor and you can go over your menu with a fine-toothed comb, or maybe posting your daily intake here would help.

I really do feel for you; when I was stalled for about a month, I got tremendously frustrated (that's what inspired me to have my thyroid re-tested, in fact).

Wow, you guys have really blown my mind a little. My weight loss has slowed considerably in the past 2 weeks - I was assuming I had hit a plateau. But now I am wondering reading this thread - I am eating around 1200-1400 calories a day, and according to my heart rate monitor I'm burning 800 on my running days (4 days per week)....

The thought of upping my calories makes me a little panicky, though...

I am having the same type of problem, the scale isn't going down hardly at all and i too put in my weight, 233 and think NO WAY CAN I EAT 2,000 calories.. it does seem high. If you figure out a way to get it going down, let me know please. Good luck to you!

Hi guys, thanks for all the feedback.
I have been tested for hypothyroidism MANY times throughout my life. About 4 years ago my doctor referred me to an endocrinologist as she was dumbfounded too why I have such troubles. (At that time though, I wasn't exercising NEARLY as consistently though..) They did so many tests. I was going every week for more blood work. They couldn't pinpoint my elevated levels of certain hormones to anything though so the dr put me on metformin for "prevention of becoming insulin resistant." I lost 40 lbs...but I also was throwing up all day long for about three months. I eventually stopped the metformin because it made me so sick and nauseous ALL the time.
I suppose I really should go back to the doctors at this point but it's not an option. I'm going to school full time which leaves me without insurance.

I guess I'm going to try to up my cals and see what happens. Either way, I'm not giving up. My body is getting stronger...weight loss is bound to happen sooner or later.

I'm another one that believes 'starvation mode' is largely a myth.

When I think I'm eating 1200-1400 calories a day, I don't lose weight. You can say what you want, but I weigh my food, I don't nibble AND I have a very active job.

I just came off a period of going 31 days without dropping a single pound, and eating 1200-1400 calories a day, exercising, and working my active job 50 hours a week. I did have 4 'higher' cal days in there, say 2000-2500 calories.

What I always come back to, is that 1450ish is sorta maintenance level for someone that is my weight (10 calories per body pound) and when you add those few higher calorie days in there, it is just averaging out.

So, to lose weight I have to calorie restrict. I am currently eating about 800 calories a day, and taking multi-vitamins and geritol in order to keep nutrients in my system. I've lost 3 pounds this week. Part of that is from the calorie reduction, and part of that is from the 'mini' diet of the 1200-1400 calories a day finally showing some results.

I don't post that on here because I'll hear the 'OMG, you aren't eating enough", and I know people genuinely believe that, and I'm not out to start fights. BUT, at the end of the day, as long as you are honest with yourself and aren't suffering from an eating disorder, you can cut back farther than you think you can.

Having said that, I don't think you need to at all!! Your body CAN lose weight at 1200-1400 calories. Just revisit everything, if you are weighing/measuring everything, then perhaps look at how many 'free' meals or days you are allowing yourself.

Is there something that you feel you are doing to sabotage that?

Here's to winning the battle of the bulge!

i started in feb and i just made a month and i lost 10 pounds so far... the trainers at my gym say u should eat about 6 small meals a day, and white bread rice and white pasta should not be included.... u need to eat a lot but u need to be careful with white carbs and sugar, and fried foods... let me give an example of my day..

breakfast 7:00am 2 egg whites with spinach
snack 10:00am raisin brain cereal low fat milk
lunch 12:00pm vegetarian chili
snack 3:00pm banana whole wheat toast and turkey hot dog
dinner 6:00 bake chicken breast half bake potato and green string beans
snack8:00 oranges

I bake my own bread and make my own pasta. I will have a slice of bread a few times a week, but pasta is much less. I use a multigrain recipe. I am being completely honest here that I'm not missing anything...any bite that goes in my mouth is accounted for. I took a nutrition class last semester and I have wonderful software that lets me log everything and store recipes. I measure everything!!

I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm TOO gung ho about this. I'm thinking of the analogy of those women you hear of that have trouble conceiving a child for years and they become obsessed with it. Everything they do is calculated and on paper it looks like it should work but it's not. But then the moment they stop "trying" they conceive. I'm going to try upping the cals a little bit. I'm going to hide the scale. I'm going to try to be less "obsessed" about it and see if that helps. Honestly weight loss is the goal but I guess that's more for vanity reasons. More importantly I want to focus on my health. I want to be strong and healthy. I might need to stop going by the books...and try different things that work for me.

just keep at it.. dont give up!!!!! work out just as u do.. cardio, make sure your heart rate is working at the right speed.... after 15min of cardio your body starts to burn fat.. that's when u turn in up a lil... keep at it.. the weight will have no choose but to come off.....

Katy, it may be hard for you to compare to the OP. You are 5', she's 5'6, you weigh 145, she weighs 220, you may or may not be older than her. Very hard to compare those figure IMO. That doesn't mean that your advice/experience isn't valid, it just means that your circumstances are much different.