Weight Loss

Ok, I've done a lot of the BMR calculators and I burn an estimated 2700-2900 cals a day (I weigh 265). For the last 3 months, I'd been on 1200 cal diet and lost about 40 lbs. But, I thought I needed to eat more to fuel my workouts and not lose muscle. Anyways, I've been eating 1600-1900 cals a day for a week (it varies). I haven't gained or lost. Should I be eating less...around 1200-1400? My goal is to lose 2 lbs a week. I've been working out 3-5 hrs a week (at least--but usually 4-5 hrs a week ). This seems so confusing....when I was eating 1200 cals a day, I was losing. But, now I'm stuck....any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!

Don't eat less.  If you've been severely restricting your intake now for 3 months you'll have affected your metabolism.   (Starving will drop the pounds off but it's not a good long-term strategy)  The extra you've had this week was a very good move but, due to the lowered metabolism, your body can maintain on less than it should.  So your body is recovering slightly and storing fat temporarily.  Stick with 1900 a day for another few weeks.  Vary your diet so that you're trying out new foods and recipes.   Change your exercise programme a little... try something new there as well.  Make sure you're getting plenty of fluids at the same time as this encourages a lively digestion.

A final suggestion... every 2 or 3 weeks plan a day in your schedule where you consume your 'maintenance' calorie intake ie. 2700.  This helps prevent your body getting too used to low calories and keeps the metabolism sparky.  Best of luck

Thanks....I just upped my exercise. So, that's been shaking up my system a bit. I weighed this morning lost another 1lb (39 lbs total). So, maybe it's working!! :-)

Make sure to re-evaluate around a weekly basis. This way you adjust for weight loss. If you have a way to test body fat as well as weight, you can get a more accurate calculation of your BMR through the Katch-McArdle formula instead of the Harris-Benedict one. I found that Harris-Benedict doesn't work well for excessively overweight or muscular people. A body fat tester (calipers, electronic device, whatever) will also allow you to track if you're losing lean weight or fat weight. Then you can adjust as necessary.