Help a gal lose body fat....

[Punky]

Based on the formulas I've found on this site my BMR is ~1200 and Total Daily Energy Expenditure is 1850 for "moderate" activity and 1640 for "light" activity.

A few weeks ago, I tried eating 1200-1300 cals per day and I did quite well with about 2 major splurge days thrown in there, not really planned though. I lost 1lb of "scale weight" each week. Then week 3 hit....no losses at all, my workouts noticeably suffered as far as energy level.

Eating ~1800 cals per day is maintainance for me from past experience.

Should I eat more cals and go for much slower progress on my weight loss progress or stick to the 1200-1300 cals per day with a cheat day each week?

Any other suggestions?? I should add that those two weeks, I was hungry more than 50% of the time. Also, due to a chronic knee injury and a whacky work schedule I don't see me being able to consistently increase my cardio much so I'm focusing much more on diet.

Thanks!

[debussy]

From my experience... It's good to lose a few pounds, then maintain for a few days until you feel less burnt out. When you feel ready to lose a few more, do so. I wouldn't exactly call them cheat days... I still eat healthy... just a bit more. Another idea... you could increase your calories on the days you exercise. Anyway, good luck with the weight loss.

[Ðragons]

drink lots of water with your diet

[TheGimp]

I'd go for 1200-1300 cals and have a refeed, not a cheat day, once a week.

For this refeed eat significantly over maintenance (say 2500 cals?) but make it clean food - 1g/lb of bodyweight in protein, about 30% of cals from fat (mainly EFAs and monosaturated sources) and the rest complex carbs. This should keep your metabolism from slowing down.

As far as staving off hunger, try eating fibrous veggies and drinking plenty of water to keep you full.