Not consuming enough calories = not losing weight?

Hi there - I've been reading a lot of the topics and advice since I joined and have learned an awful lot.  However, I'm hoping someone can help me with what's going on with me.

I have a calorie allowance of 1200/day.  My estimated burn is 1890 (it dropped from 1900?).  I have lost 10 pounds since I joined Sept 28th.  I have aprox 50 more pounds to lose.  Most days I am just not hungry and I don't know why.  I have days where I have only consumed 971 or 1,008 calories.  I have read it's not good to eat so few calories.  I really watch what I eat now and I pay attention to the analyze wheel to make sure I'm getting enough protein.  Not only did I not lose any more weight lately when I weighed myself I was up a pound! 

How am I messing this up?  I really want it to work! 

As you lose weight, your BMR will go down. If you are doing it the unhealthy way (aka not eating enough) your metabolism will slow down more drastically than if you had lost weight more slowly. Sitting at the computer all day I will burn at least 1,400-1,500. This is my baseline and I try not to eat under 1,400. On days I go out shopping and stuff I burn about 1,600-1,700 and when I work I burn about 2,100 if I don't add any extra exercise. I imagine for you it's more, so try keeping your calories to match your sedentary burn at the very least. From my own experience in the past I've dropped weight quicker on weeks that I would dramatically overeat 1 or 2 days. It was strange! But that was a sign the calories needed to be increased.

It's true. I had stalled out, so I cut mine more. Didn't lose a pound or would even pick one up so I talked about it to the WW gal, she asked me what I had eaten that day and subsequent days and said I wasn't eating enough. Against the grain, I did what she said and started eating more, the pounds started coming off ! I hit another plateau so started staggering my intake, now I eat ALOT one day, not much the next, back and forth and it's steadily dropping. :) Keep those metabolic fires stoked AND CONFUSED !! and you'll drop the weight !  Good luck !! 

Well thank you both.  I kind of expected that's what you would both say.  It just seems so strange that I should make myself eat when I'm not hungry at all.  I believe you two though and I will do as you suggest. 

So I am supposed to aim for 500 calories less than my expected burn?   

First off, I second everything the posters above me said. In regards to being "not hungry" and all that, try adding some calorie boosters to your diet! Not fatty foods, but foods like natural peanut butter, a handful of almonds, avocado, and cook with olive oil. Each of those things contains high amounts of healthy fats necessary for your body anyway, so you might as well get them in! I was in the same spot - eating 1400 a day for the longest time and exercising every day and not seeing results and bingeing. I upped my intake to 1700-1800 a day and I've lost almost 6 pounds! I promise it works even if it seems counterintuitive!

Sounds to me like you've hit a plateau. Try changing up your routine. I've lost 29 lbs in 2 months, and have plateau'd twice. I started at 262, and in the mid 240's, I changed my workout routine to 15 minutes of cardio on an elliptical, and 35 minutes of fat burn. I also cut out meals afte 6pm. In the mid 230's, the same thing happened, so I started watching my caloric intake a little closer, and changed my diet at lunch from the "Jared" special (low fat 6 inch Sub with out cheese and only red wine vinegar as a sauce) to sardines and low fat crackers or tuna without mayo. It's worked for me. I'm no expert, but having been through this diet thing a few times, it seems that your body eventually catches on to what you are trying to do, and by changing up your routine, you can "trick" it.

I just wanted to add that in some cases, even if you've eaten very few calories but feel stuffed, that's a sign of a lowered metabolism. It's not gonna happen overnight, but if you're consistently undereating and finding over time that your appetite is decreasing, and that you're feeling full on fewer calories, it's probably time to up your intake. I've gone through periods of this, and once you start feeding yourself more the appetite will start to come back. Then when you actually feel hungry again you're like "Woah!" lol

You definitely are on a plateau. (I just came out of a plateau and I feel really really bad for anyone who's on one.) Agree with all of the above.

You can also try switching to maintenance for a while (1-2 weeks), but keeping up the exercise to keep the stamina up. Then start the diet afresh.

I'll add mine in as well - just came out of a plateau - down from 266 to 249 and couldn't drop.  After reading some other posts here, I saw one mention adding in an additional 30 min walk to help increase BMR (especially since I'm a desk jockey - helps break the monotony of the day).  I went into maintenance mode on the calorie intake for about a month, vasilating between 251 and 249, and adding in the 30 min walk in addition to my daily exercise.  Boom!  Just started dropping again this week, down about 2 pounds and moving in the right direction.

Don't get depressed and don't get down.  Let your body take a bit of a breather and it'll come around.