Scared of upping my calories!

For awhile now I've only been eating about 1200 cals a day (I exercise 6x/week) and I've heard from so many people on here that upping them will result in better weight loss. I'm just plain scared of the idea of increasing calories though! What if it does the opposite? If you've done this whole thing before, how did it turn out? I am in desperate need of some assurance right now!

Hey hun! Really, listen to what people are saying.. IT WORKS. I was eating 1200, too. I found myself tired a lot of the time.. and not as willing to go exercise.. Then I was told to bump up my calories to 1500 and I feel a TON better. Some say they gain a couple pounds at first and then the weight starts dropping but for me the weight dropped from the beginning of my increase. I was terrified to listen to people who said to up my calories because I thought I'd instantly gain a bunch of weight which I had worked my ass off to lose. But they were right, and I'm glad I listened because who knows the damage I was doing to my metabolism!!

Good lucK!!!

Ok I trust you on this. Btw, I read a bit of your bio and I'm also aiming to get down to 105 lbs (I'm 110 now), and eventually maybe 100. I'm 5 ft even as well. Tell me how you do with your weight loss efforts! The thing is, most people who answered my calorie upping questions before had significant amounts of weight to lose. It's nice to finally get advice from someone similar to me. Thanks! =)

I'm a little taller than you and I weigh more. (5' 4" and 135lbs). I work out 6 days a week also. I don't have a goal weight persay but I do want to lose body fat. I was at the 1150-1350 range for like ever... and I lost my period. Otherwise I feel fine, and I plateaued in weight loss. I also binged a ton. Then I upped to 1500 or so... didn't lose but I stayed the same with more energy. Then I upped to 1800... began to lose tonssss of weight... in fact I got too skinny too quick I think and I had to up my cals even more. Now I take in about 2000-3500 a day and I am maintaining. I also cut back my workouts from 6 days at 90 mins per day to 5 days at 60 mins per day. :)

Hope that helps.

-Mel

It depends on you personally. I lost 30 pounds in four months in 2005 on 1200 calories a day with 30-60 minutes of aerobics at night. I had plenty of energy, I did not lose my periods and I felt better about myself.

I talked to my doctor and he said that based on my metabolism and my exercise level that 1000 to 1200 is good for me as long as I have enough protein and natural sugars, and take vitamins. You seem to be more active than I am, so your body is probably freaking out on 1200 because you burn so much. I don't think upping would be bad for you. If anything, you should just talk to your doctor. They can normally tell you what you should be eating and how much, or they can refer to someone who can.

Keep in mind that you can have 3000 calories a day and still put your body in starvation mode. If I stayed in bed for 24 hours, I would burn about 1450. If you are exercising in excess in addition to what you naturally burn, you can cause fatigue and other things. Exercising too much effects your body just like eating too little. In my unprofessional opinion, you either need to eat more or exercise less.

I made a post almost exactly like this a few weeks ago!  I upped my cals from about 1300 to now I eat 1550-1650 range.  I went from an unbreakable plateau of 145+ to now being 143.  It's not a HUGE weight loss by any means, but I'm eating a lot more food than I have for years, and it seems to be working.  From my experience, I'd say do it.  It's scary, but so long as you're eating healthy calories (e.g. whole grains and veggies and fruits and PROTEIN) then you have nothing to worry about.  Good luck!