Tired and Confused

It says not to eat less then 1200 calories a day.  Then it says not to go below 500 calories less than what you intake is or your body will go into starvation mode.   So, should I go 500 less or the 1200??  I have been doing this for about three weeks, lost some and gained a couple back.  It has been hard, I love food plus we have had open houses on weekends.   I am just ready to quit.  I have been overweight for so long anyway.    I also take medication for my thyroid and I never know how that affects anything.  Any suggestions??

1200 is the absolute minimum you should consume. It's highly unlikely that that number is your maintenance number, so I would check to see what your overall calorie expenditure is.

Mine, for example, is 1700 (without exercise), so if I keep a 500 calorie deficit, that puts me at 1200, which means I can't have a larger deficit and still be healthy.

To find out what I should be eating this is what I do:

Use the expenditure tool to find out what I burn at sedentary. (1700), then add in any calories I burn through extra exercise.

I add those two numbers and subtract 500 to get what I should eat.  (usually somewhere between 1200 and 1500)

If you burn 1600 calories at sedentary and dont exercise, that doesn't mean you should only eat 1100 calories. You should stay at 1200 and keep a 400 calorie deficit.

Just my opinion.

EDIT:

Because you have a preexisting condition with your thyroid, I would talk to your doctor about a diet plan. He/She will be able to tell you what will be healthy for you.

That makes sense, and I have an appointment next week to talk to my doctor.   Going to see if they can put me on Armour becasue it is a natural drug, have always been on the synthetic.   Always feeling tired.   I guess I have a lot to discuss with them.  Thanks.

No prob. Hopefully the doc will be able to help you out a bit! :)

Always being tired can be a result of multiple things, hopefully your visit can shed some light and answer some questions.

:) Good luck!