Okay, so for the past 2 weeks I have been completely stuck. I started out at 161 and am currently 144 and 5'7. I exercise at least once a day for 1 hour, but usually 2 hours of cardio, sometimes 3, and have a physical job (cleaning, running around with dogs, constant standing/walking, etc). I also do 45 minutes of strength training 3 days a week and 15 to 20 minutes the other 4 days. For some reason, I can not seem to lose weight. I usually eat around 800 to 1600 calories a day depending on how hungry/busy I am, but the average is 1200. Maybe once a week I eat as low as 800 and once a week I eat as high as 1600, usually on very high cardio days. I count every single calorie I eat, including spices, and if I'm not sure about the exact measurement, I try to overestimate (If it says 2 oz of meat, and I think I got 2 oz, I will put 3 oz in my log because I hear people underestimate their food all the time). With all that, I am simply not losing weight. I don't understand it. I get all my vitamins and minerals, except potassium, which usually hovers around 80 to 90 percent. I even do the "eat every 3 hours" thing and get a lot of protein, usually about 90 to 100 grams, moderate carbs - 100 to 150 net carbs, and low fat, about 20 to 30 grams with most of it being from unsaturated fats.

Anyway, someone told me with the amount of exercise I do, I need to eat more. I don't really believe in starvation mode as it's touted around today, but I have heard that sometimes people lose weight after increasing their calories. Is this true? Do I really need to eat more? When i eat 1600 calories, I usually feel overstuffed and kind of sick so I don't really want to eat that much everyday.

Thanks so much in advance for answering this. I know it's really long.

There's a formula in one of the sub-forums around here that will tell you how many calories a day that you need to eat in order to maintain your weight. For a high level of activity such as yours, I believe that the multiplier is 17. So you take your current weight and multiply by 17: 144 x 17 = 2448. Then take away 500 or so calories from that amount to get your daily caloric intake to lose a pound a week, so your intake should be 1948 to maintain. The 500 calorie deficit x 7 days = 3500, the amount of calories in a pound. I'm no expert, but you may very well be in starvation mode. If I'm wrong, I'm sure there will be someone to come behind me and correct me!

You exercise a heck of a lot and eat very little. Regardless of the weight loss, it's not healthy.

Hey i was talking to one of dietitian here and she told me that you might be experiencing a plateau... its when body understand your intake and usage. and adjust the BMI...she also told me to suggest you to take a break. to break either the eating pattern or the execise pattern for few days...and jump back then in...she warned me that this might show upscale but not to worry about it...

I dont know if this helps...
may be senior members would have to say something...

Your body is just getting used to it so don't worry nothing is wrong with you just try to eat a bit more because you could be in starvation mode based on all the things you do.