BMR/Last 20 Pounds!!!

Hi. So I have a question about BMR. I found the formula online to calculate my BMR. I'm 23 years old, 5'8" (68 inches), 190 pounds & lightly active. According to the formula given, I use 2188.50 calories A DAY to maintain my current weight. I also found a calorie counter that calculated that at my age, height & weight, I should be (mind you, should be) losing 2 pounds per week by eating 1549 calories a day. I average around 1100-1200 calories per day.................................... I haven't lost a pound all month. Why? And I'd believe it to be a "stall" if I hadn't lost just 4 pounds the previous month & zero zero zero pounds the month previous to that. The nutritionist at my doc's office (not "my" nutritionist because I hardly know her & have only seen her twice) says at my stage (I'm almost 11 months out from lap RNY), I should be eating only 800 calories per day & at 1 year out I should "graduate" to 1000 calories per day then stay there!  Even eating 1100-1200 a day I'm still hungry at times. I feel like I'm on a never ending diet trying to stick within this caloric intake yet I'm not even losing weight. Protein count daily is 60-70ish & fluid is around 60oz or so. Thoughtst? Suggestions? I am 20 pounds to the goal of 170... my "ideal" weight is 151 so I was even aiming high!!!!!

Simple answer is that you are not eating enough calories.  If you consistently give your body less fuel than it needs to perform it's daily functions, it will slow down your metabolic rate to ensure that it has enough energy to survive.  Try adding 100 to 200 calories to your daily routine and see what happens; and make them good calories (complex carbs, protein, good fats).  It's usually pretty easy to do this by adding one or two small snacks to your daily food plan.  Try it for 2-3 weeks, then come back and tell us whether it worked (I'm betting it does based on personal experience).  One word of caution about the BMR calculators - they are a great tool, but our BMRs can vary pretty signficantly based on our level of fitness, amount of skeletal muscle, and general level of activity.  So your actual BMR may be somewhat different than the 2188.50 figure from the BMR calculator.  Only way to truly know your BMR is to have it tested by some place like New Leaf Fitness. 

BTW, I'm 2 1/2 years out from surgery, height = 5'8", starting weight was 396, current weight is 190, which I've been maintaining w/in a 5 pound range for 5-6 months now.  I exercise a lot (weekly routine = 5 hours of cardio, 4 hours of strength training, 1-2 hours of yoga), which burns 2000-2500 calories per week.  On average, I eat 2200-2600 calories per day.  Yep, I said 2200-2600 calories per day and maintaining around 190.  

I know my advice may seem counterintutive - eat more to lose, but please try it; it's just a function of our self-preservation mechanisms...  Good luck with whatever you decide to do -

Kellie

 

The BMR calculators are inaccurate. The on-line calorie calculators are inaccurate. We use a lot of factors when we calculate caloric needs - including lean body mass, previous diet history, social history, exercise, age, height, weight .... the calorie/BMR calculators give you a "ball park" figure for a normal, non-surgical person. Some people find them helpful, but, for the typical weight loss surgery client - they are dead wrong. Although the nutritionist's calorie calculation for you looks a bit low, it's likely more accurate than the on-line BMR/calorie calculators.