Calories/workout/last stubborn pounds

I'm working on loosing about 20 more lbs. My surgery was Oct 2011 and I've lost 130 lbs (yea!)I can't seem to drop below 170. I do a 3 mile trekking class and body pump m,w,f and step or kickboxing and yoga t,th. Changing to spin/yoga on t,th next week. I was keeping my calories at 1,000 but thought that was too low for my activity so upped them to 1,200. Based on a few of those calorie calculators, I should be eating 1,400 - 1,600. Could that be correct? I'm really struggling here with numbers. Any ideas or comments would really be appreciated!! I eat mainly Paleo without many nuts and do eat plain Greek yogurt. No breads, pasta, crackers, etc.

Try upping it and see. Won't hurt. Monitor closely and if you show a real gain over say two weeks drop back down to lose it. I say two weeks cuz many of us fluctuate up and down day to day.

Thank you! I am going to try upping. Scary but something has to give!! Haha. Two weeks it is!

I'm in the same boat as you. I have tried everything to lose these last pesky pounds, but nothing seems to work and in afraid to add more food, cause I get between 1000-1200 cal a day. It seems like enough. What calculators do you use?

Hi Dee!
I just looked a couple up on google. If you read below, I did the rmr calculator and all that and came up with 1500 cal a day for me. Scares me to eat that much! Let me know if you do it, I'd love to know what it says for others!

 Can only sympathize! I am in same boat as you guys. Eating low calories, exercising, drinking fluids and taking meds. I feel so defeated by these last 25 lbs. WHAT GIVES? WHY AM I STUCK FOR SO LONG?   

Hey! I'll take sympathy too! Haha. You should try the calculator and see what it says for your rmr and activity level. Eat those calories for a couple weeks and we can all check back in and see if its helping! I know I can use all the support I can get!

I'm an adovate for finding out what will work for you -- by making informed choices having a broad base of knowledge.  That being said, here's what I suggest.  Take the time to find out what your Resting Metabolic Rate is.  There are lots of web sites that have calculators, or you can get yourself tested usually at a fitness center/hospital.  Once you know what you burn when you are just resting, then add in your exercise calories (remember that gym machines notoriously overestimate your burn).  Once you have a baseline for how many calories you are burning on an average day, you need to adjust your caloric intake to produce a weight loss.  The amount of calories to invoke a weight loss totally depends on how many calories you burn in a day, which of course is influenced by your activity, your resting metabolism, your age, your lean body mass, etc.  But honestly, until you have a good knowledge of your numbers, it's hard to know what will work for you. 

AND, that being said, I think 1,000 calories is way too few in a day.  Even 1,200 is probably on the low side.  But then again, I don't know what your RMR is or how many calories you burn in a day through exercise.  Data is knowledge!  You need data to find out what will work.  Or you can just futz around and try this and that and never really know what exactly is working.  It's your choice of course.

AND, that being said, I wear a body media armband and know on any given day how many calories I burn (+/- 10% for accuracy).  I log all my food in MyFitnessPal. So I know on any given day if I have a calorie deficit or calorie overage. (and just for an example:  I burn amywhere from 1,900 to 2400 calories per day, and I eat approximately 1,800 to 1900 calories per day.  That gives me a very small calorie deficient and my weight loss is less than pound a week, more like a couple of pounds a month and I'm totally cool with that!) And as you get closer to goal, those small, small deficits and overages have a lasting impact.  I also know that if I eat too little I can't sustain the level of activity I've chosen for my lifestyle.  Yes, I want to lose more weight, but more important than that for me, is I want to be fit, healthy and active.  And by slowly losing more weight, I can maintain my activity level, eat healthily, and continue to lose weight slowly. But that's me, you may have a different goal completely.  Regardless, you really need to know what your numbers are and how to best maximize them for your goals.

So, get your metabolism tested, log all your activity correctly, log all your food honestly (every bite, lick and taste) and then do some knolwedge acquisition to find out what it will take for you to lose the weight you want. 

For me personally, I know my journey will never be done.  The focus that I need daily in maintaining, losing or becoming more fit, is the journey I've chosen for the rest of my life.  It's my focus and will always be such.  And knowing that it is my focus is what frees me from being the formerly morbidly obese (read: unknowing, head buried in the sand) person I was.

Sorry for the TMI ~grin~.  Ideas:  eat more, eat healthily, get a grip on your caloric needs, adjust them accordingly to promote a consistent weight loss, don't stagnate in your eating patterns or workout patterns, keep active, keep pushing the fitness envelope, and keep enjoying the sweetness of the this fantastic ride. 

Thank you for writing this!! You articulated exactly how I feel, too! I had my head buried in the sand as a 300 lb person and you put it beautifully: "the focus that I need daily in maintaining, losing or becoming more fit, is the journey I've chosen for the rest of my life." 

Perfectly said!!

Thanks so much for your reply! I have upped my calories and already (in my mind! Haha) have more energy!
I did the RMR calculator and added in for exercise then subtracted 1,000 to loose. That's the formula that I found anyway. Came up with 1500 based on my activity level. I'm also go to ask my Dr about having it tested.
I do use myfitnesspal and love it! I track my food and activity. I also use a fitbit but am thinking about an armband too. I'm like you and have to stay focused or will slip up without even trying!
Thanks for all your help and suggestions!