help? i'm sorry, i have spent hours on this site and see there is so much valuable information and i read through all the stickies..but i am confused. if someone could help me, i'd greatly appreciate it.i cant figure out how many calories i should be eating per day. i burn roughly 2000 calories through cardio, weight train 4x a week and am baffled! i recently joined a gym to make sure i 'change it up'. i am stuck b/w the same 5 lbs bouncing b/w 140-145 and i cant get out of it. (i'm 5'5'', age 30, female - goal is 130 & toned!~ need to get my BF% tested but havent yet, eat 5x a day as yall have recommended).
i know i cant lose weight and build muscle at the same time b/c of the whole calorie deficit to lose weight and calorie surplus to build muscle so i'm going for losing weight first (deficit) and building after...
i've used trainer lynns calculators and i get 2000 as maintenance...so subtract 500 and i'm at 1500 cals/day to lose...however, i've been eating at 1500 cals for about 5 months now and nothing has changed!
i lost 20 lbs by eating 1200 cals / day.....i know it is so low and i didnt know about starvation mode then either...how long will it take for my body to realize i'm eating?
do i up the cals or take them down a couple hundred / day to see a change?
i also ate at 1750 for 1 month within this 5 mo. period and saw no change either..just loomed around 140-145.
help,please?