Hi Sheryl

I would make the tape measure my new best friend if I were you.  Often you will be more results from inches rather than lbs.

secondly, you arent eating enough.  811 calories is NOT enough.  You will gain weight eating this little.

WHat are you stats?  Height/weight/age and how much do you want to weigh?

~H~

Thanks for responding.

I have heard from others that my calorie intake is low, but I had my stomach stapled 15 years ago and I get full fast.  And I have 6 kids, so I stay busy, with not a lot of time to devote to eating.  You wonder why then, I am overweight??  I let stress take over and I would dine on chocolate and potato chips, as opposed to salads and chicken!

I am 46, 5 foot 3 and weigh about 180 pounds. 

I'm 5'3, 100 lbs (recovering) and I definitely eat more than thattt. You need at least 1300 calories so that you're not in starvation mode. You should only have a 500 calorie deficit if you want to lose weight.

I've heard that the minimum that any woman's body can run on is 1250 cal/day. And that was from my Doctor.... Which means that you should never eat less than that.  If you do, your body tries to store it's fat because it thinks that it is starving.

Muscle tissue is much easier for it to break down than fat to begin with so, even if you do lose weight, it will probably be muscle. Especially as women who were designed to store energy (fat) for when our men were off hunting food (back in the day... when we were the hunting gathering type o' folk) for days at a time, this genetic predisposition will be triggered if you are not eating enough.

Even though we have evolved, if we don't maintain our bodies needs our animalistic functions will return.

I would say that if you can't make it to 1200 consistently and you don't want to lapse into unhealthy food just to make it up, try almonds, or walnuts! They have good, healthy fats, and a few ounces adds up quickly. Wonderful for those that get full easily. They taste quite decent. There are other nuts if you don't like those, but they may have different nutrition.

Then there's peanut butter. I would find a brand without transfat (label does not contain 'Partially hydrogenated' oil.) But if you can't stand the texture (the oil will seperate from the 'butter' and you need to stir it in), the transfat in regular peanut butter could be considered minimal by some.

Or make very, very thick protein shakes? It may mean watching your protein for awhile, because too much isn't awfully good for you. But if you're getting so little calories, you may need the protein!

Thanks for the input.  I guess I have been eating so little because I am afraid of going overboard.  I am gone from the house from morning until evening most days and evenings.  I have to catch "quick" food & it is very hard to find something I like & yet is not high in calories.  I try and pack food to take along, which works great when I have the time.  OK, I am listening, today I ate 1208 calories.  Thank you so much for helping out. 

Appreciate it,

Sheryl

1 lb of fat is 3500 calories.

You might of cut as much as 500 calories a day.

14 * 500 = 7000 calories

7000 calories = 2 lb

I agree, you're not eating enough.  Try some juice or milk to make up calories without feeling too full. :]  Oh, and I second the measuring tape idea!

Even better than a measuring tape - a bit of string. You can see how much smaller you are without getting hung up on numbers

it takes time baby

Yeah, it looks like you're not eating *enough* calories.  Your body gets into habits.  If you keep starving it, then it'll go into starvation mode, which is when your body stores as much food in fat as it can.  Increase your calories and then increase your exercise a bit more.  That way your body won't feel like it's starving and you'll be maintaining an overall calorie deficit.