What did you eat today?

[goldfinch]

Goldfinch, I am also small, though not as small as you. I found that it's virtually impossible to maintain my normal weight, exercise, and have enough energy on the amount of calories you are consuming. So, while I am not trying to lose now, I have been there, and I can say that losing a pound a week is just too tough for people who are small.
One of the things that works for me, is to periodically "mix up" or trick my body by changing how I eat. Like, do dinner for breakfast, concentrate on more protein, etc. I also have to trick my body with different kinds of exercise. That might mean nothing more than hiking a couple of days a week, or brisk walking, yoga with some brief cardio warm up, and weights/core work. Your body is a very efficient machine and is going to learn to survive on 1100 calories a day. Perhaps you should see a nutritionist. I know that at my activity level, I need to eat at least 2,000 calories a day, even though in theory, it looks like I should be able to survive on 1200. On high activity days, I probably eat more than that. My weight is stable within 3-4 lbs., but it took upping the protein and watching carbs on days I am less active.

Heh - I was about ready to freak out on you about not eating enough until you said the above. I know a number of small women who really struggle to keep a deficit when trying to lose. Yeah a 400 calorie bar will definitely destroy your totals...but really, I probably would have just eaten as normal for the rest of the day and let that be a 'surplus' day instead. Don't make yourself miserable to make the numbers! It won't leave you with enough energy to function and certainly not to exercise...and then your burn suffers and it's a vicious cycle!

How long have you been in a deficit? I ask because if it's been a long time, it may be time for a maintenance period and a bit of a 'refeed'. You may be able to reset your metabolism at a higher level if you give yourself a month or so of eating at maintenance or slightly above. You won't lose and you may gain a small amount, but then when you start cutting back again, you'll likely be able to lose more while eating more than you are now.

I have been running a deficit since the end of December, 2010. I have lost now 38 pounds, which is close to 25% of my starting weight of 158. At not quite 4'11" that put me well within the obese category. I am down to about 120, which is about a pound a week. At first I exercised not at all strenuously, but walking a fair amount. In the spring I really kicked it up when I started to bike.

I know a fair amount about nutrition and have read quite a bit pf the science about diet. I started low carb and worked up to adding carbs. My appetite is less on low carb but as far as a diet I can eat forever, I needed to add more carbs to make me happy. But I minimize rice and flour, I rarely eat bread, and my carbs are mostly from fruit which I truly love. I try to mix it up and in the last month I've allowed myself days where I eat just about anything and close to how much I want. I also vary my calories so that I average 1250-1300 a week. Some days are less. Some are more. Frankly, it is easier for me to be somewhat rigid and stick to an exact count. I vary it though to take into account activity and to try to stay out of starvation mode. Given that my weight loss has been without plateaus it has worked well.

For the most part I am ok with energy. I take walnuts and an apple on long rides. Someone here posted about making bars out of dates and cashews (not exactly low carb!) and I make them once in a while as a 100 calorie energy boost. But it has been hard kicking up the exercise and still doing weight loss. Research shows that exercise really increases the appetite and that people on weight loss diets often overestimate the calories they are burning through exercise and then over eat as a result. I am mindful of that. But being hungry lately has been a struggle.

I have thought though about taking a month off to see how maintenance will go, see if it helps kick up my metabolism by helping me build up some muscle, be less hungry and see if it helps give me even more energy for exercise. A month ago I had the goal of only losing a half a pound a week and upped my calories. This ended up causing some fluxuations, with some weeks more than a pound loss and one week with close to a pound gain. I am only 10 pounds from my goal weight. Actually, my goal is a body fat goal and I am still too high on my rough measures of body fat, just barely within normal and far from being athletic.

I also have added more walking and am doing my core exercises religiously. When I am in one place for while I am thinking of doing the couch to 5K program and some kind of work with weights, which is hard to do when living in a motorhome and traveling about.