Maintaining this weight

csxx23

So the story is, in March is when I was first inspired to start losing weight. I would religiously count calories and I started going to the gym and mostly doing cardio- about 20-25 on the treadmill mostly jogging, and using the elliptical machine for another 20-25 minutes. I ate at most 1,200 calories a day but usually only ate like 800 on average. I lost around 9 pounds in about 2 months, going from 117 to 108 lbs. My weight always goes up and down, so I usually weigh anywhere from 105-109 pounds. Although my weight has gone down, my body still looks relatively the same, except the first 4-5 inches of my legs above my knees, which have slimmed down a bit, and my mid-section which has gotten around an inch smaller. I really don't know what to do now. I've tried clean eating for a bit, but I saw no significant difference. I really want to lose the fat in my upper thighs and my stomach, but I don't know what to do. I go to the gym around 4 times a week, and I'm starting to count calories again since I kind of slacked off eating right this month.
I'm an 18 year old female and I'm 5'0. My body fat is pretty high at 25.7% and I weigh 108.5 at the moment.
Please help me! Thank you

SherryTeach

Sounds like your weight is appropriate for your height. Some of body shape is genetic. Accept it, keep living a healthy life and move on.

ssaraj43

Try mostly lifting weights when you go to the gym :-) Google some progressive beginners programs and give it some time :-)

ETA: Eat more calories

3foldchord

I started lifting wights and it seems to make my body look nicer, better body shape, with the same weight.
Eating a somewhat low calorie like you did, good chance you lost too much muscle mass.
My suggestions:
Less cardio, more protein, more strength training.

csxx23

I started lifting wights and it seems to make my body look nicer, better body shape, with the same weight.
Eating a somewhat low calorie like you did, good chance you lost too much muscle mass.
My suggestions:
Less cardio, more protein, more strength training.

I'm just scared of bulking up

geekyjock76

What do you have your weekly weight loss goal and activity level set on?

For someone who started out pretty much in the normal weight and body fat range to begin with, you should set it to 0.5 lbs per week. The amount of fat mass one has determines how much fat can be burned in a 24-hour period. Thus, persons with a normal amount of fat mass have a limited amount that can be burned compared to someone with much higher body fat. After setting it to 0.5 lbs per week, it would give you a deficit in the neighborhood of 250 calories below recommended maintenance.

Regarding exercise, add moderate to heavy resistance training (8-12 reps till fatigue, for example). If you are exercising 3-5 days per week, then you'd be classified as moderately active. If you exercise 1-3 days, then it's lightly active.

But you certainly should be consuming more calories than 800. As a reference, the average anorexic caloric intake is 600-800 calories.

ssaraj43

I started lifting wights and it seems to make my body look nicer, better body shape, with the same weight.
Eating a somewhat low calorie like you did, good chance you lost too much muscle mass.
My suggestions:
Less cardio, more protein, more strength training.

I'm just scared of bulking up

search the thread...lifting is the most horrible thing to a woman since Twiggy
I'm sorry OP I don't know how to do a link :-)

ETA-check out the group eat,train progess...a lot of info in the sticky notes

3foldchord

I started lifting wights and it seems to make my body look nicer, better body shape, with the same weight.
Eating a somewhat low calorie like you did, good chance you lost too much muscle mass.
My suggestions:
Less cardio, more protein, more strength training.

I'm just scared of bulking up

At 800-1000 calories a day that is the LAST thing that you have to worry about!

(Do I look bulked-up?)