5'5" and 105-110 lbs ladies!!!

SLLRunner

Mommy me, 105 pounds for someone who is 5ft5in tall is too thin.. Eating 500 calories before is unhealthy, and then eating 1200 and gaining weight back is natural.

No offense intended, but this sounds like an eating disorder and body image issues. I'd advise a visit to your doctor.

Please do not lose any more weight and make sure you are eating at maintenance.

psuLemon

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I'd also like to add- the human body is designed to run on carbs!
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Not exactly.

Muscle uses glycogen. To use the carbs (aka sugar) for muscle, you need insulin.
Once your muscle becomes insensitive to insulin, it's called diabetes.

It's better to use glycogen stored in fat cells. That's how you lose fat from your body.
When you feed carbs/sugar into blood stream from food, you are keeping your body fat.
Besides, your muscle cannot use too much sugar coming from food.
The excess sugar is turned into fat and stored in the fat cells.

Fat does not make people fat. Sugar does.

OTOH, if you want to lose weight not body fat, it does not matter.
Fat has a higher energy density so it's hard to feel "full" so you overeat without knowing.

So, pick food that releases glycogen slowly to your blood stream and exercise so that your fat cell releases glycogen.
When muscle depletes glycogen, the body notices the signal and builds more muscle around it.
That's how you get lean.

If you are choosing carbs, pay attention to GLI (Glycogen Load Index). There is a fast sugar like high fructose corn syrup and slow carbs like complex carbs in veges.

Calories are calories. But, how you exercise and how you feed sugar into your body affects the body composition.

I am confused by your post. In one sentence, you are saying calories are calories but in the beginning you suggest sugar makes you fat (which it doesn't). Can you expand?

And if sugar made you fat, then I wouldn't be losing weight by eating 150g's a sugar a day. In fact, below is a good article about sugar; while long, it's a very good read.

Personally, I don't know why people over complicate things. Weight loss is simple, calories in vs out. The only macronutrient that even plays a bigger role is protein, which helps with muscle retention. But the fat is, you can gain just as much weight by eating too much protein and too much fat. I could limit carbs to 50g's a day and still gain weight by eating high calorie cuts of protein and fats. While it may be harder because of satiety, it's not impossible.

http://www.fitnessbaddies.com/your-problem-with-sugar-is-the-problem-with-sugar/

csalazar89

I'm 5'5" 110lbs and 18% body fat. Currently my goal is 16%. Body fat has everything to do with appearance rather than weight. I had to learn that the hard way as I used to weigh 120 lbs (wasn't sure of my body fat then) and started eating 1000-1200 cals a day to lose weight. I got down to 105 lbs and still hated the way I looked as I had lost a lot of muscle and not much fat.

Those who say it is unhealthy to weight 105-110 at 5'5", depends on the individual. I have an extremely small frame (ring size 3.75 for reference) so this is not too skinny for someone like me. BMI is full of it. It's all about body composition. We all should know by now that weight is just a number.

Anyway, what I currently do:
-eat enough to maintain a weight of 110 lbs (1500 cals on most days, more on workout days depending on what I burn)
-aim for 50% carbs, 30% fat, 20% protein (Sometimes closer to 55% carbs 25% fat 20% protein)
-yoga 3x a week
-strength train each muscle group 1-2x a week with heavy weight low reps (8-12 reps for 3 sets)
-high intensity interval training 2-3x a week

If you are trying to build muscle (and in turn lower body fat percentage) it is important to not have a calorie deficit. Also, the more muscle mass you build, the more fat you will naturally burn.

Staples in my diet are first and foremost fruits and veggies, as well as oatmeal, eggs, peanut butter toast, beans, rice, occasionally chicken breast(on days I need a protein boost), and sometimes whole wheat pasta with lean ground turkey. I'm not big on meat so I don't eat it everyday. Mostly I just try to eat nutritious food and I never ever eat unless I am hungry and always eat very slowly and stop as soon as I am satiated. In the mornings I always have espresso, lots of water with lemon during the day, and in the evenings I have a glass or two or red wine.

I am also a firm believer that it is impossible to get fat on fruit sugars. Eat as much fruit as you possibly can. This will keep you from binging on other sweets and keep you craving healthy foods. It is the sugar combined with the hydrogenated oils in cakes, cookies, processed foods, fast food, etc that make people fat. Not fruits and veggies so eat all the carbs you want in these areas. Low carb is ridiculous. Filling your body with high fat steaks and burgers and cheese all day is so good for you (NOT). Only thing thats good for is promoting cancer.

This is my plan, I don't call it a diet since it is everyday life for me now. I understand it may not work for everyone, but my weight has been pretty steady around 110 lbs give or take a pound or two for many months, and my body fat seems to be very slowly going down as I get stronger through lifting. Hope this helps some, I know how frustrating it can be to have people telling you that you are already too skinny and/or you have an eating disorder just because a weight of 105-115 is not realistic for them.

csalazar89

I also should add it is extremely hard for women to bulk up from doing weights, so definitely start lifting!

psuLemon

I am also a firm believer that it is impossible to get fat on fruit sugars. Eat as much fruit as you possibly can. This will keep you from binging on other sweets and keep you craving healthy foods. It is the sugar combined with the hydrogenated oils in cakes, cookies, processed foods, fast food, etc that make people fat. Not fruits and veggies so eat all the carbs you want in these areas. Low carb is ridiculous. Filling your body with high fat steaks and burgers and cheese all day is so good for you (NOT). Only thing thats good for is promoting cancer.

These are very bold statements. In fact, i frequently violate all of these and I am losing weight, my cholesterol is improving and my health has been top notch.. with the exception of sinus infections, I haven't been sick in 4 years. Regardless of the calorie source, if you consume more calories than you burn, then you will gain fat.