SO hard to lose when petite

I'm not petite but limiting yourself to 500 cals per day is not the way to do it. You should be aiming to NET at least your BMR.

At 5'1" I went from 136 to 101. The closer I got to my goal, the closer my eating was to TDEE. I was never hungry. Time to learn patience. And at my age, my BMR is 1100.

I'm 5'1" and lose weight on 1500 cals/day, in fact this is too few calories for me and I don't plan to ever eat that low.

you do not have to eat just 500 cals/day. Please go to a thread called "in place of a road map" and read it all carefully, then follow the instructions to find out how many calories a day you should eat for slow and steady fat loss.

Additionally, when you're trying to lose the last few lbs, that's when it matters more that you eat enough. People with a lot to lose can get away with having a bigger calorie deficit, but when it's the last few lbs you need to take it very slowly.

I have some more *fat* that I want to lose, but I'm not really trying to get any lighter. I'm trying to reduce my body fat percentage from 22 to maybe 18-20%. I may or may not get lighter. I'm taking the fat loss very slowly, currently eating 1850 cals/day to see if this is maintenance or a very slight deficit. Once I've established that, I'll be eating TDEE -10% for a while, and alternating that with eating a little over maintenance to gain some lean body mass. I'm also focusing on increasing my strength. Focusing on body composition is very important, because it's lowering your body fat percentage that improves how your body looks. If you only have 10lb to lose and you're trying to lose it quickly with too big a deficit, you'll lose lean body mass (i.e. healthy weight) along with the fat.... you'll end up 10lb lighter but looking the same as before.

I hit my target goal weight finally after I switched my exercise routine up, guess my body just got use to my routine. I then switched to weights like a lot suggested and gained 5 lbs in 3 days, eating the same 1600 calories a day I had been and eating clean as usual... ugh...guess it's back to cardio to lose those 5lbs back again.

When you start weights its normal for you to see a jump on the scale. It's just your muscles holding on to water. It will eventually go away. Two months of strength training did more for my body than six months of cardio.

I'll take your word for it and give it a few weeks then. I hope I don't gain 10-15lbs just from switching to weights. I don't wan't heavy muscle, just toning.

At 5'1" I went from 136 to 101. The closer I got to my goal, the closer my eating was to TDEE. I was never hungry. Time to learn patience. And at my age, my BMR is 1100.

^^^^ this is very sound advice. Please listen to it (and read the "road map" thread I mentioned)

the less you have to lose, the more careful you have to be to lose it slowly and sustainably, and to be vigilant that it's just fat you're losing, not lean body mass. Slow and steady really does win this race.

I hit my target goal weight finally after I switched my exercise routine up, guess my body just got use to my routine. I then switched to weights like a lot suggested and gained 5 lbs in 3 days, eating the same 1600 calories a day I had been and eating clean as usual... ugh...guess it's back to cardio to lose those 5lbs back again.

When you start weights its normal for you to see a jump on the scale. It's just your muscles holding on to water. It will eventually go away. Two months of strength training did more for my body than six months of cardio.

I'll take your word for it and give it a few weeks then. I hope I don't gain 10-15lbs just from switching to weights. I don't wan't heavy muscle, just toning.

You're not going to gain muscle at a deficit. A few ounces of newbie gains, but nothing terrible noticeable. The weight you see is just water retention like the other poster said. It went away for me mostly after a few weeks. Now I still get a slight upward fluctuation the day after I lift but it's never much. It's good to realize that your weight is a range anyway. I'm in maintenance at the moment and mine ranges from 129-132.

Understanding the math can help. 5 lbs would be 17500 calories, approximately. If you didn't eat that amount over and above your maintenance calories then you didn't gain fat.

Maybe your not eating enough? 500 is very low, your body could be in starvation mode. You need to eat to loose. Try increasing your calorie in take (healthy foods) and your water. I am also a petite woman, but lazy in doing and applying my own advice, lol. I have 40lbs to loose

I should have been clearer. When I meant reduce 500 calories, I meant as my total net. I still eat around 800 to 1200 calories a day, but I exercise a lot to ensure that my net ends up being around 600 or 700 so that it remains at a 500 deficit in order to lose a pound a week. I am 5 ft 1 and I am 116 pounds. I train really hard by doing cross fit and marathon training, but the diet portion has been quite difficult. Thanks for all the responses! It is motivating to hear from other petites who have been successful. Feel free to add me as a friend! I need the motivation!

this is waaaaaaaaaaay to little food.... seriously, do a search for the "in place of a road map" thread, and read it all carefully, so you can get a good idea of how much you should be eating.

eating 800-1200 calories a day is not enough if your BMR is 1300 cals/day

doing all that exercise so your net ends up aroun 600-700 cals/day is self starvation.

you CAN eat a lot more, and lose the last little bits of stubborn fat. not only can, but SHOULD.

It is hard.... and it is slow...
Eat more.

You're not doing yourself any favors by limiting your calories so much. I'm petite... 5'1" 125 lbs (and wearing about a sz 2-4). I eat anywhere from 1450-2000 calories per day, and I workout 3-4 hrs per week.

Don't try to lose more than .5 lb per week--there's just no healthy way to do it at our size. When you set your calories so low, your body will try to hang on to them/store them rather than use them for energy. Do it too long and your body will need to start using your muscle to run itself. In the long term that will screw up your metabolism and make it even harder to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Take whatever preset calorie/macro goals MFP gave you and throw them out the window... generally speaking I find that the calorie goals are too low, the protein goals are WAY too low, and the carb goals are too high. Someone suggested reading the "in place of a roadmap" thread... that's a good one. An online calculator I like is:
http://www.calorieline.com/tools/tdee
It gives excellent explanations of BMR, TDEE, and REE--it really helped me to understand that stuff.

It can be scary to eat more; you might gain a pound... you might gain 3... until your metabolism heals/resets and then it will start coming off. In the long run this the way to go to be able to reach and maintain your goals.