SO hard to lose when petite

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.

I guess I'm being the devil's advocate here (and I also realize I approached this thread with a complaint regarding my routine not working quickly enough), but wouldn't I be avoiding starvation if I'm working out as much as I am? I do 2, sometimes 3 different workouts throughout the day (I'm self-employed so I'm extremely lucky to have the free time) and therefore I'm forcing my muscles to work (telling my body not to burn muscle since I need it). Wouldn't this result in me burning more fat? Also, the foods I eat are very high in nutrients (green smoothies, salads, etc) so it seems I wouldn't be depriving my body. I suppose I came here for the sake of complaining because it seems unfair that a female a few inches taller than me would not have to reduce her calories nearly as much and still get better results. It sucks being short!

no, because working out burns calories. Netting 800 cals/day or less is starvation. The more you work out on so few calories, the more you are starving yourself, not the less. The more you work out, the more you need to eat. Working out does not make you need to eat less food.

Your body will burn muscle in this situation. Your body can't generate the energy it needs to keep your organs functioning and keep up the levels of activity you're doing from nowhere. If you're not giving it energy (i.e. calories) to run properly from the food you eat, it'll take it from your body. In a prolonged food shortage (whether you're exercising or not) this will come from your muscles as much as, or even more than, your fat reserves, as fat will make you survive longer in a famine, while muscle is a liability, because it uses more energy than fat. Your body burns muscle to make you more energy efficient to survive the famine. When the human body starves, by the time your body fat is starting to run out, your muscles are already so wasted that you look like skin and bones, and at that point you are extremely close to death. Your body will not burn fat while leaving the muscles alone, unless you are feeding it properly to begin with, which you are not. The leaner you get, the more likely your body will burn muscle rather than fat, even if you are doing a bodybuilding level of training. Bodybuilders seek to minimise lean muscle losses by eating properly and cutting fat slowly at a very moderate deficit.

No matter how many micronutrients there are in your shakes, etc, if you're not supplying yourself with enough calories to sustain your body, you are starving yourself. Your body needs *energy* to sustain itself, calories are a unit of energy (just as centimetres are a unit of length) - vitamins do not give you energy. Fat, protein and carbohydrate gives you energy.

Seriously, eat more!

I doubt I would allow myself it get to the skin and bones part

But I do see what you mean about your muscles needing the proper amount of calories for recovery and rebuilding reasons. I'm impatient and I'm realizing I can't just magically make the weight fall off in a few days. I've been doing the low calorie thing for a few weeks now and haven't felt weak or unable to do my hard exercises, but I will listen to my body and pay more attention to what I'm feeding my muscles. Thanks for the advice!

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.

In order to gain muscle mass, you have to be eating at a surplus. Since you are not weights are just going to make you tighter and more lean. Muscle burns fat!! Good luck!!!

Anyone other petites out there trying to lose those last ten pounds? So frustrating to try to lose even a pound a week. With a BMR as low as 1300, I have to limit my calorie intake 500 per day if I want to lose only a pound a week. Hungry and constantly exercising with little results. Not very motivating