5ft5in, weigh 122 lbs. details included. help!

Okay, I get it, I have a slim build too & so I feel chunky at 5'7", 130 pounds (even though I know, logically, that is NOT fat, it's just too much "extra" for me, personally, although now I'm toning up so it doesn't bother me as much).

So, anyway, I won't knock you for attempting to loose weight, BUT you are ~not~ doing it healthily. Stop with that 500 calorie a day **** & start eating normally, maybe get some strength training in there (which will make you smaller, & more TONED, but not necessarily change your weight, just FYI) Don't chase some elusive number on the scale, & stop starving yourself. 1200-1400 on most days is still a deficit, & you can splurge on other days even higher than that. Exercise & strength train (even Pilates, which is what I do, contains enough resistance training to tone you up)

I'm going to assume this is a serious post, and offer a little different perspective from most of the responses.

I'm just under 5'5" at 5' 4.75", and I have never been over 120 lbs. "Normal" for me is about 107 - 111 lbs. The lowest healthy BMI for our height is about 110 lbs (18.5 BMI). Even at 122 lbs, you are still on the lower end of the healthy weight range, but I do understand how that can "feel" fat when you are used to 110. I can remember my pants feeling very tight when I hit 118 a few years ago, so I do understand where you're coming from.

However, neither you nor I could be considered fat either medically or by any rational human.

Starting in 2012, I started weight lifting (Wendler's 5/3/1) and slowly put on about 8 lbs over 1.5 years. My goal was to get my weight up to a "healthy" BMI before trying to conceive (which I did, ♥, in June ).

Weightlifting (as heavy as possible barbell lifts) was the very best thing I could have ever done. Adding that lean body mass makes a huge difference in how your body looks. Don't get me wrong, I was happy with how I looked at 107, but 115 with added muscle is way better.

I will add that I ate closer to 2000 calories while I was lifting weights.

This is what you need to do to look and feel your best. Get your protein, as well as adequate fat, and grab a barbell and lift.

this is a tough one. i would love to tell you that you are unrealistic, but that would be my interpretation. the realism is that YOU are not a happy person with yourself and are starving your body of nutrition. anyways, you may want to know that the organs in your body that make you human -- your heart, lungs, brain, liver, etc all need energy to work. for instance, your lungs use a diaphragm muscle to allow you to breath. with every breath you take you burn calorie by working that muscle. your heart is a muscle - it also needs calorie to pump blood - so to get to my point. your body needs a minimum amount of calorie just to pump blood and breath and this total is much more than 500. your body is in deficit and can only maintain such deficit #'s so long before it is too stressed to remain healthy. read amount BMR (basic metabolic rate).. we all need a minimum amount and that # is never below 1200/day. your body is in survival mode during a fast and will continue to make and store fat while when someone neglects to take in nutrients. talk to a body builder with <10% body fat. some even has 5% body fat - any they get that be eating. find out how much they take in... my guess you will be surprised. i take care of sick people and see the disease side of this thought process. eat your minimum! No one can be a fit healthy person and have attractive muscles by starving the body.

You're at a healthy weight. Stop "dieting". If you want to look different, start lifting...with some intensity.

Really?? No, not healthy. If you want to tone up and cut fat, do it the right way. Eat at a slight deficit and do some strength training.

You need to at LEAST double your calorie intake. Don't damage your body.