eating 5-6 times but am i consuming too little calories?!?!

I am 5'2" and i currently weigh 155. I am trying to slim down to 125-130. Possibly less depending on how i feel at the time i reach my goal.

I started to change my eating habits. I now eat 5-6 times a day [small portions] I eat a lot of protein and i work out 1hr+ with a combination of cardio for 45min-1hr and weights [small weights/lots of reps]

Here's the thing, i've lost this week 3 pounds. I guess due to the drastic change. But i am consuming 800-1000 cals a day on this diet. I feel hungry but that's because i am a pig when it comes to eating and my stomach is not use to the small meals. However, i am not starving & i have plenty of energy for the gym [with the exception of the soreness]

My question...am i consuming too little calories even though i am eating lots of protein and good fats? or should i continue this way and once i get to 135-140 up my cals a little bit . I am like most ppl, i want fast results. But i want them to be permanent.

Any suggestions/comments would be appreciated. Thanks all. ?

What does a typical day of food look like for you?

My suggestion: Eat more calories! 800-1000 cals a day is way too little on a sedentary diet, and with your working out you should be eating A TON more calories in order to reach 1200 cals a day AFTER subtracting the calories you burned while exercising. Sure, you'll lose weight at first, but eventually your body will start clinging, with all its might, to every fat cell because it will think you're starving.

I know this subject is debated, but this way of doing it has been working for me and thus, I recommend it.

Hi Agape...

Yep, you are eating too few calories. I don't know your age, but unless you are a teen, (which means you should be eating more) but I plugged your stats, including your exercise, into the Expenditure Calculator on this site, and it says you burn around 2000 cals a day - that means, you should really shoot for anywhere between 1250-1400 cals consumed a day for roughly 1-1.5lbs weight loss per week.

I am TOTALLY on the bandwagon of eating small meals a few hours apart - try to add some good fats (a handful of almonds, low-fat hard cheeses, slightly bigger portions of protein) to one or two of those mini-meals, and I bet you get your cals easily into weight-loss range.

Hope this helps!

Colleen :-)

Thank You all I loved our replies and i appreciate them.

A typical day of food for me is the following;

breakfast 8:30 oatmeal or half a wheat bagel with light cream cheese or a wheat turkey sandwich. Usually i accompanied by water and or coffee and milk. [hispanic term-cafe con leche]

mid-morning snack 10:30 apple or green grapes & a strawberry

Lunch 12:30 Chicken breast and salad or red meat [twice a week] i also sometimes have wheat pasta with marinera sauce. With some more water.

Mid-day snack 2:30 protein shake or something like the mid morning snack.

Dinner 6:30 Boca Burger with no bun just mustard or another turkey sandwich

when i get home from the gym where i usually do one hour of aerobic classes & then some light weights. I usually have just water or maybe some grapes or beef jerky.

I am 20 and i am 5'2"

This article was a real eye opener for me

Obesity on 700 Calories a Day

oh and fyi i do have veggies. I have brocolli and carrots etc etc. I am researching now on good fats. So that those can replace the bad fats in my body. I already told my b/f that i needed to up my cals another 100-200 cals & he said that he would speak to his friend [a personal trainer]

Thanks claire for the article the website as a whole is great!

When is it that you're getting hungry?  That would be a great time to add an extra 100-200 calories in.

Nuts have great fats for you, so do avocados.

thanks smwhipple... I usually get hungry right before lunch time...even though i had my snack at 10:30 by like 11:30 im starving already.

I am assuming i should add another 100 cal snack in there? so that at lunch time i don't pig out .

I bought nuts/almonds this weekend but my b/f took them to work =[ avocados i love..i don't know why i didn't think of that THANKS!

Is beef jerky good?

its a good high protein snack, but very high on sodium.

String cheeses are great, too. 

Bananas have fat in them and carbs -- they are quite filling.  To me they are the perfect breakfast food.

Yogurt, too.  The fatty kind may have over 100 Cals but they are more filling and less sugary. 

But the best are boiled eggs.  80 Cals of tasty, energy, protein, fatty, goodness!

I also like a little granola bar or a little granola cereal.

800-1000 calories a day is way too little. You need a minimum of 1200 calories per day just to survive. Then if you add in your excersize, you need at least half the amount of calories that you burn at the gym. If you are eating less than 1200 calories per day your body will go into starvation mode and you won't lose any weight. Your body will hold onto the amount of food you put into it and won't let anything go. I would advise eating a little more food per day. Good luck!

thanks for your replies. I am making a note of everything. The last thing i want is to be mal nutritioned. =] Thanks again!!!

Add some calories to that mid-morning snack.  I'd also add some calories to your breakfast.  Get yourself like 300 calories at breakfast and probably 225 calories for your snack.  Adding that protein shake to the fruit for the morning snack would be ideal.  I'd also add some flax seed to your oatmeal.  It is healthy fat that you need as your muscle gets 70% of its fuel from your fat intake.  Also, after your workout, do the protein shake with the fruit like a smoothie.  You should probably take in about 300 calories as soon as you get done working out.  Add some nuts to dinner and you should be set.  I've worked with a lot of people planning meals and this would be some suggestions for you.  Get lots of water throughout the day and take a multi-vitamin.  You should be rolling.

thanks houstonpt, i will do as you said. Already i've had oatmeal and half of a banana [i was full] so i am going to eat the rest of the banana and green grapes. Then for mid-day snack i'll have a protein shake and something else. I calculated and yesterday i took in 1400 cals & burned 200+ so i should be ok as long as i keep going like that.