This is harder than it looks

So I've finally come to terms with my body. at 5' tall, I'm happily 103.5 and working on toning and running to lose the "skinny fat" look. But ever since I've let my calorie intake up a bit (from 1200 to 1400) I've just been going OVERBOARD. it's like, okay now that I can allow myself to eat chocolate cake, I should eat! And I am not exercizing enough to make it okay, I'm freaked out about gaining weight, and then I start crash dieting - which leads to bingeing. What is going on?? I guess it's just insane frustration, and I was hoping other chronic dietiers who moved from dieting to maintaining could help. Thank you!

If you want to tone up and lose the 'skinny fat' look you need to stop undereating and stop being a 'chronic dieter'.  1200-1400 is still a weight-loss amount.  Someone your size needs more like 1800-2000 to maintain their weight, depending on how active you are and how old you are.

Plan your day out as carefully for maintenance as you did for weight-loss.  Work out how to get the best nutritional bang for your buck so that your meals are a) filling, b) interesting and c) nutritious.   If you starve, you'll be hungry and your body (in an effort to make up the energy shortfall) will send you looking for quick-fix energy in the shape of sugar, fat and starch.... chocolate cake fits the bill nicely.  If including foods like that mean you overeat, leave it out for a little longer.

Crash dieting followed by bingeing is not healthy.   Start getting 1800-2000 calories... regular meals... good food choices.... a healthy eating pattern.  You won't starve and that means you won't binge.   You may regain a few lbs but that means 103lbs may not be your body's natural healthy weight.

1800-2000 calories seems alot for a person her size. I eat 2000 now and I am 8.5 mos pregnant. I am also 5'10 and 232lbs! I can maintain my weight by eating 2000 a day. At my smallest I was 127 and could eat 1000 a day to maintain that. I know everyone is different, but you gotta figure out what works best for yourself!

Yes, 1800-2000 is a bit much, 1800-2200 is my maintenance range depending on how active I am during a day, and I am 5'2.5''. But 1400 is also kind of little for a runner. I`d say 1600-1700ish should be a pretty fair amount. ari90, why don`t you try slightly upping your cals and see if you still feel deprived? Allow yourself little treats here and there, ice cream should be better for you than cake, 100 or 200 cals of it a few days a week won`t kill you, and maybe it will satisfy your sweet cravings nicely.

However, if you find that eating any sweets constantly leads to binging and you`re not good at portion control, maybe it`s a better idea to cut out all refined sugar? Resort to eating fruit (fresh or dried) and no sugar added applesauce and jams when the sweet demons kick in.

Good luck!

Thanks guys! Yeah, I have a very small frame and diminuative height...I feel like settling between 1400-1600 a day is good. Looking back, I realized that the days I really binged on sweets I hadn't been eating a lot of fruit, which wasn't consistent with my usual eating habits at all (I've been experimenting with eating macro and vegan, but the stress of being a college student during pre-exam time led to...well, cake.) the last few days I've been focusing on eating fruits and veggies, taking my time to prepare my meals, and yes - tonight was girl's spa night, so I did have soy ice cream and half of a tiny vegan chocolate chip cookie. But I stayed away from the decadent dark chocolate, and the no-bake fudge cookies, and the apple cake dessert...all in all, a good night.

But I do want to try cutting out refined sugar completely, ily51. the only thing is, if I use equal as a no-calorie sweetner in my tea (which i drink 3-4 cups of a day, with half a packet of equal) what can i use that's no calorie in its place? previously I used honey then switched to agave, but both pack unnecessary calories, and despite this new binge problem (that knock on wood is seeing its end...) I'm still fresh off the diet scene and in no rush to repack on the 15 pounds I spent a year losing.

Thank you guys so much!

Not quite sure about sweeteners.. I would normally only be able to drink tea with sugar or honey, but once I cut it out and adjusted to the flavour, I can`t stand sweetened tea anymore. But be sure to choose milder herbal teas over sour ones, unless you enjoy the sour taste.

I guess you could toss in a bit of dried orange zest while brewing, or a few splashes of fruit juice/nectar.

I`ve seen Stevia get rave reviews over on these forums but I`ve never tried it myself so hopefully someone will come along and give you more info about it. :)