how long to lose 5 lbs?

Hi,

I'm 5'3, 111 lbs, and a dancer. I want to lose just 5 pounds, but i'm not sure if the way i've been eating will work. I think I'm sticking to the 1700 cals a day the calculator told me, but the calorie counting gets shaky around dinner time when my parents cook. This is what i've been doing so far, and I've only lost a pound (it's been 4 days)

breakfast: 1 cup Kashi Go Lean cereal plus 1 cup skim milk (230 cals)

lunch: lots of veggies (150ish cals), tofu or hummus (100 cals), flatoutbread light whole wheat wrap (90 cals)....340 cals total.

snack: soy delicious ice cream sandwich, quarter cup almonds (total 260 cals)

dinner: varies, but probably around 500 cals. 

dessert: around 2 pieces of fruit. max 200 cals

so my total is about 1530 cals. I bike an hour a day (too and from work), and have a job where I'm running around a lot (I work in a lab). Why haven't i lost more weight so far? Should I be doing something differently? Any suggestions would be awesome :)

Well aside from the fact that you don't need to lose any weight (I checked, and your BMI is 19.7 which is definitely on the lean side) you're not doing anything wrong. I don't know how fast you're expecting to lose weight, but a pound in four days is quite a lot, especially at your height and weight. You don't really have much weight, if any, that you can afford to lose...so it's not going to come off easily.

Why do you feel that you need to lose weight?

i'm no expert by any means of the sense but having your colon cleansed could do the trick for you.  I say just keep eating like your eating and exercising look into the home kits and see if that wont drop your 4lbs that you need. 

Good Luck

The only weight you will lose from a "colon cleanse" is the contents of your bowels and the subsequent dehydration.  It will make you weak and sick, and the minute you fill up your digestive tract with food, that weight will be back.

You will lose no fat at all. 

References: 

About.com

Mayo Clinic

WebMD

MyOptumHealth

With what you are consuming and burning, you should probably expect to lose a half a pound, or maybe a pound per week.  Your weight will fluctuate daily so weighing yourself every day won't give you a good idea of your progress.  After 6 weeks of that routine weigh yourself and I think you will be happy.

On the other hand, you really don't need to lose the weight.  What is your motivation for dieting?

i am 5'2". My goal weight is higher than your current weight. (120)

I am 5'2"