Starvation mode to maintenance-- has anyone had success?

I know that being at such a low calorie intake is bad for me but I am willing to stop where I am and maintain my weight. I don't mind if I gain a few pounds but I wouldnt want to leave the weight range that I am at right now.

I was just curious whether anyone could help me out. I'm here but I would like to change my eating habits.

I am 5'6" and am very happy at 130 pounds and would not want to go any lower but wouldnt mind gaining 2-3 pounds in order to increase my calorie intake to something healthy.

PLease reply with advice =)

I found that once I reached my target weight I slowly started upping my daily calorie intake, adding a hundred extra calories a week.  I went from 1200 calories a day to 1300.  I did this for a week and then went to 1400 and so on.  Now I maintain about 1800 calories a day - with a total all out cheat weekly and have found that I am maintaining my weight perfectly!  I've been at my target weight for 2 months now and life is good! :)  

Omg, that makes me happy to think I can do this.Did you keep your exercise routine the same? or lessen it?

I have kept my exercise routine he same - All I do is walk, daily.  I walk at least 30 minutes a day.  Sometimes more, sometimes I kayak or hike.  But basically I walk a lot and keep my intake hovering around 1800.  I have had a few days (like wedding showers or hanging out with friends)  where my intake was somewhere around 3000 (oops...dang the wine!)  But when I weighed in last week I found that occasional "cheat" days haven't hurt me at all - I just make sure I take it easy for a few days afterward.

Good luck!

Violetphish is right, as long as you up your calories slowly you should eventually get to a point where you are no long losing, but are not gaining.  Although if you are not currently taking in 1200 cals a day you need to start there for a week or so then go up from there.  Anything under 1200 is not healthy, and will hurt your metabolism.  Definitely keep up the exercise, it will help keep fluxuations down and keep your metabolism up.

Good luck:)

so did u all lose the weight u wanted by cutting your cals???

I was on 800 calories a day for 8 months (protein shakes only)... through a hospital, and they had me "refeed"... said to go low carb/low cal first (carbs from veggies only.. and lean meats)... then start adding back fruits and more protein...  and little by little increase.  It worked.. I didn't gain anything for six months... (Then I went nuts and ate like I did BEFORE I lost the weight, but that's a different story!!!)

i went way overboard and am almost positive i screwed up my metabolism. i went from 135 to 105 in about 9 months and I'm 5'7. i knew i needed to gain some weight but the way i lost my weight was unhealthy. At first, I didn't even bother with calories, I just tried eating healthier. then i started to count. at first it was fine only about 1200 calories a day plus tennis practice everyday. then after tennis ended i started cutting calories more since i wasn't exercising as much. I would only eat 800 calories per day but i would stop when i was full, and still yeah only get 800-1000 calories in. then winter break hit and i had a lot of free time to exercise. i stayed on the same calorie plan, but in total at the gym i would burn off 800 calories and then only eat 800 calories. then i realized i had to change. i started lifitng weights (before it was just insane amounts of cardio). then i started to gradually increase my calorie intake by about 500 cals a week. its really hard to force yourself to keep eating, when you're so afraid of gaining weight. but even when i started eating more, i continued to lose weight, plus badminton started. i eventually worked my way up to 1500 cals by spring and exercise was practice and that's when i hit 105. so i continued to up it. and now i eat about 1800 cals a day. i've gained 7 pounds and im 112. but now i do 90mins of cardio 6 days a week and weights 5 days a week, so i think i need to eat more, but i like the way i look with how much weight to gain back.

its a hard process but gradually its better for your body in the long run. i gained my extra weight and i feel better, i don't look boney and i have more energy!