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You are not fueling your body with enough calories. When you only eat 800-1000 calories a day and workout as well your body will go into a starvation mode and hold onto everything that you take in. It is very important to get at least 1200 calories a day (that is the recommended lowest intake you can go to). Your body will start shutting down and it you may become very tired and crabby if you do not get enough calories. Good luck though it sounds like you are doing great watching what you are eating.

Currently you are at war with your metabolism and you are winning....sort of....you're beating it down, but the end result of that is that you're not losing weight.

When you under eat, your metabolism reduces. People like to call this "starvation mode" but in reality you aren't anywhere close to starvation - your body is just being more efficient b/c you're giving it less to run on, so it's learned to run on less. The net of that is you are buring less calories now per day than you used to, while doing the same activities. So yes, eat more. 1200 may be the min - but at 1200 you'll still be losing muscle as well as fat so you'll even as you lose you'll still feel flabby. You need to eat your body weight in grams of protein per day in order to gain or maintain muscle and that's nearly impossible to do at 1200 calories. As a point of reference, I eat 1800-2200 calories a day. I'm 5"4, a woman, 30 yrs old and weigh 134-135 (that's 135g protein a day). I did not used to eat this much--I have engineered my metabolism up enough that I can/need to eat that amount in order to gain muscle and lose fat. Changing your metabolism is not really that hard to do. I also work out - you can't expect to gain muscle without working out.

Working out - lift weights. It's far more important than cardio for making you look lean and toned. If you don't have time to do both - you're better off just lifting weights - supersetting or circut training to get the same heart-rate elevation you'd get from cardio. If you have time to do both - add in cardio intervals or metabolic/plyometric training for 2-3 20-30 min sessions a week. Those will burn a ton more calories than regular steady state cardio and leave your metabolism in overdrive for several hours (up to 24!!!) post-workout.

Quality of calories is also very important. I won't elaborate here - but 1200 calories a day from fresh, whole, fruits and vegetables and lean meats with no calorie-containing beverages is a whole different ball-park than 1200 calories a day from cereals, breads, foods with additives, fatty meats, prepared foods, and sodas and juices. Nutrition aside, the sheer volume of food you can eat for 1200 calories w/ scenario #1 is much greater than with scenario #2 - so you'll also feel fuller and more satisfied.

That may mean a lot of changes for you - don't try to do it all at once, pick one or two things to focus on each week and layer in the changes slowly so you can maintain it over the long-term to get to the most sexy AND healthy body possible for you.

im new here and i just started and as i was browsing i came upon this post and if u dont mind i have a comment. i completwely understand y u wd only eat 800 to 1000 cal a day. i try eating at least 1200 and is so easy to go over and very hard to lose weight. i myself only want to lose 15 pounds. seems like not a lot but very hard to lose.sence i turned 30 weight been creaping on me and its very frustrating. i work a lot and have two boys to take care of and dont have time to be constanly working out. so whatever u learn plz be kind and pass on.

I couldn't agree more about the weight training! Anytime you reach a plateau like that you have to change up your routine, and weight training, circuit training is always the best. You will lose muscle and fat at the rate you are going... but weight training increases your muscle and allows you to lose more fat! Don't live by the scale as it never gives a full picture of your overall health. In the past week I have only lost about 5 pounds, however, I have lost an inch plus on my waist, hips, and thighs! Keep at it and remember that your body is just as complex as you are ;) Keep it guessing and remember to make your calories count! Lots of protein, fewer carbs, and a well rounded diet full of veggies and fruits will make for a happy and lean body :) Keep it up! Nice work!