I reached my deadline (my sister's wedding, September 26), if not my goal
(102). I had been dieting strictly (800 calories a day) since March, and decided to ease up for a little while before going back to tackle the last 5 pounds. The main thing I missed was alcohol. Theoretically I should be able to eat 1350 calories a day, without gaining weight. So, now some days I do. And...I am gaining weight quickly. Today, after a little more than two weeks of mixing 1400 calorie days with 1000 calorie days, the scale is flickering between 112 and 113. HELP!! The weight I had lost didn't melt off. For the last two months, I lost like a pound every three weeks. I WORKED for them. And yes, I do know how many calories I'm eating now. And I HAVEN'T eaten 3500 x 6 extra calories!! Thanks!

You're body is just doing what it was designed to do. When you are in a famine your metabolism slows down and you gain weight back quickly when you up your calories. It is a survival mechanism that we should be thankful for.

You ate fewer calories than is medically recommended (1,200) for months, then suddenly increased your calories by a TON all of a sudden. Your body is just storing the extra it's getting because it's "afraid" it will starve again.

If you want to lose the weight again, do so while eating more calories and working out if you want to avoid this happening again...

I agree with Mindi- you lived off 800 calories then you almost doubled them- your body is afraid you are going to go back to 800 so it's hoarding. Stay at what you are eating now but encorporate workouts and I'm sure you'll lose again- just don't dip below 1200.

HHH, that bites!
I agree that your body is not quite so sure what to do with the nl range calories. Just keep at it, be patient at 1200 levels and keep up the exercise!!
You'll get it off again and will have learned a hard lesson for once and for all!

I hear you. It's just that at my height, at 1200 calories a day, it would have taken me 23 days to lose each pound, or 3+ years to lose 50!
But thank you all. That's good advice.

So maybe it is 1150, but no more 800, ok? and of course, the deficit of exercise... maybe build more muscle... alwaya a goal of mine.

Look at it logically. The 1200 calorie number is there because they say that's the minimum number of calories you can have in a day and still cover your nutritional bases. Your height isn't considerable, so 1200 calories is really close to what you need during the day.

So. To lose weight you need a caloric deficit. This comes from two directions: REDUCE calories, or INCREASE activity. Since you can't go down further in calories, you're going to need to go up more in exercise/activity calories.

Sometime when we increase calories we retain more water.
Stay off the scale for a bit and give your body a chance to adapt.
It will figure out whats going on and start to drop the weight again, alcohol is great for retaining water. You need to take better care of yourself and your body is letting you know that. I also feel your pain and know that it is extremely upsetting to have the scale go up, when you are still way below the average calorie of most women. I constantly watch what I eat and exercise and at times out of know where I find 5 extra pounds, my reaction is not pretty....