Please give me hope

Don't give up, because your story inspires ME! I'm 5'2 and most recently weighed in at around 138 lbs, which is the most I've been in my entire life. It is so detrimental to my self esteem and 120 lbs is my goal weight, the weight that I was at about a year ago before I got overwhelmed with university. If you lost ten pounds since January, I can lose ten pounds in the summer! No matter how bad of a weekend you had, you've done AMAZING work and have made yourself into a better, healthier person. The looks are just a side effect of all the lasting good you've done your body.

As someone with a similar body type and shape, I try to eat around 1400 calories a day for weight loss, so I would suggest that you eat 1500+ for maintenance. It is NOT going to make you gain fat! It's going to give you the energy to keep working out, building muscle, and make you feel more full so that you don't binge on junk food. Easter weekend is a once-a-year thing, and one weekend has NEVER ruined anyone's progress. It's nearly impossible to gain a pound of fat in one day. You're probably bloated because your body isn't used to it, but nobody has ever gotten "fat" from one weekend of bad eating. You sound like you live a very healthy lifestyle. Sometimes we, as petite girls with muscular thighs and a bum, have to accept that our body is not going to look "stick thin"- love your muscles because they show that you have strength! I have cellulite, you have cellulite, millions of other people who aren't even close to overweight have cellulite, and you have muscle and strength and endurance in addition to that, so be PROUD of yourself.

Please keep it up! Eat a little more, keep working out like you do, and maintain that beautiful, healthy weight of yours that you've worked hard to earn!

/r/xxfitness Thread