It's a number. Who cares? Just eat healthy, pick up and put down a few things now and again, run to the car or out to the trash to throw away your scale and remember it's just a number. How do you look and feel? Do your pants fit better? Those are the real questions to ask yourself.

As far as calories go. Dear goodness, 800? I'd almost guarantee you'll gain weight. Your body will be fearing for it's life in starvation mode. Cricket's got some good insight there and I don't wanna repeat. But please don't do that to yourself. You'll feel like hell and more than likely backfire on your goals.

may be worth taking a look at this article by Paul Jaminet; Perfect Health Diet: Weight Loss Version.

In the article he mentions that in his opinion, going below 1200 calories a day may well equal malnourishment.

& in a more recent comment here, he writes;
"....I don’t think people can be healthy (well-nourished) on less than about 1300 calories a day."

Actually.. that sounds quite dangerous... 800 calories. DAYUM! You shouldn't drop your calories to under 1200 a day MAXIUMUM. This really can trigger a starvation response within your body. When you say "lightly active" how often would that be? If you go by a BMI indicator, you're in a "desirable" weight class, though if you wish to be lighter so be it.

How long have you been low carb? The major problem could very well be in the white potatoes triggering an big insulin response. As a suggestion, swap it over to a yam or sweet potato and go from there. Give it two weeks from the day you start. Actually looking at it... you probably don't even need to potatoes if you're only "lightly active. My suggestion is drop it all together looking back on it.

Take your bodyweight and multiply it by 12 (as its probably a decent fat loss guide) So.. you're getting roughly 1600 calories. That should be more than adequate to ensure a safe steady fat loss. You're not severely overweight, so you don't want to and probably WON'T be able to lose 2lbs a week, unless it's muscle thrown in.

Try and get 10% of your intake from green cruciferous veggies. MOAR FATS!!! Throw in some sardines, as they are both a good source of protein and omega 3 fats. maybe also an ounce of either macadamias or almonds (for the arginine).

Hope this is of some help. ~ Cricket

It really depends on each person. Men can usually lose more weight, safely, than women can. If you are eating healthy, and focused on keeping your nutrition together, you are doing what you can. The weight will come off, sometimes people think they NEED to lose more than they actually do. Sometimes its more about body recomposition rather than weight loss. 130 @ 35% BF is very different than 130 @20% BF.

Very hard to figure out how low your calories need to be unless you keep track yourself: try keeping a diary for a few weeks & track your calories and activity. 800 calories sounds crazy, but maybe that's just me. I've never been able to eat less than 1600.

I didn't worry so much about how many pounds I lost a week because some weeks I lost more, some weeks I lost nothing. Most people hit a plateau eventually and have to find a way to break through that.

Personally, I find that I lose weight if I drop to 1700-1750 calories, but I have lots of moderate activity...or another way to put it is that I spend very little time sitting down. When for various reasons I spend more time sitting, I find that I have to cut my calories back by as much as 150-200 a day in order not to gain weight.

Slow loss is good loss. Be patient. Big guys like me can lose lots of weight fast (initially) simply because we have a lot to lose and can absorb bigger deficits safely. If I forget a meal or 4 my body will take the difference from my belly. However, as you get closer to your target, attempting to lose all of the difference quickly will likely mean that you are going to lose a lot of lean mass and water vs. fat.

Figure out what your intake should be at your target weight (your long term weight), develop a sustainable routine for that intake and expenditure, and then just be happy and live your life. Monitor your weight a few times a month (yes, a month - daily weight measurements are a recipe for madness as your weight can vary by several pounds due to meals and hydration levels).

Making excessive deficits in your intake (more than 500 calories) can send you into starvation mode where your body just wants to shut down and conserve. You're so close to your target that just a few calories deficit will lead to weight loss with time and let you stay happy and active.

1. Try this calorie calculator and NEVER eat below maintenance unless you don't really give a crap about your long term health and only care about short term weight loss.
2. Work on gaining muscle, it is metabolically active tissue and will eat your body fat given you are at a HEALTHY caloric deficit.
3. Chill out grrl. Maybe look at the reasons why you gained from emotional eating, address those issues and love your body for the HEALTHY height and weight that it is at RIGHT NOW!