hi there! yes, they're right. the thing with only taking in 950 calories/day is that 1) that's not enough to make sure you're meeting your nutritional requirements and 2) our bodies like stability, they like to maintain their weight at a constant - and so, while you may lose weight in the short term, eventually your metabolism will slow down to accommodate your new (and reduced) diet in order to maintain your weight as it is which it prefers - and that just means that when you go back to eating more calories (which you inevitably will - 950cal/day isn't really a sustainable lifestyle change in the long term) your body will store all the extra calories that you're consuming because it's got used to running on so few, and you'll put all the weight back on. Also, bear in mind that weight loss through extreme dieting alone means that you'll be losing a lot of lean tissue - i.e. muscle mass - rather than fat...but when you put the weight back on it will all be fat, which is obviously not what you want! you'd be a lot better off, in my opinion, raising your calories to around 300 below your basal metabolic rate (google it to calculate) and trying to hit the gym regularly. do cardio for weight loss, but don't overdo it - you'll hurt yourself. it will improve your health, fitness and general feeling of wellbeing and self esteem no end - you can't beat the endorphins! think of it as an all-round fitness goal rather than a weight loss challenge, especially as you're not overweight already. also, in order to preserve (and later increase) your lean muscle and encourage the body to burn fat rather than muscle, i suggest doing weight work. if, like me, you're a fairly weak girl, i suggest starting off light, using resistance machines which help to make sure your technique is good and safe, and work your way up. also, don't only use the scale to measure your progress. measure with a tape measure at the widest part of your bust (under armpits), the narrowest part of your waist (around or above the belly button) and the widest part of your hips (around the bottom not across the hip bones). this is because muscle weighs more than fat so you may find that the scales aren't moving but this is because you're building muscle at the same time as losing fat - which will show on the tape measure but not the scale. don't be afraid of building lean muscle - if you're a girl you won't bulk up, you just don't have enough testosterone. but you will look leaner, toned, strong and athletic. also, lean muscle is active tissue that burns more calories at rest than stored fat does, so more muscle means a higher basal metabolic rate, i.e. you burn more calories just doing nothing! finally, don't cut out food groups - base your diet on high quality carbs, proteins, plenty of fresh fruit and veg, and good fats like olive oil, nuts and avocados (they'll keep your skin, hair and joints in good condition...drop them and your hair will be dry and fall out, skin flaky etc...). so good luck, sorry for the essay but i hope this is useful advice! it has worked for me - i have lost 21lbs in 7 weeks. xx
