I've been trying to maintain on about 1500 calories a day. I eat mostly whole foods (fruit, veggies, lean protein, whole grains, etc). Most days I am STARVING throughout the day trying to live on 1500 calories, but I feel like I'm constantly shoving food in my mouth. Of course they are all low-cal healthy foods. But I've heard of others who frequently don't eat all of their calories for the day and/or are stuffed on 1200-1500 calories. I'm definitely NOT. Should I be eating more??

Try eating high protein, high fiber food. I also target 1200-1400 calorie per day and have observed that high protein food fills and satisfies me more.
I have an egg white omelet with 1/2 cup egg white and lots of veggies and little bit of cheese and a cup of skim milk. That is just 200 calories but it keeps me going till 12:00.
Try having lean protein in lunch, may be have a salad with grilled chicken and lots of veggies. I personally prefer fruits as snacks.
I try to target 15-25 grams of protein for my bigger meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner).

Eat lots of protein for breakfast, it will give you energy so you won't need to eat very large meals for lunch and dinner and you won't be starving!! Aim for 300-400 calories for breakfast. Here is what I usually eat when I have a little time in the morning. Big healthy breakfast, under 400 calories!!!!!!!

Egg White Omelet:
1/2 cup egg whites- 65cal
bell peppers, onions, salt, pepper (I don't count calories for seasoning)
spinach (optional)- 20cal
low fat cheese- around 40 cal (you can even use the laughing cow cheese wedge at only 35 cal a wedge!! They come in different flavors too)
Two slices of deli turkey or ham- around 25cal

OR have bacon on the side ( I buy the Oscar Mayer ready to serve bacon- it's only 70cal for 4 slices and I only eat two, that's 35cal/160 mg of sodium)
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1 packet of grits with 1 tsp margarine, salt & pepper to taste- 123cal
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1 slice of whole wheat toast with 1 tsp margarine- 80cal
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1 cup of hot green tea with 1 tsp of honey- 20cal
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20-32 oz of water throughout the morning/ before lunch

It might be easier to give you more specific advice if you posted what you typically eat.

But I am one of those people who is quite full on 1500 calories a day.

Breakfast = 2 nutrigrain waffle toasted (plain, no syrup) 140 calories (180 if I have blueberry). I'm trying to get into the habit of adding a hardboiled egg white in the morning, for a little bit of added protein, although there is some in the waffles too.

Lunch = Big salad with 2-3 cups lettuce and a variety of veggies plus 4-5 ounces of boneless chicken thigh, 1 hardboiled egg and 2 oz avocado, plus dressing and some cold pasta or a whole wheat pita. about 650-750 calories, depending on how much I use of each item.

Supper = varies a lot but generally chicken, fish or meat, veggies and some starch like noodles, a whole wheat pita, etc. Sometimes cheese instead of meat. 300-450 calories

snacks are usually a piece of fruit, a couple of pretzel rods, or 1/2 oz of nuts, but some days I don't have any. Depends on what else I've eaten and how hungry I am.

I aim for 25-30% protein, 25-30% fat and 45-50% carbs, and try to get as much of the carbs from veggies, fruits and whole grains as I can, but I'm far from perfect on that!

Sure I will. I eat 1500-1700 calories a day normally.

Mornings. I mix in 2 pieces of either turkey bacon or turkey sausage into scrambled eggs (4 whites, 1 full egg). I also have a home made "mocha" which is my favorite part of the morning. 311 cal, 31 g protein

Lunch varies depending on what I have. The most common are salmon cake(s) (kind of like a big crab cake but made with salmon) these are 240 each with a little homemade tarter sauce. Other thing I have alot is open face turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce (294 cal) and when I don't have those I make a quesidilla with part skim mozz and sliced turkey.(331)

My most common snacks are a fiber plus granola bar (130) and a banana (109). I have both alot of the time.

For dinner this varies alot. I have a monthly menu. Fridays are pizza days (individual made on pita bread with garlic powder and basil on top and fresh tomatos...mmmm.....) 428. I typically make the salmon cakes one night and eat the leftovers for lunch the rest of the week. With some couscous and asparagus on the side it is 453. Another good one is salmon fillet with a sweet potato. I do put a bit of brown sugar and marshmellows on it. 540 calories.

And then I ALWAYS have a dessert a couple hours after dinner. Most often it is 8oz of decaf coffee w/ 1 shot of baileys irish cream. And 2 peices of Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares - Dark Choc with Mint Filling. It is sooooooo wonderful.

I aim for 1400-1500 day.

300-350 grams of lean meat--chicken breast, pork tenderloin, or very, very lean beef
300 grams of carrots
75 grams Go Lean cereal
200 grams of milk
One or two 100 calorie bags of popcorn
1 piece of fruit/sometimes canned no-sugar added fruit.

None of this is in "meals"--I try to eat 100-200 grams of food at a time.

I try and eat around 1500 cals a day-
Here is what i had today:

Bkfst- chobani greek vanilla yogurt with 1/4c. bear naked granola
Tea
240 cals

Snack- cheese stick, fruit snacks- 130 cals

Lunch- joseph's pita w/ lettuce, tomato, sprouts. sunshine burger (only ate half today though)- blue corn tortilla chips with salsa, homemade coleslaw , and blueberries- 424 cals

Dinner- Pita filled with lentil sloppy joes, lemon potatoes, and veggies w/ranch
Desert-1 vegan chocolate cookie
619 cals

Total- 1468 calories today

Today was abnormal for me. I usually eat more for breakfast because as you see, i was just starving the rest of the day and ate a huge lunch and dinner. Normally, i eat about 400 bkfst, 400 lunch, 500 dinner, and 200 snacks/desert.

Ooh, tell me more about these lentil sloppy joes!

Anyone who has a fitday link over there <<<< you can look at their food log and see exactly what they eat. That's one of the reasons why I love fitday.com so much.

I have found if I don't eat enough fat, I'm really hungry. I discovered by accident that the couple of days I "cheated" by getting a McDonald's Big & Tasty burger for lunch on my way to work, were the only days that week I wasn't feeling overly hungry. And without mayo or cheese (no fries, of course) it was the same calories as the low fat stuff I would have eaten at home.

A typical day for me is

1/4 cup grape juice
1 cup skim milk in my coffee
Smoothie:
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 tablespoon chia seeds
5 frozen strawberries
2/3 of a frozen banana
some water
1/3 lb hamburger patty on a whole wheat bun with tomato, lettuce and 1 tablespoon of ketchup
1 medium sized apple
3 T homemade blue cheese dressing - around 175 calories worth on lettuce, mixed sliced vegetables, maybe 35 calories of croutons
2/3 cup homemade mashed potatoes (yes there's butter in them)
4 oz roasted eye of round roast
and at bedtime (yes I eat at bedtime!)
3 ryvita crackers
2 laughing cow lite wedges
1 cup of raw cherries
pot of fresh brewed japanese green tea

That comes out to about 1935 calories by my calculation, which on my current plan leaves me 100 calories to cheat with here and there, or save in my weekly average for an "over" day somewhere.

Eating low fat is definitely not the way to go for me, I do better cutting down on carbs.