Might be worth checking out a calorie calculator to get an estimate for the calories needed to maintain at your height/weight/age/gender/activity level and then making small changes. Definitely, try to lose weight eating as MUCH as you can. This is beneficial for a lot of reasons: you get all the nutrition you need, eating is pleasurable and feeling hungry is not and you have more room to tweak downwards if needed if (when) you plateau in your weight loss efforts.
Here's one from the Mayo clinic (it will only give you an estimate, since you are unique):
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cal...ulator/NU00598
(this is all just my opinion, I'm not a dietician or nutritionist)
It seems to be better to lose weight slowly with a small calorie deficit. What I found in my past weight loss attempts was when I cut calories significantly, I tended to feel cranky, deprived, punished and I would often binge nearly uncontrollably. In retrospect, I feel like I starved myself and it seems only logical that my starving body made me feed it when it felt in jeopardy. I always thought I had no willpower, I felt like I was a loser because I couldn't "stick to" a diet. Now I feel better about myself, it wasn't a will power issue at all, I would want my body's will to survive to be more powerful than my will to restrict.
I had lost weight and gained it back in a vicious restrict/binge cycle for 20 years. I was ultimately successful this time because I decided to make long term changes that I could stick to for my life. One of those changes included not feeling deprived or hungry. When I started counting calories, I stayed around 1400-1600. Everyone is different, so you have to find your own "sweet spot" - the place where you can eat as much as possible and still lose weight. It might be 1300 calories, it might be 1800 calories, it might be 2000 calories. It might start higher and then gradually get lower the more weight you lose (since it will take fewer calories to move your reduced mass around every day).
Patience with your body and with your weight loss journey is key. Fast results are not always the best results. A lifetime diet consisting mainly fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, low fat dairy and healthy fat consisting of a small caloric deficit combined with calorie burning exercise seems the best way to me. You have to find what works for you!
Counting Calories...
So hubby and I thought maybe 1800 would be a good start instead of the 1300. Your right, once I hit the point where my weight loss slows down I have no where to go under 1300 without starving myself. I'll try this and hope for the best!
