Ok, I've been averaging 1900 calories a day since January. Some days I go higher, some days lower, but the average has been fairly steady at 1900. I lost regularly at first, and then it started slowing down in April and May and then over the past 2 months I have pretty much stayed at the same weight. Now this is where it gets weird. For some reason, during the entire month of August, I have been hungrier. My average daily calorie intake has been at around 2100-2200 this month. I'm not sure why I have been hungrier this month, but even more strange is that the scales have actually moved down. I finally dropped 2 more pounds. My goal is still to average 1900 calories a day. In fact I had hoped to lower to 1800 to spur weightloss, but I find it so strange how our bodies work and how our metabolisms work.

make sure u are not in a calorie deficit ALLL the time. try to eat a lil bit over one or two days every 2 weeks or something. and i dont mean go eat ihop. all the good stuff you are eating, just increase the quantity. there's this hormone called leptin that is the key to losing fat. read this article and you will know all about it.

http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/7139.html

Thanks for the article, ndn, that was very interesting!

kmg73 - isn't the human body a crazy thing? IMHO - if you are losing at 2100-2200...why not leave it there for a little while? Give yourself more room to cut back later should you hit another tough spot.

Oh - and @ 42 pounds lost so far!!

Guy, thanks for the article. I just started doing this, because it's part of the BFL plan to have a "cheat" day (though I've been having more of a cheat meal or just eating more of my normal foods, since trying to eat that old fatty junk just made me feel sick...barf!). I put my scale away because I was so frustrated with it, so I don't know what the numbers look like, but I definitely feel better and my pants are looser, so I think it is working!

Thanks for the article. That was interesting. My calories, up until August, usually ranged from around 1700 to 2200 give or take, but maybe that wasn't enough variance? I'll have to give this approach a try.

I think part of I am learning is to listen to what my body is saying. I ignored that in a big way during my years of weight gain. I'd be full, but just ignore that and keep on eating. Or food would leave me feeling all loggy and yuck, but I'd ignore that too. Part of my learning curve is to untangle listening to what my body says is healthy as opposed to my emotional eating stuff.

Thanks chick_in_the_hat. It has been a slow, but steady loss.

And ain't that a beautiful thing.

KMG73, I think if you are hungry maybe you should consider the type of foods you are eating not the amount of calories. I'm not sure what you are eating but you might want to makes sure you are getting enough protien in your snacks? I personally find that I get hungrier if I eat certain things, like carrots.... for some odd reason they just make me want to eat everything. However I can get a lot of mileage off eating a piece of 2% cheese.

because a lot of people choose foods that has a lot of volume and simple sugars instead of denser nutrient rich ones.

fruits are a good example. i try not to eat fruits by itself. all it does is spike my insulin and get me more hungry. i would rather do a tablespoon of peanut butter instead.