Hey all. So I've been eating about 1400 calories/day for the past 5 weeks (start of my new lifestyle!) and I've lost about 8 lbs (great!), but lately I've been feeling so full all of the time and I'm wondering if that means I should lower my daily calories to 1300 or so. I've read a lot about "starvation mode" and I really don't want to deprive my body, but if I'm feeling full, how can that possibly be starvation? Also, it's so early in my weight loss that I'm afraid if I lower the calories now, how much more can I lower them when I weigh less and have to eat less to lose more weight? I just want to leave room for change later on when this gets even harder. Man, sometimes I feel like this process is more complex than my grad school classes!

P.S. Thanks to everyone who reads my threads and responds with such great advice and support. You've made all this infinitely better for me!

Starvation mode only really kicks in when you start eating less then 1/2 of your BMR. But, like all things this is a "everyone's different" thing.

Try lowering them to 1300 for a week and see how that goes, if the weight loss slows way down then put them back up. You may not even need to drop them more later on if you are being physically active.

Thanks for the response! I think I'm going to lower my calories on days when I'm not that hungry and stay with 1400 on hungrier days, so that'll make my average lower. I'll see how it goes!

hmm..well think of it this way. Your LIMIT is 1400 calories, so that doesnt necessarily mean you need to eat 1400, ya know?..on days when youre hungrier, eat up to 1400, on days where youre not hungry, or feeling like you need all those calories, eat until youre comfortable. If you drop the limit too much, it might make you crave more..so even if you dont eat all 1400 calories, you have a little "bumper" zone, so you know you CAN have more if necessary :-)

Great idea! I kind of convinced myself I had to make it to 1400 or I'd be depriving my body, but I think it'll do just fine with less (on some days)! Thanks!

You are losing at a steady rate, 8lbs in 5 weeks is about 1.5 pounds a week which is great. I would keep it at 1400 unless you were already slowing down, why mess with it if it's working? You can add some healthy fats in, handful of nuts, olive oil on a salad, the calories will add up quickly then.

Maybe if you are feeling full, you can stop and then eat a little more later? I think you're doing great, so listen to your body and don't be afraid to experiment a little.

I used to live by the mantra of only eating when hungry. But now I try to eat almost up to my limit each day (today my limit was 1500, I ate 1485) because when I eat only according to my hunger signals, my calories are much too low (meaning, I can feel full throughout the day and only have eaten 900 calories). This is so incredibly counter-intuitive to me, but it was an experiment that worked (higher calories equaled greater weight loss) so I'm sticking with it until it stops working...

Thanks for the advice! I've been making it to about 1350 the past few days and then one day was pretty hungry so I went up to 1485. I like the idea of varying calorie counts every day depending on hunger, but making sure I reach at least 1300 every day. Feeling good though, and that's what really counts, right?