Hi MommySince21505. I started about your size, and I set my initial calorie levels by looking at a couple of online sites. And yeah, they were all different from one another. I settled on MyPlate because I'd used it before, and I swear it wasn't because it had one of the higher limits! I think my original level was about 2700/day, with moderate activity. I figured if that didn't work, I'd lower it after two weeks. But it worked. Since then, my number has gone down (calculated automatically by the site as I lost weight) and is now around 1800/day or so. It's been working for me, but talking to a nutritionist is always a good idea. Congrats on your great start and keep at it!

I aim for 1550 calories a day. I know I lose best if I stay in the 1300 to 1600 range. Because of my work schedule (graveyard) I too often only get in 900 to 1100 - sometimes I am just too exhausted to eat when I get home and just want sleep more than food. I lose more slowly when I do that. I've been part of the daily weighing threads up in the 100+ Club for three months now and it's been very educational (and supportive!). Day to day the scale fluctuates all over the place and is kinda meaningless but patterns emerge - TOM (of course!), water retention after a high sodium day, and stalls after repeated lo-cal overnights. But it takes months of daily weighing to see trends in the data so in that respect benchmarkman is right, you are being impatient - is this a trend or just a fluctuation? Who knows!

But, with that said, I think 1200 is too low for someone starting out at your size and you'll lose more slowly like I do when I've worked too many nights and stop eating. I think your plan makes a lot more sense!

Speaking from an impatient former daily weigher.....benchmark may very well be right but men give advice differently then women. When did sugar coating become a bad thing? As women, our emotions are tied to everything we do...that's neither good nor bad...it just IS. So, of course, our efforts at weight loss are also emotional. If we lose what we consider a good amount of weight in a week, we are happy and we feel good about ourselves and it shows outwardly. If we have not lost "enough" weight, we feel cheated, in a bad mood and bad about ourselves...and it shows by how we take care of ourselves. All this is not necessarily how men deal with weight loss. So your blunt truths sting a little. You saw a problem and went to fix it. And leave it to women to find a problem HOW it was done. LOL!!! But, I digress.....we do all have different ways of dealing with things and for impatient people, like myself, I must say, get off the scale. OP said that "in the past" what has worked for her. But this time is different. Your body has been on diets...it feels like it's ANOTHER diet. It's going to be sluggish and impish. The more we go on and off diets or healthy eating, the more damage we do to ourselves and the more it takes to recover. Once a week is plenty to weigh yourself. Take notes on calories, activities and weight. Make changes monthly (as I am learning to do from the lovely people here). Slow down. And I am trying to focus on other things in my life...like life. Again, I'm learning and I'm certain I will be impatient again but I am trying to learn to control it. It is exceptionally hard when I have such a long way to go.....but....one day at a time is the only way to get there. Good luck!!!