What should I do?
 

I find myself here at 3:20 pm having already eaten 1200 calories for the day. What should I do for the rest of the day?

I don't actually have a set calorie limit for myself. The calculator I'm using (fitday.com) says I can eat 1800 calories to lose 1 lb./week. My average over the last almost 6 weeks that I've been tracking is about 1550, and that includes a few very high days.

So should I have a regular dinner and just have a high calorie day today? Just have a salad? I am having a pretty high intensity exercise day, but I've tended to keep those two things separate? What would you do?

I personally refuse to go hungry. Try eating protien. If it were me, I would go home, have a lean turkey burger (no bun) with fat free cheese (35cals a slice) and some steamed veggies. A salad doesnt fill me up unless there is some protien. On the days I exercise a lot, I eat to satisfy myself, but only eat things on the "yes" list I have, like protien, veggies, etc..

I agree with Wendee. Don't let yourself go hungry because then you are more likely to succumb to something unhealthy. If you think a salad will fill you up, then great. If not, then go for something a little more substantial. You still have about 600 calories to play with and not go over your calculator's limit. You can make yourself a decent dinner with that. If not, a few calories over limit isn't gonna hurt. You can always make it up tomorrow.

If you're at 1200 calories and have been eating around 1550-1600, and your recommended calories are as much as 1800, you still have around 400 to 600 calories to play around with, as far as I can see. :)

You can do a lot with 400 calories. Make dinner a vegetable-laden egg-white omelet. Add in a toasted English muffin with jelly. Top it off with an orange. Voila--400 calories. Another possibility is a Lean Cuisine meal of around 300 calories with a side of steamed or pan-seared vegetables (I love snow peas for this because they're so quick) to bring it up to 400. A vegetable stir-fry will also let you get away with under 400 calories, especially if you don't fill up the plate with rice.

If you go with the 600-calorie recommendation, you can eat a substantial dinner AND a snack. Add a cup of yogurt and a piece of fruit or some vegetables dipped in hummus or even a slice of cheese and a couple of slices of deli ham or turkey to the meals I mentioned and you're right there at 600.

I say have 3-4 oz of lean meat and some veggies for dinner. You'll stay low on your cals and still get to eat a decent meal.

So what did you end up doing?