So, I remember the beginning of calorie counting for me - I could barely stay under 2000.... then, dropped to 16 - 1800, and finally I am between 12 - 1500. I certainly lost weight in the beginning and now its still coming off, just a bit slower.

In the past, losing weight was SO hard because I really didn't understand calorie counting... I remember calorie counting one other time in my life and I did lose weight - but I was only eating 500 - 800 calories a day. Yes - borderline eating disorder. And it was hard to eat so few calories daily.

Now, my dilemma is, because of all this crazy past dieting, I feel like I'm just not working hard enough! When I eat 1500, I feel guilty, like I've splurged. I feel like I need to feel more pain and like weight needs to drop off me at lightning speeds!!

Okay, its not rational. I'm not going to go lower with calories. But, has anyone else had this problem lately? Like, it is ingrained in your head that you must suffer, but you aren't - so, you must be doing something wrong?

i have my easy and hard days where i want to eat everything. it's a wonder in general how 'easy' it feels recently. i had to do tons of exercise before, but lately haven't been exercising much. still losing, i think bc of days i wasn't really 'hungry'.

maybe try making your muscles hurt. nothing like some good DOMS. delayed muscle soreness.

Absolutely! I have this really unhealthy fear of being full. Not as in stuffed, but as in not hungry. And I'm not happy unless I'm under my goal calories, preferably by a lot, even if it means under eating.

I have easy and hard days as well - but it is like I have been brainwashed into thinking that diet = pain and discomfort. And, when the weight doesn't FALL off, I feel like I am doing it wrong (meaning, 5 lbs a week).

I think that my past has also made really impatient with weight loss.

I'm not good at counting calories.. Not good at all! So yeah, I think I have a tendency to almost under eat because that way I know I was under the calories I should eat. The problem is I've yo-yo 'ed weight for a few years now and I still haven't found a healthy lifestyle. I feel that I'm either really focused with eating better and working out and losing weight.. or I'm not at all. So I kind of feel like I probably shouldn't focus on calories as long as I'm eating healthy foods because I won't be able to stick with calorie counting forever.

I feel the same way! I have an app on my phone that tracks my calories and it said i should eat about 1000/day. When I started I was only eating about 600-900 per day. After surfing here i realized even tho the weight was coming off i could definitely up my calorie intake which meant i could eat different foods which was awesome! Now I'm eating about 1000-1100/day and i've been stuck between 164-162 for 3wks. I just cant understand that i can only lose weight on less then 1000/day

I think it's because we've been raised to think that fat was bad, that's it's punishment for being lazy slobs with no self control and that a diet has to be painful to atone for our sins.

None of that is true, but it's the way my mom thinks about fat, and the way I was raised, and I suspect I'm not the only one.

Perhaps you went too low and you need to go up for a bit then back down? Are you exercising too? Being small, I know our numbers look different than an average size person but you shouldn't have to go down to 1000 and still have trouble. Have any health issues? If you aren't already you could try throwing in a little weight training to see if that helps.

I really feel guilty if I eat more than 1500 in a day, too and at my present weight, over 1500 isn't that big of a deal. I am really controlling and perfectionist about it. I am worried that if I try to relax it will lead to getting fatter again....vicious cycle I guess.