I was just wondering if folks found it easier to start at a lower calorie amount and stay there- or they kind of arrived at a lower number by reducing from a higher one?

I know that I could probably lose for awhile on 1800- but I'm honestly scared that I couldn't trust myself to drop down as i needed to and feel like I should just start at 1500 and if I keep that 1500 made up of really good stuff that I may not have to actually eat less than that.

When I first started I did a 9 day detox where I was only eating about 800-1000 calories. Of course, it's not good to be that low all the time. Once my detox finished, I went back to eating a wider of variety of foods, and now I eat anywhere between 1200-1500 (at least that's my goal). I never have a problem getting the calories in, and I also never feel hungry. I'm full at each of my meals, and I lose steadily. So if you aim for 1500 and do a good job maintaining, then that's great! You will start to feel satisfied quicker, too.

well, i started at 2000 calories, then went down to 1850, then down to 1600, and i am now at 1200-1500...it's worked for me!

I started at around 1500 and I'm still satisfied in this range.. some days I go all the way up to my limit and some days I'm between 1200 and 1300. I feel that it'll be easier for me to stay a bit lower, especially since I'm not hungry :P Why force feed myself?

I do have PCOS, though. My body goes bonkers if I eat 1800 cals, which is my daily recommended caloric intake by The Daily Plate. I just listen to my body and if I'm hungry I don't deprive myself. I watch the fat/cholesterol (family history of elevated cholesterol), carbs (PCOS), and sodium (water retention..eek!) and I try to make smart choices

I started at 1400 because
I've done this so many times before, I think much higher than that and my body wouldn't lose.
I'm old enough to remember that the first time I lost weight, 1,000 was the recommended, healthy norm, so 1400 felt deliciously decadent.

I plan to shave some off when I get to the last few pounds though.

I started at 1200 and wish I'd started higher. Now I'm around 1000, which sucks. 1200 worked well, but I bet 1500 would have worked just as well at my highest. I don't require all that many calories, unfortunately. But I will say, I get used to it. Once I get through a few days of low calories, it's not a problem.

I always recommend with the lower calories that every bite is nutrient dense. I eat a lot of vegetables.

I started at 1800 and worked my way down. Sometimes I wish that I had started at 1500 so that I would have lost more at the beginning. However, I had the idea in my mind that eating only 1800 calories a day would be incredibly difficult and I would fail if I tried to go lower. I had to learn that this was not as difficult as I thought. I had to learn that losing a large amount of weight is possible.

Last time I was in control of myself I started higher, I think it was 1800 a day, but I was nursing at the time and knew the baby was counting on me. I lost great at that calorie range and since they say nursing burns an extra 300-500 calories a day I figured I was best to go 300 below that as my start, so my max is 1500 (though I'm not gonna jump off a bridge if I happen to go over on any given day) and try to keep a minimum of 1200 (though again there are days that I'm just a veggie nut and don't seem to get there)

I started at 1500, as you lose you most likely will need to reduce your cals, as someone above has discovered, and if you start at 1200, where do you go from there?

I eat in a range based on my hunger level 1200-1900 cals per day. Looking back over my history I see my average 1500-1600 has crept up to 1600-1700 these days. At the same time my exercise started at 2.5 hours per week and is now at mininum 6 hours each week, so can still get a decent calorie deficit. But now that the body weight is lower, I should probably be thinking of moving the average down. However I still lose at a rate that's acceptable to me (2-4 lbs/month), so no changes for now.

I wildly guestimate my calories but I do believe I was eating around 200-300 calories more about 1 year ago. Now, I definitely aim for 1800 - 2000. Even if my calories haven't dropped a lot, the exercise I have has increased big time, so I'm still losing a bit. Lately my weight loss has slowed to just a 4 or 5 pounds a month. If I believe the calorie counters, I should be losing 1 pound a week and that is pretty much what happens. Ideally I try to have a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day. Sometimes this is much more and sometimes much less.

I'd recommend just trial and experiement. I'd see with 1500 calories whether you are hungry or not and if it is something you can maintain. If it is not, there is no harm in eating a bit more and losing weight slowly for a while. As you lose more weight, you definitely notice that it takes much less food to keep you full.

Many people that start at 1200 never, ever HAVE to lower there calories. It's not a given.

My very first week was 1000 calories. That's because I was headed for weight loss surgery and they put you on a very restrictive diet, 1000 calories, for two weeks prior to the surgery. After 7 days of sticking to that 1000 calories like glue, (no way was I going to cheat on this diet, if it were to make my surgery easier) I cancelled the surgery. Yup, after all that I cancelled the surgery just 1 week before it was to take place.

I needed that one week to show me that "yeah, I COULD stick to something" - if I was determined to, that is.

After those 7 days I immediately upped my calories to about 1600. I quickly took them down to 1400, because I just didn't need them. Then a couple of months in (not sure of the exact time frame) I took it down to 1200. A few months later (or weeks, it's all hazy), I added an additional 300 calories for the weekends - Friday, Saturday & Sunday, usually, that is. Towards the end, I had some 1100 & 1000 calorie days.

But those calories were all very nutritious calories. ZERO garbage.

I would not change one thing about my journey.

I started at 1500 calories (beginning of 2009). I lost exactly 2 pounds a week for the first 15 weeks, gradually less after that. In the middle of this year, I lowered it to 1400. My weight loss has been about 3 pounds every 4 weeks for a while, which should mean that I can maintain at about 1700-1750.

When I started I cut my calories down to 1200. Usually, I get either a little lower then 1200 or a little above 1200. It really just depends on my day. Sometimes I get hungry in the afternoon, and I have to eat a snack. I think I eat plenty of food on 1200 calories.

i started at 1200 and did pretty well for a few weeks but i just gave up :/