Lately, I find that I keep coming up low for the day--I finish dinner, I'm full, and I don't really want anything else, but I count and realize I've only eaten around 1000-1100 calories.

When you find yourself in this situation, how do you handle it? Do you force yourself to eat something else, or do you just leave it?

See, this is how I view it - before we knew how many calories were in things, did we force ourselves to eat more food because we knew didn't have enough? No... we stopped eating because we didn't feel the need to eat.

I will have days where I only eat 900 calories (had two days in a row of that recently), but then it might be followed by days I am chomping to eat all day (like today) and I have a hard time reeling it in and go over my 'goal' calorie target for the day. In the end it balances out usually - 200 over, 200 under. Don't sweat it. Your body will let you know when you're hungry.

I eat or drink something healthy to get to my calorie goal--the reason being that if I hit a plateau, it gives me room to adjust down. I don't want my body to already be used to eating the lower amount. I just got down to 1200 calories, so I don't have that cushion anymore. I do eat back some of my exercise calories, so if I work out, I can eat a little more if need be. It works well for me.

I don't force myself to eat more, but that's mainly because I usually make up for it later during the week with a higher calorie count.

However, if eating 1000 calories became a pattern for me, then I would try to increase that, not necessarily by eating more, but by eating higher-calorie foods. Even now, I do not eat fat-free or even low-fat dairy. I eat regular foods rather than "diet" foods.

Maybe eating higher-calorie foods would work for you.

This is a good point. I think if you're self-regulating like berryblondeboys, it's not a big deal. Everyone is different, and I do better when I'm a little more rigid.

If you're eating a variety of non processed foods including plenty of protein I wouldn't worry about it especially since you're 5'3".

Yep, I eat mostly whole foods...hmm, I guess this is okay, as long as it doesn't become too much of a pattern. Thank you all for your feedback!

Lin, I love the suggestion of just eating some higher calorie foods. Sounds like a fairly easy solution to the problem if it persists

Just go with it. There are days you'll add everything up and it'll come to 1600... and you'll be glad then that you have had a few 1000 days here and there to balance it out

I have found that I actually lose better when I keep my calories up. If I find I need some calories at the end of the day I will eat some cheese. I love cheese and love those little splurges.

Just the other night I had not eaten "enough" and I thought, ok, I'll have 1/2 banana with a tsp. or so of peanut butter just to up it a little. Then, I realized what an opportunity to have something "decadent" - and it isn't that I was necessarily hungry cuz I could have just as easily gone to bed for the night....but I had some multi grain tortilla chips with fresh salsa, and the mere act of SNACKING, guilt free mind you, was amazing. I counted out 14 chips, but the salsa was pretty much a free for all, its so low calorie.

Lately I've been thinking about saving some of my daily oil to make popcorn on the stove. I've read that and really like the idea.

If I'm feeling lousy or sick, and I have not eaten enough for one day, I don't worry about it. Sometimes you just need to rest more than you need to eat, and I don't think 1 day will do much damage.

I did, however, raise my calorie ceiling to 1400 because I lost 3 lb the first week of switching to calorie counting with a 1200 target. Week 2 I lost 2.2. This week is the end of week 3 and TOM was due monday. I lost .4, and I'm ok with that. There is nothing I would have done differently this week.

Listen to your body.

If it is only a day or 3 I don't worry about it. If it is happening too often then I do something about it. I use higher calorie foods for a couple days (walnuts are one of my favs for this) or I add a protein shake to my day. A couple days of doing that usually gets me back on track.

That happens to me, only it's usually because I get too busy or lazy to eat enough.

I try to keep it from becoming a habit, because though it hasn't made me plateau, it does tend to hit me in a week or so. If I eat too few calories for too long, my hunger later goes haywire for a while.

So, what I do if I have a couple hundred calories left over, I eat something I usually don't have room for, like a piece of chocolate or some cheese and crackers. It's a small amount, so I don't get over full, but it is fun.

I say to enjoy it while it lasts, because if you are anything like me, as soon as PMS/TOM hits, you'll be struggling to stay at your calorie limit. Enjoy the ride because some days are diamonds and some days are mud! It would be awesome if we could be magically cured of our overeating issues so quickly, but sadly these little non-hungry phases are usually limited...and wonderful!

I usually did add something at the end of the day...purely to boost my cals. Nuts are great, b/c it is such a small serving for high impact. String cheese, small bowl of cereal with skim milk. I,too, didn't want my body getting used to eating too low.

That being said, it very rarely happened that I was low! LOL I'm always hungry. Jealous!

It depends on far too many things.
How much do you excersize? Are you feeling more tired or energetic the days you don't want to eat more and the day after?

Have you tried eating with calorie cycles? You count the whole week's calories and spread them unevenly through the week to keep your metabolism shocked.
So lets say you eat 1000, 1800, 1500, 2200 etc and the total of the week ends up being the same as eating the same calories everyday. This helps a lot with people who's apetite has peaks and lows and who have once a week a day/night where food is part of celebrations etc.

If you are very active you should force yourself to at least drink a hydrating drink with carbohydrates and electrolytes after the heaviest part of excersizing. They have about 250 calories or 120 calories depending on the brand and will make sure you don't burn your hard earned muscle or faint.

If eating less one day makes you feel heavier and lazier the next you should force yourself to eat a bit more. Food is medicine, if you need it you should take it. During diets we can often fall to the other extreme of undereating which is just as (if not worse) dangerous as eating a bit too much.

If you start seeing food as medicine and fuel, you'll be responsible eating.

Hope this helps.