A quandary.

[Longhorn]

I've been counting calories for the last six weeks. My BMR is supposed to be around 2600 calories so I decided to cut 1000 calories per day. This has been very comfortable and manageable and I had lost ten pounds as of last Tuesday. This week, I gained a pound but I'm used to the drill -- up one week, down the next, no change the next, etc.

Tonight, I had reached the 1450 calorie mark and that's where the quandary comes in. I wasn't really hungry and I've been trying to break the habit of eating because I want to and not because I'm hungry. On the other hand, I understood that if I don't eat enough calories, my metabolism may slow down. I decided not to have anything else today.

I'm just wondering how to find out how many calories I should be getting each day. I've read that I should occasionally have more calories to rev up my metabolism. Is that true and how many more? If I reach a plateau, do I cut calories because I'm taking in too many or add calories because I'm in starvation mode? Are there any definitive answers to my questions? :shrug:

[Systematic Chaos]

1. Are you exercising?

If so, and you are more than 10-20 pounds overweight, I have heard more than once that eating right AFTER exercise and not before will burn more of the calories off, because larger people's metabolisms get more of a boost immediately after exercise.

I would say that, if you aren't hungry but your calorie intake is a little short of the mark, don't worry about it too much unless you just can't drop anything at all. The dieting is important, but exercise and how you coordinate it with your meals is even more so. :)