two weeks and only one pound down

quantify a "bit" :happy: it really truly is important to weight loss to eat enough. You need food especially if you are working out that intensly. I would add a "bit" daily until you at least reach your BMR level then eat your exercise calories too, otherwise, all the exercise you do is putting your body back into that shut down mode, because you used your calories for that exercise instead of necessary bodily functioning.

and I know it goes against everything we have ever learned about weight loss, but seeing as what we learned has never worked for any of us for any amount of time, maybe this logic has something too it. The other thing about this is, the more you work out, the more you get to eat, and when you reach your goal there is no "going back to the way you ate" and gaining it back, because you are already eating enough. In fact once you get to where you want to be, mfp will give you the maintenance level of calories you need to stay at that weight, and you stay within that level and you don't gain it back.

that is because you are. You are starving, barely eating enough to stay alive with all the activity you do. For sure watch what you eat and eat healthy whenever possible. If you are eating 2000 calories worth of crappy food, you won't feel any better, and won't have any more energy, plus 2000 calories of bad food is not satisfying it keeps you craving for more. Balance of protien carbs and good fats will keep you satisfied so you aren't still looking for that "something" to finish your meals. Also, try never to go longer than 2.5 to 3 hours without eating something, you are training your body nutritionally as well as physically. Never let yourself get too hungry that is the downfall of us all, when we are too hungry we will eat anything in sight and not give a hoot how many calories are in it or how much of it we eat, we just know we HAVE to eat we are starving.

I can honestly say, I am never hungry anymore, I rarely crave anything and can pass by the chocolate bar and chip displays cause when I see them I am not hungry enough to want them and my weight has been at a constant, I never did lose all of the 11 pounds I wanted to, I lost about 5, but I have firmed and tonned with exercise and weights, and my clothes all fit again. My weight stays the same with me being able to eat until I am full and satisfied. I figure in the big scheme of things that perfect number I was looking for was just a number.