How do you ladies/guys DO IT!

mine is 1620 as well, if you open your diary I can probably give you some pointers...

Cook most of your food yourself. It is amazing how much the calorie count of foods goes down when home prepared. Nachos, pizza, pasta, burgers, etc. When I prepare these myself they have 1/2 - 2/3 the calories of when I eat them out or premade. It's as if every restaurant and frozen food company coats everything in lard.

I eat about 1600 - 1800 most days, and that include a couple glasses of wine and I'm rarely hungry.

Welcome to the first step of a healthier life. Awareness of the crap around you. I just pretty much eat, I've actually had to find calorie dense foods to get my calories up. I believe in the Eat More Lose More approach, but everyone uses their own take on how to get it done. You're just going to have to start exchanging foods for greater quality foods. Only thing I recommend, if you're hungry, eat. Don't deprive yourself of food. Just keep working until you find foods that are leaving you feeling more fulfilled after eating them. For me removing grain/most carbs was a HUGE difference and the same for my girlfriend. High protein and a nice fat along with it does well for me.

I usually eat about 200 for breakfast and lunch, 300 for snacks (total 700), 600 or so for dinner. I eat very light foods throughout the day. If I get hungry, I eat a snack. The secret is to eat all through the day and to avoid anything heavy. At 700 cal for breakfast, I'd say no creamer in your coffee, no dairy at all, and try to get protein and grains (which give me, anyway, a fuller feeling than empty calories). Oh, and something as small as a cup of OJ really adds up and does little to slake your thirst or give you vitamins (any multivitamin has more vitamin C than a cup of OJ)

my goal is @ 1200 right now. I usually eat around that or up to 1500 (depending if I workout that day) . It does take some adjusting. The thing is to use your calories wisely as you would say your money. We all want expensive things or in this case high calorie things do taste much better than healthy foods, but you can have those things as well as long as you keep it in moderation. Know what portion sizes really are. Feed your body what it needs, instead of what it wants all the time. The results are worth it.

REALLY like this approach. Budgeting like income is a REALLY nice way to put it!

shoot for 3 500 calories meals and a 100 cal snack

Protein all around. I have 1620 daily and rarely go over. In the morning, I usually have coffee and a protein shake or coffee and egg whites with cheddar cheese and salsa.

For lunch, I will have leftover chicken with a large salad or enchiladas (frozen/packaged) or Gluten free chicken nuggets. For lunch today, I ate leftover grilled chicken, topped with a 1/4 cup of shredded extra sharp cheese and 1 T of Medium Pace picante sauce.

For dinner, I eat grilled/baked/sauteed meat, veggies, and an occasional carb. Some nights I will have frozen enchiladas or chicken nuggets or a grilled cheese if I have a craving. I also eat Tinkyada rice penne every once in a while.

For snacks, I eat Gerbs' unsalted sunflower kernels and/or pumpkin kernels or a protein shake (with water), or rice cake with Peabutter (allergic to peanuts) and a 1/2 T of blackberry spread. I also keep a 80 calorie co-jack cheese packet around. I keep stock of Chobani Champions very berry. 100 calories, 13g of sugar, and 8g protein. I also have Skinny Pop popcorn around as well as Enjoy Life Mountain mambo single serve trail mix.

I do eat chocolate occasionally but not every day. I stick to one to two serving every once in a while. Philly swirl popsicle stix have 9g of sugar and 48 calories.

I HAVE to have protein and a little sugar here and there. I also have to stay hydrated. I usually drink 20+ cups of water daily. Most days, I go above my calculated protein amount and below sugar/calories.

It's a balancing game. There are splurge days, of course, but it's one foot in front of the other, one day at a time.

Check out other MFP-er's diarys to get some ideas. That might help. Try to eat really lean meats, whole grains, try to limit your breads and only drink water, coffee/tea without all the cream/sugars. LOTS of veggies and fruits.

My daily target is 1,200. It's very low. But I adapt. I don't care much for eating something new everyday. This is important. If you expect to have a new flavor every day, then you are in for a challenge!

Here is what I do:
1- replace breakfast with a protein shake - 129 calories
2- mid-morning I take a < 100 calorie snack like an apple or a banana or a pear
3- I have an early lunch at 11:00 or so that usually consists of:
1) carrots
2) spinach
3) beans (for the protein)
4) cucumber
5) broccoli
6) celery
4- mid afternoon snack as close as I can to 100 calories
5- light dinner (chicken or fish) and veggies

Eliminate all alcohol, sodas, foods with high-fructose corn syrup, and diary.
Repeat daily, add more food when you work out.

Good luck!

What works best for me is to see how many calories my meal may be before I choose to eat it. If it is too much I would choose something else that would keep me in my caloric range. The MFP database has a lot of the foods you already eat in the system so it is very helpful. If you cannot find it in there the look at the companies website and they may have the info needed. Preplanning for a few weeks until you can get your breakfast calories under control may be the best for you right now.

Mine is 1470 and there are days when I struggle, and days when I end the day saying "holy @$#@$, how am I going to eat all those calories!" (especially on days when I work out).

At the very beginning, this is going to get a little tough, but it gets better really fast. Honestly, it really does.

Here are a few things to start out:
1. Start tracking carbohydrates, fat, and protein as well as calories. Try to eat ALL of your allotment of at least fat and protein, and if you're like most of us try to get your carbohydrates down to the recommended levels. Even if it means going over your calories at first. A balanced diet - feeding your body ALL of what it needs - is key to avoiding hunger.

2. Experiment with eating different amounts at different intervals. For example, I'm fine with an under-200-calorie breakfast (1/2 cup oatmeal with cinnamon and one hardboiled egg), because I know that 2 hours later (10AM) I'm going to allow myself to start eating lunch, which I eat in 100-200 calorie increments all day long until 4PM. The oatmeal-and-egg breakfast has also given me a good balance of carbs, fat, and protein so I remain easily satisfied until 11AM most mornings.

NOTE: It's not the actual eating less / more often that helps you lose weight. It's if doing so helps you feel more full all day long. It does for me. Your mileage may vary. Just experiment with timing and portions to find what works for YOU. Some people prefer one humongous meal once a day - if I tried that I'd be emptying the contents of a fryalator into my gaping maw by 10AM. But it works for them.

3. Work out. Exercise. It earns you more calories to eat. Eat them. (cue argument 14,000 about this subject). If you use exercise as an incentive to eat more, you'll exercise more, and you'll still lose weight just as fast.

4. Cinnamon gum. Appetite suppressant, constant flavoring, and something to focus on. I would NEVER have gotten through the first two weeks without it. I don't need it any more, but it came in really handy at first!

5. Water, water, everywhere! Drink, drink, drink! If you haven't upped your water to the 8 glasses, do it now. It helps for many reasons. You'll go through a few days to a week of peeing a lot, then it goes away.

I was hoping for a different kind of post..

You'll learn how to manage it as time goes on and you learn just how many calories are in things. A big breakfast isn't bad, so long as you don't follow it up with a big lunch, then a big dinner, then a slice of chocolate cake!

I'm on 1480 and I usually have about 150/200 for breakfast, 400 for lunch then 400-600 for dinner, that leaves me with some to play around with if one day I want a big breakfast or one day I want to go out for dinner or one day I want a big lunch or something.

I'm never hungry doing it this way, but my only real energy burner is the gym - I'm not currently working, maybe if I was on top of all this I would be hungry more.

Getting started sucks! You'll learn what the penalties are for the foods you like. For me, the trick was to eliminate the higher calorie foods that I didnt really really love, cut the portions on those that are in the awesome category, and stock up on the things that are in the "meh" category but low calorie penalty. I love really good bread. Most breads are pretty high in calories. I eat Healthy Living (35 cals/slice) bread as a snack with a little smear of peanut butter and sugar free Polanar preserves. I get to splurge on Sunday and I have 2 slives of a LeBrea loaf with a very tiny bit of real butter. The reward treats taste so very much better after abstaining. After a couple of weeks of getting used to the process of looking at food and seeing it as a yummy hunk of calorie penalties, you'll just fall in. I have a calorie goal of 1400-ish and seldom make it upto 1200 these days.

Log everything.
Dont kill youself if you go over. Look at what you ate and see what you could have done without. Actively plan your meals in advance.