@Emily Fox Seaton:

What did your logging of calories tell you? For instance, at what point does actual weight loss occur? There is a number for this. It may be for instance 1500, 1800, or 1200 calories. Your basal metabolic rate appears to be much lower than mine of 1800. A good starting point can be determined from this number. Once this is ascertained either way, from experience or from calculation, you then have a basis to determine what calorie intake will cause you to lose weight. Either way, there will be a calorie count that will cause you to lose weight. This “magic number” just may be different for you than others.

Here is another way to look at it. Each pound of fat represents 3500 calories. This is irrespective of the individual burning that fat. Each week if your body burns this amount of calories over the amount required for you to maintain your weight, this will likely cause you to lose that pound of fat every week. Where else is the energy coming from? This amounts to 500 calories less each day. However, I do understand that the target of calories consumed resulting from this approach may be very difficult for a person to maintain over a long period of time. I think this is very common for a great many other individuals. If it were not for my own particuiar situation, I know it would of been very very difficult for me to maintain this calorie count for an extended period of time.

I am sure you know much of what I said here. I do empathize with you and your plight. I can see it is very frustrating for you. I am hoping that I am helping you in some way. I know this approach to losing weight may not work for you. All I can do is relate my aquired knowledge and experience to you with regards to what I found worked for me.

BTW by eating quite less than I usually did for an extended period of time, in about six months I lost 60 pounds by essentially an unintended diet. Most of this occured during the first two months. This is at a rate of one to two pounds a day! This is very unhealthy. I did not intend to lose this weight, but this still came as a nice surprise. I was going through a terribly stessful time in my life causing my body to waste away. In this situation the lack of food consumption was easy, but for the wrong reasons. Heck, my later consumption of 800 to then 1200 calories a day was an improvement. I was in bad shape.