need help- not enough hunger, not enough calories

[tellico]

I've been sticking to a more controlled calorie diet the last week and a half, trying to lose 13 lb. in 6 weeks (a mini-goal). Well, I've already lost 5 lb. I'm losing too quickly. I'm also having a hard time sticking to my calorie goal, which is 1800-1950, pref. <1900. Problem is, I'm having a hard time getting that many in- while my hunger mechanism seems more normal now that I"m not flooded with constant food, it has not been strong enough, it seems.

My questions are:
Should I worry about losing too much too quickly? I don't want to lose muscle. I do have plenty to lose, though, and I hear it comes off quickly for those who have plenty to lose.

Should I respect my freshly restored hunger mechanism, which leaves me at the end of the day with only between 1400-1500 calories comfortably consumed- including a very small sweet or two, +/- one soda; OR should I force myself to take in at least 1800?

How much do I need to take in to avoid muscle loss? Is this number ever realistically going to be higher than what my body asks for?

As a refresher, I am 5'10" female with higher than average muscle mass and an end goal weight of 166-175. I'm still a good ways off from that long term goal, though.

thanks, nutrition gurus of EF!

[pliny_2001]

I probably wouldn't worry about the 5 lbs - at the beginning of a diet, your body will often shed alot of extra water, so your weight readings will be over the 2 lb/week that you're aiming for. If you continue losing at that rate by the 3rd week, though, I'd bump up the calories. Of course, you already would have gone over your goal by then, so I guess you'd actually have a few pounds to gain . So I wouldn't start worrying yet.

For the hunger mechanism, it'll mostly depend on you. I know that I have to force myself to eat more, or I wouldn't be able to maintain my present weight, so it's definately possible that your body won't be 100% accurate in telling you when you should eat. That said, though, 1400 cal a day sounds low, but I'm a guy and eat 4000+ cal, so most numbers'll sound low.

Rough estimate: if you average 2lbs loss/week (except as above), you shouldn't lose muscle. At that rate, the body will prefer to burn fat. Of course, if you work really hard on cardio, your body may burn through its glycogen stores and burn muscle tissue for energy until you stop the exercise, but that takes at least 20 or so minutes of maximal effort, and is only a concern for the period of time you're exercising - it'll go back to burning fat when you aren't demanding immediate energy.

Hope this helps - it looks like you're doing some good work so far!

[Italianangel]

let me see the diet.............I would not worry too much about any of the above if the diet is dialed in but if you are hungry, its not...................look at my diet on my journal, yet I am not hungry, I worked down my diet over time so my body adjusted to it with stomach and metabolism.
Linda