Can I lose weight on 1800 calories a day?

[stonecircle]

So, I'm in my late 50s. I'm 5' 11" and need to lose weight.

Calorie counting has never really worked for me. When I was in my 20s and 30s I was good at just cutting down and only eating when I was hungry. I weighed around 10.5-11 stone then. My weight crept up after children (a bit more after each one). Until the end of last year, I'd been around 13-13.5 stone. However, since Xmas my weight has crept up to just over 14 stone.

Over the past week I've tried calorie counting but only managed to keep down to 1400-1800 calories a day. I've been starving but I have managed to lose 4 lbs.

Counting calories has made me realise where I've been going wrong. For example, I quite often have a small quiche and salad for tea. Had that tonight with spinach and tomatoes so around 480 calories. Previously I would have added in an avocado, some walnuts, olives and a few breadsticks, probably doubling the calories. I think I've probably been eating over 3k calories a day, but disguising them as healthy eating (e.g. large smoothie for breakfast).

Do you think I'll continue to lose weight on 1400-1800 calories a day, or am I kidding myself? I just don't have the willpower to eat less.

As long as you're eating less than before, then yes of course you will, at least for quite a while - you'll eventually reach a point where 1800 calories becomes your 'maintenance' amount and then you won't lose more at that point, but based on your current height/weight I'd say that is a few months away (no offence intended, I've used the MFP app to lose 2.5 stone after a baby and did most of it at around 1800 calories a day - I'm 5'9 and got down to 9st 12 that way)

If you're usually eating 3k of calories then you will definitely lose weight! i'm like you and probably eat about 3k if I just eat whatever I want and don't think about it. I have done MFP with 1600 calories as my goal but never manage to reach that target, I'm usually between 1800 and 2000, but i still lost a kg in 2 weeks. You are so tall that the 1800 calories makes sense. Those of us who are shorter need less calories!

Thanks both - that's encouraging. I'd dipped into the calorie counting thread earlier and was a bit disheartened by the people saying they couldn't manage to eat 2k calories in a day!

stone the things is, after about a month on 1800, you'll struggle to eat a lot more too - it just takes time to adjust your brain and your stomach!