1200 calories is hard. It's going to be too hard to maintain it over a long period. I have done it for a mere 4 days now and today I have longed for more food. It has been a great success for me in terms of weight loss, but I think after the weekend I'll put it up by 100 calories, to see if that provides a little extra comfort.
I have been exercising to gain calories (I record everything on myfitnesspal but halve the exercise calories they estimate as they seem way too high) but I am going for drinks on Saturday and I know that will involve a lot of booze so I'm trying to save as much as possible to enjoy myself. I think there will be a big difference on the scale between Friday and Monday which is why I don't want to stop 1200 yet.
But anyway, today and yesterday I really noticed how hungry I was at times. Like, belly-empty kinda hungry, not just bored kinda hungry. Usually, if I ever get that feeling, it means starting lunch early or buying an extra snack/raiding the cupboards, but I've realised actually it's OK to be hungry. Being hungry at 11am is cool- I'm having lunch at 12, I'll survive. Everyone else does. I do when I have no choice about it. I think sometimes I even convince myself I'm hungry when I'm not just because I like to eat. And that can mean eating lunch at 11am or even 10am (when my tea is not till 7) then feeling sort of hungry at 1 so buying a second lunch, and those days always set me off on a snacking binge (vending machines should be removed from the earth) and then I end up sleepy, grouchy, and in bed with a family helping of fried chicken. To be honest I'm surprised I'm not much more overweight.
Which brings me onto another thing I noticed today. My concentration levels were really good in the library this afternoon. I didn't have to force myself to focus, I went long periods without "surfacing" from my work, and I feel like I made progress (I wrote the first 236 words of my 10,000 word dissertation!). I don't know if I just had a lucky day, or if it's because my stress levels are reasonably low, or if it's dietary. I'm trying to reduce my carb intake (lowER carb, not low carb) so have eaten lots of meat/fish/seafood in all varieties, and countless types of fruit and veg in huge quantities. I really hope, and am going to assume for my own benefit, that it is dietary, as that will be further demonstration that I'm doing the right thing and not eating a family size bag of Kettle Chips every day really is beneficial to daily functioning.
Will power is something I really need to work on, and this is such a good argument against acting on fleeting desires.