Q: Hi Mike. I am a 27 year old male at 198lbs and have begun following your advice on fat-loss diets. My daily caloric requirements range from 2097 to 2200 at full rest, 2500 or so with modest activity (which is what I believe I am at) and about 2900 on days I lift weights. I have a unique 'problem'; I am not hungry enough to eat at a 500-700 daily deficit. I can barely consume 1700-1900 calories a day, which I think is related to the fullness factor of eating entirely whole and unprocessed foods. My results so far have been good (202 lbs to 198 lbs and 21% fat to 19% in the same time, netting about 4.8lbs of fat loss and .8lbs of lean mass gain), but I am concerned about underconsumption leading to my body entering starvation mode. Should I force myself to consume the calories?

A: Congratulations on your results so far! Losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time -- especially when you are already in not too bad a shape -- is great progress. So it sounds like you are doing everything right. While 1700-1900 is lower than ideal for you, it's not terribly low and if you are confortable with it and get good results, then you can definitely stick with it. I would recommend is that you try to ever so slowly up your calories. Something as little as extra 50-100 daily calories per week. That's adding one one-ounce stringcheese stick as a snack, for example. That way over a few months you'll bring yourself up to ideal calorie range while keeping your metabolism up as you lose weight.