I will post articles that I find useful from sources that I trust.

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From Body For Life website:

http://www.bodyforlife.com/nutrition/articles.asp?cmsId=291

Go easy on calorie restriction

Q: I have really been restricting my calories, but I just don’t seem to be getting anywhere with my fat-loss program. What’s wrong?

A: When anyone severely restricts their daily caloric intake, their body rapidly goes into a starvation mode—a reaction we have all inherited from our distant ancestors who were forced to survive through long periods of famine. There is absolutely nothing that you or any of us can do to prevent this from happening except to never allow our caloric intakes to drop below 1,200 calories for women or 1,800 calories for men. When calories are restricted below these levels our bodies go into action to keep us alive by protecting us from starvation. In other words, the body instinctively kicks in all of its survival mechanisms to prevent death.

The first thing to happen when we enter the starvation mode is our basal metabolic rate begins to slow down. This occurs primarily by a reduction in the release of thyroid hormone from our thyroid gland. With severe caloric restriction our resting metabolic rate can drop by as much as 40 to 50 percent.

Next, our bodies begin metabolizing our own muscle tissue, converting it into glucose for its primary energy source in order to preserve fat stores that are essential for survival. That’s right—all that hard-earned muscle starts disappearing. And as if all of this isn’t bad enough, the activity of our fat-storing enzymes increases and our fat-burning enzymes decrease so we become very efficient at storing fat. This is the exact opposite of what we are trying to achieve!

The key to avoiding this all-too-common scenario is to stay out of the starvation mode by creating a small caloric deficit of only 500 to a maximum of 1,000 calories a day below your maintenance level—as long as you don’t go below the 1,200 or 1,800 I mentioned above. This will assure a 1- to 2-pound weight loss per week—the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommendation for a safe weight loss. Remember, this is just a guideline. If you have a low body weight or you don’t exercise much, a 1,000-calories-per-dy deficit may be too much. And finally, we must be sure to eat about every three hours. Our bodies will interpret any missed meal as starvation.

The bottom line is, the more slowly we lose weight the easier it is to hold on to our lean muscle mass and take the fat off!

Lose fat the fast way!

Q: Which is the best way to lose fat—more exercise or fewer calories?

A: Exercise is by far the best way to achieve a caloric deficit because it does not trigger the starvation response, it increases metabolic rate, it increases all of the fat-burning enzymes and hormones, it targets body fat rather than muscle tissue for energy sources and it increases the sensitivity of all cells to insulin so carbohydrates are burned for energy and stored as glycogen rather than being stored as body fat.

Most people in America today try to lose weight by cutting their calories way back to starvation levels and exercising very little. It is the combination of muscle-building weight training and aerobic exercise that is clearly the best and only way to rid yourself of excess body fat and retain or even increase your muscle mass and, most important, improve your health.

I find it hoard to get in 1200 cal per day ... I sometimes want to just stay on liquids because I hate the feeling of food passing through my smaller part of my stomach.. any suggestions?