Ok I am the self appointed "Queen of Calories"
Not really but I think I should be. I can probably give you a good guesstimate of calories in any food! 1200 is what all the experts say is the MINIMUM you should eat so your body doesnt go into starvation mode. Your body really doesnt realize another meal is coming. If you arent giving it enough to eat it slows your metabolism down to help keep you alive. Your body doesnt know how much fat reserves you have, all it knows is that there isnt much coming in so lets hold on to what we have here and keep her from keeling over! I hope that makes sense!
If nothing else never go below 1200 a day. It's ok to eat even 1500 or 1800 too, depending on your current weight. Some people allow themselves to cycle their calorie counts daily based on actual hunger. It's also best to spread the calories out through the day vs. one or two big meals. Your metabolism keeps burning having to process the food.
I have read a really good book I got from the bookstore called
"The Business Plan for the Body" you should check it out!
good luck (sorry for the novel)
Laura