Once you get that weight loss is starving and maintenance is damage control, you’re 90% ahead of most people. Even though there are 3500 calories in a pound, weight loss is more complicated than cutting back 500 calories a day and expecting to lose a pound a week. It just doesn’t happen. The reason cutting 500 calories a day doesn’t make you lose weight has to do with fat storage. If you eat alot of carbohydrate, your body more efficiently stores fat, than if you eat no carbohydrate. The composition of your diet has alot to do with if you are going to lose weight when you limit calories. Stop eating carbohydrate, cut calories, and you’ll lose weight. Just cut calories without restricting carbohydrate, and you won’t lose anywhere near as quickly.