Are you able to lose weight with that calorie amount? Generally you want to aim for about 12-14x your bodyweight for weight loss (1-2 pounds a week)... so you would want to eat about 2700-3200 calories a day. If you aim for 2700 a day, you can lose about 16 pounds in 8 weeks with minimal muscle loss, which would be perfect for your goal. I find the best way to control my cravings is to space out my meals. If I eat a small (600 calories or so) meal every 3 hours, my body has a constant energy supply. If I try to space it out any more, my blood sugar crashes between meals and I get VERY hungry, not to mention CRANKY! Speaking of which, time to eat! P.S. A refeeding day once a week will also help control cravings and you'll actually lose weight faster.