I am not sure that we have an effective technique to control whether or not a female invests energy in egg production. If you starve her she will not invest energy in egg production, but growth will suffer even more.
Once energy is expended for egg production it cannot be recouped. Even if the eggs are reabsorbed, 90% of the energy used to create them is lost. I believe that, yes, egg production does divert energy away from growth. Whether or not she actually spawns those eggs is probably immaterial.
In the absence of effective techniques to inhibit egg production, "full size" is defined by females which regularly produce eggs. Correct?
-s tev