New member 1200 calorie diet

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saipriyaa97
saipriyaa97 Posts: 10 Member
Hey everyone, new member here!

Has anyone tried doing a 1200 calorie a day diet and did it work for you?

Is anyone else doing this diet?
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Replies

  • mandy2469
    mandy2469 Posts: 10 Member
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    I've just joined this group and im interested to know what your average calorie intake per day is if you have exercised.
  • throughmineeye
    throughmineeye Posts: 7 Member
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    I posted to this thread twice and each time it said it would post after it was approved. That was a couple of days ago..does anyone know why this would happen?
  • SassaFrass88
    SassaFrass88 Posts: 4 Member
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    I'm tall (5'9") and there is no way that I can do 1,200/ day for more than a couple of days. I taylor my calories daily, dependent on that day's current weight and add in my exercise calories. This has me at 1,513 (including a 330 calorie add-in for my 2-a-day exercises).

    I would highly caution a 1,200/ day calorie diet if you have current hormone issues, as it could cause a metabolism crash in the long run (I'm 41 and just recovered from my crash diets of my 20's and 30's...not fun). You may actually slow progress too. Our bodies adapt to low calorie diets after periods of time, so I would encourage cycling (keep the body guessing, just like in working out).
  • OvercomerJudith
    OvercomerJudith Posts: 14 Member
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    Hey there, As a fitness professional i recommend eating as much as you can while still getting results - especially when you are already at a healthy weight. If you want to maintain body shape (muscle tone), i would not recommend cutting calories too severely will only make you smaller version of yourself and eat away at that precious muscle tone you already have. Setting your calorie intake to lose 0.25kg a week is a good idea for anyone on this thread, and eating back your exercise calories for the most part.
    Hey there, As a fitness professional i recommend eating as much as you can while still getting results - especially when you are already at a healthy weight. If you want to maintain body shape (muscle tone), i would not recommend cutting calories too severely will only make you smaller version of yourself and eat away at that precious muscle tone you already have. Setting your calorie intake to lose 0.25kg a week is a good idea for anyone on this thread, and eating back your exercise calories for the most part.

    If you eat back your exercise calories, how do you lose weight?
  • BeccaLoves2lift
    BeccaLoves2lift Posts: 375 Member
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    I'm on a 1200-1500 calorie a day plan. Feel free to browse my diary for ideas.
  • glassofroses
    glassofroses Posts: 653 Member
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    Hey there, As a fitness professional i recommend eating as much as you can while still getting results - especially when you are already at a healthy weight. If you want to maintain body shape (muscle tone), i would not recommend cutting calories too severely will only make you smaller version of yourself and eat away at that precious muscle tone you already have. Setting your calorie intake to lose 0.25kg a week is a good idea for anyone on this thread, and eating back your exercise calories for the most part.

    Not a professional but I just wanted to add on to that, the fact that if your metabolism slows/adapts to 1200cals you have nowhere else to go. You can't reduce your calories anymore so you're restricted to what you can achieve. Eat more and give yourself the room to mix it up if you need to later.

    I'm 5'10 and practice martial arts, I'd be in hospital if I only ate 1200 cals a day. Even if I did no exercise I'd still be in pretty big trouble. Set your loss to 1lb a week and go from there. Losing 2lbs a week when you have even just 30lbs to lose is too aggressive. Eat more and slow down. This is a life long change so a few more weeks to get the weight off shouldn't matter. :smile:
  • 2tall4thisworld
    2tall4thisworld Posts: 123 Member
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    I ate 1200 calories or less about 6 days a week for several months and I was exercising everyday. I lost about 20 pounds. I was so tired all of the time. I was agitated and really only felt good in the morning. I plateaued and my metabolism was shot.

    In the long term it was really not good for my body. After about a year I gained all the weight back and some. Now I am working on getting into shape the healthy way. The sustainable way. For someone as active as I am, it's important to keep my body properly nourished! My goal is around 1800 calories a day. I second what @glassofroses said "Eat more and slow down".
  • stephanieross1
    stephanieross1 Posts: 388 Member
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    I eat 1200-1500/day but on the high fat low carb diet. And it is filling, its the only way i can eat less without staring at the clock for more food. And I have energy and am not hangry
  • sstrack123
    sstrack123 Posts: 171 Member
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    I have done 1200 calorie diets and feel ok most days hunger wise but found my energy level and mood would bounce all over the place. I have been increasing my calories this mth and I feel so much better and am actually getting back the desire to workout again.
  • MeredithDeVoe1
    MeredithDeVoe1 Posts: 67 Member
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    Since I am on sabbatical, and sitting around a lot more than when I am teaching in a classroom every day, I just set my activity level to "sedentary" and it gave me a 1200 calorie goal to lose .9 lbs/week. I've gained 5 lbs since leaving teaching, so I am trying a lower calorie goal. But yes, #1 it's extremely difficult to maintain (even with exercising and eating back calories) and #2 when I've done so in the past my metabolism slowed down terribly so I became awfully... you know, backed up. Yuchh. But I need to get back to losing more pounds. But if I'm dying in a few days, I'll try something else.
  • ABTballet98
    ABTballet98 Posts: 8 Member
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    I personally struggle a lot to reach 1200 a day in healthy foods. Anyone have some high protein low fat favorites?
  • bethany_rose8
    bethany_rose8 Posts: 102 Member
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    Hey there, As a fitness professional i recommend eating as much as you can while still getting results - especially when you are already at a healthy weight. If you want to maintain body shape (muscle tone), i would not recommend cutting calories too severely will only make you smaller version of yourself and eat away at that precious muscle tone you already have. Setting your calorie intake to lose 0.25kg a week is a good idea for anyone on this thread, and eating back your exercise calories for the most part.
    Hey there, As a fitness professional i recommend eating as much as you can while still getting results - especially when you are already at a healthy weight. If you want to maintain body shape (muscle tone), i would not recommend cutting calories too severely will only make you smaller version of yourself and eat away at that precious muscle tone you already have. Setting your calorie intake to lose 0.25kg a week is a good idea for anyone on this thread, and eating back your exercise calories for the most part.

    If you eat back your exercise calories, how do you lose weight?

    Because your calorie intake is determined BEFORE exercise, you add your exercise calories and MFP expects you to eat them back.
  • jcello65
    jcello65 Posts: 23 Member
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    I've found that 1200 net calories a day helps me stay motivated to exercise. 1200 hundred is low, but when I upped the calories, I felt satisfied and like I accomplished my goal. I totally ignored the exercise component.
    When I kept to 1200, I found I needed to exercise to feel satisfied and not hungry. I'm trying to be healthier and stronger over all, so the physical activity is pretty important. Working out definitely made me feel better. Sometimes I would up calories to 1500 on days that I knew I wasn't getting a workout in.
    Of course, WHAT makes up your calories makes a big difference in how doable 1200 is as well.
  • plainpixxel
    plainpixxel Posts: 57 Member
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    I do 1200 calories during the work week and it's not really that difficult. I have made an excel spreadsheet on my computer about what I allow myself to eat each day of the week and at what time. I alternate between having smoothie's for breakfast or eating some grains and other traditional breakfast stuff. Lunch is usually something light and vegan. I eat lots of vegetables and avoid grains as the day progresses. Usually, I try not to eat meat but I do consume it on days I go to kickboxing. I think what's important is self-control. I run 5 days a week and go to two kickboxing classes and ballet occasionally. If I load myself up correctly at the beginning of the day I never feel tired. I do drink a lot of water though.
  • ahall731
    ahall731 Posts: 2 Member
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    I'm currently trying to eat 1200 calories a day; sometimes I eat back some of my burned calories so I can have dessert :smile: . I really struggle with eating a lot of calories in the afternoon, which then means I can't have dessert. I love dessert, even if it's just Greek yogurt with peanut butter. I have to plan very carefully.

    What's hard about this calorie goal is going out to eat. I love going out to eat, and it's very difficult to stay in the 1200 calorie range, even if I order something semi healthy. Also, I miss alcohol :neutral: .

    I've done this before for my wedding, and I did lose almost 30 lbs. Unfortunately I gained back 5 pounds during the honeymoon and gave up on maintaining my weight from there. I'm sure I would have been able to keep the weight off if I had just paid attention and exercised.
  • CMTL148
    CMTL148 Posts: 1 Member
    edited June 2017
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    Always been thin - size 4/6. Hit my 40's and my weight started to creep upwards. Need to loose 10 pounds. It seems impossible. I am at 1200 calories a day but, find it hard to stick to that.