1200 Calories

JazzFischer1989

TwizzlerGirl13 wrote: »

hngui wrote: »

When did everyone start seeing results? I know I need to be patient but I've been doing ~1200cal for about 3 weeks and haven't seen anything. I've been working out and eating half my calories back. Wondering if I should start considering changing something. (i'm 5'2" 24yo female)

Advice: Stop eating your calories back! The Purpose of counting them is to limit them. If you eat them back are you really eating 1200 calories as prescribe? Eating them back just undoes your accomplishment regardless of what MFP says about eating them back. Make sense to you? Eating calories back occasionally for some decadent desert or other food or beverage is cool and human, but fitness goals require discipline. That's my 2 cents.

That's not how it works. If you eat 1200 calories, and burn 200 from exercise, then you're down to 1000 calories. If you eat back the 200, you're back to 1200. 1200 calories is already more than enough for a deficit so anything beyond that is extra - even excessive and unsustainable (at least without the supervision of a doctor under specific conditions). I'm 5'3", less than 100lbs, fairly sedentary and 1200 is not even enough for me maintain to my weight.

Now, MFP is known for overestimating calories burned so that's why people suggest only eating back half to be safe. But there's no reason not to eat any of them back.

chele402

I try to keep my average between 1200 - 1300 net calories per day when I look at my week as a whole. It's been good for me so far and it allows me to really work for the days when I want to splurge

lothquendi

I did it for a few weeks, and I just did as much cardio as I could so that I could eat more. Since then I've found that I'm actually losing more weight, more regularly, eating 1350 to 1450 instead.

bigldesigns

Ive lost 110lb (50kg) eating at 1100 - 1200 for the last 12 months.. I'm 5'3" (39years) and was unable to exercise due to medical issues..

Needless to say.. the weight loss has reduced my medical issues and I can now jog 40min on the treadmill.. but now I am struggling to eat the extra food

(i know I can add higher cal items to my diet.. but after 12 months i've gotten used to my veggies and salads)

My diary is open to friends.. add me if you want to see what I've been eating

TheCherryMama

eating 1200 calories is dangerous. MFP calculations are quite off. Many people can't live below their BMR. You're starving your organs, your brain!
Here’s how it goes: your body needs a certain amount of calories to work. This is known as your Basal Metabolic Rate. This differs from person to person based on how active you are. A person who has a desk job will have a lower metabolic rate than, say, someone who works in a machine shop and is constantly moving. Generally speaking, you need between 1600-2200 calories a day, unless you’re an athlete, in which case, you are undergoing training and know all this stuff already.
BMR is the calorie used by one’s body even if they lay in bed all day long. It’s the calories needed to be alive (breathing, heart beat, digestion etc..). Since most people don’t do nothing all day long, their body uses more calories. To know that amount, you have to multiply your BMR by a coefficient depending on your activity level.
You should never go under your BMR because it basically means your body don’t have enough calories to function normally so your metabolism slows down and you get energy from your muscle instead of fat (fat main usage is protection. when starving, it gets used after muscle).


Anyway, your body needs these calories to work. If it doesn’t get them, you’ll feel tired. If you get too much of them, they’ll be stored as fat. Quite a dilemma isn’t it? When you eat foot, your stomach digests it’s components. However, different components are digested at different rates. Carbs are digested the fastest, while fat is digested the slowest. Now, while it’s being digested, blood is flowing in and out. The food that’s in your stomach is being deposited around your body. Since fat is stored the most in your stomach, it is the most that gets deposited around your body. There is another factor in the equation, and that is your metabolic rate. Your metabolic rate is how fast you burn calories. The faster your metabolic rate, the faster you burn calories, the less fat gets deposited in your body. Are you seeing a pattern here?

sarafischbach9

1200 calories a day might be too low for you. While it may get easier and easier over time for the body to adjust to the calorie level, that isn't necessarily a good thing. ( When you aren't hungry, or are lacking an appetite, that is a sign of a slowing metabolism ).

I'm the same height as you and I weighed 135 lbs last Christmas ( of 2013 ). The day after Christmas I decided to lose weight and hit my goal weight around Easter. I'm 108-111 lbs currently. 1200 calories was very low for me and I also went to the gym and had an active job where I was on my feet for 6 to 8 hours a day. There were times at work where I would start to black out or get very tired/fatigued. I increased to 1400-1600 calories around February and was still losing weight. I was happier and unpleasant feelings went away.

Your calorie needs for weight loss will depend on activity levels. If you're doing a lot of exercise you will need more. I think 1400-1600 will be a good range for you to lose weight. Some weeks you won't lose anything, but other weeks 5 lbs might come off.

Jesssamesssa

jakeysnakey83 wrote: »

Hi all -

I'm wondering if anyone is a) actually able to eat only 1200 calories a day, and b) if so, is it really successful? How have you done it?

I'm finding that I am pretty hungry with only 1200 calories; I've planned out my meals for tomorrow and I'm already over 1200.

I'm 5'3 and 135 lbs, wanting to lose about 15lbs. I'm starting to get a little demotivated and am looking to hear your success stories.

Thanks!
Jaclyn

Some days I find it hard to eat 1200 cal total!! I eat really healthy and make all my meals so its hard for me. Today I plan on eating 10 times and Im not even hitting 1200.

NikonPal

As I have told a few other folks: I have eaten in that range for one year. I am 61. Here are just a few of my own meal creations. These examples were 250 calories or less…not that I don’t eat meals over 250.

I never eat off a paper plate or out of a container. The last thing I want is a meal that screams “I’m on a diet!” I adjust plate size depending upon the meal. I also have healthy mid-morning / afternoon snacks and save some calories for the TV munchies (100-calorie popcorn, Fiber Bar, Jello (sugar free), Sugar-free Fruit Cups, Edy’s Frozen Bars etc.). I do like to cook.

I do NOT deprive my wife of her favorites. She does not have a weight problem – I do. I will buy her occasional chocolates, ice cream, pizza, chips and McDonalds etc. and have none of it myself. She has always had those things in moderation and it helps me condition myself.

When it comes to restaurants, I always check their on-line menu / nutrition guide and make multiple selections in advance. If out of town etc., I don't drive myself nuts. I know what is and isn't healthy. I know what portion sizes should look like (largely sticking with fist-size quantities).

sparklelioness

what you eat makes a big difference. For me, a breakfast of meat/eggs/veggies and a fiber one bar, and then a dinner of meat and veggies with a Skinny Cow ice cream cone for dessert usually comes to 1200, sometimes 1300 if I have a little snack. I dont feel starved, and I'm losing weight. But the key (for me anyway) is lots of protein, fiber, and good fat. On a carb heavy 1200 cal diet I would lose my mind.

fatcity66

TheCherryMama wrote: »

eating 1200 calories is dangerous. MFP calculations are quite off. Many people can't live below their BMR. You're starving your organs, your brain!
Here’s how it goes: your body needs a certain amount of calories to work. This is known as your Basal Metabolic Rate. This differs from person to person based on how active you are. A person who has a desk job will have a lower metabolic rate than, say, someone who works in a machine shop and is constantly moving. Generally speaking, you need between 1600-2200 calories a day, unless you’re an athlete, in which case, you are undergoing training and know all this stuff already.
BMR is the calorie used by one’s body even if they lay in bed all day long. It’s the calories needed to be alive (breathing, heart beat, digestion etc..). Since most people don’t do nothing all day long, their body uses more calories. To know that amount, you have to multiply your BMR by a coefficient depending on your activity level.
You should never go under your BMR because it basically means your body don’t have enough calories to function normally so your metabolism slows down and you get energy from your muscle instead of fat (fat main usage is protection. when starving, it gets used after muscle).


Anyway, your body needs these calories to work. If it doesn’t get them, you’ll feel tired. If you get too much of them, they’ll be stored as fat. Quite a dilemma isn’t it? When you eat foot, your stomach digests it’s components. However, different components are digested at different rates. Carbs are digested the fastest, while fat is digested the slowest. Now, while it’s being digested, blood is flowing in and out. The food that’s in your stomach is being deposited around your body. Since fat is stored the most in your stomach, it is the most that gets deposited around your body. There is another factor in the equation, and that is your metabolic rate. Your metabolic rate is how fast you burn calories. The faster your metabolic rate, the faster you burn calories, the less fat gets deposited in your body. Are you seeing a pattern here?

My BMR is 1700. I can certainly eat less than that to lose weight and not starve.

amusedmonkey

fatcity66 wrote: »

TheCherryMama wrote: »

eating 1200 calories is dangerous. MFP calculations are quite off. Many people can't live below their BMR. You're starving your organs, your brain!
Here’s how it goes: your body needs a certain amount of calories to work. This is known as your Basal Metabolic Rate. This differs from person to person based on how active you are. A person who has a desk job will have a lower metabolic rate than, say, someone who works in a machine shop and is constantly moving. Generally speaking, you need between 1600-2200 calories a day, unless you’re an athlete, in which case, you are undergoing training and know all this stuff already.
BMR is the calorie used by one’s body even if they lay in bed all day long. It’s the calories needed to be alive (breathing, heart beat, digestion etc..). Since most people don’t do nothing all day long, their body uses more calories. To know that amount, you have to multiply your BMR by a coefficient depending on your activity level.
You should never go under your BMR because it basically means your body don’t have enough calories to function normally so your metabolism slows down and you get energy from your muscle instead of fat (fat main usage is protection. when starving, it gets used after muscle).


Anyway, your body needs these calories to work. If it doesn’t get them, you’ll feel tired. If you get too much of them, they’ll be stored as fat. Quite a dilemma isn’t it? When you eat foot, your stomach digests it’s components. However, different components are digested at different rates. Carbs are digested the fastest, while fat is digested the slowest. Now, while it’s being digested, blood is flowing in and out. The food that’s in your stomach is being deposited around your body. Since fat is stored the most in your stomach, it is the most that gets deposited around your body. There is another factor in the equation, and that is your metabolic rate. Your metabolic rate is how fast you burn calories. The faster your metabolic rate, the faster you burn calories, the less fat gets deposited in your body. Are you seeing a pattern here?

My BMR is 1700. I can certainly eat less than that to lose weight and not starve.

That's what our fat cells are for. What she said is right in theory - if you have very little fat left to be used for energy. I find most things related to diet, food, or health in general to be largely exaggerated. That "do this or you die" mentality disregards millions of years of evolution. We're not that fragile. We have amazing coping mechanisms for nearly any food situation.

Deps

I actually find it quite easy, honestly. My diary isn't open so I will give you some idea of what I eat each day:

Breakfast

Oats with honey and milk for breakfast OR
Scrambled eggs / Omelette crammed full of veg (No cheese for me)

Lunch

A wrap of any kind. I used to have sandwiches but the Brumbies near me shut down and I can't get Bavarian Rye anymore, so I eat wraps. CRAM full of salad, plus a meat - tuna, ham, sardines whatever.
I used to have fetta to spice it up but grew bored with it so I'm currently on tasty cheese.
An apple if the wrap isn't enough

Dinner

Meat and three veg. When I was first dieting I ate Woolworths Honey Mustard schnitzel every night. My partner can still do it but this time around I got bored so I mix it up. Fish, kangaroo, steak, whatever. Just log it that morning so you can see where your calories are. I love salmon, it's high in calories but it's so good for you I sometimes give myself and OK to go slightly over my cals or make a concerted effort to make room for it with exercise.

Snacks

I like bananas and apples in summer.
All kinds of rice crackers (Sakatas, Coles brand etc. A line for about 100 calories. Not Pekish thins though, if you check carefully they say you get five serves, not four for the same number of calories).
Salt and sweet popcorn (100 calories for 20g which is a LOT in popcorn)
Skinny Cow ice-cream sandwiches. YUM!

You could probably fit more food in but I have to admit about 100 cal a day goes towards coffee and tea for me.

I cope fine with this. I usually get a bit hungry mid-morning but I push through until lunch (alternatively you could eat your fruit then) and I feel fine for the rest of the day on the food I have.

It really doesn't take long to adjust, you'll learn to really look forward to dinner. I usually have a side of potato mashed or sweet potato which really fills me as well, plus carrots/broc/zuc whatever appeals that day.

Hope some of this was helpful! Best of luck.

Deps

Oh I missed your question. Yes, it has been very successful for me. I dropped thirty kilos on it in about seven months to start with. I put the weight back on, not because the diet isn't sustainable, but because I got into a job I hated and fell into old habits of rewarding myself with food.

Back on 1200 again (started 17 days ago) and I've already dropped 4.1kgs again.

rausharvey

the problem with 1200 calories is..... you shouldn't be eating that little.

http://funeralformyfat.tumblr.com/eatingenough

rausharvey

I eat 1800 calories a day, and I've lost 45 pounds since February doing this. Your body needs energy to function, and 1200 calories a day is for a child. Not a grown woman. Please please please please please treat your body the way it deserves to be treated I always thought that I had to eat little to lose weight. Then after reading the above blog, and from someone who lost over 100 pounds, I took her advice and followed what she said and the weight has been coming off. It's been a slower process but that's because I am making lasting changes instead of starving my body (unintentionally) to lose a great amount of weight in less time.

And I'm hardly ever hungry. And I can eat out this way, because losing weight isn't a punishment. You're nourishing your body and giving what it needs to function fully.

// the end

jasonmh630

TwizzlerGirl13 wrote: »

hngui wrote: »

When did everyone start seeing results? I know I need to be patient but I've been doing ~1200cal for about 3 weeks and haven't seen anything. I've been working out and eating half my calories back. Wondering if I should start considering changing something. (i'm 5'2" 24yo female)

Advice: Stop eating your calories back! The Purpose of counting them is to limit them. If you eat them back are you really eating 1200 calories as prescribe? Eating them back just undoes your accomplishment regardless of what MFP says about eating them back. Make sense to you? Eating calories back occasionally for some decadent desert or other food or beverage is cool and human, but fitness goals require discipline. That's my 2 cents.

So much wrong in this, it's ridiculous... If you're on a 1200 calorie plan, the goal is to NET 1200 calories. Not eat 1200 calories total. If you eat 1200 in a day and you burn 400 calories, you've really only gotten 800 calories for energy... You need to eat back those 400 to get you to your 1200 NET goal for the day.

luv_lea

When I started on this site in 2010/beginning of 2011, I was at your weight. I ate 1200 calories, had completed the C25K program, and fell head over heels into fitness. By summer of 2011 I was down to 125, and by the next year 120. It was the best shape I've ever been in. I eventually had to up my cals to 1300-1400 the closer I got to goal. But I did it, and like some said, it's what my body became used to eating after time. The more you work out, the more you get to eat!

Starting all over again now because of bad breakup & depression. Booo

BRobertson23

If you feel that you're still hungry or that you feel tired or cranky because you don't "get" much food for your calories. I would suggest making sure you focus more on your fitness than the scale #. To be honest, you could tone up and still weigh the same amount, but be smaller due to more muscle and less fat. But if you're really fixed on that scale #, then I would plan to do more exercise in your day, and then you can still eat more calories but create a deficit to drop weight.

I also agree with someone's earlier post....don't try to force a 2 pound loss each week, but perhaps a .5 loss (or less). That will take away added pressure and stress over what you're needing to accomplish each week for calories.

Good Luck!

Lisajohnston

I manage to stay at 1200 most days but not always. I'm not generally hungry at this. I am 3 inches shorter but I don't know how big a difference that makes. I find that if I plan and have lower calorie snacks I make it. I also exercise and eat back those calories on those days. I drink water during the day and often snack on veggies. I cut down on whatever condiments/sauces I have, I still have them just in smaller quantities. If I go over because i'm hungry I try to make better choices the next day. Also if you take in most of your calories from food and not drink then I find it make a difference. I have coffee with cream and sugar but I limit it to one usually, sometimes two in a day. Yesterday for example I was over by nearly 200 calories but most days I can stay on target. If I think I will be over I try to burn those calories off.

Justloselb

I am eating 1200 calories, you just eat a lot more veggies, stay away from carbs and try eating an egg when you are really hungry, its pretty filling. I can tell you that after doing this for a month now I am down 10lbs. Hope you reach your goal.