1200 calories a day

newoutlook2014

Not much, is it? I'm very tempted to use my calories on one big-ish meal and a small snack. Has anyone else used up their calories like this? I guess it's OK, as long as I stay within my calorie allowance.

IsaackGMOON

Or, why not get off of 1200 calories and eat at -500 of your TDEE? Unless that is -500 of your TDEE?

AllOutof_Bubblegum

MFP is quite notorious for setting calorie goals FAR too low, regardless of height and weight. For example, it told me to eat 1200, and my BMR (the bare amount of calories I need to LIVE) is 1280. And I am extremely tiny, only 5 feet. So unless you are smaller than me, or bedridden, it is almost a CERTAINTY that you are eating too little. (This can result in lean muscle loss, chronic fatigue, metabolism damage, and bingeing due to over-restriction.)

Go to

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

and enter your height/weight/activity level.

Subtract 10-20% from the number it calculates for you, and that is the number of calories you should be eating a day in order to lose weight. With this method you do not eat back your exercise calories, as they are already figured into your daily goal.


All that said, it makes no difference when you eat your calories, whether you space them out or whether you eat them all at once.

kcthatsme

newoutlook2014 wrote: »

Not much, is it? I'm very tempted to use my calories on one big-ish meal and a small snack. Has anyone else used up their calories like this? I guess it's OK, as long as I stay within my calorie allowance.

If I did that (big-ish/small), I would be starving and overeat.

newoutlook2014

AllOutof_Bubblegum wrote: »

MFP is quite notorious for setting calorie goals FAR too low, regardless of height and weight. For example, it told me to eat 1200, and my BMR (the bare amount of calories I need to LIVE) is 1280. And I am extremely tiny, only 5 feet. So unless you are smaller than me, or bedridden, it is almost a CERTAINTY that you are eating too little. (This can result in lean muscle loss, chronic fatigue, metabolism damage, and bingeing due to over-restriction.)

Go to

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

and enter your height/weight/activity level.

Subtract 10-20% from the number it calculates for you, and that is the number of calories you should be eating a day in order to lose weight. With this method you do not eat back your exercise calories, as they are already figured into your daily goal.


All that said, it makes no difference when you eat your calories, whether you space them out or whether you eat them all at once.

thanks for this...this looks much better. I think I can eat around 1600 calories a day and lose weight safely. that is my TDEE minus 20%. did I work that out right?

AllOutof_Bubblegum

newoutlook2014 wrote: »

AllOutof_Bubblegum wrote: »

MFP is quite notorious for setting calorie goals FAR too low, regardless of height and weight. For example, it told me to eat 1200, and my BMR (the bare amount of calories I need to LIVE) is 1280. And I am extremely tiny, only 5 feet. So unless you are smaller than me, or bedridden, it is almost a CERTAINTY that you are eating too little. (This can result in lean muscle loss, chronic fatigue, metabolism damage, and bingeing due to over-restriction.)

Go to

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

and enter your height/weight/activity level.

Subtract 10-20% from the number it calculates for you, and that is the number of calories you should be eating a day in order to lose weight. With this method you do not eat back your exercise calories, as they are already figured into your daily goal.


All that said, it makes no difference when you eat your calories, whether you space them out or whether you eat them all at once.

thanks for this...this looks much better. I think I can eat around 1600 calories a day and lose weight safely. that is my TDEE minus 20%. did I work that out right?

I have no way of knowing, as I don't know your stats. If you entered your info in the website correctly and know how to subtract, then yes, you probably did it right.

wildcowbell

I manage to stay under 1200 and not be hungry. Feel free to add me as a friend and take a look at my food diary. My meals are rounded, and I have snacks. You just need to figure out what foods will fill hunger for longer. Snacks through the day probably won't do that.

PrizePopple

wildcowbell wrote: »

I manage to stay under 1200 and not be hungry. Feel free to add me as a friend and take a look at my food diary. My meals are rounded, and I have snacks. You just need to figure out what foods will fill hunger for longer. Snacks through the day probably won't do that.

Can we just establish right now that eating below that level is not a good thing for your body...? I don't care how "rounded" you think you're eating, you're likely not. Giving others advice to eat under 1200 calories is a piss poor idea.

Kalikel

If you eat a lot of healthy food, you can stay VERY full on 1200 calories a day. Many people who eat All Healthy, All The Time have difficulty eating 1200 calories because it's just too much food.

So, don't worry too much about staying full.

You can eat six small meals or one big one. It's all okay.

MaryinColorado

Thank you for this thread! This is only my 3rd day on 1200 cal. & I'm so hungry I can hardly stand it. I know if I try to go on much longer like this I'm going to completely lose control & go on a binge. Thanks for posting the link to that other calorie calculator, I'm definitely going to check that out!

wildcowbell

PrizePopple wrote: »

wildcowbell wrote: »

I manage to stay under 1200 and not be hungry. Feel free to add me as a friend and take a look at my food diary. My meals are rounded, and I have snacks. You just need to figure out what foods will fill hunger for longer. Snacks through the day probably won't do that.

Can we just establish right now that eating below that level is not a good thing for your body...? I don't care how "rounded" you think you're eating, you're likely not. Giving others advice to eat under 1200 calories is a piss poor idea.

Can we also just establish that you know nothing about my metrics or activity level...and as for 'giving others advice to eat under 1200 calories', you can thank this site for that, not me. So you can tone back the passive aggressiveness. 1200 works for me, and plenty of others.

khearron26

wildcowbell wrote: »

PrizePopple wrote: »

wildcowbell wrote: »

I manage to stay under 1200 and not be hungry. Feel free to add me as a friend and take a look at my food diary. My meals are rounded, and I have snacks. You just need to figure out what foods will fill hunger for longer. Snacks through the day probably won't do that.

Can we just establish right now that eating below that level is not a good thing for your body...? I don't care how "rounded" you think you're eating, you're likely not. Giving others advice to eat under 1200 calories is a piss poor idea.

Can we also just establish that you know nothing about my metrics or activity level...and as for 'giving others advice to eat under 1200 calories', you can thank this site for that, not me. So you can tone back the passive aggressiveness. 1200 works for me, and plenty of others.

I agree. I'm 5'0'', and 1200 works for me.

newoutlook2014

I'm 5'7 and not tiny, and I just had 1600 calories today... whoops! but according to that other site that's what I should be aiming for. At least I don't feel hungry now...

Cranquistador

newoutlook2014 wrote: »

I'm 5'7 and not tiny, and I just had 1600 calories today... whoops! but according to that other site that's what I should be aiming for. At least I don't feel hungry now...

Excellent. See how it goes.

And make sure you use a food scale and weigh in grams...you will be more accurate when tracking, and the more accurate the better

FitPhillygirl

I couldn't live on a 1200 calorie diet. That amount seems too low to me.

Francl27

MFP is often 1200 PLUS EXERCISE CALORIES.

Caps for emphasis. If even that is too little for you, reduce your goal to 1 pound a week (or 0.5 if you don't have much to lose). Or if you don't want to bother figuring out how many calories you burn, use http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ with a 20% deficit.

You won't lose any weight long term if you're starving yourself on day 3.

Laurend224

Originally mfp gave my 1240 cals. I'm sedentary, 35, 200 lbs and 5'3. I found myself unable to stay in that range and would beat myself up for 'failing' and wouldn't track the over calories. I decreased my rate of loss to 1 lb a week, and I now have 1490 calories. Most days I don't even eat to that goal, but I always eat over 1200. Now I log every. Single. thing. Surprise surprise, I'm currently losing more than I was before. It's totally a mental game with me.

geneticsteacher

The 1200 + exercise worked for me. I lost 22 lbs. The first 3 days were a bit of a shock and I felt hungry all the time, but that soon passed. I have had to temporarily switch to maintenance after surgery and my calorie goal is only 1630. (5'6", 152 lbs., age 58, very sedentary at the moment.)

whitespider360

I'm on my 4th day and I still can't reach 1200 calories. I just can't hold that much. My thing tells me to eat more but I just can't. And I have 100+ pounds to lose. I drink like 10-12 glasses of water a day. Friend request are welcome.

TorsMinator

I've got 1240 as my limit which seems right to me. I am 5'11 and currently about 214 lbs. A couple of years ago I had gotten down to 162lbs but the only way I was able to reach that goal was by strictly maintaining that 1200 limit. Working out daily and not eating back my burned calories.

It all depends on your individual body/metabolism. Some people can lose weight at 2000 or 1600 and some people can't.

kynesa

I am doing 1200 a day. I previosly did MFP Before for 7 months and lost 76lbs before I became pregnant. I averaged between 900 and 1100 calories plus eating back exercise cals. U didn't really feel hungy. I was going high protein and high fiber.

PrizePopple

wildcowbell wrote: »

PrizePopple wrote: »

wildcowbell wrote: »

I manage to stay under 1200 and not be hungry. Feel free to add me as a friend and take a look at my food diary. My meals are rounded, and I have snacks. You just need to figure out what foods will fill hunger for longer. Snacks through the day probably won't do that.

Can we just establish right now that eating below that level is not a good thing for your body...? I don't care how "rounded" you think you're eating, you're likely not. Giving others advice to eat under 1200 calories is a piss poor idea.

Can we also just establish that you know nothing about my metrics or activity level...and as for 'giving others advice to eat under 1200 calories', you can thank this site for that, not me. So you can tone back the passive aggressiveness. 1200 works for me, and plenty of others.

Please take note of what the quoted person below me put in caps. And no, I will not tone back anything. Eating below the minimum recommended calories is dumb and dangerous, and to recommend others do the same is irresponsible.

Francl27 wrote: »

MFP is often 1200 PLUS EXERCISE CALORIES.

Caps for emphasis. If even that is too little for you, reduce your goal to 1 pound a week (or 0.5 if you don't have much to lose). Or if you don't want to bother figuring out how many calories you burn, use http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ with a 20% deficit.

You won't lose any weight long term if you're starving yourself on day 3.

newoutlook2014

i'm going to swing between 1200 and 1600 for a week and see how I go. I simply can't do 1200 a day; all I think about is food!

flabassmcgee

TorsMinator wrote: »

I've got 1240 as my limit which seems right to me. I am 5'11 and currently about 214 lbs. A couple of years ago I had gotten down to 162lbs but the only way I was able to reach that goal was by strictly maintaining that 1200 limit. Working out daily and not eating back my burned calories.

It all depends on your individual body/metabolism. Some people can lose weight at 2000 or 1600 and some people can't.

This sounds extremely dangerous, especially due to your height.

Of course you'll lose weight on 1200 calories. Just about anybody would. Is it sustainable, healthy loss with the correct nutritional stats for your height, weight, age and activity level? I can't agree with that.

The above posters suggesting TDEE -20% are right. If you do go by MFP's NEAT method, their stats for calorie burns that you are supposed to eat back are sometimes wayyyyy inaccurate and that can lead to overeating. It also doesn't take into account your general activity level, just what you do for exercise.

I don't like those odds. I'll be content eating between 17-1800 calories a day and losing all the way.

craziecritter

I've been on 1200 calories/120 carbs now for about 3 months. I get enough food and usually have some to spare at the end. I plan my meals in advance and I am learning on how to make better choices.

spamarie

I tend to stick to ca. 1200-1300 calories a day. Some days I eat a little less, say 1100, but that's because usually once a week or so I'll eat more, maybe 1700-1800. It averages out. This is on the advice of my weight loss nurse, as well as MFP, so no, 1200 isn't crazy or unhealthy for everyone, especially if you're short!

I find the easiest way is to have 3 small meals spaced out, with a snack or two in between. You have to eat a lot of vegetables. I usually have 250-300 for breakfast, and then 350-400 for lunch and dinner. I found it difficult and was hungry for the first couple of weeks. You not only get used to it, but you get better at making food choices that allow you to eat more. For example, today for lunch I'm having raw cucumber, carrots and green pepper, with some cold leftover lean pork, and melon for pudding. It looks like a lot of food, but it only comes to about 300 calories. Leaves me room for a yogurt as a snack later on.

If I'm actually really hungry, I always eat something. 100 calories extra every so often might slow down you weight loss a tiny amount, but it won't make a huge difference in the long-run and I don't intend to make myself miserable.

Francl27

whitespider360 wrote: »

I'm on my 4th day and I still can't reach 1200 calories. I just can't hold that much. My thing tells me to eat more but I just can't. And I have 100+ pounds to lose. I drink like 10-12 glasses of water a day. Friend request are welcome.

On a side note... a lot of people think they eat 1000 calories but are really eating 1400 or something...

kynesa

Can I see your food journal? Maybe we can figure out where to add food or change some food choices. Dipping below 1000 isn't good in the long run. Maybe a swap for some healthy fats like in some nuts and seeds or avocados can add good calo

kynesa

Just reading this chain it seems we need to stop focusing on calories and instead on what a balanced eating habit is. I need to lose a good amount of weight but the ultimate goal is healthy. Not for the short term but a fundamental life style change. To me I need to educate myself on good food choices keeping appropriate proportions not I need to be on a diet.

jen_2286

IsaackGMOON wrote: »

Or, why not get off of 1200 calories and eat at -500 of your TDEE? Unless that is -500 of your TDEE?

Not the OP but this always confuses me... my BMR is 1440 but my TDEE is 1720, so eating -500 under my TDEE would mean I was under my BMR (1220 vs 1440). Which do I go for?

fatnutjob

Consume your calories however you lie. When you eat doesn't matter as much as how much you eat! I usually save all my calories for 7/8pm which is when I actually have time to eat.