1200 calories vs a higher calorie/fat diet

jamie994

MummyStumpf wrote: »

MFP has caculated my calories as 1200 per day (loosing 2lbs per week). My weight loss has been slow and up and down but that has been I have had periods of not tracking and not execising.

On a good week, I stick to my 1200 calories and exercise (mixture of cardio and strength with light weigths) for approx 5-6 hours per week and I loose on average 3lbs.

My question is.. I saw this guy called Joe Wicks Aka the Body Coach talking about eating a higher calorie diet including good fats (cocunut oil/advocado/nuts/seeds and lean protein) as well as doing 20 mins of HITT 4-5 times a week as best way to burn fat and build muscle. He says that weight loss will plateau when you restrict your calories.

Am thinking of increasing my calories and following his programme/reviews.

What successes have people had with this approach?

BTW I'm 5"3 and weigh 180. I've lost 25lbs and want to loose at least another 40lbs.

Any feedback would be helpful

christinev297 wrote: »

Thanks
It took me 4mths to lose 24lbs and it feels like even longer to lose this last bit!

christinev297 wrote: »

Thanks
It took me 4mths to lose 24lbs and it feels like even longer to lose this last bit!

christinev297 wrote: »

Thanks
It took me 4mths to lose 24lbs and it feels like even longer to lose this last bit!

christinev297 wrote: »

Thanks
It took me 4mths to lose 24lbs and it feels like even longer to lose this last bit!

MummyStumpf wrote: »

MFP has caculated my calories as 1200 per day (loosing 2lbs per week). My weight loss has been slow and up and down but that has been I have had periods of not tracking and not execising.

On a good week, I stick to my 1200 calories and exercise (mixture of cardio and strength with light weigths) for approx 5-6 hours per week and I loose on average 3lbs.

My question is.. I saw this guy called Joe Wicks Aka the Body Coach talking about eating a higher calorie diet including good fats (cocunut oil/advocado/nuts/seeds and lean protein) as well as doing 20 mins of HITT 4-5 times a week as best way to burn fat and build muscle. He says that weight loss will plateau when you restrict your calories.

Am thinking of increasing my calories and following his programme/reviews.

What successes have people had with this approach?

BTW I'm 5"3 and weigh 180. I've lost 25lbs and want to loose at least another 40lbs.

Any feedback would be helpful

jamie994

I've been at a stand still also stuck at the same weight for a month. I came across this information need to read very helpful which I any going to start increasing my calories to 1500 and see how it goeshttp://www.muscleforlife.com/the-quickest-way-to-lose-weight/

Astharteea

The guy was talking about keto diet, I'm guessing. That's what I'm doing and it is working fine.

AmyRhubarb

I started with the oh-so-standard 1200 calorie setting. It was too low for me, and even with eating back exercise cals, I found it hard to stick to and ended up with the cycle of losing a little, getting off track with consistent logging, staying within my cal targets and exercising, and then I'd gain a little back.

Eventually I realized that if i was going to stick to this, it needed to be sustainable - for life! There was no way I was going to eat 1200 cals for the rest of my life, and like you said - at that level, you have nowhere to go as you lose and your body requires fewer cals.

My goal is to eat as MANY calories as I can while still losing weight. This has been the sustainable method for me - it may have taken me a total of 2-3 years to reach my goal weight, but that was with all the stopping and starting again with cals set too low. Once I set my goal at 1800-2000 cals a day, i never looked back. The last of the weight came off withOUT any stalls or "falling off the wagon" - I have stuck with it and kept it off for several years now.

It took a little fine tuning, a lot of tracking, weighing and measuring foods and being as accurate as possible, but once I dialed in my upper and lower calorie limits, I was home free. I know my BMR (basal metabolic rate) and my TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) and I eat in between those numbers. Easy peasy. I pretty much stick to my daily goal, which is still a small deficit from my TDEE number, but I know I have the freedom to eat all the way up to TDEE and I still won't gain.

I have energy for workouts and daily life, I have freedom to enjoy treats on a regular basis, and I know this is truly a way of keeping the weight off that I can maintain for the rest of my life.

Don't sell yourself short by trying to lose too fast and cut cals too low. Food is fuel, and from my own experience, my body loses fat beautifully when it's well-fueled for workouts and daily life.

myfatass78

Zedeff wrote: »

myfatass78 wrote: »

Don't exercise and eat your calories back. Eat and exercise those extra calories away. Food first.

Sorry I think you misunderstood what I meant with that. I meant that the focus should be on the food first and then exercise those extra calories away to met your net, NOT the other way around.


Meal timing is irrelevant. It's totally reasonable to eat back some calories if you're famished post exercise.

britishbroccoli wrote: »

That's because your weight loss is too aggressive.

If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lb/week is ideal
If you have 15-25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lb/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lb/week is ideal

These are just arbitrarily chosen numbers that someone made up. There's no evidence to support this protocol. Certainly reducing deficits as BF% gets low is important, but this specific protocol is far from "ideal."

ashleelbm18

Hey guys, new to this app. I just finished my first week of logging.. I'm 5'7 and weigh 148 pounds. I want to loose 10 pounds by the end of April. I'm in taking 1200 to 1400 calories a day . Pure water no other drinks. I am a waitress and work 6 days a week. I am constantly moving and walking at work for at least 5 hours a night. Any body have suggestions for how I should go about loosing 10 lbs ??!

Christine_72

ashleelbm18 wrote: »

Hey guys, new to this app. I just finished my first week of logging.. I'm 5'7 and weigh 148 pounds. I want to loose 10 pounds by the end of April. I'm in taking 1200 to 1400 calories a day . Pure water no other drinks. I am a waitress and work 6 days a week. I am constantly moving and walking at work for at least 5 hours a night. Any body have suggestions for how I should go about loosing 10 lbs ??!

Enter your stats into the mfp calculator for weight loss and eat the calories it gives you. No muss, no fuss

CorinnaShaw

I have lost most of my weight doing high fat diets (which are naturally higher in calories) but you find that they aren't too much higher because the fat and protein keep you full. My trouble with sticking to it is I have a carb addiction and I can never break it long term. Right now I am trying high fat AND low calorie to see how that combo works. I am keeping carbs under 30 and calories under 1200. My Macro nutrients are supposed to be 10% carbs, 30% protein, and 60% fat, but today, my diet was 9% carbs (fell under the 30 mark), 19% protein, and 72% fat. I am okay with this since the numbers don't have to be absolute. Just so long as I stay within the 30/1200 range.

leggup

Zedeff wrote: »

myfatass78 wrote: »

Don't exercise and eat your calories back. Eat and exercise those extra calories away. Food first.

Meal timing is irrelevant. It's totally reasonable to eat back some calories if you're famished post exercise.

britishbroccoli wrote: »

That's because your weight loss is too aggressive.

If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lb/week is ideal
If you have 15-25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lb/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lb/week is ideal

These are just arbitrarily chosen numbers that someone made up. There's no evidence to support this protocol. Certainly reducing deficits as BF% gets low is important, but this specific protocol is far from "ideal."

These are not arbitrary. Under this guidance you will never be at 1,200 cal/day unless you are aiming for an underweight BMI. In general, slowing the deficit (eating closer to maintenance/losing less per week) helps 1. Transition into maintenance, 2. Retain more lean mass.

Kekekylene

You need to look at what is sustainable. Also depends on your activity level. I am 5'3" as well and just over 10lbs more. I eat 2400-2500/day except rest days which is about 500 less and I am consistently losing and getting stronger. Now like i said it depends on activity level. I am extremely active and generally only take 1 rest day a week. Once you are done losing weight are you going to be able to stay at 1200? Most likely not...Also if you are very active you need carbs, so I would suggest don't fall for the low carb thing! The good fats you mentioned are good yes.

Zedeff

I know the principle, but that doesn't change that it's arbitrary. Look, I can make up a bunch of declining-pace algorithms too:

If you have less than 12 lbs to lose, 0.325 pounds per week is ideal
If you have less than 14 lbs to lose, 0.467 pounds per week is ideal
If you have less than 27.4 lbs to lose, 1.777772 pounds per week is ideal

See?

The fact that those numbers are pulled out of thin air is what I take issue with, not the principle of a declining deficit.

The "never under 1200 cal/day" part is not true either. For example if you're a 50 year old, 5'1" tall woman who weighs 133 lbs (BMI 25.1 or slightly overweight) with a sedentary lifestyle, your TDEE is about 1394 cal/day. Even losing half a pound per week puts this person at 1144 cal/day, or under 1200, so that part of the protocol isn't true either.

pickleRH83

@MummyStumpf I'm trying to stick to between 1200 - 1400 (I'm only 5'2 so 1200 is my sedentary recommendation from MFP) I know his plan advocates about 1500-1800 with lots of exercise (though it's tailored per person) - it's easy to follow the food side of things for free but I don't know how much you're meant to work out though he does have exercise videos on youtube. It's basically just high intensity interval training.

MummyStumpf

The more I follow him on Twitter and Facebook and see the transformations, the more I'm inclined to want to sign up..

Helloitsdan

Zero difference in high fat vs high carb diets.
If you like high carb, eat high carb.
If you like high fat, eat high fat.
If you like cycling high fat on rest days and high carb on training, go for it.