1200 is really difficult

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  • Brans34
    Brans34 Posts: 599 Member
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    I'm 5'3", and my calories are set at 1200. The first few says were tough, and I wanted to just eat everything I could find. I refrained, though, and drank more water. After a week or so, 1200 became easy. I started eating more protein, and a lot less carbs. The weight has been nearly falling off lately, and I have noticed several days where I was WAY away from my calories, and had to have peanut butter and chunks of cheese to get to my calories so mfp wouldn't yell at me for starving! It just all . depends on what you're eating, and when.
  • Generic_Excuse
    Generic_Excuse Posts: 607 Member
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    I am 26 years old 5'2" 218 lbs (after having lost 12lbs on MFP) and my calorie intake goal is 1300 daily. I have the opposite problem I have a hard problem getting over 1000 and most days make myself eat snacks to make sure I get there. But I haven't been focusing on "dieting" but rather being healthier. I decided to cut back on carbs. I've replaced potatoes with sweet potatoes, pasta with zucchini and squash, rice and mashed potatoes with cauliflower. I drink a smoothie of fruits and vegtables in the morning since I am not a breakfast person (but that's not for everyone). I drink a glass of water with lemon juice right away in the morning and the water is great for you firat thing in the morning and that lemon is a real waker upper. I carry fiber bars in my purse if I am going to be out during snack or meals times, and I always have my MFP app on me when I go out for meals.
    Honestly if you are having problems feeling satisfied by smaller meals now a supplement meal drink is going to be worse. I have been there tried that. It think (and is ONLY my opinion) you should look for healthier alternatives to ingredients in everyday recipes and that will save you calories as well as being healthier :). I hope this helps!!
  • Generic_Excuse
    Generic_Excuse Posts: 607 Member
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    I also bought a kitchen food scale. That has been amazing!! I never realized how much I was over calculating on little things like sandwich meat. That all adds up fast and if you are thinking you are eating more than you do I know from experience that sucks.
  • Generic_Excuse
    Generic_Excuse Posts: 607 Member
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    Brans34 wrote: »
    I'm 5'3", and my calories are set at 1200. The first few says were tough, and I wanted to just eat everything I could find. I refrained, though, and drank more water. After a week or so, 1200 became easy. I started eating more protein, and a lot less carbs. The weight has been nearly falling off lately, and I have noticed several days where I was WAY away from my calories, and had to have peanut butter and chunks of cheese to get to my calories so mfp wouldn't yell at me for starving! It just all . depends on what you're eating, and when.

    Yes! Lol I always get that stupid message when I finish my daiary for the day haha. So I have some granola.
  • chrisf1903
    chrisf1903 Posts: 1 Member
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    I try to do less than 1200 on weekdays / days I don't gym... While it is a bit tough esply if there work dinners / drinks on those days, I've found 2 things that helped immensely with sticking to this goal - 1) intermittant fasting ie. start the day with coffee and skip breakfast- have 1st meal (lunch) a bit early to avoid biting off someone's head at work :) and 2) home cooked food - makes it easier to shave off a lot off calories from each meal (less oil, less carbs, more veggies) and still eat filling meals... Hope this helps...
  • lemon629
    lemon629 Posts: 501 Member
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    I agree with thise who said you should eat more. Obviously, 1200 is not enough. Also add exercise which will allow you to eat a little more and also could help with your emotional problems.

    Speaking of which, you need to address your emotional issues stat if you want to lose weight and keep it off. Find a good counselor, and/or get some books on cognitive behavioral therapy. Once you address your emotional issues, the weight will come off much more easily. If you don't, you probably will not succeed.
  • snowmaniac
    snowmaniac Posts: 600 Member
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    For exercise, look into programs like Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, New Rules of Lifting For Women as a few examples. Strength training is great for your overall health and fitness and you can do it with just 3 days a week. Even eating at a deficit it helps your body to hit the best ratio fat loss to lean muscle loss in the process. Get some good walking or elliptical in for some cardio and your body will thank you.
  • Generic_Excuse
    Generic_Excuse Posts: 607 Member
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    chrisf1903 wrote: »
    I try to do less than 1200 on weekdays / days I don't gym... While it is a bit tough esply if there work dinners / drinks on those days, I've found 2 things that helped immensely with sticking to this goal - 1) intermittant fasting ie. start the day with coffee and skip breakfast- have 1st meal (lunch) a bit early to avoid biting off someone's head at work :) and 2) home cooked food - makes it easier to shave off a lot off calories from each meal (less oil, less carbs, more veggies) and still eat filling meals... Hope this helps...

    Skipping a meal is never a good idea. Especially if you are saying that you still feel hungry from the meals you are having now. Skipping breakfast can lead to excessing snacking or overeating at lunch. http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2014/08/27/should-you-or-shouldnt-you-skip-breakfast
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    clperrault89 wrote: »
    chrisf1903 wrote: »
    I try to do less than 1200 on weekdays / days I don't gym... While it is a bit tough esply if there work dinners / drinks on those days, I've found 2 things that helped immensely with sticking to this goal - 1) intermittant fasting ie. start the day with coffee and skip breakfast- have 1st meal (lunch) a bit early to avoid biting off someone's head at work :) and 2) home cooked food - makes it easier to shave off a lot off calories from each meal (less oil, less carbs, more veggies) and still eat filling meals... Hope this helps...

    Skipping a meal is never a good idea. Especially if you are saying that you still feel hungry from the meals you are having now. Skipping breakfast can lead to excessing snacking or overeating at lunch. http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2014/08/27/should-you-or-shouldnt-you-skip-breakfast

    Skipping a meal is fine. Meal timing is irrelevant for weight loss. Some people aren't hungry in the morning or practice 16:8 intermittent fasting.

  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    StarlightAria wrote: »
    Thanks for all the replies. I just can't seem to get the energy to exercise, it has to do with the insulin resistance where I get tired. I'm working on it and will be going to the gym 2x a week starting this Tuesday if my ophthalmologist gives me the go ahead (something is wrong with my eye) and getting back on the wagon tomorrow after a particularly stressful day today.

    I am having some issues of my own that make exercise hard right now (mentally) but if you can just get out and walk, that's really all you need right now. And I should take my own advice. :)
  • Generic_Excuse
    Generic_Excuse Posts: 607 Member
    edited March 2015
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    maidentl wrote: »
    clperrault89 wrote: »
    chrisf1903 wrote: »
    I try to do less than 1200 on weekdays / days I don't gym... While it is a bit tough esply if there work dinners / drinks on those days, I've found 2 things that helped immensely with sticking to this goal - 1) intermittant fasting ie. start the day with coffee and skip breakfast- have 1st meal (lunch) a bit early to avoid biting off someone's head at work :) and 2) home cooked food - makes it easier to shave off a lot off calories from each meal (less oil, less carbs, more veggies) and still eat filling meals... Hope this helps...

    Skipping a meal is never a good idea. Especially if you are saying that you still feel hungry from the meals you are having now. Skipping breakfast can lead to excessing snacking or overeating at lunch. http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2014/08/27/should-you-or-shouldnt-you-skip-breakfast

    Skipping a meal is fine. Meal timing is irrelevant for weight loss. Some people aren't hungry in the morning or practice 16:8 intermittent fasting.

    Meal timing and Intermittent Fasting don't SKIP meals though. That person said SKIP breakfast.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    edited March 2015
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    clperrault89 wrote: »
    Meal timing and Intermittent Fasting don't SKIP meals though. That person said SKIP breakfast.

    It still doesn't matter. You don't have to eat breakfast. It's personal preference. I skip it all the time too unless I happen to be hungry that day.
  • Generic_Excuse
    Generic_Excuse Posts: 607 Member
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    maidentl wrote: »
    clperrault89 wrote: »
    Meal timing and Intermittent Fasting don't SKIP meals though. That person said SKIP breakfast.

    It still doesn't matter. You don't have to eat breakfast. It's personal preference. I skip it all the time too unless I happen to be hungry that day.

    I'm sorry I don't mean to "argue" but if OP is having problems feeling fulfilled by her meals, skipping them doesn't seem like the smartest way to go here. That is not going to help her snacking during the day or over eating at lunch (or the junk food she has access to at work during lunch).
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    clperrault89 wrote: »
    maidentl wrote: »
    clperrault89 wrote: »
    Meal timing and Intermittent Fasting don't SKIP meals though. That person said SKIP breakfast.

    It still doesn't matter. You don't have to eat breakfast. It's personal preference. I skip it all the time too unless I happen to be hungry that day.

    I'm sorry I don't mean to "argue" but if OP is having problems feeling fulfilled by her meals, skipping them doesn't seem like the smartest way to go here. That is not going to help her snacking during the day or over eating at lunch (or the junk food she has access to at work during lunch).

    For any given caloric intake, skipping some meals means the remaining meals get to be larger. So it is quite possible that skipping a meal will in fact leave a dieter feeling more filled/satiated.



  • AClaireJohnson
    AClaireJohnson Posts: 2 Member
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    Starlight I feel for you. I did 1200 calories for about 3 months with all the self control you can possibly imagine. Mind I'm 5'8" and at that point in time weighed 185. Although I lost weight extra fast at first, I plateaued... FOR 3 MONTHS. I exercised and did everything you can name, drank more water and beat myself up about it.
    I now am working on eating more to weigh less. It sounds kind of weird but think about it this way. What is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure to maintain your goal weight? I guarantee you it is not 1200 calories. It's likely at least 1650 or higher. Let's say you starve yourself and eat 1200 calories and get to your goal weight, your body will still think you can only eat 1200 calories, so when you go to maintain you have to up your calorie intake to 400 or more, what do you think your body will do with that?
    I'm not telling you to pig out, what I would try in your case is move to 100 to 200 calories below what it takes for you to maintain your weight right now. Give yourself 4 weeks of that, and then take another 100 to 200 calories out of your day the next month, and so on until you get to your goal weight maintenance total daily energy expenditure.

    Our journey is a marathon not a sprint.You will find with that with that many calories you won't be nearly as stressed out (I had a lot of hanger symptoms before), you can actually eat with your friends (oh yes, this is wonderful!) and you might even have the energy to exercise ( I took up rock climbing,kettle bells and running). Just make sure its more meat and veggies than anything else!

    I hope this helps.
  • AClaireJohnson
    AClaireJohnson Posts: 2 Member
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    oh and try http://eatmore2weighless.com/ this is where I figured my stuff out. Good luck!
  • dmiivanov
    dmiivanov Posts: 49 Member
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    Why not add a 1 hour walk every morning on empty stomach while listening to something useful on your phone? If you do it every day (regardless of the weather or if you had a party last night!), there's your 1.5 lb a week without any dieting. Add a mild 300 calorie deficit on top of that and tada! 2lb / week loss, which is within healthy boundary. That 300 calorie deficit is a piece of cake to maintain if you just start eating more fruits and vegetables coz that's fiber it'll fill you up and will make it difficult to overeat..
  • minjungjkim
    minjungjkim Posts: 1
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    It is really hard to start with only 1200 but I actually ate less than 1000 calories today and exercised for atleast an hour. it is my fourth day on my diet. I know this is harsh but I am actually doing fairly well and am happy about myself. Some foods you should consider to eat below 1200 calories are: celery (if youre not fond of it and only eat it with peanut butter try eating it with laughing cow's light swiss which is only 35 calories per wedge), almonds (dont eat too much! Try limiting to a handful or two a day), graprfruits, blueberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, yams!, tofu!, chicken breast!!!
    Idk if this is helping at all but I know what you're going through TT.TT
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    minjungjkim wrote: »
    It is really hard to start with only 1200 but I actually ate less than 1000 calories today and exercised for atleast an hour. it is my fourth day on my diet. I know this is harsh but I am actually doing fairly well and am happy about myself. Some foods you should consider to eat below 1200 calories are: celery (if youre not fond of it and only eat it with peanut butter try eating it with laughing cow's light swiss which is only 35 calories per wedge), almonds (dont eat too much! Try limiting to a handful or two a day), graprfruits, blueberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, yams!, tofu!, chicken breast!!!
    Idk if this is helping at all but I know what you're going through TT.TT

    The minimum intake recommended for women is 1200. If you want to dip below that, suit yourself, but please don't encourage anyone else to do so.

  • MelRC117
    MelRC117 Posts: 911 Member
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    minjungjkim wrote: »
    It is really hard to start with only 1200 but I actually ate less than 1000 calories today and exercised for atleast an hour. it is my fourth day on my diet. I know this is harsh but I am actually doing fairly well and am happy about myself. Some foods you should consider to eat below 1200 calories are: celery (if youre not fond of it and only eat it with peanut butter try eating it with laughing cow's light swiss which is only 35 calories per wedge), almonds (dont eat too much! Try limiting to a handful or two a day), graprfruits, blueberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, yams!, tofu!, chicken breast!!!
    Idk if this is helping at all but I know what you're going through TT.TT

    You worked out for an hour and only ate 1000 calories today? Yeah, please DO NOT encourage others to do that.

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