Tips on adjusting to 1200 calories per day?

malavika413

I haven't been losing any weight, so I'm considering cutting my calories to 1200 (and possibly not eating exercise calories, because that seems to be messing me up). But I tend to get really hungry when I cut my calories low (I know I'm supposed to be a bit hungry, but not too hungry). Do y'all have any tips to feel satisfied on fewer calories? Any particularly filling foods you can recommend? I don't like popcorn so that's out, haha. Also, I don't have the funds to eat meat too often, so I can't do much with that.

rubyandmani

my food diary is open and I do eat around 1200. xx

malavika413

rubyandmani wrote: »

my food diary is open and I do eat around 1200. xx

I checked and I don't think your diary is open.

TheVirgoddess

malavika413 wrote: »

I haven't been losing any weight, so I'm considering cutting my calories to 1200 (and possibly not eating exercise calories, because that seems to be messing me up). But I tend to get really hungry when I cut my calories low (I know I'm supposed to be a bit hungry, but not too hungry). Do y'all have any tips to feel satisfied on fewer calories? Any particularly filling foods you can recommend? I don't like popcorn so that's out, haha. Also, I don't have the funds to eat meat too often, so I can't do much with that.

IMO, don't do both.

What are your stats? Age/height/weight/goal weight? How long have you been trying to lose with no success? Do you weigh your food on a scale?

malavika413

I'm 20/63 inches/149 pounds/120 pounds at most. It's been pretty off and on, but I've been trying to commit seriously for the past few months and since I don't weigh my food I use exercise calories as a buffer.

TheVirgoddess

My first recommendation is to log - everything - for a few weeks. Get an idea of what you're actually eating, and then you can figure out where you should be.

If you do decide to drop down to 1200 (unnecessary, IMO) - eat your exercise calories back.

amr32r

Im on 1200 and am actually thinking abt going to 1400 because im doing insanity will see how i do this week....im rambling sorry lol....i eat fish, boneless skinless chicken, salads, it can get boring so i have been going on pinterest for ideas...i also eat quinoa, avocado, oatmeal, veggies,veggies and more veggies...try to split your meals up to 400 cal each meal or if you do snacks 300 so you have room for snacks..i do pretty well on not going over ..i was eating egg whites with veggies most of the time for breakfast but noticed i do better eating oatmeal mixed with flaxseed with cinnamon and cut up apple.hope this helps a little

johnnylakis

Exercise will make you hungry. I actually stopped going to the gym when I cut to 1,200 calories and lost more weight than I ever did going to the gym

malavika413

TheVirgoddess wrote: »

My first recommendation is to log - everything - for a few weeks. Get an idea of what you're actually eating, and then you can figure out where you should be.

If you do decide to drop down to 1200 (unnecessary, IMO) - eat your exercise calories back.

I did log everything for over a month, no loss. And I burn off quite a few exercise calories (on vacation now, but on the average day I walk about 4 miles), so I feel like eating those back wouldn't help much.

malavika413

johnnylakis wrote: »

Exercise will make you hungry. I actually stopped going to the gym when I cut to 1,200 calories and lost more weight than I ever did going to the gym

My only exercise is walking, and that's just to get from place to place, about 4 miles a day.

malavika413

amr32r wrote: »

Im on 1200 and am actually thinking abt going to 1400 because im doing insanity will see how i do this week....im rambling sorry lol....i eat fish, boneless skinless chicken, salads, it can get boring so i have been going on pinterest for ideas...i also eat quinoa, avocado, oatmeal, veggies,veggies and more veggies...try to split your meals up to 400 cal each meal or if you do snacks 300 so you have room for snacks..i do pretty well on not going over ..i was eating egg whites with veggies most of the time for breakfast but noticed i do better eating oatmeal mixed with flaxseed with cinnamon and cut up apple.hope this helps a little

Thanks, I'll see if I can pick up some of those foods.

debubbie

If you are not weighing your foods, then you definitely should be! You may be eating more than you think you are and this could be why you are not seeing a weight loss.

urloved33

drink a lot of water

malavika413

debubbie wrote: »

If you are not weighing your foods, then you definitely should be! You may be eating more than you think you are and this could be why you are not seeing a weight loss.

I can't really weigh any of my foods because when I tried, my roommates tried to have an intervention with me. They thought I was going into disordered eating. So I'm using my exercise calories as a buffer. Sometimes I eat those (I'm at 1300 calories on an average day, and I get pretty hungry), but I try to hold off if I can.

malavika413

urloved33 wrote: »

drink a lot of water

I've been working on that, but I guess I could always use more. Thanks!

TheVirgoddess

malavika413 wrote: »

TheVirgoddess wrote: »

My first recommendation is to log - everything - for a few weeks. Get an idea of what you're actually eating, and then you can figure out where you should be.

If you do decide to drop down to 1200 (unnecessary, IMO) - eat your exercise calories back.

I did log everything for over a month, no loss. And I burn off quite a few exercise calories (on vacation now, but on the average day I walk about 4 miles), so I feel like eating those back wouldn't help much.

Then my next suggestion is to weigh your food.

arv51862

I do the 1200 thing & I choose to not add exercise calories back in unless or until I'm meeting or exceeding my goal of 2 pounds per week. That said, MFP has 1200 has the minimum # for men, so I'll add 20-50 exercise calories / day just to give myself a caloric target window to hit each day, but without really effecting my food intake. My diary is open.

malavika413

TheVirgoddess wrote: »

malavika413 wrote: »

TheVirgoddess wrote: »

My first recommendation is to log - everything - for a few weeks. Get an idea of what you're actually eating, and then you can figure out where you should be.

If you do decide to drop down to 1200 (unnecessary, IMO) - eat your exercise calories back.

I did log everything for over a month, no loss. And I burn off quite a few exercise calories (on vacation now, but on the average day I walk about 4 miles), so I feel like eating those back wouldn't help much.

Then my next suggestion is to weigh your food.

I really don't want my roommates to try and stage an intervention again. Would being more strict about not eating back exercise calories not work?

gothicfires

I eat around 1200 calories a day. I split my meals into 4, 300 calories each. The secret to making it easy is protein and fiber. 4 ozs of baked chicken, 1/2 cups of rice and 3/4cups of mixed veggies in a typical meal. I have plenty of energy and am never hungry.

malavika413

arv51862 wrote: »

I do the 1200 thing & I choose to not add exercise calories back in unless or until I'm meeting or exceeding my goal of 2 pounds per week. That said, MFP has 1200 has the minimum # for men, so I'll add 20-50 exercise calories / day just to give myself a caloric target window to hit each day, but without really effecting my food intake. My diary is open.

Thanks. Though, as a man, don't you find you get hungry? I thought 1200 was the minimum for women?

BioQueen

I agree - weigh your food. I understand it is tricky with roommates, but if you want to know if you are consuming too much you have to weigh. Plus it will also be important so that you don't UNDER eat. For a while I was giving myself smaller portions than what I should have been eating because I wasn't weighing.

malavika413

gothicfires wrote: »

I eat around 1200 calories a day. I split my meals into 4, 300 calories each. The secret to making it easy is protein and fiber. 4 ozs of baked chicken, 1/2 cups of rice and 3/4cups of mixed veggies in a typical meal. I have plenty of energy and am never hungry.

Okay, thanks! I'll see if I can find any substitutes for that amount of chicken. I eat chicken maybe once or twice a week.

MakePeasNotWar

I don't eat 1200 a day, but I had to deal with a lot of hunger when I stopped training and had to cut my calories in half just to maintain (3500 calories to 1750), and now I'm trying to net under 1500 which for me is difficult.

I find sweet potatoes and broccoli to be the most filling foods for me, by calorie. I add a small amount of fat (maybe 50-100 calories worth) to keep the hunger from coming back too quickly.

Big vegetable soups before and between meals help, too.

I usually eat a lot of berries and beans, which are high in fibre and help with the hunger. Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are very low in calories, too.

malavika413

BioQueen wrote: »

I agree - weigh your food. I understand it is tricky with roommates, but if you want to know if you are consuming too much you have to weigh. Plus it will also be important so that you don't UNDER eat. For a while I was giving myself smaller portions than what I should have been eating because I wasn't weighing.

I'll see if I can do it in secret or something. I'm definitely not undereating, there's plenty of foods I can cut. I'm just trying to see if there are filling/cheap foods I can substitute with.

malavika413

MakePeasNotWar wrote: »

I don't eat 1200 a day, but I had to deal with a lot of hunger when I stopped training and had to cut my calories in half just to maintain (3500 calories to 1750), and now I'm trying to net under 1500 which for me is difficult.

I find sweet potatoes and broccoli to be the most filling foods for me, by calorie. I add a small amount of fat (maybe 50-100 calories worth) to keep the hunger from coming back too quickly.

Big vegetable soups before and between meals help, too.

I usually eat a lot of berries and beans, which are high in fibre and help with the hunger. Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are very low in calories, too.

Berries are a good idea, I can probably buy a frozen bag so they'll keep. I don't really like soup, but I'll try eating more beans and broccoli.

Unknown

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85Cardinals

Embrace the hunger. Hold it closely and savor its warmth.

malavika413

shell1005 wrote: »

How many calories do you think you are eating now?

The fact that your roommates staged an intervention makes me think there is more going on than we are aware of.

One of my roommates has an ED history which began with food weighing, so she gets a bit paranoid about that sort of thing. And after the summer I'll be back to eating college dining hall food, so weighing isn't the most practical option at this time.

My goal is currently 1300 but when I get really hungry I eat back my exercise calories. I know that to make up for not weighing I shouldn't eat them, but the food I eat only lasts me till lunch if I stick to 1300. There are foods I can cut, I just want to know what I should substitute them with.

malavika413

85Cardinals wrote: »

Embrace the hunger. Hold it closely and savor its warmth.

Um...okay.

TheVirgoddess

malavika413 wrote: »

TheVirgoddess wrote: »

malavika413 wrote: »

TheVirgoddess wrote: »

My first recommendation is to log - everything - for a few weeks. Get an idea of what you're actually eating, and then you can figure out where you should be.

If you do decide to drop down to 1200 (unnecessary, IMO) - eat your exercise calories back.

I did log everything for over a month, no loss. And I burn off quite a few exercise calories (on vacation now, but on the average day I walk about 4 miles), so I feel like eating those back wouldn't help much.

Then my next suggestion is to weigh your food.

I really don't want my roommates to try and stage an intervention again. Would being more strict about not eating back exercise calories not work?

You had an intervention? Yikes.

You can not eat your exercise calories back - but I'd not do that and drop your calories down. I'd pick one or the other. But knowing exactly what you're eating really is going to be the best way to gauge your success.

Here's why:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjKPIcI51lU

Amber_hanson27

I'm concerned about you having roommates controlling you. You take care of what you want when you want. Don't allow them to have that kind of power over ANY PART of your life. A scale is very important lol. My family thinks I'm nuts but hey I'm looking good.