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Is 1200 Calories too much?
Replies
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1200...
I underestimated my caloric intake recently simply because I underestimated my activity level. I was miserable in 1556... upping to 1900-2000.
OP, I hope you find what works for you.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »1200 is nothing...
these kind of threads wreak of___________(fill in the blank)
Curiosity? Desperation for help? Search for justification? This forum should help people, not insult them, or presume insincerity.
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Could you try to swap out some lower calorie options for higher ones? Like swapping low fat cottage cheese to full fat, salad leaves to a bread roll.poodledoodlepop wrote: »I am on 1290 calories a day and I feel like I eat all day long, What is everyone else eating & do you feel like it's too little or too much?
**Friend me on here! Im looking for friends**
Make sure you get your fats as they are vital to health.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »1200 is nothing...
these kind of threads wreak of___________(fill in the blank)
Curiosity? Desperation for help? Search for justification? This forum should help people, not insult them, or presume insincerity.
What help do you need?0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »1200 is nothing...
these kind of threads wreak of___________(fill in the blank)
Curiosity? Desperation for help? Search for justification? This forum should help people, not insult them, or presume insincerity.
I've been here for over three years...stick around for awhile and you start to notice how many people (young females in particular) have, at minimum, very disordered thinking where food is concerned and often outright ED. These people do need help...but this isn't the place they need to be getting help from...they need professionals.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »I've been here for over three years...stick around for awhile and you start to notice how many people (young females in particular) have, at minimum, very disordered thinking where food is concerned and often outright ED. These people do need help...but this isn't the place they need to be getting help from...they need professionals.
Not to mention all the posts by trolls pretending to be teenagers with EDs.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »1200 is nothing...
these kind of threads wreak of___________(fill in the blank)
Curiosity? Desperation for help? Search for justification? This forum should help people, not insult them, or presume insincerity.
I've been here for over three years...stick around for awhile and you start to notice how many people (young females in particular) have, at minimum, very disordered thinking where food is concerned and often outright ED. These people do need help...but this isn't the place they need to be getting help from...they need professionals.
THE op hasn't been here for years though and shouldn't be judged on the posts of others.
I just think she is in the early stages of a calorie counting diet and enjoying the fact that she can eat, and can eat any thing she likes.
If she has followed many restrictive diets in the past CICO can feel like a dream diet.0 -
RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »1200 is nothing...
these kind of threads wreak of___________(fill in the blank)
Curiosity? Desperation for help? Search for justification? This forum should help people, not insult them, or presume insincerity.
I've been here for over three years...stick around for awhile and you start to notice how many people (young females in particular) have, at minimum, very disordered thinking where food is concerned and often outright ED. These people do need help...but this isn't the place they need to be getting help from...they need professionals.
THE op hasn't been here for years though and shouldn't be judged on the posts of others.
I just think she is in the early stages of a calorie counting diet and enjoying the fact that she can eat, and can eat any thing she likes.
If she has followed many restrictive diets in the past CICO can feel like a dream diet.
things like "1200 calories is too much" or "I can't even eat 1,000 calories" or "I feel like I'm eating all day if I eat 1200 calories" tend to throw up red flags for me.
and it's not just the OP...there were several other posts in this thread as well..."omg 1200 calories is so much food".
red flags, red flags...0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »1200 is nothing...
these kind of threads wreak of___________(fill in the blank)
My thoughts exactly. I typically eat 1200 BEFORE dinnertime even arrives, lol!
That is your allowance though, as a newcomer to CICO, especially if you have followed fad diets 1200 can seem a lot to be able to eat.
Their previous or future eating habits don't really enter the equation. If you are expecting to live on salad yet can fit in a Mars ice cream bar it can feel like you can eat and eat.0 -
Realistically, 1200 calories would only feel like "too much food" in three scenarios:
1. Someone very short (like, under 4'9"), very sedentary and relatively advanced in age.
2. Someone new to calorie counting who is -- like most people at first -- not very good at accurate tracking, and is severely underestimating their food.
3. Someone with an eating disorder.
From her stats, OP doesn't fall into the first category. She's only 28 years old and her profile indicates she has 117lbs to lose. Which means 1200 is likely far too low a calorie goal for her.
Which leaves possibilities #2 or #3.
If logging accuracy is the issue, here's a good thread to read:
Logging accuracy, consistency, and you're probably eating more than you think
If it's some sort of eating disorder, here are links to some good resources to get some help with it:
myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1575987-eating-disorder-resources
Best of luck to you, @poodledoodlepop0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »1200 is nothing...
these kind of threads wreak of___________(fill in the blank)
Curiosity? Desperation for help? Search for justification? This forum should help people, not insult them, or presume insincerity.
I've been here for over three years...stick around for awhile and you start to notice how many people (young females in particular) have, at minimum, very disordered thinking where food is concerned and often outright ED. These people do need help...but this isn't the place they need to be getting help from...they need professionals.
THE op hasn't been here for years though and shouldn't be judged on the posts of others.
I just think she is in the early stages of a calorie counting diet and enjoying the fact that she can eat, and can eat any thing she likes.
If she has followed many restrictive diets in the past CICO can feel like a dream diet.
things like "1200 calories is too much" or "I can't even eat 1,000 calories" or "I feel like I'm eating all day if I eat 1200 calories" tend to throw up red flags for me.
and it's not just the OP...there were several other posts in this thread as well..."omg 1200 calories is so much food".
red flags, red flags...
It comes back to context though. I get what your saying, I really do and there is a lot of ED suffers who post here. But let us not just label and suggest that every one is.
The OP said that she was eating a lot, has over 100lbs to lose. I just think that too write off her query with "These threads" doesn't help.
There is a very high chance that the OP was just expecting to be very hungry eating "Diet" food and has been surprised how much food she can really eat.
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Actually, having looked at the OPs diary, they're not eating a lot volume wise at all, even allowing for inaccuracies. One egg, a bit of ham and 9 tortilla chips is not loads or eating all day (I have slightly exaggerated but there's not a lot of substance to their diary).
I think it's a newness thing and in a few weeks things might change.0 -
I think it's entirely possible that when one radically changes one's diet, one's appetite can change as well.
On a different matter, my appetite is way down because I'm sick, nothing sounds or tastes good, and my decision making ability is impaired.0 -
VintageFeline wrote: »Actually, having looked at the OPs diary, they're not eating a lot volume wise at all, even allowing for inaccuracies. One egg, a bit of ham and 9 tortilla chips is not loads or eating all day (I have slightly exaggerated but there's not a lot of substance to their diary).
I think it's a newness thing and in a few weeks things might change.
I noticed the same.0 -
VintageFeline wrote: »I think it's a newness thing and in a few weeks things might change.
Thank you, you put it more succinct than myself
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Hi op, I too found that 1200 calories seemed like Omfg this is waaaaay too much food. And it was! Until I started weighing my food. All of my food. Actually not just food. Drinks too. Oh and logging everything.
I was waaaaaay underestimating my calories. And I was looking for the lowest calorie one in the list.
After being honest with my diary and myself, I was actually eating around 1800. I dropped down to 1500 and I lose consistently when I log accurately. As soon as I get lazy with my weighing, I stop losing.
But that is me.0 -
VintageFeline wrote: »Actually, having looked at the OPs diary, they're not eating a lot volume wise at all, even allowing for inaccuracies. One egg, a bit of ham and 9 tortilla chips is not loads or eating all day (I have slightly exaggerated but there's not a lot of substance to their diary).
I think it's a newness thing and in a few weeks things might change.
so how does that translate to "I feel like I'm eating all day?" i'm genuinely curious as to how someone could think that. it seems to me that if you were new and needed to lose 117 Lbs then surely you were eating for more than that...how can having an egg and a bit of ham and a handful of tortilla chips translate to "I feel like I'm eating all day".
hopefully it is just a newness thing...but i don't think it inappropriate to bring up possible disordered thinking when stuff like this comes up...because even if she's not there yet, it's this kind of stuff that can take you down that road quick.
I also know a lot of people who had fine relationships with food before they started calorie counting and calorie counting took them down a dark path...I would be one of those people which is why I don't log anymore which has in turn restored a more positive relationship with food...a little counseling helped too.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »VintageFeline wrote: »Actually, having looked at the OPs diary, they're not eating a lot volume wise at all, even allowing for inaccuracies. One egg, a bit of ham and 9 tortilla chips is not loads or eating all day (I have slightly exaggerated but there's not a lot of substance to their diary).
I think it's a newness thing and in a few weeks things might change.
I noticed the same.
Yes, this is not an issue of eating tons of low cal foods.
OP, are you using a food scale? Do you weigh your servings, or are you using measuring cups or eyeballing? If not, you are probably eating more than you think, possibly a lot more. Start weighing everything on the food scale and make sure you are using accurate database entries. You don't have to use the scale forever, but it is a great exercise to make sure you are on the right track. This isn't a personal criticism, many people (myself included) found out our idea of a serving size was way off.
Ultimately, the most important thing is the weight is coming off at a healthy pace (@ 1-2 lbs per week). Being exact doesn't matter as much in the beginning when you have a lot to lose, but it gets more important as you progress, so why not get an accurate idea of what you are eating right off the bat? And if you are barely eating 1200 calories, this is NOT a lot of food. Please take good care of yourself. Best of luck :drinker:0 -
VintageFeline wrote: »Actually, having looked at the OPs diary, they're not eating a lot volume wise at all, even allowing for inaccuracies. One egg, a bit of ham and 9 tortilla chips is not loads or eating all day (I have slightly exaggerated but there's not a lot of substance to their diary).
I think it's a newness thing and in a few weeks things might change.
Yes, I noticed the lack of high volume foods as well. Those meals should take 30 minutes to eat, tops.
@Poodledoodlepop - if you want to know what eating all day really feels like, have some kale salad.
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In the beginning it was so easy to eat so little that I see what you're saying. I would reach the end of the day and be like, oops, I only ate 1000 calories, what can I shove in my face to get above 1200? So it's completely understandable. It might stay like that for a few weeks too, that feeling I mean, but stay above 1200. Eventually, it will seem like way too low. Ha! 0
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Okay, OP is on my FL and she posted a video with a day of food. And it is not a lot of food. At all. So for me this is definitely one of those gungho at the start of weight loss things. I think we all get it, most of us started off like that. Just be aware that in a few weeks that chicken and lettuce wrap and three perogies a day is going to get pretty dull and you will likely start to need more volume. With as much to lose as you do you can absolutely afford to eat more and still lose at a great rate, in fact, from a muscle vs fat loss and body composition point of view you would probably be better off with a less aggressive goal. You don't need to live on chicken and salad or 1200 calories!0
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