A question for 1200 calories per day consumers

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  • IrritatedDoro
    IrritatedDoro Posts: 89 Member
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    I'm eating more than that now because I'm much more active these days; however, I will say that in my experience, metabolism can dramatically change dependent upon a situation.

    When I was in my teens I ate like a horse and was a string bean. In my early 20s I was active, then became more sedentary. However, because of some anxiety issues related to a death, a divorce, and living in Asia with no support system around (waking up from a dead sleep with a heart rate of 130 or so), I lost an incredible amount of weight all while eating a lot and not exercising.

    I got healthy again, worked out again, ate "normally" (probably around 2,000 calories a day) and in my early 30s I gained a little. I exercised less and less frequently. Right about the time I turned 36, I gained 12 or so pounds in 2 weeks. My clothes wouldn't fit anymore - seriously only 1 pair of pants fit - my sister experienced the same thing a couple years later when she reached that age but it took place for her over the course of about 3 weeks. I kept gaining each year. When I joined MFP in May, I started off at the 1200. As a vegetarian (24 years and counting), a lot of the vegetables that I eat really don't have that many calories. It is the junky junk - soda, beer, white carbs, and the such. I cut a lot of those from my diet and felt pretty good. I did eat higher on Tuesdays and Saturdays. After I lost so dramatically the first three weeks (I was eating back exercise calories), I upped my calories a bit to 1450. I am now gaining instead of losing, but am going to start trying to offset that with even more exercise and hoping for the best.

    Our energy requirements change dramatically over our lives. I have not changed heights in all this time, but weighed about 125 in my teens, between 105-145 in my 20s, 145-165 in my 30s and got up to 180 following the birth of my son at age 40. And, the kicker is that the last 10 pounds was after I delivered him and was while I was breastfeeding, which is suppose to increase metabolism. Pointing fingers does no good. I have no qualms with your trying to educate folks about the low amount, just think that it unnecessarily attacks people that are trying to do good things for themselves, which in turn may harden them to the information rather than "wake them up".

    (Edited because I left out a word)
  • Matt_Wild
    Matt_Wild Posts: 2,673 Member
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    For someone who says 1200 is there "number".... feel free to post here or message me your details (age/height/weight/sex/how much you do cardio/lift/how busy your job is) and lets see what the score really is :o))

    I am curious and interested. So here are my stats....

    59 years old
    5 ft. 5 in.
    159. 6 pounds (as of this morning)
    As for exercise, up until this week, l was doing one hour of cardio a week... about 500 calories. I don't work.

    Your results?

    So you sit in the house and rock back and forth?
  • Matt_Wild
    Matt_Wild Posts: 2,673 Member
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    Our energy requirements change dramatically over our lives. I have not changed heights in all this time, but weighed about 125 in my teens, between 105-145 in my 20s, 145-165 in my 30s and got up to 180 following the birth of my son at age 40. And, the kicker is that the last 10 pounds was after I delivered him and was while I was breastfeeding, which is suppose to increase metabolism. Pointing fingers does no good. I have no qualms with your trying to educate folks about the low amount, just think that it unnecessarily attacks people that are trying to do good things for themselves, which in turn may harden them to the information rather than "wake them up".

    My calculations take in age and how busy people are to allow for metabolism and calorie expenditure....

    ...and a week or so doesn't allow for body to adjust to nutrient changes/incoming macros etc. You will hold water differently and look differently due to macros going thro you.

    Its a long term change, not overnight/week.
  • delaniecastillo
    delaniecastillo Posts: 284
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    61 inches or 6' 1"?

    61inches, my apologies.
  • Matt_Wild
    Matt_Wild Posts: 2,673 Member
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    61 inches or 6' 1"?

    61inches, my apolgies.

    Personally I'd have have you around 1800 calories and work on your macros to be optimal. Then give it a 2-3 weeks to see weight change and adjust diet down perhaps 100 and repeat :o))
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,143 Member
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    For someone who says 1200 is there "number".... feel free to post here or message me your details (age/height/weight/sex/how much you do cardio/lift/how busy your job is) and lets see what the score really is :o))

    I am curious and interested. So here are my stats....

    59 years old
    5 ft. 5 in.
    159. 6 pounds (as of this morning)
    As for exercise, up until this week, l was doing one hour of cardio a week... about 500 calories. I don't work.

    Your results?

    So you sit in the house and rock back and forth?

    Actually you aren't far off. I am in the house more than out.

    I gave my totally honest stats in good faith. If that's not good enough, nothing I can do for you.
  • delaniecastillo
    delaniecastillo Posts: 284
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    61 inches or 6' 1"?

    61inches, my apolgies.

    Personally I'd have have you around 1800 calories and work on your macros to be optimal. Then give it a 2-3 weeks to see weight change and adjust diet down perhaps 100 and repeat :o))

    I am starting with a trainer next week and going to start adding resistance training and lifting. I am super excited and will most likely HAVE to uip my calories daily to build muscle. Dumb question but what's macros?
  • Matt_Wild
    Matt_Wild Posts: 2,673 Member
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    Sorry, my reply was tongue in cheek. Sorry if not clear.

    You don't actually do anything in the house at all? Interested to know what you are actually doing 24/7? Literally sitting at the PC? I can't calculate your needs if I don't know what you do, that all! :o))
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
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    Doctors take 8 hrs or less of nutritional courses. I'd take anything they say with a grain of salt, unless they're a nutritionist/dietician.
    A dietitian is a pro. "Nutritionist" is a job title you can put on anybody's name tag. My doctor has a lot more training in nutrition than just 8 hours of coursework.
    ConnieEddieFINAL-%282%29-762552.jpg
    The picture on this blog is of Connie Diekman, a Registered Dietitian with her dog, Eddie, who has a certificate calling him a nutritionist from the American Association of Nutritional Consultants. No education or experience was needed to apply for this certificate.
    Not sure why picture isn't showing. You can see it and read more here:
    http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/diet-diva/nutritionist-vs-dietitian
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
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    "Net" is when you take the estimate of how many calories you burned and subtract it from the estimated number of calories you consumed. One line of thinking is that this rough estimate is what you should be trying to adjust by eating and/or working out to hit the number of calories for the day as your diet goal. It does work for a lot of people, but it is not the only way and the other methods are not doomed to failure.

    1200 calories is the minimum amount recommended by dietitians because it is not difficult to get the proper mix of nutrients in a carefully constructed diet at that level. It has nothing to do with "net" calories. What you burn in day minus what you eat is your deficit. Your body fat can provide 31.4 calories per pound per day toward the deficit. Take your weight and your BF% to compute how much you have, multiply by 31.4 and you will get the maximum deficit your fat stores can support. After that it will come from lean body mass and you don't want that. Some will come from LBM even before that, but that can't be helped.

    Some people refer to diets at or below 1200 as Very Low Calorie, VLC or VLCD. That is not correct. Dietitians use numbers in the 500-700 range as VLCD and they do sometimes recommend that for short periods for the very obese, but not without medical supervision.

    Anyway, whatever is easiest for you to understand and implement to make sure you get a reasonable deficit will cause you to lose weight.
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,143 Member
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    Sorry, my reply was tongue in cheek. Sorry if not clear.

    You don't actually do anything in the house at all? Interested to know what you are actually doing 24/7? Literally sitting at the PC? I can't calculate your needs if I don't know what you do, that all! :o))

    Ok... fair enough. :)

    Not a lot. I don't count cooking or running the vacuum as exercise. I have a very tiny condo (no stairs) that takes little upkeep and I can walk from one end to the other in about 3 seconds. I do spend a lot of time computing and crocheting and knitting.

    Does that help?
  • VpinkLotus
    VpinkLotus Posts: 849 Member
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    What is the purpose of this thread? Some people are quite content at 1200. Some are under medical supervision. Others are older with limited mobility. What difference does it make why they are choosing 1200?

    People are SO irritated by this. I have no idea why. Why are you sitting thinking about someone else's calorie intake. Very puzzling to me. :huh:
  • themommie
    themommie Posts: 5,022 Member
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    1200-1300 net works for me. 1200 FLAT works for others. Don't see the point of making a big deal out of what ppl eat. It's not a miracle spot, but if it works....don't fix it.

    I agree, I have fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and hypothyroidism.I am 50 yrs old I have been using mfp since july 2010 and lost 112 lbs eating 1250 cals a day and doing what exercise I can , r u really going to tell me that this isnt working for me ...hmmmmm
  • chubaway
    chubaway Posts: 1,645 Member
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    I find it quite entertaining that some people, like PepperWorm, get so upset that people choose to eat a certain number of calories per day.

    In my opinion, 1200 calories of clean eating is far better than an 1800 calorie diet that includes a lot of crap!

    I eat 1350 calories a day. I eat clean. I get all my nutrients. I am always satisfied. I'm losing fat!
  • elvensnow
    elvensnow Posts: 154 Member
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    For someone who says 1200 is there "number".... feel free to post here or message me your details (age/height/weight/sex/how much you do cardio/lift/how busy your job is) and lets see what the score really is :o))

    If you're still around, I'll bite.

    I am 5'5" female, age 27. Weight 181 lbs.
    Sedentary desk job 8 hours a day. After work I may shop/house work. I sleep 8 hour average. MFP gives me 1200 but I don't like eating that low.

    I just started lifting weights (heavy) 3 days a week for approx 30 minutes. I do cardio- intervals for ~20 minutes- once or twice a week.

    Thanks for taking the time.

    And edit just so I don't feel like I'm derailing the thread: I don't like eating 1200, even net, but some people manage. To each their own I guess.
  • mhoeff1
    mhoeff1 Posts: 163 Member
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    mfp says I should eat 1200 a day however I feel hungry still so i HAVE BEEN EATING 1400 MOST OF THE TIME BUT HAVE HAD AS HIGH AS 1700 THINKING 1400 is best for me since I SIT ON MY BUTT MOST OF THE TIME howeever I do wodner if I should drop these calories the more weight I loose kinda like how weight watchers lowers your points the more you loose the less you get speaking of weight watchers it doesnt work for me I used all my points on junk food
  • babydiego87
    babydiego87 Posts: 905 Member
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    People need to mind their own business to be honest.
  • VpinkLotus
    VpinkLotus Posts: 849 Member
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    ...and what does 1200 mean anyway? I start at 1240 set by MFP, then I log all my workout cals. At the end of the day after exercise I probably end up eating about 1500-1600, so is that still 1200 that seems to upset you so? I think we ought to put the energy we spend into being judgy back into taking care of our own bodies. Seems like a better plan. Just sayin'
  • marciebrian
    marciebrian Posts: 853 Member
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    Would hell freeze over if we went one day with throwing a b**ch-fit over how many calories people eat? You think you care about their health? You don't or you would have been this persistently aggressive about how bad obesity is for a person. Get off your high horse and get to the gym.

    Only quoted because it made me laugh ...:laugh: that said, I agree!
  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,785 Member
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    We are ALL special snowflakes but some refuse to see that. Not sure why? We all lose differently because our system works that's way. IMO if we were all the same we'd all be fat or we'd all be skinny or we'd all have cancer or we'd all be nuts. Whatever. My lifestyle my way your lifestyle your way. Enjoy YOUR life and do what you got to do, but let others do the same.

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