1200 Calories or 1500 Calories!? Help!
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Day_knee
Posts: 85 Member
I started last Monday thinking that if I cut my calories to 1200 that I will lose weight. I read on here that there must be a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. I believe that. I have lost 3 pounds and it's only Saturday, which is good and I am glad. But my question is...do you think 1200 is too low. I am currently 230 pounds. My first goal is to lose 50 pounds. I see so many posts where people are doing a 1500 calorie diet because of the fear of the body going into starvation mode. Is it possible my body could do that on a 1200 calorie diet? I guess I am just trying to figure out which would be best for me and not doing something that will make my body think I am starving it and hold on to the weight.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
0
Replies
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Starvation mode, as in your body ceasing fat burning due to too few calories, is a fallacy. Don't even worry about that.
However, with your stats, I think that 1200 as a goal is completely unnecessary. I went from 202.5 to 150 eating 1750-1850 on average. For you that could be a goal of 1500 plus adding and eating 250 calories of exercise. Or you could just set a goal of 1750-1850 and not log exercise.
It is better to eat as much as you can while losing. This helps your motivation and you're more likely to find the changes that you're making sustainable in the long run. Once you hit a patch where you're sure you're logging accurately but haven't lost in 4+ weeks, drop your calories a bit (50-100.) No need to make 250 or 500 calorie changes.
Best of luck to you
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For me, ensure for breakfast and lunch. Or fruit/veggie drinks, etc. Then try to have a balanced dinner
I usually go a bit over my 1200 goal though since, due to snow storm, haven't been able to get to store to buy healthy foods to cook. I joined eight days ago.0 -
Why are you looking at 1200 or 1500? Did you enter your stats into MFP? With 50 pounds to lose, I'd suggest entering a 1lb/wk loss goal. When you get to around 20 pounds, lower that to .5lb/wk.
Enter your food accurately (choose correct entries, measure or weigh your food). For best accuracy, you should weigh solid foods, but you don't have to start there if you don't want to. If, however, you are not losing and are also not using a food scale, at that point I would suggest getting one. It's easier to use than measuring cups (and much, much more accurate), but some people can be intimidated by starting there.
Finally, enter your exercise ans start with eating 50-75% of those calories to account for inaccurate estimations.
Do that for a minimum of 4 weeks, but 6 weeks is even better. If necessary, make adjustments at that point.0 -
Starvation mode, as in your body ceasing fat burning due to too few calories, is a fallacy. Don't even worry about that.
However, with your stats, I think that 1200 as a goal is completely unnecessary. I went from 202.5 to 150 eating 1750-1850 on average. For you that could be a goal of 1500 plus adding and eating 250 calories of exercise. Or you could just set a goal of 1750-1850 and not log exercise.
It is better to eat as much as you can while losing. This helps your motivation and you're more likely to find the changes that you're making sustainable in the long run. Once you hit a patch where you're sure you're logging accurately but haven't lost in 4+ weeks, drop your calories a bit (50-100.) No need to make 250 or 500 calorie changes.
Best of luck to you
Seriously? See this is where I get so confused and don't understand. If I eat that much I am sure (of course this is likely only in my mind) that I will not lose any weight at all. I realize I didn't get to 230 by not eating..(the extra 20 or so is from a new medication my doc put me on and sadly causes weight gain) but I seriously would go days with only eating one meal a day. Then there were days I would eat breakfast lunch and dinner. This is always where I get so confused by eating and how much to eat. I just figured that if I stick to a 1200 calorie diet the weight has to come off no matter what! I don't feel bad on only 1200 calories...some days it seems like quite a lot to eat considering I am mostly used to eating once a day. I will definitely consider upping my calories..I am just worried I may not be able to eat that much lol0 -
Starvation mode, as in your body ceasing fat burning due to too few calories, is a fallacy. Don't even worry about that.
However, with your stats, I think that 1200 as a goal is completely unnecessary. I went from 202.5 to 150 eating 1750-1850 on average. For you that could be a goal of 1500 plus adding and eating 250 calories of exercise. Or you could just set a goal of 1750-1850 and not log exercise.
It is better to eat as much as you can while losing. This helps your motivation and you're more likely to find the changes that you're making sustainable in the long run. Once you hit a patch where you're sure you're logging accurately but haven't lost in 4+ weeks, drop your calories a bit (50-100.) No need to make 250 or 500 calorie changes.
Best of luck to you
Seriously? See this is where I get so confused and don't understand. If I eat that much I am sure (of course this is likely only in my mind) that I will not lose any weight at all. I realize I didn't get to 230 by not eating..(the extra 20 or so is from a new medication my doc put me on and sadly causes weight gain) but I seriously would go days with only eating one meal a day. Then there were days I would eat breakfast lunch and dinner. This is always where I get so confused by eating and how much to eat. I just figured that if I stick to a 1200 calorie diet the weight has to come off no matter what! I don't feel bad on only 1200 calories...some days it seems like quite a lot to eat considering I am mostly used to eating once a day. I will definitely consider upping my calories..I am just worried I may not be able to eat that much lol
You're on MFP, which is a tool for you to use. I'd really suggest starting out using the tool as intended (enter your stats without an aggressive goal and eat what MFP tells you to). Once you understand more about how MFP works and how the process itself works for you, then start tweaking to suit you. I think worrying about everything else creates distractions when you're starting out.0 -
Why are you looking at 1200 or 1500? Did you enter your stats into MFP? With 50 pounds to lose, I'd suggest entering a 1lb/wk loss goal. When you get to around 20 pounds, lower that to .5lb/wk.
Enter your food accurately (choose correct entries, measure or weigh your food). For best accuracy, you should weigh solid foods, but you don't have to start there if you don't want to. If, however, you are not losing and are also not using a food scale, at that point I would suggest getting one. It's easier to use than measuring cups (and much, much more accurate), but some people can be intimidated by starting there.
Finally, enter your exercise ans start with eating 50-75% of those calories to account for inaccurate estimations.
Do that for a minimum of 4 weeks, but 6 weeks is even better. If necessary, make adjustments at that point.
Yes I entered them into MFP and yes I chose 2 pounds a week and it said 1200 calories. Mostly my questions about the 1200 vs the 1500 is due to reading a ton of these forums where people are saying 1200 is too low and wont yield weight loss and some say 1500 is great and they still lose weight.
I have a scale and I weigh ALL my solid meat..food..whatever lol. The only things I have not been weighing or things like lettuce and tomato's. I even weight my mushrooms! I stick to 4 oz of protein for lunch and dinner. I enter ALL my food accurately...down to the lousy sugar and fat free jello for 10 calories per serving.
I am just curious of 1200 is too little and will my body think I am starving it? For as crappy as I have eaten my adult life (one meal a day for years) perhaps my body will not recognize that 1200 calories for me to consume is quite a feat!0 -
Why are you looking at 1200 or 1500? Did you enter your stats into MFP? With 50 pounds to lose, I'd suggest entering a 1lb/wk loss goal. When you get to around 20 pounds, lower that to .5lb/wk.
Enter your food accurately (choose correct entries, measure or weigh your food). For best accuracy, you should weigh solid foods, but you don't have to start there if you don't want to. If, however, you are not losing and are also not using a food scale, at that point I would suggest getting one. It's easier to use than measuring cups (and much, much more accurate), but some people can be intimidated by starting there.
Finally, enter your exercise ans start with eating 50-75% of those calories to account for inaccurate estimations.
Do that for a minimum of 4 weeks, but 6 weeks is even better. If necessary, make adjustments at that point.
Yes I entered them into MFP and yes I chose 2 pounds a week and it said 1200 calories. Mostly my questions about the 1200 vs the 1500 is due to reading a ton of these forums where people are saying 1200 is too low and wont yield weight loss and some say 1500 is great and they still lose weight.
I have a scale and I weigh ALL my solid meat..food..whatever lol. The only things I have not been weighing or things like lettuce and tomato's. I even weight my mushrooms! I stick to 4 oz of protein for lunch and dinner. I enter ALL my food accurately...down to the lousy sugar and fat free jello for 10 calories per serving.
I am just curious of 1200 is too little and will my body think I am starving it? For as crappy as I have eaten my adult life (one meal a day for years) perhaps my body will not recognize that 1200 calories for me to consume is quite a feat!
No, it won't think you're starving it, as jemhh touched on. 2 pounds is, in my opinion, too aggressive with 50 pounds to lose. Eating one meal a day isn't necessarily crappy. Some people choose to eat that way because it works for them. And eating 1200 calories in one meal actually isn't that hard, if you're eating high calorie foods. I still suggest going for 1 pound a week, for sustainability purposes if for nothing else.0 -
Why are you looking at 1200 or 1500? Did you enter your stats into MFP? With 50 pounds to lose, I'd suggest entering a 1lb/wk loss goal. When you get to around 20 pounds, lower that to .5lb/wk.
Enter your food accurately (choose correct entries, measure or weigh your food). For best accuracy, you should weigh solid foods, but you don't have to start there if you don't want to. If, however, you are not losing and are also not using a food scale, at that point I would suggest getting one. It's easier to use than measuring cups (and much, much more accurate), but some people can be intimidated by starting there.
Finally, enter your exercise ans start with eating 50-75% of those calories to account for inaccurate estimations.
Do that for a minimum of 4 weeks, but 6 weeks is even better. If necessary, make adjustments at that point.
Yes I entered them into MFP and yes I chose 2 pounds a week and it said 1200 calories. Mostly my questions about the 1200 vs the 1500 is due to reading a ton of these forums where people are saying 1200 is too low and wont yield weight loss and some say 1500 is great and they still lose weight.
I have a scale and I weigh ALL my solid meat..food..whatever lol. The only things I have not been weighing or things like lettuce and tomato's. I even weight my mushrooms! I stick to 4 oz of protein for lunch and dinner. I enter ALL my food accurately...down to the lousy sugar and fat free jello for 10 calories per serving.
I am just curious of 1200 is too little and will my body think I am starving it? For as crappy as I have eaten my adult life (one meal a day for years) perhaps my body will not recognize that 1200 calories for me to consume is quite a feat!
No, it won't think you're starving it, as jemhh touched on. 2 pounds is, in my opinion, too aggressive with 50 pounds to lose. Eating one meal a day isn't necessarily crappy. Some people choose to eat that way because it works for them. And eating 1200 calories in one meal actually isn't that hard, if you're eating high calorie foods. I still suggest going for 1 pound a week, for sustainability purposes if for nothing else.
Ok thank you so much. I think I will go ahead and change MFP to one pound a week and work on upping my calories. I won't worry so much if I cannot make 1500 a day but I will try to do at least 1200! Thanks so much.0 -
If things don't progress as you expect I recommend seeing a good nutritionist. It took ALL the guesswork out of it for me and helped me to get things "set" to a safe level at the get go. They look at all your nutrition too, not at calories. Hopefully you don't need it but keep it in mind if you get really stuck.0
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Why are you looking at 1200 or 1500? Did you enter your stats into MFP? With 50 pounds to lose, I'd suggest entering a 1lb/wk loss goal. When you get to around 20 pounds, lower that to .5lb/wk.
Enter your food accurately (choose correct entries, measure or weigh your food). For best accuracy, you should weigh solid foods, but you don't have to start there if you don't want to. If, however, you are not losing and are also not using a food scale, at that point I would suggest getting one. It's easier to use than measuring cups (and much, much more accurate), but some people can be intimidated by starting there.
Finally, enter your exercise ans start with eating 50-75% of those calories to account for inaccurate estimations.
Do that for a minimum of 4 weeks, but 6 weeks is even better. If necessary, make adjustments at that point.
Yes I entered them into MFP and yes I chose 2 pounds a week and it said 1200 calories. Mostly my questions about the 1200 vs the 1500 is due to reading a ton of these forums where people are saying 1200 is too low and wont yield weight loss and some say 1500 is great and they still lose weight.
I have a scale and I weigh ALL my solid meat..food..whatever lol. The only things I have not been weighing or things like lettuce and tomato's. I even weight my mushrooms! I stick to 4 oz of protein for lunch and dinner. I enter ALL my food accurately...down to the lousy sugar and fat free jello for 10 calories per serving.
I am just curious of 1200 is too little and will my body think I am starving it? For as crappy as I have eaten my adult life (one meal a day for years) perhaps my body will not recognize that 1200 calories for me to consume is quite a feat!
No, it won't think you're starving it, as jemhh touched on. 2 pounds is, in my opinion, too aggressive with 50 pounds to lose. Eating one meal a day isn't necessarily crappy. Some people choose to eat that way because it works for them. And eating 1200 calories in one meal actually isn't that hard, if you're eating high calorie foods. I still suggest going for 1 pound a week, for sustainability purposes if for nothing else.
Additionally, if you don't already have one, get a digital kitchen scale and weigh solids. Measure liquids with a measuring cup. Log your food using entries with verifiable nutrition data such as those from the USDA website or from food labels. I know it's not fun to hear but nobody ends up overweight by barely eating or eating normal portions one day and nothing the next. We all got fat by eating too much.0 -
FWIW I don't think 2 pounds a week is too aggressive for a woman over 200 pounds.
I have MFP set to 2 pounds a week, currently at 195 and it is giving me 1520 a day, so I question how it would give someone heavier 320 fewer calories.
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It's a popular forum mantra-- 1200 is too low. You can lose at 1500 too, most likely, it'll just be slower. If 1200 was dangerous, MFP would've raised it long ago (or been sued for ruined metabolisms or whatever the myth claims happens). It's your choice, as the software suggests. At 230, losing 2 lbs. a week as a goal is perfectly safe. If you feel so restricted at 1200 that you want to quit, 1500 might be better. But if you feel more committed when the scale drops quickly, 1200 might be better.Why are you looking at 1200 or 1500? Did you enter your stats into MFP? With 50 pounds to lose, I'd suggest entering a 1lb/wk loss goal. When you get to around 20 pounds, lower that to .5lb/wk.
Enter your food accurately (choose correct entries, measure or weigh your food). For best accuracy, you should weigh solid foods, but you don't have to start there if you don't want to. If, however, you are not losing and are also not using a food scale, at that point I would suggest getting one. It's easier to use than measuring cups (and much, much more accurate), but some people can be intimidated by starting there.
Finally, enter your exercise ans start with eating 50-75% of those calories to account for inaccurate estimations.
Do that for a minimum of 4 weeks, but 6 weeks is even better. If necessary, make adjustments at that point.
Yes I entered them into MFP and yes I chose 2 pounds a week and it said 1200 calories. Mostly my questions about the 1200 vs the 1500 is due to reading a ton of these forums where people are saying 1200 is too low and wont yield weight loss and some say 1500 is great and they still lose weight.
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whether it's too low or not is really your call...can you sustain that aggressive an approach for a LONG time. At your size, you could lose weight eating more...but like I said, that's up to you.0
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FWIW I don't think 2 pounds a week is too aggressive for a woman over 200 pounds.
I have MFP set to 2 pounds a week, currently at 195 and it is giving me 1520 a day, so I question how it would give someone heavier 320 fewer calories.
You are taller or have set yourself as having a higher lifestyle activity level if your maintenance calories without exercise are 2520.0 -
Why are you looking at 1200 or 1500? Did you enter your stats into MFP? With 50 pounds to lose, I'd suggest entering a 1lb/wk loss goal. When you get to around 20 pounds, lower that to .5lb/wk.
Enter your food accurately (choose correct entries, measure or weigh your food). For best accuracy, you should weigh solid foods, but you don't have to start there if you don't want to. If, however, you are not losing and are also not using a food scale, at that point I would suggest getting one. It's easier to use than measuring cups (and much, much more accurate), but some people can be intimidated by starting there.
Finally, enter your exercise ans start with eating 50-75% of those calories to account for inaccurate estimations.
Do that for a minimum of 4 weeks, but 6 weeks is even better. If necessary, make adjustments at that point.
Yes I entered them into MFP and yes I chose 2 pounds a week and it said 1200 calories. Mostly my questions about the 1200 vs the 1500 is due to reading a ton of these forums where people are saying 1200 is too low and wont yield weight loss and some say 1500 is great and they still lose weight.
I have a scale and I weigh ALL my solid meat..food..whatever lol. The only things I have not been weighing or things like lettuce and tomato's. I even weight my mushrooms! I stick to 4 oz of protein for lunch and dinner. I enter ALL my food accurately...down to the lousy sugar and fat free jello for 10 calories per serving.
I am just curious of 1200 is too little and will my body think I am starving it? For as crappy as I have eaten my adult life (one meal a day for years) perhaps my body will not recognize that 1200 calories for me to consume is quite a feat!
No, it won't think you're starving it, as jemhh touched on. 2 pounds is, in my opinion, too aggressive with 50 pounds to lose. Eating one meal a day isn't necessarily crappy. Some people choose to eat that way because it works for them. And eating 1200 calories in one meal actually isn't that hard, if you're eating high calorie foods. I still suggest going for 1 pound a week, for sustainability purposes if for nothing else.
Additionally, if you don't already have one, get a digital kitchen scale and weigh solids. Measure liquids with a measuring cup. Log your food using entries with verifiable nutrition data such as those from the USDA website or from food labels. I know it's not fun to hear but nobody ends up overweight by barely eating or eating normal portions one day and nothing the next. We all got fat by eating too much.
I don't usually measure liquids as I am drinking coffee and water. I love coke but have not had it at all since starting Monday.
I have had my share of eating all day...especially when its food I love like chips and guac or cake or pie or icecream or whatever..I am not saying "I only eat once a day why am I fat" I am just explaining that my general way of eating...typically once a day for many years..(although those years I was about 180) I have intermittently eaten only once a day for a while then two or three times a day and not food that was healthy or good for me. I am not one of the woe is me why am I fat people...I know why I am fat! I was saying that for the majority of my adult life I think I ruined my metabolism by only eating once a day for so long and I was wondering if my body thinks I am starving it by giving it 1200 calories when in one meal I could literally eat way more. I want to be healthy and eat breakfast lunch and dinner in the hopes that my body realizes I am not starving it. My question was more in terms of will my body think it's starving itself on 1200 calories or is it better to do 1500 so my body works it way out of starvation mode. I think with everyone responding to my post has given me a better idea though. I think that for the most part I will stick to at a minimum of 1200 but never go over 1500. Perhaps that is a good compromise?!0 -
FWIW I don't think 2 pounds a week is too aggressive for a woman over 200 pounds.
I have MFP set to 2 pounds a week, currently at 195 and it is giving me 1520 a day, so I question how it would give someone heavier 320 fewer calories.
well it did. I entered my current weight on Monday and it said 1200 calories. Its my first time using this I can't imagine I got it wrong by entering the appropriate numbers. I am 5'6 and when I started on Monday I was, I believe 235. after a couple of days the scale said 233 and this morning it says 231.2.
I hope I am not doing it wrong.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »whether it's too low or not is really your call...can you sustain that aggressive an approach for a LONG time. At your size, you could lose weight eating more...but like I said, that's up to you.
I like to think I can maintain this aggressive approach. I mean..I've sort of come to be determined to lose weight and I hope I can continue to do it for the long haul. I suppose if I couldn't I would up it to a solid 1500 maybe 1600. I think I will do a minimum of 1200 though and not go over 1500.0 -
FWIW I don't think 2 pounds a week is too aggressive for a woman over 200 pounds.
I have MFP set to 2 pounds a week, currently at 195 and it is giving me 1520 a day, so I question how it would give someone heavier 320 fewer calories.
well it did. I entered my current weight on Monday and it said 1200 calories. Its my first time using this I can't imagine I got it wrong by entering the appropriate numbers. I am 5'6 and when I started on Monday I was, I believe 235. after a couple of days the scale said 233 and this morning it says 231.2.
I hope I am not doing it wrong.
I think that for a woman over 40, about the only way to get it to suggest over 1500 calories a day when set to 2 lbs. a week loss is to say you're 'very active'. I think that's not the right setting for probably 99% of us. So I think you did it right.0 -
It sounds like you did it right. However, I am also 5'6", currently 220. I eat 1500 as it's working for me so far (started at 225 a couple weeks ago). I'd like to lose faster but I know I can't sustain 1200 a day for very long, and I don't want to risk a binge.
Best of luck on your journey!0 -
I am on 1200, I usually have between 1000 and 1100 in food and I don't eat back my exercise calories. And I feel great. In my opinion, you should listen to your body. If you feel hungry, tired, sick, etc. then something is not right. But if you feel good, keep going.
Good luck 0
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