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Moms with open diaries eating 1200 calories

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Replies

  • hnyzthms
    hnyzthms Posts: 393 Member
    You can add me..I'm changing to 1300 cals next Monday and know I will struggle with it so this may help me too x
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    @mntnwmn477 how tall are you and how much weight do you want to lose? Unless you are short, 1200 could be an overly aggressive goal. Lots of women get 1200 fixed into their brain when they could easily eat more and still lose weight.

    This^

    OP - if 1200 makes you cranky, hungry (whathaveyou) bump up your calories. It's more important to stay the course, than it is to lose quickly.

    If you want to double check your numbers....try these (reasonable) weekly weight loss goals:
    Pound per week goals
    75+ lbs set to lose 2 lb range
    Between 40 - 75 lbs set to lose 1.5 lb range
    Between 25-40 lbs set to lose 1 lb range
    Between 15-25 lbs set to lose 1 -.50 lb range
    Less than 15 lbs set to lose 0.5 lbs range

    I ate 1200 when I was younger. It was popular back in the day too. My only snacks were veggies & sugar free "desserts."
  • MTgal477
    MTgal477 Posts: 829 Member
    @TeaBea I don't get cranky or hungry or anything like that when I eat 1200 or so, I'm just mainly looking for more "ideas" on what I can eat throughout the day, instead of the same things over and over. And I don't steer clear of any foods....because then I find that I crave them even more! If I were to eat only veggies and sugar free desserts, I'd never make it! Lol.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    mntnwmn477 wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    @mntnwmn477 how tall are you and how much weight do you want to lose? Unless you are short, 1200 could be an overly aggressive goal. Lots of women get 1200 fixed into their brain when they could easily eat more and still lose weight.

    @kshama2001 I'm about 5'2" and started at 196 lbs and I'm currently 170....trying to get to around 130. MFP is what set my calories to 1200 because I wanted to lose about 2 pounds a week....I was on 1350 for a while, but the loss just felt so slow and I'm trying to "speed it up" a bit, that's why I adjusted it. And I don't get hungry, 1200 seems to be ok for me, I just like to know what kind of variety of foods I can eat that are lower in calories all that I can eat here and there without going over...I'm a snacker :/ lol.

    What weight loss per week did you pick to get 1350 calories?
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    mntnwmn477 wrote: »
    @TeaBea I don't get cranky or hungry or anything like that when I eat 1200 or so, I'm just mainly looking for more "ideas" on what I can eat throughout the day, instead of the same things over and over. And I don't steer clear of any foods....because then I find that I crave them even more! If I were to eat only veggies and sugar free desserts, I'd never make it! Lol.

    I didn't steer clear of anything on 1200 either. But I do eat more because I'm trying to limit lean muscle mass loss....this time (over 50).

    My point was, after you get a decent amount of protein, and you try to meet fat goals, 1200 doesn't leave room for very much in the way of snacks. Most of my 1200 calories was in meals. But I could fit in a 60 calorie pudding cup, some air popped popcorn, or some veggies.
  • julia0427
    julia0427 Posts: 64 Member
    MFP has me at 1520 calories/ day but you can add me if u want. Lol.
  • Jrjenk3
    Jrjenk3 Posts: 3 Member
    You can add me! Jrjenk3 I'm a working mom of 2 kids. I shoot for 1200 calories a day.
  • MTgal477
    MTgal477 Posts: 829 Member
    @shadow2soul I think I had it set for 1.5 before I changed it
  • MTgal477
    MTgal477 Posts: 829 Member
    @TeaBea I'm always trying to do low carb, high fat/protein....I'm not strict on it, I'm just trying to keep my carbs lower. Which can make it hard to keep at my 1200 too.....right now my meals/snacks consist of coffee, eggs, sausages, cheese, lunch meats (salami, ham...), chicken, bacon, asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, elk, deer, beef, pork rinds (YUM, lol), jerky, nuts and the occasional cookie :wink:
    I'm just wanting to get some more ideas of things I could eat to switch it up a bit.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    OP as @kshama2001 said, 2 lbs/week and 1200 cals may be too aggressive of a loss goal for you, as the stats that @TeaBea pointed out, 1 lb - 1.5lb/week may be more realistic for you. Also, are you eating back at least a portion of any exercise calories you earn? Because your original post indicated you were eating 1200 cals, if that's all you are eating and then you are exercising as well, you would be netting below 1200 which isn't advisable.

    For what it's worth - I'm a bit older than you, but same height (5'2) and started on MFP at 153 lbs with a goal weight of 125. I also have two small kids, but work outside the home at a desk job. MFP initially set me at 1200 to lose 1 lb/week, but I found it unsustainable for me as I was always over, even with eating back exercise calories. I was still losing though, so I started reading the forums about how 1200 is often too aggressive of a goal, even for petite women.

    I changed my goal first to 1400, then to 1500, and that was net cals - so I was eating more like 1600-1800 and still losing a pound/week. That was with only walking a few times a week for exercise. Then I got a FitBit, and realized that as a busy working mom of two kids, I was much more active than I had thought, and was averaging about 10K steps a day. I was only about 15 lbs from my goal at that point, so I changed my settings to lose 0.5lb/week, and kept increasing my activity. I lost the weight I set out to lose, and am now maintaining below my original goal weight, around 120 lbs, and my TDEE is about 2200 cals/day.

    So long story short - it is definitely possible to lose weight eating more, and as a busy mom, you really don't want to burn out because you are tired, hungry, etc.

    Good luck!

  • MTgal477
    MTgal477 Posts: 829 Member
    @WinoGelato Congrats on reaching your goal, that's awesome!! I too work outside the home, in an office, at a desk all day :( but I DO exercise at home in the evenings....it's not much, but it's something. And no, I don't eat back my exercise calories. I typically reach my 1200, then I get in 200-350 of exercise that night. Surprisingly, even at 1200, I'm not hungry or tired or burnt out. And I can always switch back to 1350, like I've had it the past few months, but I really don't see the need to do that right now. My goal was to lose a little faster than I have been, so that's why I dropped it down to 1200. My issue isn't about my calorie goal being so low, I'm just wanting to get more ideas of what other ladies with that calorie amount are eating, so that maybe I can switch up my foods a bit :)
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    mntnwmn477 wrote: »
    @WinoGelato Congrats on reaching your goal, that's awesome!! I too work outside the home, in an office, at a desk all day :( but I DO exercise at home in the evenings....it's not much, but it's something. And no, I don't eat back my exercise calories. I typically reach my 1200, then I get in 200-350 of exercise that night. Surprisingly, even at 1200, I'm not hungry or tired or burnt out. And I can always switch back to 1350, like I've had it the past few months, but I really don't see the need to do that right now. My goal was to lose a little faster than I have been, so that's why I dropped it down to 1200. My issue isn't about my calorie goal being so low, I'm just wanting to get more ideas of what other ladies with that calorie amount are eating, so that maybe I can switch up my foods a bit :)

    Losing weight faster isn't always for the best, you risk loss of lean body mass, fatigue, hair loss, brittle nails, etc. You may not be experiencing them yet as it seems this is a new process for you but often people who have too large of a deficit end up dissatisfied with the end results (skinny fat) or find the deficit unsustainable.

    You are very motivated and that's great but taking a bit of a slower approach may yield higher chances of long term success.

    Good luck.

  • hyperbeth1
    hyperbeth1 Posts: 70 Member
    You can add me. I eat around 1340 a day. I have 4 kids.
  • cassybubby
    cassybubby Posts: 37 Member
    I'm not a mum, but I am on 1200 per day and have an open diary if you want to add me as a friend :)
  • mindaroo76
    mindaroo76 Posts: 19 Member
    I think my diary is open. I try to stay around 1200 as well and am a mom of 4, including 4 y/o twins :o
    I've been at this a year and when I work out 6 days a week and keep my calories at 1200, I lose 2-3 lbs a week. I've been doing "challenges" at my gym that are 3 months long that require us to weigh in every Monday, log our food, and work out at least 3 days a week. It's been a process as I've lost 23 lbs, but gained a bit back between challenges (because I stop logging and watching my portions, etc.) It's taken me a year to learn what I need to do to lose weight consistently, what portions to eat, what foods to eat, etc. I'm currently working on my last 17 lbs. I will tell you though, the first month to six weeks of reducing calories to 1200 were the hardest. I was hungry all the time. But after I got through the first 4-6 weeks, I wasn't starving all the time and lost my cravings for sweets/junk food. It felt pretty good! The key is consistency though!

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