New - Only 1,2000 calories!

twinketta

One of the biggest pet peeves on MFP and the cause of lots of controversy is the 1200 cals a day eating (not 12,000 I wish lol as in the topic header)

If you sign up with MFP and put your stats in and it gives you a goal, then why complain about it?

You can exercise and earn calories to eat more. It really is not rocket science.

Lot`s of people, including myself, have eaten at 1200 cals a day. Believe me, you can eat a lot of food.

I ate 1200 cals a day at MFP goals + exercise cals. I have been in maintenance 8 months or more and my MFP goal now is 1560 + exercise cals.

I have never cut out any food from my eating habits.

leebesstoad

1200-1400 is probably pretty close if you are planning on losing 10-12 pounds in 3 months. There is no way around one simple mathematical fact: one pound is 3500 calories so to lose 1 pound a week means you need to average a 500 calorie a day deficit. Weight loss boils down to a simple mathematical equation.

I did 1200 calories/day for most of my weight loss and honestly I wasn't hungry. Unlike others, I don't like fruits and veggies so I had to do it another way. First off, one key is oatmeal in the morning. A low calorie, slow burning carb that will fill you up for hours. The next is eat 200-300 calories 5-6 times a day. If you eat frequently, you don't get hungry. And your body will adjust and learn that you will be feeding it soon and quiet some of those hunger pangs. That takes just a little while I had lots of small sandwiches on sandwich thins (which are half the calories of 2 slices of bread). A PB sandwich every morning, ham, turkey, roast beef. All about 200-300 calories per "meal". You can do it any number of ways. But for me, the key ingredient is planning. I always logged my food at the beginning of the day before I ate to see what I had room for, where I had extra room for a treat. It takes some getting used to, but it can be worth it.

ohkabash

Yes, yes, yes ^^^^.


While I love fruit and veggies and found that easy to incorporate into my meals. I am 100% a planner and found it super easy for me to see what I was going to be eating for the day ahead of time.

firecat918

less then 1200 cals is super easy if you think about what food has carbs in it. Eat fruits and veggies with low carbs such as, apples, peaches, oranges, cantelope, and mango, cabbage, asparagus, mushrooms, cauliflower, onion, and tomato. Cut out carbs by eating just a few low carb crackers as snacks, Eat only lean meats. Drink diet soda, and LOTS of water. Chew gum if you get really hungry and take vitamins!
If you want to exercise add a little more foods with carbs in it. You will be able to do this if you set your mind to it. MFP is a wonderful tool to help you decide if the food is worth eating.
I'm only 5'3" too but set my weight goal at 120lbs. Go here http://www.bmi-calculator.net/ to help you set a realistic goal for yourself. That site explains calories, and %fat in our bodies. I too set my lifestyle as sedentary because I sit at a computer all day. I choose to not be as active and eat less. I do exercise on days I want to indulge.

shortyboom

Thanks everyone for all the advice! You guys are great! I do plan to add exercise into my routine so I think that will help. I did Weight Watchers a year ago and lost 20 lbs but then I fell off the wagon and gained 10 lbs back

Someone asked what I want to gain from losing weight...

I want to feel good about my appearance and have more energy to play with my 4 yr old.

Any tips on food or meals that will fit into my 1,200 limit? I have a huge sweet tooth (anything except chocolate). I do not drink soda. In fact, I don't drink very much. I can go an entire day with only coffee for breakfast and a bottle of water at lunch.

Thanks everyone!

quill16

I am trying to maintain between 130 and 140 lbs and am also 5'3". I eat 1200 when I go over 140. Yes I feel a bit hungry, but I lose on that and when I get to my low weight I re-adjust to 1400-1500cal. You are welcome to check out my diary

leebesstoad

I can go an entire day with only coffee for breakfast and a bottle of water at lunch.

Don't do that. That's the worst thing you can do. Spreading your meals out throughout the day is the best, easiest way to do it. I use bodybuilders as the example because they have nutrition down. I know some people who eat 5-10 thousand calories a day because their body burns so fast with the muscle and metabolism. And they eat 5-6 meals a day, at a minimum. If your body knows it is being fed regularly, it won't try to go into shutdown and preserve fat. Eat regularly and your metabolism will speed up gradually. I had my resting metabolism tested. My RMR as about 2250 calories/day. One way I did it was by eating 5-6 times a day in small meals. My body knows it will be fed so it can just burn away. And I almost never get hungry. Most times I have to force myself to eat because I know I need to. Eating very regularly in small amounts will do that.

I suggested on thing earlier that is a staple: oatmeal. Others suggested fruits and vegetables which are great. Lean meats. Fish is great. Just read labels of processed foods or avoid them as much as you can. And plan, plan, plan. And you can do it.

toutmonpossible

1,200 calories is not that low, it's not unhealthy if you eat a balanced diet, but if you can't do it, don't.

shortyboom

Let me clarify.... I only drink average of 2 beverages per day. I know i need to drink more water. Below is my normal meal plan for the day

Breakfast
Coffee with fat free vanilla creamer and one packet of Splenda
Dannon light and fit yogurt
Banana
(Sometimes a thin bagel)

Lunch
Smart Ones frozen entree
Bottle of water
Fruit
(I'm usually still hungry and will walk around the office looking for candy or leftover food from meetings)

Afternoon snack
Fruit or something with carbs

Dinner
Lately I haven't been planning out my dinners so I'll just eat whatever is around. Bowl of Cheerios with milk, or pasta, or hot dogs.
*I plan to get back to my normal routine of planning my weekly dinners in advance

salladeve

My calories are set at 1450, I raised it myself from 1200 by decreasing my loss to 1lb per week. According to my diary I eat anywhere from 1200 to 1400, and I do not eat back my exercise calories. I keep under the 1450 because I don't weigh and measure EVERYTHING, I kind of estimate now that I know what a healthy portion is. I eat healthy and I'm usually not hungry, although some days I'm hungry no matter what I eat (probably hormones).

I am steadily losing about 1.5lbs a week (I lost 7 the first week), and I'm in my 9th week. Give yourself a chance and see what feels comfortable for you, and change you goal in MFP if you need to. Healthy food is filling and you can get the nutrition you need at 12-1400 calories per day.

BTW - if you do more then just walk (which is all I am able to do), you may want to add at least 1/2 of your exercise calories back in, it is totally up to you. If you're hungry use them, if not don't.

shortyboom

Thanks, Buckey! This is very helpful!

DebbieLyn63

Your diet looks very carb-heavy, low fat and low protein. No wonder you are hungry!

My suggestion- switch out fat free creamer for sugar free
Add a lot more protein to your meals-
Egg and cheese omelets with ham and mushrooms are awesome. I use egg beaters and fat free cheese to lower the cals and up the protein content. You can make a huge omelet for well under 300 cals. It will keep you full for quite a while.

Grilled chicken or fish with steamed veggies or salad.
Add avocados to salads or omelets to get some good fats
have some nuts or seeds as snacks to up your healthy fats

Shoot for 80-100 gr of protein per day, and 40-45 gr fats.
Lots of high fiber veggies.

And make yourself get more fluids in. It does really help.

mathstudent

Your diet looks very carb-heavy, low fat and low protein. No wonder you are hungry!

My suggestion- switch out fat free creamer for sugar free
Add a lot more protein to your meals-
Egg and cheese omelets with ham and mushrooms are awesome. I use egg beaters and fat free cheese to lower the cals and up the protein content. You can make a huge omelet for well under 300 cals. It will keep you full for quite a while.

Grilled chicken or fish with steamed veggies or salad.
Add avocados to salads or omelets to get some good fats
have some nuts or seeds as snacks to up your healthy fats

Shoot for 80-100 gr of protein per day, and 40-45 gr fats.
Lots of high fiber veggies.

And make yourself get more fluids in. It does really help.

Second that. And i'm thin, so you should listen to me...

sw0301

Let me clarify.... I only drink average of 2 beverages per day. I know i need to drink more water. Below is my normal meal plan for the day

Breakfast
Coffee with fat free vanilla creamer and one packet of Splenda
Dannon light and fit yogurt
Banana
(Sometimes a thin bagel)

Lunch
Smart Ones frozen entree
Bottle of water
Fruit
(I'm usually still hungry and will walk around the office looking for candy or leftover food from meetings)

Afternoon snack
Fruit or something with carbs

Dinner
Lately I haven't been planning out my dinners so I'll just eat whatever is around. Bowl of Cheerios with milk, or pasta, or hot dogs.
*I plan to get back to my normal routine of planning my weekly dinners in advance

My suggestions...
Start by drinking a lot more water! At least 64 ounces a day, plus more with exercise!
Switch to greek yogurt, makes a huge difference in keeping you full. There are tons of options to choose from too.
Quit eating those silly smart ones, I'd have to eat 3 to even feel like I was slightly full. It's much easier to make an extra chicken breast, etc at dinner for the next day.

Feel free to add me for ideas. I'm not perfect but I know it's possible to stay within 1200-1300. My diary is set at 1300 calories, but with exercise I consume on average 1500. I also have a huge sweet tooth but my hubby convinced me to swear off sweets for July.

jenniferwoodweeg

1200 is low and I thought the same thing. That was 9 weeks ago and 9pounds ago. What I did learn was I need to exercise and then, eat about 1/2 my exercise cal back because mfp was way overestimating my burns. This gave me around 1300-1400 cal per day that I would eat 30 percent protein , 20 percent fat and 60 percent carbs approx. I chose higher protein foods such as greek yogurt and string cheese snacks,etc..

TeaBea

What activity level did you choose? The sedentary one is very low.
Also as I mentioned above, MFP expects you to log exercise and eat those calories n

And with 10 lbs, .5 lbs a week is the ideal goal. The less you have to lose the less deficit you should have.

Hi - I chose sedentary because I have a desk job and sit all day. It said low activity is someone who is on their feet all day like a sales person. Should I change mine to "low" if I plan to exercise?

2 Methods .....

MFP does not assume anyone will exercise .... so you would use sedentary (or lighlty active) then ADD back exercise calories. If you are an infrequent exerciser this is a good plan. You would eat more on "exercise" days..... this might be incentive.

Scooby's calculator (TDEE) ..... this number "should" include exercise up front. Then you take a flat % (deficit) off of that number. This gives you the same calories daily.

Both methods work ..... just pick the one that fits you.

davidb77gm

I'm new to this too but in a week I was able to lose 4 pounds. I am a big guy and am used to eating much more than 1200 calories per day but at my weight and height I am allowed 1800 to 2000 and it says I will still lose weight. What I have found out is that I can eat 'good' fast food - (mostly Subway which I love anyway) and when I get hungry later in the day just eat a little bit of something good. I just had a small amount of cottage cheese and just 4 low cal saltines and I feel much better. This allows for greater flexibility for dinner and even a desert. I hope this helps. Judging from what you say I think maybe you are just experiencing some lows in the day. I am sure you can make your goal.