1200 calories a day and I feel terrible!!! Advice????

trinabot19
trinabot19 Posts: 37 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone!!! I have been on myfitnesspal for a while, its been a very on again off again relationship haha I can never seem to stick with it but this summer Im going to try my hardest!

MFP has set my calories a day to 1200 and Ive been doing this for about 2 weeks now, while I havent been recording everything I eat into MFP I have been very very conscious about my meals and the calories they have in real life, always trying to keep breakfast and lunch at around 300 cal each so dinner can be a little more and so I can have a light snack between lunch and dinner or after dinner depending......

My husband and I recently joined the gym which has been fantastic and I have been taking up running, Im always doing some form of medium to intense workout every day for 30 mins or more but my problem is food..I just cant seem to feel satisfied on such low calories I usually have my breakfast, do my exercise,and then have my lunch but the period between lunch and dinner is KILLING me I get really faint, even when I snack I am still so ravenous!

The amount of calories Im supposed to 'get back' from exercise doesnt seem to be enough as I will usually consume them with just my snack (typically MFP says I get back 100-200ish calories when I feel like I worked much harder than this)

I just dont understand!!! I try to eat more vegetables too because I know they are low cal and healthy but I honestly just hate vegetables..I can eat canned green beans or steamed carrots but I dont really want to eat them every day of my life lol?

Anyways I need advice...Im only trying to lose this extra 15 pounds i have gained the last 3 or so years as Ive just had enough of it. Im only 5'1 at 123 lbs trying to get back to my 105-110ish lbs that I had been for the longest time in my life (im 26 now). When you are so short this extra weight is super noticable and I just want it gone, especially since in the next 2-3 years my husband and I want to start having kids, I want to have lost this weight way before then!

Ive only been really working at this for a couple weeks so will it get easier as my body gets used to this? I feel so stressed out about food now its ridiculous..I get so anxoius to see results and I havent lost anything so far...Ugh not sure what Im doing wrong!

Any advice would be great!
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Replies

  • adoette
    adoette Posts: 181 Member
    Ease up for a little while. It can sometimes help to ease down into the deficit a few hundred at a time. I went down to 1300ish, the deficit I have now and couldnt maintain it at all. I went back up to 1500. After two weeks at that I went back down and haven't had problem since.
  • trinabot19
    trinabot19 Posts: 37 Member
    KateTii wrote: »
    1200 calories is the bare minimum. How aggressive is your weightloss goal? If you only have 15lbs to lose and you're set to 2lbs/week, then no wonder you're hungry!

    hi there! Well I think I have it set to 2 lbs a week, im being pretty aggressive haha. But when I change the settings for only .5 pounds a week MFP only suggests an extra 90 cal (so total 1290) : /

    I Have it set to sedentary as I dont do a whole lot through out the day when Im not exercising..I usually am cleaning, playing with my animals, shopping or hanging out on the couch, it just depends on the day Id say im more between sedentary and lightly active, some days being more active some days not so I wasnt really sure on that one. I dont have school/job during the summer, I am in college fall-spring.

  • KateTii
    KateTii Posts: 886 Member
    trinabot19 wrote: »
    KateTii wrote: »
    1200 calories is the bare minimum. How aggressive is your weightloss goal? If you only have 15lbs to lose and you're set to 2lbs/week, then no wonder you're hungry!

    hi there! Well I think I have it set to 2 lbs a week, im being pretty aggressive haha. But when I change the settings for only .5 pounds a week MFP only suggests an extra 90 cal (so total 1290) : /

    I Have it set to sedentary as I dont do a whole lot through out the day when Im not exercising..I usually am cleaning, playing with my animals, shopping or hanging out on the couch, it just depends on the day Id say im more between sedentary and lightly active, some days being more active some days not so I wasnt really sure on that one. I dont have school/job during the summer, I am in college fall-spring.

    That's strange - it should be much, much more than an extra 90cals. Maybe try putting your goal & details in again and see if the bug fixes itself. I have mine set to sedentary and when I dropped my loss rate I got about 200 calories, but that was from 1lb to .5lb.
  • trinabot19
    trinabot19 Posts: 37 Member
    edited June 2016

    That's strange - it should be much, much more than an extra 90cals. Maybe try putting your goal & details in again and see if the bug fixes itself. I have mine set to sedentary and when I dropped my loss rate I got about 200 calories, but that was from 1lb to .5lb.

    Oh I tried what you suggested! Seemed to work a bit better...I reentered the info and changed it to lightly active (maybe im more active then I thought?? idk haha) and now MFP is saying 1240 cal for 1 pound a week (so not very much) or 1490 cal for .5 pound a week (its 1300 if i keep it at sedentary for .5 a week)

    The 1490 would be more doable Im thinking..but I feel like that will take ages for .5 a week!! Is that better this way? Especially since Ive been trying this dang 1200 a week and havent lost anything at all so far!
  • KateTii
    KateTii Posts: 886 Member
    trinabot19 wrote: »

    That's strange - it should be much, much more than an extra 90cals. Maybe try putting your goal & details in again and see if the bug fixes itself. I have mine set to sedentary and when I dropped my loss rate I got about 200 calories, but that was from 1lb to .5lb.

    Oh I tried what you suggested! Seemed to work a bit better...I reentered the info and changed it to lightly active (maybe im more active then I thought?? idk haha) and now MFP is saying 1240 cal for 1 pound a week (so not very much) or 1490 cal for .5 pound a week (its 1300 if i keep it at sedentary for .5 a week)

    The 1490 would be more doable Im thinking..but I feel like that will take ages for .5 a week!! Is that better this way? Especially since Ive been trying this dang 1200 a week and havent lost anything at all so far!

    I eat 1450 a day & i'm set to sedentary.

    It's definitely slower, but for me, I would've gone crazy on 1200. And going crazy usually ends up with booze, pizza, icecream, chocolate etc - putting me back to where I started. Remember who won the race between the tortise and the hare?

    Go get yourself a food scale so you know exactly how many calories you're having and then eat to 1490 calories. It will be slow but your results are virtually guaranteed, it's at least easier than guessing.
  • trinabot19
    trinabot19 Posts: 37 Member
    KateTii wrote: »
    I eat 1450 a day & i'm set to sedentary.

    It's definitely slower, but for me, I would've gone crazy on 1200. And going crazy usually ends up with booze, pizza, icecream, chocolate etc - putting me back to where I started. Remember who won the race between the tortise and the hare?

    Go get yourself a food scale so you know exactly how many calories you're having and then eat to 1490 calories. It will be slow but your results are virtually guaranteed, it's at least easier than guessing.

    Oh that is true and yea I do feel like I am going a bit crazy LOL! I will have to find a scale thank you for your replies It definitely helped!!!!!!
  • trinabot19
    trinabot19 Posts: 37 Member
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    You only have 15lbs to lose. Change your setting to lose 0.5lbs a week. 2lbs a week is waaay too agressive for you. That amount of weekly loss is reserved for very overweight/obese people.

    Kudos to you for lasting 2 weeks! I did the 1200 calories thing for 3 whole days before I caved, and haven't tried to eat so low again since I'm not into self torture :noway: :wink:

    Thank you for the suggestion haha yes I dont know how I lasted this long tbh even now my tummy is rumbling!!! LOL. I think i was being a little overzealous perhaps, I just cant wait to look good again!
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    trinabot19 wrote: »
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    You only have 15lbs to lose. Change your setting to lose 0.5lbs a week. 2lbs a week is waaay too agressive for you. That amount of weekly loss is reserved for very overweight/obese people.

    Kudos to you for lasting 2 weeks! I did the 1200 calories thing for 3 whole days before I caved, and haven't tried to eat so low again since I'm not into self torture :noway: :wink:

    Thank you for the suggestion haha yes I dont know how I lasted this long tbh even now my tummy is rumbling!!! LOL. I think i was being a little overzealous perhaps, I just cant wait to look good again!

    I know what you mean.. I'm down to my last 4lbs and I'm lucky if i lose 1lb a month!
  • lexylondon
    lexylondon Posts: 89 Member
    I'm on 1200 too and go to the gym or aerobics class an hour plus a day...at first I was soo hungry...particularly for sugar...but I pushed through and it's easier now. What does help is coffee...I drink like 6 cups or more a day, not great lol but it's just short term...
  • lexylondon
    lexylondon Posts: 89 Member
    Oh and I've been losing a kg a week... That's what motivates me to stay on track...as well as compliments from people at the gym..
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    You might want to rethink your food choices too. Try making veggies another way (canned green beans are disgusting - try roasting broccoli or something). Beans are great too. Basically, try to eat less carbs (especially things like bread and obviously refined sugars, as they are not very filling) and focus on more protein, fat, and fiber (beans, whole grains, veggies, some fruit).
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    Is enough of what you're eating protein? For snack try a hard boiled egg, yogurt, quest bars, shakes, etc.
  • Citycat2015
    Citycat2015 Posts: 86 Member
    In terms of controlling hunger, I do fine on 1200 as long as I get lots of protein and fat. I try to limit my carbs to 100-120 grams so I have enough to spend on the other two.
  • _johnfitness
    _johnfitness Posts: 6 Member
    Have you ever tried Carb-cycling?
  • michellemiler
    michellemiler Posts: 16 Member
    so it seems your problem is something else. if you hate vegetables you are to avoid them, don't fatigue your stomach, it also puts adverse effect on your metabolism, don't push yourself for the things you dislike. don't rush for your weight management, it will make you tired. why don't you try something that can boost your efforts, beyond weight management tea is really a good thing for weight management, you can give it a try.
  • Obnoxa
    Obnoxa Posts: 187 Member
    1490 sounds much more reasonable, that should work out a lot better. Yeah, it'll take a bit longer at a .5 lb deficit but no point in racing; you push hard at 1200 calories and your body is going to be more likely to rebel as soon as you try to hold at maintenance. If you have to lose the same 5 - 15 lbs two or three times because as soon as you stopped eating at a deficit the weight started to creep back on, then your not going to arrive and maintain your goal any faster than if you chipped away at it with a .5 lb deficit. Hare and tortoise and all that.
    Anyway, lots of sage advice already posted, so that's my two cents ;) Good luck!
  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,535 Member
    Not to take away from anything anyone else has said, but my own personal experience I'm super hungry more during the day than at night. So I eat 90-99% of my cals from 7am breakfast and then stop by 3pm. So for *me* my experience I was losing within my calorie goals with a 12-14hr fast from 3pm - 6:30/7a.m. (tho not hungry, so fast is an odd term to use imho). I didn't feel hungry and feel very satisfied, too.
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
    I would go closer to maintenance and lift weights, you probably want body recomp (toning up) anyway.
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    edited June 2016
    Yeah, go for the 1490, it's not a race. But also -

    -realise some of the hunger may be temporary - so if you still feel a bit hungry on the higher calories, don't despair, you may adapt. I felt very hungry for the first week or two (I'm on 1500 net average) but then adapted. Hunger is partly a learned response.

    -search these forums for tips on how to reduce hunger, there's lots of wisdom here, from ideas on meal spacing, timings, eating more veg, more protein, more whole grain - what keeps you satisfied will be individual to you, so read up on the forums and experiment. Personally I respond well to whole grains and spacing my meals so I have a smaller breakfast and lunch and a bigger dinner (plus the usual advice about protein and lots of veg). I do NOT respond well to "banning" treat foods, as it causes me cravings. You need to find out what works for you.

    ETA I also seem to do well sticking to a lower allowance most days and then going over 2 or 3 days a week, so I have my allowance set to 1210 and aim for an average of 1500 over the week. A bit like 5:2 but less regimented and a less extreme difference between high and low days. I don't do regimented, and I don't do fasting, but this works for me.
  • pmm3437
    pmm3437 Posts: 529 Member
    Medical studies have indicated that over 50% of people that are not properly hydrated ( ie are thirsty ) mis-identify it as hunger ... check and make sure you are getting proper hydration.

    The reason changing your goal settings isn't having a big impact is because you are hitting the lower limit due to your size. MFP will never recommend < 1200 cal a day, which is standard medical recommendation w/o professional monitoring for an adult female.

    Your stats are already within your ideal weight range of 98-132 lbs., so you shouldn't be attempting to be more aggressive than ~ 0.5 lb/week anyway, its just not healthy.

    Don't use the values in the MFP database for calorie burns from exercise, they are wildly inaccurate. If you don't have an accurate way to track, then estimate the best you can using available resources ( such as http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-fitness-calorie-counter )

    You could always start from a higher calorie count ( such as your maint cal calc ) and then reduce by 100-150 cals every couple weeks until you start to see the scale move. Then continue down until you get to the lowest point you think you can maintain ( always staying at or above 1200 net cals ).
  • kimbers74
    kimbers74 Posts: 6 Member
    I tried the 1200 at the start. Felt like I was a rabbit and starving myself. No snacking only 3 meals a day was the only way I could meet it. The nutritionalist at the gym told me off. Too aggressive. She said she would start the big girls on 1400-1500 a day. And cause I only wanted to loose 10kg, that just cutting back to 1400 would do it with my exercise. So I did. But catch was, I was so use to 1200 and my stomach had shrunk, I slowly upped my calories by 50 per fortnight until I reached the 1400. Cause otherwise I was swolen and bloated after meals. Really uncomfortable. SO go slow and talk to someone in the know to make sure you are doing it safely.
  • trinabot19
    trinabot19 Posts: 37 Member
    Thank you everyone so much for the replies it gave me lots to think about!!! Im still trying to figure out what might be best for me and I totally agree that Ill attempt only .5 pounds a week at roughly 1400ish a day but I probably wont be TOO crazy. Im definitely trying to get into veggies more...I try them all different ways but just not a huge fan, when they are cooked inside a dish I dont mind that but plain veggies as a side is not my favorite thats for sure (I can do steamed carrots or some corn and thats usually what I have if I need a side of veggies).

    I may try to focus more on strength and toning the areas I dont like and do a bit less cardio (Ive been running every day and its great and all but gets tedious doing the same things!) than what I have been.

    Thanks again : )
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    trinabot19 wrote: »
    Thank you everyone so much for the replies it gave me lots to think about!!! Im still trying to figure out what might be best for me and I totally agree that Ill attempt only .5 pounds a week at roughly 1400ish a day but I probably wont be TOO crazy. Im definitely trying to get into veggies more...I try them all different ways but just not a huge fan, when they are cooked inside a dish I dont mind that but plain veggies as a side is not my favorite thats for sure (I can do steamed carrots or some corn and thats usually what I have if I need a side of veggies).

    I may try to focus more on strength and toning the areas I dont like and do a bit less cardio (Ive been running every day and its great and all but gets tedious doing the same things!) than what I have been.

    Thanks again : )

    I don't really like plain veggies either, especially steamed or boiled :sick: Stir fry's are a great way to get loads of veggies in, and they stay crisp. I also often get a heap of broccoli and cauliflower, spray them lightly with olive oil and sprinkle them with parmesan cheese, garlic, pepper and lemon juice and bake in the oven til crunchy, and dip in ranch sauce. I replace these with chips (waaaay less calories) when I'm watching tv and hubby is beside me crunching his way through a ginormous bag of chippies :neutral:
  • lexylondon
    lexylondon Posts: 89 Member
    Coffee!!
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    lexylondon wrote: »
    Coffee!!

    Or she could eat more satiating food at a higher calorie goal that is a more reasonable deficit for her size...

    Don't get me wrong I love my coffee but using caffeine to stave off hunger doesn't seem like a very healthy approach...
  • Shana67
    Shana67 Posts: 680 Member
    ^^^ What she said, and also grilled veggies are YUMMY. Buy a grill basket from Target. Cut up zucchini, summer squash, peppers, red onion, mushrooms (whatever you like really). Toss with a little bit of salt, maybe a tablespoon of olive oil, a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegrette, and oregano. Let that sit for a bit. Then throw it in the grill basket on the grill and stir every 15 minutes or so until the veggies are browned and DELICIOUS. I'm not a huge veggie eater either, but I love eating them like this :)
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    OP for what it's worth, I started on MFP with a goal of losing 25 lbs from a starting weight of 150. I'm 5'2 and selected 1 lb/week, and got a calorie goal of 1200 also. I wasn't very active at that point, but I ate back the exercise cals I was given, usually 100-200 cals from walking. I was always hungry and so I was always over, but still losing. I started reading these boards about how 1200 really isn't necessary to lose for the majority of people, even petite women can lose weight eating more. So I manually changed my goal first to 1400, then 1500 and was still losing. I also worked on starting to exercise more and just be more active in general. Lost about 15 lbs in 6 months and then I got a FitBit. By that time I had worked up to averaging 10k steps a day and I got good advice that I wasn't sedentary, I was probably lightly active. So I changed my goal to 0.5 lb/week and my activity to lightly active which changed my goal to about 1650/day, still eating back exercise cals. I lost the last 10 to reach my original goal and still another 5 more. I lost a total of 30 lbs now and am now maintaining. I usually ate between 1600-1900 for losing and my TDEE is 2200 now, I average 15K steps a day and do some circuit weight training as well.

    So it's definitely possible to eat more and lose. I highly recommend while you are off of school this summer to work on raising your activity level, that really is the key to being able to increase your maintenance calories above what the calculators would suggest.

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