Should my friend be on 1200 calories?

halimaiqbal00

To lose weight? She's 31, 5 feet tall and weighs 129 pounds. She is generally sedentary but goes to the gym now and again. She wanted me to help set her calorie goal and it comes up with 1200 calories which seems incredibly low even at her height and activity level. Can anyone help? Is this accurate?

lemonychild

How fast is she trying to lose weight? Set the weight loss lower .. and if and when she works out she can eat some cals back

amusedmonkey

It seems accurate. Even at this low intake, at her height and activity level she would need to be pretty patient and not expect to lose more than half a pound a week. She would be able to afford an extra snack over 1200 on days she goes to gym. Her sedentary maintenance with these stats should be around 1450-1550 (eating over that while sedentary would result in weight gain). Not much room for error, she would need to be as accurate as possible with her calorie counting.

halimaiqbal00

I think she would be happy with losing half a pound a week

Whitezombiegirl

That's fine. I'm 40 5ft0 and 100lbs and my maintenance is 1200 (without exercise). Its totally fine.
I echo that its still only 1/2 lb. per week loss at that amount.

halimaiqbal00

Aren't you always so hungry on that amount? My maintenance with exercise is 2300 and I workout heavy 6 days a week and can't imagine 1200 calories even if I was inactive. How are you doing it!

Machka9

I'm 5'6" and I netted 1250 calories during my first 16 weeks.

Exercise helps!

Whitezombiegirl

halimaiqbal00 wrote: »

Aren't you always so hungry on that amount? My maintenance with exercise is 2300 and I workout heavy 6 days a week and can't imagine 1200 calories even if I was inactive. How are you doing it!

Not really. I dont have room for calorie dense snacks on a daily basis but i manage okay. It is what it is. I have accepted it. Its just food.

amusedmonkey

I'm doing 1200 for the next 4 weeks because I'm planning a gain for Christmas and it's easy to go low since I'm currently strictly plant-based till Christmas. I don't do 1200 often, but it's doable. For me, personally, it's easier to cycle my calories when I go low (800 net 3 days a week and 1500 net 4 days a week). Granted I'm heavy and that allows me to have 300-500 extra calories a day from exercise, so it doesn't feel as restrictive. Honestly, I don't know how people who are light do it. They would need to stick to a pretty strict diet most of the time or put in more activity than I would be able to do.

halimaiqbal00

Hats off to you guys who can eat at 1200

Machka9

halimaiqbal00 wrote: »

Hats off to you guys who can eat at 1200

Like I say ... exercise helps a lot!

LivingtheLeanDream

When you are small unfortunately to lose it means eating around 1200 cals. The good thing is if she exercises then she can eat back some (50-75%) exercise calories. At 129lbs shes not over weight so have you tried putting in the stats to lose 0.5lb a week? that might allow her a few more calories.

I have a few inches on your friend and am active so can lose eating around 1800 calories - that's what exercise does for us petites

1200 might not seem very much to taller folks but when you are small it takes less to keep you feeling full. Choosing high protein/fibre/fat really helps to stop those hunger pangs.

Dogmom1978

As I lose weight and recalculate my calories I lose calories. I can eat 1290 and lose 1 lb a week. I try to stay at around 1200 though as I don't like to get too close to my max calories. And no, generally speaking I am not hungry all day long. When I'm hungry, I eat. Also, I add snacks like cucumbers that are very low calorie but have lots of fiber to help me feel full longer. Also, cucumbers take longer to digest than many other foods which helps with the fullness.

tennileb

I'm 5'5" and 155, I aim to net around 1200 calories. I generally only eat back 1/2 of my exercise calories

leanjogreen18

I'm 5'4 and on an average of 1250 calories and oddly enough mfp tells projects that as a 1 lb per week loss. I close out my diary one day a week at 1000 calories and mfp projects a 2 lb per week loss. I averaged 2 lbs the first 3 months on 1250.


***NOTE - I calorie cycle so I only eat 1000 calories on one day of the week. I do not do VLCD and I don't advocate it.

VeryKatie

How much per week is she trying to lose? It sounds like she's already in a healthy weight bracket so it would probably be most comfortable losing 0.5 lb a week. And she should eat back 50% of the exercise calories that MFP gives her.

rainbowbow

this doesn't seem to low based on her height and activity level.

i'm 5'4, active, and maintain on 1,800-2,000 depending on how many cardio classes i've taught that day.

kgirlhart

halimaiqbal00 wrote: »

Aren't you always so hungry on that amount? My maintenance with exercise is 2300 and I workout heavy 6 days a week and can't imagine 1200 calories even if I was inactive. How are you doing it!

How tall are you? And how active? For someone who is short and sedentary and maybe a little older it is easier to eat a low calorie goal because your body doesn't really need a lot of calories. 1200 is not an impossible goal for a 5', 40 year old woman who has a sedentary job. I do think it is more important to eat back exercise calories when you have such a low goal (I actually think it is important to eat them back no matter what your goal is if you used mfp and not tdee). I think your friends best bet would be to set up for .5 pound per week and eat the goal mfp gives her plus at least a portion if not all of her exercise calories.

VintageFeline

She's short and sedentary, 1200 is appropriate. It's all relative, a smaller body requires less fuel to run. Someone who is 5'11 will find it hard to imagine surviving on that little because their body takes a lot more fuel to function.

It's all relative.

idabest777

at 5' i think that definitely makes sense. I'm 5'4 and to lose 0.5lbs/week mfp sets me at 1360calories. My maintenance is just over 1600, which is around what I normally end up eating anyways and the deficit is taken care of with exercise.