1,200 Calories

ritzvin

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

ritzvin wrote: »

I do think 1/3 and 1/4 lb/week drop down boxes would be a nice addition to the setup.

I think it should have 1% of body weight option.

Yes. That too - Although 1% would be way too high for those that bottom out at the 0.5 lb/wk setting.

lucerorojo

I think that it goes both ways. There are people who are small and can survive on 1200, and others (like me) even though short, who cannot. MFP had me at 1200--it started at 1400 + but kept going down as I lost weight. I've been eating at 1650 since I changed my goal to 1 lb. per week. I also work out, and burn from 3000-5500 calories per week from exercises (according to MFP).

I started at 237 lbs. and I'm now down to 206. I was at 1200 for four days and couldn't take it! I still loss 1.6 lbs. the first 10 days on eating at 1650. I did not eat back ALL my exercise calories last week which I had been doing while eating at 1230-1430 calories for 2 lbs. per week. I ate back most of them last week except for 2 days (and had 800 plus burned according to MFP so I ate back about 1/2) In my case I think I might not have needed to be so low to lose the first 30 lbs. I was eating all the exercise calories and still losing about 1.5-2.0 lbs. per week, and so far I'm losing on 1650 plus. I feel SO MUCH better with the additional 450 calories! I'm only 5'3".5-5'4"and over 50. I'm at "lightly active" but there was an inaccuracy somewhere--but at this point I'm happy to be able to eat more!

ETA: When I was in the 1200s, my breakfast was usually oatmeal, with some kind of berry, and a bit of sunflower seeds. I'd have an egg with that. It was at most 350 calories. Sometimes I'd have a smoothie I made out of fresh almond milk, 1 tbsp of peanut butter, 1 tsp. cocoa powder and a banana. About 300 calories. Lunch would be either a salad or a sandwich for about 500 calories, or a leftover from the previous night's dinner. Dinner would have to be 400 calories--a vegetable, meat or fish and maybe small serving of pasta or potato. This was just not enough for me, considering my active lifestyle.

apullum

OP asked for suggestions on what to eat with a calorie goal of 1200. 1200 is a reasonable calorie goal for *some* people and none of us have enough information to evaluate whether or not it is reasonable for OP. OP also did not ask people to evaluate whether or not 1200 was the best calorie goal for them.

I am very short and I ate 1200 + exercise calories while I was losing weight. I found it easiest to do that by eating a smaller breakfast, like a piece of fruit, sometimes with a tablespoon of peanut butter. I did that just because I prefer to eat a larger dinner; there's nothing special about eating your calories at breakfast vs. at dinner. On days when I was running, I ate a bigger breakfast after my run. I also ate a lot more vegetables. I wasn't intentionally low-carb, but I did eat less pasta, bread, rice, etc. and more veggies. I used less oil and other fats in my cooking; you often don't need as much oil as a recipe calls for. A typical dinner for me was a vegetarian protein, green vegetables, a little rice, and a low-calorie sauce.

lynn_glenmont

rhiawiz57 wrote: »

i was being snarky...for sure. i just hate all the attacks on 1200 when it works well for some people. and my logging and measuring is better now than it was a year ago, for sure. however, i am indeed at 1200 now and if i creep up over 1300 even with my improved food measuring and weighing discipline, i really don't lose weight for weeks at a time. it's going really well and i don't know why i would add more cals until after my injury heals and i genuinely work out more! that's why for me 1200 seems to be the magic number.

Your injury might heal a lot after if you ate at maintenance.

kirstens1984

I tend to eat between 1200 - 1500 depending on activity for the day, plus I eat more on exercise days. But 1200 is low. For breakfast I have oats soaked in almond milk with nuts and blueberries. For lunch I have something like a chicken / smoked salmon salad with plenty of salad veggies. For dinner I have for example chicken / fish / meat with rice / quinoa and plenty of veggies (get inventive with spices and make your own marinades and sauces). I snack on fruit, nuts, oat cakes, peanut butter etc. I also like a bit of chocolate here and there. I've lost 13lbs in almost 10 weeks and I'm 1-2lb off my goal so I'm now gradually increasing my calories to find my maintenance. MFP seems to set 1200 as a minimum but if you're doing any exercise it's way too low, you'll end up binging. if you want food ideas feel free to add me an nosey through my food diary

lucerorojo

apullum wrote: »

OP asked for suggestions on what to eat with a calorie goal of 1200. 1200 is a reasonable calorie goal for *some* people and none of us have enough information to evaluate whether or not it is reasonable for OP. OP also did not ask people to evaluate whether or not 1200 was the best calorie goal for them.

I am very short and I ate 1200 + exercise calories while I was losing weight. I found it easiest to do that by eating a smaller breakfast, like a piece of fruit, sometimes with a tablespoon of peanut butter. I did that just because I prefer to eat a larger dinner; there's nothing special about eating your calories at breakfast vs. at dinner. On days when I was running, I ate a bigger breakfast after my run. I also ate a lot more vegetables. I wasn't intentionally low-carb, but I did eat less pasta, bread, rice, etc. and more veggies. I used less oil and other fats in my cooking; you often don't need as much oil as a recipe calls for. A typical dinner for me was a vegetarian protein, green vegetables, a little rice, and a low-calorie sauce.

I included my experience because when I read others recommendations I find it helpful to understand the context from which they come. But you are right, OP didn't ask for it and perhaps they don't care.

apullum

lucerorojo wrote: »

apullum wrote: »

OP asked for suggestions on what to eat with a calorie goal of 1200. 1200 is a reasonable calorie goal for *some* people and none of us have enough information to evaluate whether or not it is reasonable for OP. OP also did not ask people to evaluate whether or not 1200 was the best calorie goal for them.

I am very short and I ate 1200 + exercise calories while I was losing weight. I found it easiest to do that by eating a smaller breakfast, like a piece of fruit, sometimes with a tablespoon of peanut butter. I did that just because I prefer to eat a larger dinner; there's nothing special about eating your calories at breakfast vs. at dinner. On days when I was running, I ate a bigger breakfast after my run. I also ate a lot more vegetables. I wasn't intentionally low-carb, but I did eat less pasta, bread, rice, etc. and more veggies. I used less oil and other fats in my cooking; you often don't need as much oil as a recipe calls for. A typical dinner for me was a vegetarian protein, green vegetables, a little rice, and a low-calorie sauce.

I included my experience because when I read others recommendations I find it helpful to understand the context from which they come. But you are right, OP didn't ask for it and perhaps they don't care.

I wasn't referring to you at all--sorry to make you think that I was! I think sharing experiences is great and you provided some good advice on what worked for you. I was referring to all of the comments that were just criticizing OP's calorie goals and not actually answering their question.

ritzvin

Since I didn't actually answer the question...

• Filling up on low-calorie-density high-fiber foods, for me, is helpful. (stuff like pea soup, bags of frozen vegetables, padding traditionally more calorie-dense foods (like rice & beans) with lots of veggies, etc).
• Buying lower fat protein sources. (for instance, buying 93/7 beef or at least 85/15 when making a pot of chili instead of the default 80/20 makes a huge difference in calories-especially if aiming to meet a certain amount of protein daily); 'turkey frankfurters' versus the usual hot dogs or polish sausage; if money isn't an issue-then lots of fish, etc.
• staying somewhat 'low carb'. A 120 calorie bread roll will potentially crowd out protein, fat, fiber if you don't play with the math to fit it in. and <100 calories of rice is pretty sad. Crackers & halves of less calorie-dense rolls, if not a trigger food, will fit fairly easily though (and go well with soup).
• Speaking of soup... this is an easy item to tailor to a specific calorie density, and protein and fiber content. Can be very filling for very low calories, and is very quick and easy to throw together in large batches.
• greek yogurt and cottage cheese are fairly low-calorie for the amount of protein. Great breakfast (and snack) options (with limited calories to fit in protein, you'll likely want to get some in at every meal. a starch-only breakfast cereal may make it harder to meet desired protein).

rhiawiz57

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

rhiawiz57 wrote: »

i was being snarky...for sure. i just hate all the attacks on 1200 when it works well for some people. and my logging and measuring is better now than it was a year ago, for sure. however, i am indeed at 1200 now and if i creep up over 1300 even with my improved food measuring and weighing discipline, i really don't lose weight for weeks at a time. it's going really well and i don't know why i would add more cals until after my injury heals and i genuinely work out more! that's why for me 1200 seems to be the magic number.

Your injury might heal a lot after if you ate at maintenance.

My injury is 2 broken feet - they are healing well according to my doc, not slowly at all, and they are really inspiring me to lose weight. I have burning pain when i stand for a while or walk more than 1/4 mile. I am waiting for a new gym to open near me that has a swimming pool, which is the only real exercise option for me, but I do need to weigh less so that I don't keep re-injuring my feet. That is of paramount importance right now. Not sure how going from 1200 to 1350 is going to make my feet heal so much faster! (again, no exercise yet, i will increase my cals to prob 1500 when that pool opens).

Case in point - it's good not to assume that people can't have 1200 cal diets because sometimes there really are legit reasons.

Iamnotasenior

I'm a 58-year old female who is 5'1", sedentary (office job) and I don't get much exercise due to back issues. My goal is 1,200 calories a day. I'm losing about a pound a week and have following the 1,200 limit for the past nine months. Most days, I have an Ezekial english muffin with peanut butter for breakfast, a veggie burger (no bun), 3/4 cup of rice or cous cous and a cup and a half of green vegetables for lunch. Afternoon snack is a whole apple and dinner is usually a cup of yogurt or cottage cheese with mixed fresh fruit or a big bowl of oatmeal with raisins and almond milk. For an evening snack, I sometimes have no sugar added hot chocolate with a handful of mini pretzels or an Outshine fruit popsicle. That said, 1,200 calories is way too low for a male. You will be starving all the time and will be prone to binge eating.