1200 calorie goal. How to not go over?

andrea41876

Hi- My calorie goal is 1200 per day. I'm usually OK if I can get some exercise in but on those busy days it's hard. On the days without exercise I find it really hard to stay within 1200 calories. I'm so hungry. Any tips? Low calorie snacks? Anyone else have this issue?

Thanks.

janejellyroll

1,200 is the absolute lowest most women should go. Did you happen to choose an aggressive weight loss goal or are you just close to your goal weight?

khator

I sometimes have a similar problems. Sometimes its so easy to just fly over the goal. I've found that routine is my friend and, silly though it may sound, a good breakfast to 'look forward to'. As well as little things like gum and tea (if you have different flavours of green tea it can satisfy different cravings whilst being pretty good for you).

andrea41876

janejellyroll wrote: »

1,200 is the absolute lowest most women should go. Did you happen to choose an aggressive weight loss goal or are you just close to your goal weight?

I chose 2lbs a week. Is that way too much?

janejellyroll

andrea41876 wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

1,200 is the absolute lowest most women should go. Did you happen to choose an aggressive weight loss goal or are you just close to your goal weight?

I chose 2lbs a week. Is that way too much?

2 pounds a week is only appropriate for those with more to lose. I'm not sure what your current weight is, but if you choose a more reasonable goal then you will get more calories to eat each day. Not everyone can safely and comfortably lose 2 pounds per week.

andrea41876

I wanted to lose 20-30 lbs. My current weight is 178. But I should be realistic. We do have a busy life and enjoy going out as well. This is so hard! Thanks for your advice.

janejellyroll

andrea41876 wrote: »

I wanted to lose 20-30 lbs. My current weight is 178. But I should be realistic. We do have a busy life and enjoy going out as well. This is so hard! Thanks for your advice.

Yeah, I would pick a more reasonable goal and get more to eat each day. This will make it much easier to stay on plan.

erickirb

andrea41876 wrote: »

I wanted to lose 20-30 lbs. My current weight is 178. But I should be realistic. We do have a busy life and enjoy going out as well. This is so hard! Thanks for your advice.

2lbs per week is good if you have 75+ lbs to lose
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

The reasons: the less you have to lose the less fat stores you have to pull from. The less fat you have to pull from the less your body wants to give up. So if your deficit is too large, given your stats, you will burn a larger % of lean muscle.

andrea41876

OK. I updated to 1lb. a week. This seems more reasonable. Thanks

ndargy1977

@andrea41876 - I'm also right around 178 and want to loose 20-30. My trainer set me at 1450 calories a day. I think I would starve on 1200, lol

etherealanwar

erickirb wrote: »

andrea41876 wrote: »

I wanted to lose 20-30 lbs. My current weight is 178. But I should be realistic. We do have a busy life and enjoy going out as well. This is so hard! Thanks for your advice.

2lbs per week is good if you have 75+ lbs to lose
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

The reasons: the less you have to lose the less fat stores you have to pull from. The less fat you have to pull from the less your body wants to give up. So if your deficit is too large, given your stats, you will burn a larger % of lean muscle.

I have around 45lbs left to lose and was so disheartened to see that a 1.5lb loss per week was only 1200 calories. I'm trying to stick to it but about half of my week im around 1300-1400 so my weekly average isn't too bad. I guess that's within the realm of 1-1.5 lbs loss. Wish it were more but alas what can you do

cleesus

andrea41876 wrote: »

OK. I updated to 1lb. a week. This seems more reasonable. Thanks

Yea if you stuck with 2lbs a week at your current rate you were a lot more likely to wash out and not stick with it. Its better to do it at a more manageable pace and not rush the weight loss

mazcor536

Plus, as you reduce your weekly loss, you get closer and closer to maintenance. Say you’ve got that last 15 lbs to lose and you have a 250 cal per day deficit (0.5lb per week), you’re practicing eating at almost maintenance. Once you reach goal, you add that 250cal back and you should be good! Makes it less of a shock and easier to make small adjustments to find your true maintenance level.

skinnyjingbb

I started at 190lbs, and started with 1200, but it can only be done for a short time, then it is very hard to control cravings and I would binge. Now I set my daily goal as a range between 1200-1400, I had some optional snacks planned, so if I felt full at 1200, i won't eat them, but if i felt i need more or if I am going out to eat, 1400 is totally fine too.

TeaBea

andrea41876 wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

1,200 is the absolute lowest most women should go. Did you happen to choose an aggressive weight loss goal or are you just close to your goal weight?

I chose 2lbs a week. Is that way too much?

> 75 pounds to lose? Then 2 pounds a week is good.

Find something sustainable. I found 1200 made me crabby. Better to lose slower & stay consistent.

LJay89

I can't go lower than 1800 without feeling like I am tearing my hair out, I am 174lb 5'1...

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Maxxitt

andrea41876 wrote: »

Hi- My calorie goal is 1200 per day. I'm usually OK if I can get some exercise in but on those busy days it's hard. On the days without exercise I find it really hard to stay within 1200 calories. I'm so hungry. Any tips? Low calorie snacks? Anyone else have this issue?

Thanks.

Yes, your deficit might be unnecessarily large. But with regard to your question, my tactics include getting at least 30g of protein with each meal & snack (I usually eat 4 times a day), making sure that I am getting at least 45g of fat each day, eating raw veggies/salads/whole grains/beans to get ~25g of fiber, and drinking enough water/other liquids. I aim for 1350 calories/day to drop a couple of lbs a month (I'm older, so my needs are less). And like you, I really like getting a good workout in in order to enjoy more food.

gogetemrogue

The way I do it, which may or may not work for others: I'm set to -2 lbs a week loss but use a TDEE calculator to estimate where my maintenance calories are. Many days ~1200 calories feels decent but if any particular day they don't, I know my hard limit where I need to stop or I will kill all deficit. I don't consider this to be "cheating", but rather strategic balancing of satiety needs and deficit and I plan to adapt this going into maintenance somehow.

Since I started out heavier than you currently are (and I still am much heavier than you) -2lbs calories were relatively easy for me to stay within when I was 263 lbs in October and they slowly dropped to 1200 just like last week, so the adjustment wasn't that bad. 1200 calories are hard sometimes, and if I didn't have a goal of getting under 200lbs this summer then I would probably go up to -1lbs so that I could be more flexible with my eating. Not everyone can or should be using that 1200 number as a goal.

Baby steps are so important throughout this whole process and it is smart to start slow and even slow it back down or take a diet break if you need to later.

cheryldumais

My lowest calorie meals are the ones where I substitute something for pasta. For example Shirataki noodles, 10 calories per cup and very filling or zucchini spirals instead of spaghetti. Both these meals are very filling and low calorie as long as you don't go overboard with the parmesean cheese. Extra veggies always help to fill me up and I rarely feel like I'm starving as long as I get a good sized portion. I also find egg white omelets to fill me up for low calorie high protein. 35 calories per 1/4 cup of egg white. Add a little feta and some spinach and mushrooms.

h1udd

prawn salads ! .. I eat far too many prawns and salads

mazcor536

gogetemrogue wrote: »

The way I do it, which may or may not work for others: I'm set to -2 lbs a week loss but use a TDEE calculator to estimate where my maintenance calories are. Many days ~1200 calories feels decent but if any particular day they don't, I know my hard limit where I need to stop or I will kill all deficit. I don't consider this to be "cheating", but rather strategic balancing of satiety needs and deficit and I plan to adapt this going into maintenance somehow.

Exactly this! Super advice! I took note of my TDEE (and regularly check to readjust as I lose) and know that if I need to, I can go up to that but no more. Makes days where food prep etc is completely out of my control (eating out/visiting family etc), a lot easier to handle.

taziarj

Also keep in mind that even if you have MFP set to lose 2lbs per week and it spits out 1200 calories, that may not be enough of a deficit for 2lbs per week. A 2lbs per week weight loss requires a 1000 per day calorie deficit. If your maintenance is only 2000, then 2lbs would put you at 1000 calories per day. MFP won't go lower than 1200. So you are actually closer to a 1.5lb per week deficit.

jdwils14

As a general rule, if you are hungry and weary, you should eat. The body knows what it needs, so don’t ignore it based on what amount you “should” eat to lose weight.

Only exception is if you have a disorder that doesn’t shut off hunger hormones.

Semele0

Hi! My goal is 1200 too, but something that helped me was this: before starting I made MFP calculate my calories with different rates of weight loss, from manteinance to 1lb per week, and I wrote the numbers down, then set the lowest as my goal. So now I have a range of how much calories I can eat, and if I eat, let's say, 1300 one day, I know I'm still losing, just a little slower. That helped not panicking if I go over, but I still set 1200 as my goal because having it low helps me mentally to al least try and stay lower. This works for me because of the way I'm made, I know that if I set the bar to 1300 I would eat all of the 1300 everyday, while if I set 1200 I'm eating 1200 one day, 1270 another, and so on... and since I know which is the maximum of calories I can eat and still lose I don't panick.
You can try this, maybe it helps you too, but if seeing the red number in the diary freaks you out, then maybe it's better to just set a higher goal.