Are 1,200 calories enough!?

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  • ainslieglen
    ainslieglen Posts: 110
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    I think 1200 calories a day as a baseline is realistic. Exercising to earn more calories is a great idea, because exercise is such an important part of overall fitness. My philosophy is I can go over 1200 a day as long as I put in the exercise!:bigsmile: It's a win/win situation. I've lost 25 pounds since Feb. and never felt better:smokin: Good luck!!
  • dogdaze
    dogdaze Posts: 110 Member
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    MFP put me at 1200 Calories too and I was dubious about whether it was enough. I regularly exceed 10,000 steps per day on the pedometer and since May, I have been tracking my exercise on MFP too. I try to aim for a negative balance between my my calorie intake minus calorie consumption (1200 + calories burned by exercise) but the size of the negative does not worry me too much. I have heard 1600 is about what the average female body needs for a fairly sedentary lifestyle.

    One thing though, my weight loss has never been particularly steady but as long as the trend is down and I don't start to see my weight consistently climbing, I don't worry. This is a long term project! Have not figured out why there is fluctuation in the rate because my exercise and intake are fairly constant but the prime suspects are water/hormonal, I guess.

    I strongly suspect I will have to watch what I eat for the rest of my life but Paul McKenna's plan (discussed elsewhere on the boards - I just use the book and CD) has been a great help in helping me take control and establishing patterns of eating and exercise that I can continue indefinitely.
  • tiggertoo57
    tiggertoo57 Posts: 22
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    I am 5'7" and med-large bone structure and MFP told me 1200...but I didn't lose anything the first week and I was STARVING. I shopped around on various sites with BMR calculators to find what a sedentary woman of my height and current weight needs and then subtracted from there to create my daily deficit of at LEAST 500. I settled on 1500 per day and I eat my exercise calories. I also try to shoot for a negative at the end of the day and I've done pretty well. If you're a smaller woman then you will need less calories in general. Take time to figure out what works for you. If you are famished at all, then something is wrong with your diet. If you are putting on weight then there's something wrong as well. Everyone is different.
  • Shawna_831
    Shawna_831 Posts: 316
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    I asked the same thing and after many responses I moved mine up to 1480. 1200 is what it told me if I wanted to lose 2lbs a week so I changed it to 1lb a week. Check your BMR and see what that says your calorie intake should be. I shoot for 1200-1400.
  • DeeJayTJ
    DeeJayTJ Posts: 355 Member
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    im 5'7 and a guy... im also on a 1200 calorie diet, but i burn 400 to 700 calories a day at the gym.

    so i eat about 1500-1900 calories a day unless i dont make it to the gym for whatever reason then i eat 1200 calories.

    i went from 205 to 173. since easter of this year.
  • keith0373
    keith0373 Posts: 2,154 Member
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    In a few months you will find that you have to work to get to 1200 calories. The stuff you buy will be better for you and you will not eat as much of it. Don't get discouraged in the first few days or weeks. If this were easy, we would all be skinny! Your body will adjust.

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