1200 calories a day, is it safe?
sarlizmurphy
Posts: 35 Member
My goal is to lose weight, I’m 27, 5’3” and I started on Monday eating 1200 calories. On Monday I weighed in at 179, and today on Wednesday I weighed myself and I am 174... 5 pounds in just a couple days seems extreme. Has anyone else followed a 1200 calorie a day diet?
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Replies
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it will be mostly water weight in the first few days - normal and not something to worry about.
but, is 1200 calories what MFP gave you or a number you chose?10 -
I have followed a 1200 calorie diet. I'm usually over/under by 100 calories. I started in December at 165 and have been hovering around 137 for the last few weeks. For reference I'm 32, 5'5".
I dropped fairly quickly for the first month. Water weight and I had more to lose, the scale has significantly slowed down and barely moves as I get closer to my goal.
5 lbs in 3 days is most likely water weight or perhaps due to you cycle.
Best bet is to get a weight trending app like happy scale and track that way.
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Muscleflex79 wrote: »it will be mostly water weight in the first few days - normal and not something to worry about.
but, is 1200 calories what MFP gave you or a number you chose?
1200 is one of the options that MFP gave me. I didn’t think about water weight, that makes much more sense.
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it REALLY depends on many factors. if you are very short and very sedentary (think bed ridden or under 2000 steps a day) then it may be fine.
for the average person it isn't necessary. I suspect it is too little for you as well. remember MFP is set up for your to eat back exercise calories and sedentary is like under 2000 steps a day.
5pds in a week is a lot. hopefully it's a lot of initial water weight.
there are tons of post on the "1200 calorie diet"
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10705548/whats-your-experience-with-a-1200-calorie-diet-or-less
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10663620/why-1200-calories-isn-t-for-me
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I’ve started on a 1200 calorie died and I’m struggling with feeling so hungry
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TheSma11Print wrote: »I’ve started on a 1200 calorie died and I’m struggling with feeling so hungry
what rate of loss and activity level did you select?
how tall are you?
how much do you have to lose?2 -
TheSma11Print wrote: »I’ve started on a 1200 calorie died and I’m struggling with feeling so hungry
what rate of loss and activity level did you select?
how tall are you?
how much do you have to lose?
I selected low activity as I work in an office and the only ‘activity’ I do is walking the dog most nights on a night for maybe an hour.
I’m 5’6, 140pounds and I want to lose maybe 10-15 pounds.
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I'm 5'2", 150lbs, and currently losing 1lb/week and eating 1400-1600 a day depending on my activity. Are you sure 1200 is right? It seems too low to me.3
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I was confused until I realized we are now talking about two different people. The OP's stats are much different so responses might also be different.3
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TheSma11Print wrote: »TheSma11Print wrote: »I’ve started on a 1200 calorie died and I’m struggling with feeling so hungry
what rate of loss and activity level did you select?
how tall are you?
how much do you have to lose?
I selected low activity as I work in an office and the only ‘activity’ I do is walking the dog most nights on a night for maybe an hour.
I’m 5’6, 140pounds and I want to lose maybe 10-15 pounds.
Set your loss goal to .5lb a week and you'll get more calories to play with.3 -
sarlizmurphy wrote: »My goal is to lose weight, I’m 27, 5’3” and I started on Monday eating 1200 calories. On Monday I weighed in at 179, and today on Wednesday I weighed myself and I am 174... 5 pounds in just a couple days seems extreme. Has anyone else followed a 1200 calorie a day diet?
OP...what rate of loss did you request? 1 or 2lbs. I wouldn't worry about the 1st weeks rate of loss. Most people will lose water that first week...5lbs in one week is not fat.2 -
TheSma11Print wrote: »TheSma11Print wrote: »I’ve started on a 1200 calorie died and I’m struggling with feeling so hungry
what rate of loss and activity level did you select?
how tall are you?
how much do you have to lose?
I selected low activity as I work in an office and the only ‘activity’ I do is walking the dog most nights on a night for maybe an hour.
I’m 5’6, 140pounds and I want to lose maybe 10-15 pounds.
You are already withn the healthy BMI range. the very top max rate of loss you should select is 1 and really closer to 0.5lb/week is the smarter choice.
and the one hour walk should be entered as exercise and you can eat back the calories burned. MFP already gives you the amount to eat with the deficit ALREADY included.4 -
sarlizmurphy wrote: »My goal is to lose weight, I’m 27, 5’3” and I started on Monday eating 1200 calories. On Monday I weighed in at 179, and today on Wednesday I weighed myself and I am 174... 5 pounds in just a couple days seems extreme. Has anyone else followed a 1200 calorie a day diet?
OP...what rate of loss did you request? 1 or 2lbs. I wouldn't worry about the 1st weeks rate of loss. Most people will lose water that first week...5lbs in one week is not fat.
I requested 2lb/ week for now. When I get closer to my goal I want to change to 1 lb or 0.5 lb / week. I don’t feel super hungry or anything like that so far, I was just shocked when I saw the scale this morning! I didn’t take losing water weight into consideration though0 -
@sarlizmurphy One other thing...make sure that you make those 1200 calories count. Find foods that will fill you up and keep you satisfied. That will be different for all of us...for me it is lean meats and vegetables...for others it might be fat and carbs.0
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Sure it’s safe but sustainable for the long run? Maybe not. The diet that works is the diet you can maintain for a long period of time. You can always slow down your rate of loss and eat more calories. This will still ensure you’ll still lose weight and reduces the desire to binge. Also, losing muscle mass can be a factor when you lose too quickly.0
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TheSma11Print wrote: »TheSma11Print wrote: »I’ve started on a 1200 calorie died and I’m struggling with feeling so hungry
what rate of loss and activity level did you select?
how tall are you?
how much do you have to lose?
I selected low activity as I work in an office and the only ‘activity’ I do is walking the dog most nights on a night for maybe an hour.
I’m 5’6, 140pounds and I want to lose maybe 10-15 pounds.
With only 10-15 pounds to lose, do set your rate of loss to a half pound per week.
How much distance do you cover when you walk the dog for an hour? With some dogs I would get 3 miles, and I would definitely log that in my exercise diary, and eat the exercise calories I earned from that.
Some dogs are more sniffers than walkers, but can often be trained to walk walk.4 -
sarlizmurphy wrote: »sarlizmurphy wrote: »My goal is to lose weight, I’m 27, 5’3” and I started on Monday eating 1200 calories. On Monday I weighed in at 179, and today on Wednesday I weighed myself and I am 174... 5 pounds in just a couple days seems extreme. Has anyone else followed a 1200 calorie a day diet?
OP...what rate of loss did you request? 1 or 2lbs. I wouldn't worry about the 1st weeks rate of loss. Most people will lose water that first week...5lbs in one week is not fat.
I requested 2lb/ week for now. When I get closer to my goal I want to change to 1 lb or 0.5 lb / week. I don’t feel super hungry or anything like that so far, I was just shocked when I saw the scale this morning! I didn’t take losing water weight into consideration though
I'd maybe go to 1.5 per week in your situation. Also, what have you put as your activity level? I think many more people assume that they are sedentary than really are, and more are probably lightly active. I work in a desk job in an office but walk enough that I feel more than comfortable with "lightly active" as my activity level. One of these two things could give you more calories. I certainly don't think 1200 calories for 5 days is unhealthy, but long term I think for most people it's better to lose by eating a little more.1 -
sarlizmurphy wrote: »sarlizmurphy wrote: »My goal is to lose weight, I’m 27, 5’3” and I started on Monday eating 1200 calories. On Monday I weighed in at 179, and today on Wednesday I weighed myself and I am 174... 5 pounds in just a couple days seems extreme. Has anyone else followed a 1200 calorie a day diet?
OP...what rate of loss did you request? 1 or 2lbs. I wouldn't worry about the 1st weeks rate of loss. Most people will lose water that first week...5lbs in one week is not fat.
I requested 2lb/ week for now. When I get closer to my goal I want to change to 1 lb or 0.5 lb / week. I don’t feel super hungry or anything like that so far, I was just shocked when I saw the scale this morning! I didn’t take losing water weight into consideration though
Are you eating back your exercise calories?
one week is peanuts. weight loss is something that happens over a long period, it's a marathon not a sprint. you didn't put on the weight in a week, you won't lose it in a week.
our weight fluctuates daily (and within a day) so take any one day's data as just a data point and pay more attention to overall trend. i can suddenly go up 2-3pds randomly for a few days (water weight, time of the month, whatever).2 -
sarlizmurphy wrote: »sarlizmurphy wrote: »My goal is to lose weight, I’m 27, 5’3” and I started on Monday eating 1200 calories. On Monday I weighed in at 179, and today on Wednesday I weighed myself and I am 174... 5 pounds in just a couple days seems extreme. Has anyone else followed a 1200 calorie a day diet?
OP...what rate of loss did you request? 1 or 2lbs. I wouldn't worry about the 1st weeks rate of loss. Most people will lose water that first week...5lbs in one week is not fat.
I requested 2lb/ week for now. When I get closer to my goal I want to change to 1 lb or 0.5 lb / week. I don’t feel super hungry or anything like that so far, I was just shocked when I saw the scale this morning! I didn’t take losing water weight into consideration though
What is your goal weight?
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sarlizmurphy wrote: »sarlizmurphy wrote: »My goal is to lose weight, I’m 27, 5’3” and I started on Monday eating 1200 calories. On Monday I weighed in at 179, and today on Wednesday I weighed myself and I am 174... 5 pounds in just a couple days seems extreme. Has anyone else followed a 1200 calorie a day diet?
OP...what rate of loss did you request? 1 or 2lbs. I wouldn't worry about the 1st weeks rate of loss. Most people will lose water that first week...5lbs in one week is not fat.
I requested 2lb/ week for now. When I get closer to my goal I want to change to 1 lb or 0.5 lb / week. I don’t feel super hungry or anything like that so far, I was just shocked when I saw the scale this morning! I didn’t take losing water weight into consideration though
It's probably water weight, but please be careful. If any negative symptoms occur, eat a little more.
I lost too fast at first on 1200, when I started on MFP, because my actual calorie needs were higher than MFP estimated for me (5'5", 150s, sedentary outside of separately-logged/eaten exercise, age 59 at the time). I felt fine . . . until I didn't. Even though I adjusted as soon as I realized, I got weak and fatigued, and it took several weeks to feel normal again. This is something to avoid!
I lost most of my weight at 1400-1600 plus exercise calories: Much better.
Best wishes!5 -
kshama2001 wrote: »sarlizmurphy wrote: »sarlizmurphy wrote: »My goal is to lose weight, I’m 27, 5’3” and I started on Monday eating 1200 calories. On Monday I weighed in at 179, and today on Wednesday I weighed myself and I am 174... 5 pounds in just a couple days seems extreme. Has anyone else followed a 1200 calorie a day diet?
OP...what rate of loss did you request? 1 or 2lbs. I wouldn't worry about the 1st weeks rate of loss. Most people will lose water that first week...5lbs in one week is not fat.
I requested 2lb/ week for now. When I get closer to my goal I want to change to 1 lb or 0.5 lb / week. I don’t feel super hungry or anything like that so far, I was just shocked when I saw the scale this morning! I didn’t take losing water weight into consideration though
What is your goal weight?
My goal weight is 140, I put my activity level as lightly active becasue I am active while at work but not so much once I get home0 -
In general, 1200 *may* be appropriate for a very specific subset of the population: women who are very short, sedentary, and/or older, especially if they have very little weight to lose.
OP, you aren't any of those things and 1200 is likely not an appropriate calorie goal for you. You may feel fine now, but you may start to feel hungry and/or tired in a few weeks due to undereating. Set MFP for an appropriate rate of loss, which would be no more than 1 pound per week in your case. You don't have enough weight to lose to sustain a rapid pace of weight loss.2 -
sarlizmurphy wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »sarlizmurphy wrote: »sarlizmurphy wrote: »My goal is to lose weight, I’m 27, 5’3” and I started on Monday eating 1200 calories. On Monday I weighed in at 179, and today on Wednesday I weighed myself and I am 174... 5 pounds in just a couple days seems extreme. Has anyone else followed a 1200 calorie a day diet?
OP...what rate of loss did you request? 1 or 2lbs. I wouldn't worry about the 1st weeks rate of loss. Most people will lose water that first week...5lbs in one week is not fat.
I requested 2lb/ week for now. When I get closer to my goal I want to change to 1 lb or 0.5 lb / week. I don’t feel super hungry or anything like that so far, I was just shocked when I saw the scale this morning! I didn’t take losing water weight into consideration though
What is your goal weight?
My goal weight is 140, I put my activity level as lightly active becasue I am active while at work but not so much once I get home
Ok, so with 34 pounds to lose, set your weekly weight loss goal for a pound a week.2
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