How bad is it if I have less than 1200 cals per day??

PepperWorm

If you eat less than what is recommended for your calorie intake of 1200, your body will go into starvation mode and store everything you eat as fat!! Yes, you need to eat MORE to loose weight...you should be fueling your body every 2 hours during the day and use more protein as snacks to keep you fuller longer than your fruits/vegetable.
Breakfast---snack--lunch---snack---supper!!
So if you incorporate working out, you are burning calories so you have to "eat" those calories as well....For example---I walk on my treadmill at at incline of 5 speed 4 for 1 hour....I burn let's say 450 calories.....I have to no EAT THOSE CALORIES...That's a couple hard boiled eggs, some skinless roasted chicken, ect..
Hope it makes sense for you :-) :-)
Don't put your body into starvation mode....eat your calories

This is all 100% wrong bro science.

janetteluparia

@Graceisjinxed:

Yes---hard to believe a person has to EAT to loose weight...but...you nailed it :-) Congrats on your 44lbs lost!! That's fantastic :-) I am at 38lbs prior to starting on my-fitness-pal....Had to join this to log the calories---for a more accurate intake of food and output of calories burnt!!
best of luck as you continue on your journey :-)

No true for everyone. Blanket advise is not always correct. You have to know yourself. If I eat more than 1100 a day I gain weight. Its my reality. You have to take genetics, activity level and personal response to food to get an accurate goal. I wouldn't eat less to lose faster though. Find what level you need to be at with exercise to lose a pound a week and then manage to that.
That is what it has taken for me and I am doing it. 5:2 or ADF works really well too. and is safe and doesnt put you in starvation mode. That is a myth the way it is tossed around.

trogalicious

@Graceisjinxed:

Yes---hard to believe a person has to EAT to loose weight...but...you nailed it :-) Congrats on your 44lbs lost!! That's fantastic :-) I am at 38lbs prior to starting on my-fitness-pal....Had to join this to log the calories---for a more accurate intake of food and output of calories burnt!!
best of luck as you continue on your journey :-)

No true for everyone. Blanket advise is not always correct. You have to know yourself. If I eat more than 1100 a day I gain weight. Its my reality. You have to take genetics, activity level and personal response to food to get an accurate goal. I wouldn't eat less to lose faster though. Find what level you need to be at with exercise to lose a pound a week and then manage to that.
That is what it has taken for me and I am doing it. 5:2 or ADF works really well too. and is safe and doesnt put you in starvation mode. That is a myth the way it is tossed around.

The blanket advice was to eat?

That's incorrect?

The OP gave no specific information concerning their age/height/weight/activity level... but based on a game of averages, unless the case is special, then yeah.. eating under that amount isn't good.

and speaking of blanket advice, why would you recommend a pound a week? Isn't that a blanket recommendation? What if the OP only has, say, 10 more lbs to lose. At that point, it'd be better to aim for the .5lb per week goal. The problem is, we don't know enough about the OP.

SezxyStef

@Graceisjinxed:

Yes---hard to believe a person has to EAT to loose weight...but...you nailed it :-) Congrats on your 44lbs lost!! That's fantastic :-) I am at 38lbs prior to starting on my-fitness-pal....Had to join this to log the calories---for a more accurate intake of food and output of calories burnt!!
best of luck as you continue on your journey :-)

No true for everyone. Blanket advise is not always correct. You have to know yourself. If I eat more than 1100 a day I gain weight. Its my reality. You have to take genetics, activity level and personal response to food to get an accurate goal. I wouldn't eat less to lose faster though. Find what level you need to be at with exercise to lose a pound a week and then manage to that.
That is what it has taken for me and I am doing it. 5:2 or ADF works really well too. and is safe and doesnt put you in starvation mode. That is a myth the way it is tossed around.

You sound like my sister...

She insists on not eating her exercise back..."I've lost weight eating less" she says....
"what is the point of exercise if you eat it back" she says
"I can't eat more I am gaining on what I am eating now" she says....

She is 5 ft 4, weights 130lbs currently and has a higher bf% then I do....and I weigh 45lbs more then her, 3 inches taller, don't do cardio at all (she does 30-45mins on a machine and swims)

She is lethargic, gaining weight, quesy after JM 30DS which I do as well and still wont listen that she has to eat...

As for the 5:2 based on my understanding you eat lots on 5 days and only 500cal or 2 days..which averages out to probably way over 1200 a day (depending on what you eat on the 5 days)

There is proof that eating under 1200 calories a day is not healthy but to each their own...

As a poster above said...

the typical MFP users does this:
1. I wanna lose weight, let's try MFP.
2. OH! Wow, it tells me I can lose 2 lbs a WEEK? AWESOME!
3. I just sit at a desk when I'm not working out, I guess I'm sedentary.
4. MFP tells them 1200 calories, and they don't even eat that.. then they work out on top of it.. creating an even bigger deficit.
5. Lose a lot, fast, brag about 1200 calorie success.
6. Come back in a few months trying to figure out why they're dizzy, tired, not losing weight.
7. Get on the forums, ask why they aren't losing.
8. Get two responses (I eat 1200 and lose) (I eat 2200 and lose)
9. Argument ensues about who is right.

Now. That being said. These threads happen hundreds of times per day. Most times, and I mean really.. seriously.. 95% of the time.. people get the 1200 number because they don't put the right information in when they set up the account. There are a great number of people that are trying to help. I'm one of 'em.

I'm a hardcore advocate of actually finding out what works for the individual.. by means of other calculators, averages, time, practice, and patience.

Blanket prescriptions of 1200 calories "because it worked for me" is more harmful to the generic new user than the "figure out what you need to eat." Unfortunately, one is a LOT easier to type.

ron2e

Here we go again....................(yawn)............the "if you eat below 1200 calories you will die" and "Starvation mode..."

1200 calories is not, and cannot be a hard and fast rule, we are all different with different sizes, weights, metabolisms and amounts to lose, different levels of activity, etc, etc, so please stop propogating this rubbish and do us all a favour and google "Starvation mode myth", even Weightwatchers say it's a myth. You will NOT put on fat if you eat low, that is a physical impossibility.

OP calculate your allowance (either with or without MFP) based on the amount you want to lose per week and try it. If it is too difficult or you are starving all the time, lower the amount you set per week and up your calories a bit. Slow and regular is the best way to maintain your loss, as is making better use the calorie values of what you eat. For example fish is relatively low cal compared with burgers, so you can get more nutrition out of fish within your daily allowance.

donyellemoniquex3

Here you are

http://myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13