Basically, I'm afraid to eat.

ninerbuff

Look! Don't be afraid to eat. 1200 may sounds safe but at your current weight it might be a tad low but then again, this all depends on how you feel. If I eat at my BMR (1845) I usually end up feeling super sleepy and groggy despite eating all the right macros.

If you can thrive on 1200 then by all means go for it. BUT LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!!!!!!!!!

I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to eat at BMR unless you're bed ridden.

Not so. If someone's BMR is say 1500 and their TDEE is 2000, then eating at their BMR is fine.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

technobunny

Look! Don't be afraid to eat. 1200 may sounds safe but at your current weight it might be a tad low but then again, this all depends on how you feel. If I eat at my BMR (1845) I usually end up feeling super sleepy and groggy despite eating all the right macros.

If you can thrive on 1200 then by all means go for it. BUT LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!!!!!!!!!

I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to eat at BMR unless you're bed ridden.

Not so. If someone's BMR is say 1500 and their TDEE is 2000, then eating at their BMR is fine.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

If someone's TDEE is 2000 -20% is 400. For health reasons it is recommended you do not go at a greater than 20% deficit. So, no BMR would not be ideal.

:yawn:

ETA: nice sig.

Allterrain_Lady

TL;DR? You're obsessed with 1200 calories and looking for us to validate that. No. I'm not going to... and none of us are going to be able to convince you of that... you basically said so yourself.

Exactly, I know it's wrong! And I need to be convinced to do otherwise.

Allterrain_Lady

1. don't trust the initial setup that MFP provides. If you put in the wrong/inaccurate information, it'll tell you to eat an amount that may not be applicable.
2. Make sure you eat enough.
3. Figure out what works for you and is sustainable/healthy/long term.
4. avoid fads. don't buy in to any "Hey, try the twinkie and vodka diet"
5. Don't cut out anything now that you don't plan on literally giving up forever.
6. GET A FOOD SCALE. Weigh everything. No, seriously.
7. Get an HRM with a chest strap. You'll at least have a better idea of what you're burning. It'll be more accurate than the generic info in the exercise database.. and even more than the cardio machines.
8. Don't go balls out. You'll burn out. I see 300 lb people show up here, instantly start working out and cutting their intake SEVERELY... trying to cut out all of their carbs at once.. whatever. Take it slow. Figure out how much you need to eat FIRST in order to lose.. then incorporate exercise.
9. Don't cardio yourself to death.
10. Take the information on the forums with a grain of salt. A lot of people that have been here for a while.. and have been successful, may seem jaded. They give out GREAT advice day after day, only to be met with people that refuse to listen.
11. Eat real food. Not diet food. Not "low fat, sugar free, now without X." It's easier to get/find/count.
12. don't set time restrictions.
13. measure yourself weekly. Don't just weigh. Measure and take pictures.
14 BE PATIENT.
15. Avoid forum topics that have "1200" in the title. It's just full of butthurt. Lots of it.
16. This isn't a game, it's about changing your lifestyle. Do that.

pretty much that.

...and don't fall into the "1200 calorie" vertigo of suck because of:

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.

Find out what you need: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
Take the tips, links, and info above and make the cart more manageable.

there, OP. Seriously.

THANKS A LOT!!!!! This makes a lot of sense. I know the numbers I should be following. Seriously, I'll do it. Starting today, I'm 'uping' (can I say that? Is that a real word?) my daily calorie intake.

Allterrain_Lady

What you need to wrap your head around is that your day to day weight fluctuations are almost entirely water.

Read "The Hacker's Diet" and try to understand his "bag of water" model. You simply can not get all hung up on the daily ups and downs. So what if you eat 1600 calories for the first time tomorrow, and you "gain" a pound. You will not have gained a pound of fat. You will have retained water, because your body replenished its glycogen stores. The following day you may be down a pound and a half. Again, it is water weight. Just chill and focus on the average weight trend, not daily weigh-ins.

http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/

Thanks for the link! Very informative!


Edited for spelling and to correct link.

Allterrain_Lady

Personal story... MFP put me at 1200 calories (sedentary setting, no exercise). When I exercise, initially I only ate back cardio calories and lost an average of 1.5 lbs/week. But when I tried not eating back any of the calories, OR eating back cardio AND strength training, then I either lost nothing or close to it. When I went back to eating back only the cardio (about 1500 total), then my weight loss went back up to about 1.5 lbs/week. So maybe it would help you to realize that if you up calories to a healthy level, it might actually help you lose MORE.

Awesome!! That's the kind of thing I need to read. I don't know where the idea of starving ourselves comes from. But it's so hard to get rid of it!!

Allterrain_Lady

okay, you know that 1200 isn't enough but you say that you feel that eating is bad or wrong.... IMO what you need to do is figure out where that belief comes from, and replace it with the truth... which is that eating is providing your body with the nutrition it needs to function, AND eating is enjoyable AND humans evolved to share food and enjoy eating as a social experience. in other words, eating is essential for humans at 3 levels... if you think about as though you're an alien studying humans, it'll make total sense that humans need to eat a) for nutrition, b) for enjoyment and c) as a social activity. if you can see it like that, but still find it hard to apply it to yourself, and can't replace that belief that "eating is bad" or "something bad's going to happen if I eat more than 1240 cals/day" with more truthful and rational ones, then maybe counselling will help. Sometimes these kinds of beliefs can be extremely deep rooted and it's not something you can just talk yourself out of in five minutes. Other times, you can get to the bottom of them and root them out by yourself without professional help... so try that first, but counselling is an option if you can't do that.

IMO it's not very different to the puritanical attitude towards sex, i.e that sex is for reproduction only and it's bad to enjoy it or have sex for fun. We know that sex is far more than reproduction, it's an expression of love, bonding, it's very enjoyable and people have a need for it that they want to satisfy.................. when people believe that food is for nourishment only and you should only eat the bare minimum necessary, and that eating for pleasure is bad.... well that's another form of puritanism. It's like society's rejected puritanical attitudes towards sex and applied them to food instead. And yes, in both cases there's such a thing as an unhealthy excess, you can wind up with obesity related illness in one case and STDs, unwanted pregnancies and broken hearts in the other case, but we should be intelligent enough to enjoy them responsibly, and no-one should feel guilty for enjoying them responsibly.

Thanks a lot!!! I needed to read some insights that would 'allow' me to do what I ALREADY know is good for me. Eating more!

Allterrain_Lady

Your spleen called. It wants a peanut butter sammich and a glass of milk.

LOL!

chani8

Just want to say that I totally understand you. I'm also afraid to eat. And I'm now below my goal weight and can't seem to stop myself from dieting. I want to stop losing weight and start building muscle, but the calories required to do that are terrifyingly high to me. It's really rather crazy to think like this. After all, it's just a mathematical equation. Calories in, calories out, adjusting for your goals. Why the fear, I ask myself and you? What's the worst thing that can happen if we up our calories? We gain. And then what? Well, we'll realize we went too far, so we'll cut our calories.

I lost weight doing an extreme diet of eating at BMR, with 1.5 cheat days (by 200-600 calories). I also eat low carb except for the 1.5 cheat days.

So over a week ago, I upped my calories by 100 over BMR, plus took on eating all my exercise calories. Today I weighed in, and I've lost another 2 pounds. It's not what I wanted to happen, to keep losing, but it's proof that eating at "BMR plus" is already low enough to lose weight.

Nuf said. Good luck.

TavistockToad

TL;DR? You're obsessed with 1200 calories and looking for us to validate that. No. I'm not going to... and none of us are going to be able to convince you of that... you basically said so yourself.

Exactly, I know it's wrong! And I need to be convinced to do otherwise.

i dont mean to sound harsh, but if you need 'convincing' that slowly starving yourself is a bad idea then you DO have disordered eating and should get professional help.

Allterrain_Lady

Thanks to all of you!!! I'm going to up my calories. Starting today. Everything I've been reading makes a lot of sense and matches what I was already feeling.
It's gonna be a scary process at first. But NOTHING is gonna be more scary than being 70lbs overweight, as I was a year ago.

THANKS!!!

lizzieloucaws

That is totally understandable especially as you have lost weight already, there develops a fear around food and going back to where you started. But food as you said isnt bad. I used to get really stressed about certain foods (sadly when i had nothing to stress over in terms of health) so I switched it on its head. If you read into nutrition and what your body needs to function, what vitamins and minerals are needed and what foods can meet your needs then it becomes less about weight and calories and more about health and nurturing your body which you are working so hard to improve.
Try making slow additions to your calorie intake gradually adding each week and that should reassure you that eating more doesnt necessarily lead to weight gain especially if you make it good for your body, personally i would opt for porridge with cinnamon and apple (total comfort food and good for you)
Anyway hope this helps, good luck xx

wanderingarcher

Not so. If someone's BMR is say 1500 and their TDEE is 2000, then eating at their BMR is fine.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Playing with the TDEE calculator yesterday, I realized that when I am closer to goal weight my BMR comes down, and my TDEE-20% is actually going to be more around 1500. I think that is why in the past 1500 worked for me without stalling, when I was at a lower-weight starting point.

But again-- I am still trying to understand all this, so...

deksgrl

Not so. If someone's BMR is say 1500 and their TDEE is 2000, then eating at their BMR is fine.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Playing with the TDEE calculator yesterday, I realized that when I am closer to goal weight my BMR comes down, and my TDEE-20% is actually going to be more around 1500. I think that is why in the past 1500 worked for me without stalling, when I was at a lower-weight starting point.

But again-- I am still trying to understand all this, so...

You are going to use -20% until you get to about 20 pounds away from goal weight, then you need to reduce that % to 15% and then 10%, and then will ease into maintenance at your goal weight.

wanderingarcher

You are going to use -20% until you get to about 20 pounds away from goal weight, then you need to reduce that % to 15% and then 10%, and then will ease into maintenance at your goal weight.

thanks for helping me understand.

jadethief

Thanks to all of you!!! I'm going to up my calories. Starting today. Everything I've been reading makes a lot of sense and matches what I was already feeling.
It's gonna be a scary process at first. But NOTHING is gonna be more scary than being 70lbs overweight, as I was a year ago.

THANKS!!!

I was going to say that you just need to take that leap of faith, but it looks like you already have. :drinker:

sharonfoustmills

I don't know what to tell you except that it seems when I eat a little more and go closer to 1300-1400, and sometimes even 1600-1700, I actually start to lose the weight faster. This is just my personal experience that I've had in my first month using MFP actively. I started out aiming to stay below 1200 and found a little more works better for my weight loss.

eta: try it for just one week, and see.... the worst that could possibly happen is you might put on 1/2 a pound?

wanderingarcher

I don't know what to tell you except that it seems when I eat a little more and go closer to 1300-1400, and sometimes even 1600-1700, I actually start to lose the weight faster. This is just my personal experience that I've had in my first month using MFP actively. I started out aiming to stay below 1200 and found a little more works better for my weight loss.

eta: try it for just one week, and see.... the worst that could possibly happen is you might put on 1/2 a pound?

If you're staying under your TDEE, then theoretically you won't GAIN anything, and you will lose something, though it may be slower than you think. Kind of remember the days of thousand-calorie binging and you realize eating over 1200 calories, even up to 2000 calories, isn't going to hurt you!

gomissfitnes

I'm curious Allterrain_lady, Where are you at now? Did you lose the weight? Did you eat more? I'm struggling with the same thing and wonder if I can lose weight by eating a little more.

kyubeans

With all this talk about 1200 calories not being sustainable... I'm finding myself very confused by MFP's recommendation for 1200 for me. It starts out with 1380, then with a negative adjustment thanks to my Fitbit, it comes to a total of 1200. I'm set for 1.5 lbs loss and have over 100 to lose. Is there something wrong? All my height/weight/age/gender info is accurate...

TonyB0588

kyucifer wrote: »

With all this talk about 1200 calories not being sustainable... I'm finding myself very confused by MFP's recommendation for 1200 for me. It starts out with 1380, then with a negative adjustment thanks to my Fitbit, it comes to a total of 1200. I'm set for 1.5 lbs loss and have over 100 to lose. Is there something wrong? All my height/weight/age/gender info is accurate...

My target was 1810 and I lost weight. After a full year I re-calibrated my profile information and MFP gave me a new goal of 1980. I'm still losing weight.