1200 - 1400 calories per day, how's it going?

jeenj00

I started with this 6 week goal to do 1200 to 1400 calories a day, I am on day 4. I decided to do this after 3 months of working out with no weight loss (but muscle gain) and I am just ready to see some serious results. My sweat smells horrible, I'm up to 2 showers a day... I think that means I'm burning fat? Got myself a meal prep plan and so far so good.

Anyone else and how are you doing?

tomcustombuilder

Lol no. That means nothing.
Good luck with your goals though👍🏽

jeenj00

Thank you and Google says otherwise...

"When the body burns fat for energy, it produces ketones. A type of ketone called acetone can make the breath smell fruity or change a person's body odor."

dragon_girl26

Well, I can't ever recall smelling bad and having to take 2 showers a day, despite having lost 80 lbs at one point. I'm going with no on that one! Good luck though.

dragon_girl26

jeenj00 wrote: »

Thank you and Google says otherwise...

"When the body burns fat for energy, it produces ketones. A type of ketone called acetone can make the breath smell fruity or change a person's body odor."

That's if you're doing keto, though, nit generally low calorie diets. You didn't mention keto here..

AnnPT77

I lost weight at a pretty good clip at an accurate 1400-1600 calories (plus several hundred exercise calories most days, so often 1600-2000 gross intake), as a 59 y/0, 5'5" woman in the mid-150s pounds (SW 183, class 1 obese, but not logging/counting for the first 25 or so pounds). No unusual smells, though, that I know of.

Down-trend in body weight averaged across 4-6 weeks implies fat burning. I wouldn't count on body odor as an indication, personally.

Good luck!

codefun64

I lost around 10 pounds doing keto without MFP for a month, and now with MFP I've gone from 246.6 to 221.6 since January 16th. I targeted somewhere between 1500 and 1700 net calories, more like 1550-1600, for most of that time, and have a generally very low activity level.

I'm going to start targeting 1300 net calories a day now that things have slowed down and I've lost over 10% of my body weight (yay!), a bit restrictive but I feel like I can manage it, it's only a bit lower than my current trend. Also been incorporating a lot more walks around the neighborhood and into town to help keep my body active, highly recommend taking walks if you're also very low activity like me. It helps with building endurance, managing your calories per day, and just generally makes you feel better about your fitness journey - like a tangible result. "I can walk 3 miles without stopping and feel fine, and don't look horrible doing it. Wow."

Keep going, a few days in isn't much but you will start to notice over the next few weeks for sure - don't give up.

I highly recommend eating at least 0.8 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight, you can achieve this with whey powder or eating lean protein like tuna or chicken breast - this will help prevent your weight loss from coming from actual muscle tissue (which includes organs like your heart!) while you heavily restrict calories. DO NOT NEGLECT PROTEIN. Even on keto. Keto isn't magic, it won't keep your muscles strong if you aren't eating enough protein, and long-term you will degrade even your organs if you have a huge calorie deficit and not enough protein in your body. Something to be aware of.

yirara

No sweating doesn't mean you're burning fat unfortunately. Smelly sweat can be for a number of reasons, including sweating a bit more post workout and wearing artificial fiber clothes in which smelly bacteria can grow. To be absolutely sure it's probably also good to get your blood sugar tested.

JulieP26

I have been doing 1300 calories since November 2022. I do have 1 day every week or two where I eat 1400-1500 calories. I also walk 2-4 miles a day at a moderate pace and do about 5-10 mins of light arm weights/ ab workout. So far I have lost 28.6 pounds. I am with in 5 pounds of my goal weight and plan to stay between 1350-1400 once I arrive and work on building more muscle/ getting more toned.

paperpudding

I lost steadily on 1460 net.

Didn't need any more showers than before nor notice body odour or bad breath.

jeenj00

JulieP26 wrote: »

I have been doing 1300 calories since November 2022. I do have 1 day every week or two where I eat 1400-1500 calories. I also walk 2-4 miles a day at a moderate pace and do about 5-10 mins of light arm weights/ ab workout. So far I have lost 28.6 pounds. I am with in 5 pounds of my goal weight and plan to stay between 1350-1400 once I arrive and work on building more muscle/ getting more toned.

Very cool! It's great to hear someone else keeping up with the diet... this is no joke hard. I've been up and down in my life and now in my early 40s, hoping that once I lose this baby weight (I have a 12 month old) I'll have the general "wisdom" to stay steady and not overindulge... especially around the holidays.

Congrats on getting so close to your goal, inspirational! I hope to be that close one day..

jeenj00

yirara wrote: »

No sweating doesn't mean you're burning fat unfortunately. Smelly sweat can be for a number of reasons, including sweating a bit more post workout and wearing artificial fiber clothes in which smelly bacteria can grow. To be absolutely sure it's probably also good to get your blood sugar tested.

Thanks, I don't post online often... was just adding a little anecdote to my search for others who are on the super low cal diet. I shouldn't have mentioned anything about BO lol but thanks for the info.

hoodlisa1979

I'm on 1200 calories a day, I'm on week 12, if you're noticing a ketone smell then I would honestly recommend a visit to the docs, stress hormones stink proper b.o smell, you don't say about your weight, height, activity lvl etc but I'd say that when I've been through a traumatic event my body reacts and I stink, its never done it on a diet tho even at levels of 500 cals per day, losing fat shouldn't make u stink (pee may smell a bit more pee like)

peggy_polenta

jeenj00 wrote: »

yirara wrote: »

No sweating doesn't mean you're burning fat unfortunately. Smelly sweat can be for a number of reasons, including sweating a bit more post workout and wearing artificial fiber clothes in which smelly bacteria can grow. To be absolutely sure it's probably also good to get your blood sugar tested.

Thanks, I don't post online often... was just adding a little anecdote to my search for others who are on the super low cal diet. I shouldn't have mentioned anything about BO lol but thanks for the info.

you are actually not off base on the BO where you didn't have it b4. This is a thing. not necessarily keto related. lots of things happen hormonally as your fat cells release fat. fat cells help store estrogen which get released as your fat cells release fat from them. which is why you might start getting pimples at the start of weight loss. it won't last more than a few weeks as your body adjusts. don't listen to the people phish-awing you.