1200 Calorie Diet???? Seriously???

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  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    edited November 2018
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    bygblu21 wrote: »
    I'm fairly new to this forum and am really surprised at how many people on here are starving themselves to lose weight. Weight loss is not a sprint its a marathon. Its something that should happen over time, not within a few weeks. Weight loss is more than just limiting your caloric intake. Its a combination of eating clean and healthy ( I hate the word diet) and exercising on a daily basis. Starving yourself is not a healthy way to lose weight and by limiting your caloric intake to 1200 or so calories is doing just that. Not only is it unhealthy, but its a process that you will never stick to because its not natural and uncomfortable to do. So lets be serious and talk about how to lose weight realistically.

    I would first ask yourself, "why do I want to lose weight?' Is it for appearance? Is it to be more healthy? Is it to be able to make it up that flight of steps without getting tired? Once you understand your own reasoning you can then move forward and begin your weight loss journey, because after all that's what it should be, a journey not a short trip. Once you've realized your goal and the reason for it you need to make the biggest decision of all, and that's to commit to yourself and commit to achieving your goal of losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle.

    So now you've made the decision to put your health first; now what? Lets start with your eating habits. What do you eat? When do you eat it? and how often are you eating? Your body is a very complex machine but by following some simple rules about eating, you can have it running very efficiently. Follow these few simple rules and you'll see and feel the difference in your energy level.
    -Start every day with an 8oz. glass of lemon water
    -Monitor your portions- you should be eating small portion meals throughout the day rather than one, two or three large portioned meals a day
    -Drink water, all day long
    -Focus on lean proteins like chicken, turkey, salmon etc. and I don't mean processed cold-cuts...
    -Focus on eating fresh vegetables, steamed when possible
    -Limit unnecessary condiments i.e. mayonnaise, oils, salt etc.
    -Limit, but don't restrict carbohydrates. Complex carbs are needed by your body
    -Dairy is ok but in limited portions and should be kept to low fat dairy. Greek yogurt is a good choice.
    -Fresh fruit should be kept to 1 or 2 pieces a day. Its high in sugar and you should be limiting your sugar

    This si just a guide to go by. Your food intake should be directly related to your physical activity. Exercise is key but that's a whole other topic....

    So many rules...

    Hope creating these restrictions helped you to achieve your goals, but many of us muddle through just fine eating what we like in sensible portions, with an eye to our nutritional needs. And some of us are smaller sedentary women who lose slowly on 1200 calories.

    It's generally a bad idea to take what works for you and generalize to everyone - it's rarely applicable to most other people.

    Edited to fix embarrassing spelling error
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
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    It's not even New Year's yet.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    edited November 2018
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    Nvm. Necro thread.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    edited November 2018
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    Also nvm.
  • Caralarma
    Caralarma Posts: 174 Member
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    Eating 1200 calories is necessary for some people to lose weight. Its a scientific fact that weight loss comes from a calorie deficit which is calculated according to ones height. Therefore, "eating clean" is not going to do anything for your weight if you are still in a calorie surplus. All the advice you gave above is good to keep in mind if you want to be healthy, but weight loss is about calories in vs calories out and whether it's done by counting calories or drinking lemon water, a calorie deficit is the aim. 1200 calories is not 'starving yourself'. People are just so used to stuffing their faces all day long so they dont realise that not everyone needs to live on so many calories. It's actually easy to have 3 small meals a day with the odd treat and still stick to 1200.

    One more thing- exercise is not vital for weight loss. If it helps you create a calorie deficit then so be it but many people including myself are able to create the deficit by knowing when to put down the fork.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,021 Member
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    t98028.gif
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
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    paperpudding wrote: »
    t98028.gif

    Ooooo I like this one!
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,021 Member
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    http://yoursmiles.org/ - fantastic site - has many emoticons for all occasions, easy to copy and paste into posts and nicely organised into sections. for easy finding.
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
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    paperpudding wrote: »
    http://yoursmiles.org/ - fantastic site - has many emoticons for all occasions, easy to copy and paste into posts and nicely organised into sections. for easy finding.

    Thanks! Bookmarked it for easy reference c0532.gif


  • amy19355
    amy19355 Posts: 805 Member
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    LiminalAscendance wrote: »
    Water all day long eh...I drink when I am thirsty...too much water isn't good either.

    Well, let's get this silly thing out of the way.

    I know it's all the rage on these forums to say how there's no such thing as too much sugar, fat, and how all the "cool kids" have a pint of B&J's each night, but now water can be bad?

    Just like everyone here says we don't need cleanses, since our body can handle it, we certainly don't need to worry about drinking too much water. That's why we urinate.

    Show me an example where some non-ridiculous (e.g. a gallon in few minutes) amount of water was actually harmful to an individual. Note: Bear in mind that replacing water with the diet sodas everyone here seems to love would be just as "bad" for you as the pure stuff.

    Drinking water is a good thing, and not some hippie conspiracy.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12053855

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1770067/

    "All of these cases are associated with more than 5 L (usually 10-20 L) of water intake during a period of a few hours."

    Thanks for proving my point.

    It's funny. When someone mentions ice cream is "bad" for you, all the choir here preach about "moderation."

    When someone says water is good for you, you get those discussing drinking unreal amounts (not very moderate, eh?).

    Oh yeah, and make sure you post those links the next time everyone mentions how "good" diet sodas are, since that amount of them would also cause "water intoxication."
    Drinking too much water can throw off your electrolite balance. This is a scientific fact. I have gotten sick and light-headed from too much water over the course of a day.

    I drink plenty of water and feel fine. My authority is just as good as yours.

    Hint: Neither of us has any.

    “Too much “, and “plenty” are invalid units of measurement.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
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    There's no use picking a random figure of 1200 calories. Enter your personal statistics and goals in the MFP diet/fitness profile settings page, and you'll get a suggestion appropriate for you. My goal set by MFP is 1990 calories. That's a whole lot more than 1200 if you notice.

    The main point really is Calorie Deficit, based on your Calories In and Calories Out. So if your Calories In are going to be as low as 1200, I guess you're burning no Calories Out at all, and that's unlikely because there's a certain minimum just to live, even before you do any exercise or physical work.
  • Dilvish
    Dilvish Posts: 398 Member
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    Seems to me this person knows it all. I will devote my entire journey of weight loss to this miraculous user. I await further instructions from this absolute god of weight loss....

    Actually it's just easier to say "get bent!"....
  • Lolinloggen
    Lolinloggen Posts: 465 Member
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    nomeejerome wrote: »
    1. You do not need to "eat clean." (you can eat a variety of foods, lose weight, and meet nutritional needs)
    2. Drink the lemon water if you like the taste, but it will do nothing for weight loss.
    3. Meal timing is personal preference.
    4. You can eat lunch meat and still lose weight. (and be healthy)
    5. You do not have to limit condiments. (if it fits into your day, go for it.)
    6. You do not have to limit dairy. (unless you have a medical reason)
    7. You do not have to limit fruit. (fruit has numerous nutritional benefits)
    8. The only reason somebody should be restricting sugar is because of a medical reason. (sugar is carb, so track that.)

    Totally agree. Plus don't forget we are all different heights.
    I was on a 1200-1300 calorie diet for a long time But then again at just 1.59m and 50 years of age my BMR is only 1430 calories so for me at my height it is perfectly reasonable to be at that rate when trying to lose the weight.

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