1200cal/day really works.

SweetlyVague

I'm not going to judge YOU for doing this, but I do think you really need to do your homework on daily caloric needs, especially before preaching to all of MFP that it "works". If people are new to this site, they may make poor, unhealthy choices for themselves and follow what you're doing. It may work for you, but it's very well known that this is NOT a healthy practice.

AniaFi

Good for you! Crossing my fingers for hitting the final goal
I decided to reduce my daily intake 2 weeks ago and have been now on 1200 - 1400 kcal, but I excersise to boost my methabolism.

pinkraynedropjacki

Good for you! Crossing my fingers for hitting the final goal
I decided to reduce my daily intake 2 weeks ago and have been now on 1200 - 1400 kcal, but I excersise to boost my methabolism.

I hope you are eating back those exercise cals.

shapefitter

A pregnant female is sedentary and would eat a minimum of 2000 kcal a day. After birth, the weight will drop naturally as a lot of water/placenta is lost. Not to mention the babies I suggest you join the various new mother groups on MFP. I hope you'll get support there.

pinkraynedropjacki

A pregnant female is sedentary and would eat a minimum of 2000 kcal a day. After birth, the weight will drop naturally as a lot of water/placenta is lost. Not to mention the babies I suggest you join the various new mother groups on MFP. I hope you'll get support there.

She's not a 'new' mother with 18 month old kids. That weight is not placenta at all & that sorry to say is gone within 20 mins of giving birth anyway.

shapefitter

Me too. Down 16 kilos since March.

I am sorry, but that is downright dangerous.

belindanjumo

What are you going to do when you are done "dieting" and need to go on maintenance? I'm glad you enjoy recreational dieting. It's fun and the cool thing (I know from experience of losing more than 50 pounds six or seven times), is that each time you do the 1200 calorie approach, you get tons of compliments on your quick weight loss. Even better, you get to get the same sense of accomplishment every few years because you have to go on a diet again.

Am not in a haste to lose the weight. Am on 1200 because of my lifestyle. when I start exercising, i will up my calories.

So then like me are you short and sedentary most days? And plan to eat back your exercise cals when you get more active?

Exactly hun, 5ft 2, sedentary (even though many people think i am likely more active coz of my boys but they only know the half of it) but i plan on exercising. The main reason am doing this is i have a large muscle mass actually. I tend to gain alot of muscle when am exercising, and easily grow big even when i lose weight. So am trying to lose some weight first, keeping my muscle mass normal(though some think otherwise), then when i start exercising, i can control how much muscle i gain, because i will be able to see that clearly without much fat in the way

Wow, that must be sa-weet to have such a large muscle mass from being sedentary. Seriously, I just spit my water out my nose. This cannot be a real thread.

I doubt you know what muscle mass is. You think it means looking like a trainer? lol

Rawr1978

I lose 5-7lbs when i do a week of 1200cals. Then, that damn trigger rears up, and i go over. It's awesome if you can stay at your desired caloric level...not so much when you can't.
To those who say it's not healthy-it is. A lot healthier than shoveling fries into your mouth while saying, "But i NEED these extra calories! I've lost half a pound of (water) weight while gorging on junk!"
Calories in vs calories out, but a lot of people just don't wanna believe that.

randomtai

What are you going to do when you are done "dieting" and need to go on maintenance? I'm glad you enjoy recreational dieting. It's fun and the cool thing (I know from experience of losing more than 50 pounds six or seven times), is that each time you do the 1200 calorie approach, you get tons of compliments on your quick weight loss. Even better, you get to get the same sense of accomplishment every few years because you have to go on a diet again.

Am not in a haste to lose the weight. Am on 1200 because of my lifestyle. when I start exercising, i will up my calories.

So then like me are you short and sedentary most days? And plan to eat back your exercise cals when you get more active?

Exactly hun, 5ft 2, sedentary (even though many people think i am likely more active coz of my boys but they only know the half of it) but i plan on exercising. The main reason am doing this is i have a large muscle mass actually. I tend to gain alot of muscle when am exercising, and easily grow big even when i lose weight. So am trying to lose some weight first, keeping my muscle mass normal(though some think otherwise), then when i start exercising, i can control how much muscle i gain, because i will be able to see that clearly without much fat in the way

Wow, that must be sa-weet to have such a large muscle mass from being sedentary. Seriously, I just spit my water out my nose. This cannot be a real thread.

I doubt you know what muscle mass is. You think it means looking like a trainer? lol

I doubt YOU know what muscle mass is. :flowerforyou:

belindanjumo

1200 calories is like....breakfast.

All i can say is thank god i powerlift.

A-Freaking-Men! I do a mix of bodybuilding/powerlifting (<3 PHAT) and during the times when I was really working to add size and strength I'd be putting away 1400 calories worth of oat protein pancakes before a training session. God I can't wait for bulking season to come round again!


To the OP:

First of all, congrats on the initial loss - a positive result right from the start always gets the motivation up good and proper. I'm glad as well that you have acknowledged that a good portion of that loss would be attributed to water weight coming off - a common product of a major change in eating habits (2000 calories to 1200 is a reduction of 40%). It sounds like your food choices are quite healthy and continuing to do what you're doing will likely result in continued, albeit smaller loss. Over time, you may notice that your weight loss is slowing down or stalling completely. You may also start finding yourself constantly feeling hungry or getting fatigued quicker and just not having the energy you had when starting on the 1200 calorie diet. These are the sorts of things that some people (not all) can experience when aiming for a really aggressive calorie goal.

When I started out in January 2012 I was eating 1200 calories a day. Why? Cause MFP set it as that as I was trying to lose the most amount of weight as quickly as possible. For me setting it to lose 2lbs per week set me to 1200 calories before exercise calories. As I didn't know any better, I did what MFP said and ate 1200 calories. I lost almost 7lbs in my first week and was so happy that this diet was working. I continued to eat 1200 calories for a few weeks and kept losing weight however, nowhere near as much as the first week but I was still happy with the progress. After about a month I started finding myself hungry for long stretches during the day, sometimes even had pain in my stomach on a couple of occasions. I also noticed my workouts starting to lack intensity and even just focusing on things at work became more difficult but I kept pushing on with 1200 calories cause it was working.

A couple of weeks later at a weigh in, my weight had not decreased from the previous week. Wasn't happy but chalked it up as a off week and went back to business. The next week I weighed in and was the same again. Now I started to get a bit concerned. I was following the same diet and exercising just as much but I wasn't any weight anymore. I decided to check out some resources here in the MFP forums as well as other sites and basically the feedback I got was that I wasn't eating enough and I needed to up my calories so I changed the MFP settings to lose 1lb per week which put me on 1800 calories. Started eating the higher calories straight away and within a day was feeling much more energetic. The lingering feeling of hunger was gone and in general I felt a lot better. Then came weigh in.

I had gained 2lbs which was more than I'd lost in the 3 weeks prior. Seeing that number frustrated and demotivated me big time and made me want to drop my calories down, but after remembering what I had read about sometimes needing to eat more to lose weight, I stuck with the 1800 calories. Went through my week, did all my workouts which were all at a much better level of intensity by the way and got to the next weigh in.

3lbs down! Turns out that 2lb gain was due to the big jump in calories (1200 to 1800) with the diet change. I continued on eating around 1800 a day for about 3 months and lost around 45lbs. Since then I've gained and lost weight due to doing small bulk and cuts but for the most part have kept that 45lbs off.

These days I don't use MFP to calculate my intake, I use a TDEE calculator and make the daily calorie target changes based on whether I'm trying to gain muscle mass (add 10-15% to TDEE), lose body fat (subtract 10-20% from TDEE) or just maintain my weight (use TDEE).

Now you're probably sitting there wondering what relevance this is to you, right? Very little really. It's my story, my experience of eating far below what I should have been simply because I was in a rush to lose weight. I'm not saying that what I experienced will happen to you - you may do great on 1200 calories and not have any problems whatsoever just like other people here that have reached their goals by following the 1200 calorie target. What I'm just trying to point out is that if you start noticing things like constant hunger, fatigue, slowed or stalled weight loss, then maybe you need to re-think your plan of attack. All the best

On the contrary this was quite relevant. Its post like these that make me rethink my calorific intake but the bottom line is i think i am able to eat that coz am not exercising yet. So i don't need to eat much. Am small as well, short etc. After calculating things my TDEE is actually 1499. so to lose i have to go beyond that. But as u said if i get hungry and stuff, i will definitely up my calories.

belindanjumo

Just for the record, I lost 60 lbs eating 1200 calories a day and I haven't even gained a pound back. Some of you guys just need to take a seat and let people do whatever they feel they need to do. It's their body, not yours!

Hooray!!!

chelseascounter

I lost 22 lbs on 1,100-1,200 cals in 5 months. No exercise. I'm also 4'10" if that makes a difference. I know if I were to "workout" and gain muscle then I could up my cals, but I'm content now.

belindanjumo

Can't judge success after one week. Come back when you have been at your goal and on maintenance for at least a year.

^ Also depends on what you want to lost, how much you had to lose and a few other things. Say you just started your diet and you're 100lbs over weight.. Most people lose 4-8lbs when they start off. I lost 9lbs. The second week i lost 6lbs and then roughly 3-4lbs each week after until i got down to a healthier range. Now i'm losing 0.5lbs -2lbs a month. I'd imagine a person wanting to lose 5 lbs shouldn't really be doing 1200 cals if they intend to gain muscle and tone while losing fat. But that's 100% my own opinion. Hope it continues to go well!

You didn't read my quote properly. I intend to lose weight while on 1200 then exercise to maintain the muscles after i have lost weight. I explained that i easily grow big when exercising because i have a large muscle mass so the scale doesn't easily come down. At one point it went up and when my muscle and fat and all were measured, i was told i added lots of muscle and only lost little fat. So i decided to lose weight first on diet, then exercise after so that i can watch how my body changes and control it. i can look leaner and not herculish when i am fat with large muscle. dont know if i made sense

Francl27

I've lost 62 lbs in 10 months eating 1600 calories or more. What's your point?

PhoenixStrikes

Can't judge success after one week. Come back when you have been at your goal and on maintenance for at least a year.

^ Also depends on what you want to lost, how much you had to lose and a few other things. Say you just started your diet and you're 100lbs over weight.. Most people lose 4-8lbs when they start off. I lost 9lbs. The second week i lost 6lbs and then roughly 3-4lbs each week after until i got down to a healthier range. Now i'm losing 0.5lbs -2lbs a month. I'd imagine a person wanting to lose 5 lbs shouldn't really be doing 1200 cals if they intend to gain muscle and tone while losing fat. But that's 100% my own opinion. Hope it continues to go well!

You didn't read my quote properly. I intend to lose weight while on 1200 then exercise to maintain the muscles after i have lost weight. I explained that i easily grow big when exercising because i have a large muscle mass so the scale doesn't easily come down. At one point it went up and when my muscle and fat and all were measured, i was told i added lots of muscle and only lost little fat. So i decided to lose weight first on diet, then exercise after so that i can watch how my body changes and control it. i can look leaner and not herculish when i am fat with large muscle. dont know if i made sense

But why eat at a deficit that causes you to lose LBM? It seems silly to spend a long time losing your muscle only to try and gain some back afterwords.... Can't you see that if you eat at a proper deficit you won't lose as much LBM?

belindanjumo

Can't judge success after one week. Come back when you have been at your goal and on maintenance for at least a year.

^ Also depends on what you want to lost, how much you had to lose and a few other things. Say you just started your diet and you're 100lbs over weight.. Most people lose 4-8lbs when they start off. I lost 9lbs. The second week i lost 6lbs and then roughly 3-4lbs each week after until i got down to a healthier range. Now i'm losing 0.5lbs -2lbs a month. I'd imagine a person wanting to lose 5 lbs shouldn't really be doing 1200 cals if they intend to gain muscle and tone while losing fat. But that's 100% my own opinion. Hope it continues to go well!

You didn't read my quote properly. I intend to lose weight while on 1200 then exercise to maintain the muscles after i have lost weight. I explained that i easily grow big when exercising because i have a large muscle mass so the scale doesn't easily come down. At one point it went up and when my muscle and fat and all were measured, i was told i added lots of muscle and only lost little fat. So i decided to lose weight first on diet, then exercise after so that i can watch how my body changes and control it. i can look leaner and not herculish when i am fat with large muscle. dont know if i made sense

But why eat at a deficit that causes you to lose LBM? It seems silly to spend a long time losing your muscle only to try and gain some back afterwords.... Can't you see that if you eat at a proper deficit you won't lose as much LBM?

You think I will lose muscle on 1200? Well thats what most people think but i dont think so. Do you not lose fat first and start losing muscle when most of the fat is gone? I want to reach the point where i have lost most of the fat, and if i start losing muscle, i up my calories and exercise as well.

Iron_Feline

Can't judge success after one week. Come back when you have been at your goal and on maintenance for at least a year.

^ Also depends on what you want to lost, how much you had to lose and a few other things. Say you just started your diet and you're 100lbs over weight.. Most people lose 4-8lbs when they start off. I lost 9lbs. The second week i lost 6lbs and then roughly 3-4lbs each week after until i got down to a healthier range. Now i'm losing 0.5lbs -2lbs a month. I'd imagine a person wanting to lose 5 lbs shouldn't really be doing 1200 cals if they intend to gain muscle and tone while losing fat. But that's 100% my own opinion. Hope it continues to go well!

You didn't read my quote properly. I intend to lose weight while on 1200 then exercise to maintain the muscles after i have lost weight. I explained that i easily grow big when exercising because i have a large muscle mass so the scale doesn't easily come down. At one point it went up and when my muscle and fat and all were measured, i was told i added lots of muscle and only lost little fat. So i decided to lose weight first on diet, then exercise after so that i can watch how my body changes and control it. i can look leaner and not herculish when i am fat with large muscle. dont know if i made sense

But why eat at a deficit that causes you to lose LBM? It seems silly to spend a long time losing your muscle only to try and gain some back afterwords.... Can't you see that if you eat at a proper deficit you won't lose as much LBM?

You think I will lose muscle on 1200? Well thats what most people think but i dont think so. Do you not lose fat first and start losing muscle when most of the fat is gone? I want to reach the point where i have lost most of the fat, and if i start losing muscle, i up my calories and exercise as well.

That's not how it works - if you don't eat enough, eat enough protein and use your muscles while you lose weight your body will just see them as an easy source of energy from the very start.

Your body can only get a certain amount of energy from fat per day - after that it will take it from the muscles. If your body only started using your muscles for energy once you got to a certain percentage of fat the issue of skinny fat wouldn't come up as much.

You also won't know if you are losing muscle without doing some form of body scan to measure it - scales are not accurate in this regard.

It's science - it doesn't matter if you believe it to be true or not. If you have too large a deficit, not enough protein and don't use your muscles then your body WILL take energy from them. Even with all this it will still take some - the goal is to minimise the damage.

Read this - do this

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it

Bbwinpr

I just lost 4lbs in one week eating 1200cals a day. No exercise. I just want to say it really works. You should try it! Just one week and see the difference. Now am eager to get on with my weight loss. I wasn't losing any weight at first because of my diet. Now I can do and so can you!

that's the calorie count MFP is recommending me to eat so thanks for the post i have more hope it will work

floridared

1200cal/day is okay for a person who is eating healthy. Portion size is what's important when consuming foods. I am on a 1200cal/day but make sure I get in my proteins,fruits, vegetables and healthy carbs. I watch my sugar, fat and sodium intake and it is working for me. The world is made up of different people whose life styles are different. What is good for one may not be good for another. What is bad for one may not be bad for another. Wishing everyone on this journey success in a health way. :-)

belindanjumo

Can't judge success after one week. Come back when you have been at your goal and on maintenance for at least a year.

^ Also depends on what you want to lost, how much you had to lose and a few other things. Say you just started your diet and you're 100lbs over weight.. Most people lose 4-8lbs when they start off. I lost 9lbs. The second week i lost 6lbs and then roughly 3-4lbs each week after until i got down to a healthier range. Now i'm losing 0.5lbs -2lbs a month. I'd imagine a person wanting to lose 5 lbs shouldn't really be doing 1200 cals if they intend to gain muscle and tone while losing fat. But that's 100% my own opinion. Hope it continues to go well!

You didn't read my quote properly. I intend to lose weight while on 1200 then exercise to maintain the muscles after i have lost weight. I explained that i easily grow big when exercising because i have a large muscle mass so the scale doesn't easily come down. At one point it went up and when my muscle and fat and all were measured, i was told i added lots of muscle and only lost little fat. So i decided to lose weight first on diet, then exercise after so that i can watch how my body changes and control it. i can look leaner and not herculish when i am fat with large muscle. dont know if i made sense

But why eat at a deficit that causes you to lose LBM? It seems silly to spend a long time losing your muscle only to try and gain some back afterwords.... Can't you see that if you eat at a proper deficit you won't lose as much LBM?

You think I will lose muscle on 1200? Well thats what most people think but i dont think so. Do you not lose fat first and start losing muscle when most of the fat is gone? I want to reach the point where i have lost most of the fat, and if i start losing muscle, i up my calories and exercise as well.

That's not how it works - if you don't eat enough, eat enough protein and use your muscles while you lose weight your body will just see them as an easy source of energy from the very start.

Your body can only get a certain amount of energy from fat per day - after that it will take it from the muscles. If your body only started using your muscles for energy once you got to a certain percentage of fat the issue of skinny fat wouldn't come up as much.

You also won't know if you are losing muscle without doing some form of body scan to measure it - scales are not accurate in this regard.

It's science - it doesn't matter if you believe it to be true or not. If you have too large a deficit, not enough protein and don't use your muscles then your body WILL take energy from them. Even with all this it will still take some - the goal is to minimise the damage.

Read this - do this

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it

Oh i read the thread. Thanks was quite helpful