Suggested 1200

staciw

So MFP suggests a 1200 cal diet. I guess for everyone. However, I read posts from others that say that is no a great idea. Really hard to pull everyone's experiences together to come up with a good starting plan, but sure would like to.

I'm 41 years old, struggle to exercise 30 minutes a day (trying, just really hate it but hope I'll love it one day)
. 5'6" and weight 198. I've done the 1200 cals once before and lost about 30 lbs but hit a wall and the weight crept back up over the last three years.

So many people here have so much knowledge - hoping to learn from others.

Typically, when eating 1200 cals:
Bfast: 2 eggs, coffee with cream

Lunch: apple, 2oz low fat cheese, 2-3 oz lean meat (ham or turkey)

Dinner: grilled chicken, greens, full fat dressing.

That was today's intake. Usually something similar to that - stay away from bread and sugar and all processed snacks. Only have those things rarely

Suggestions? Ideas?

Thank you.

bajoyba

MFP simply assigns a calorie goal based on your current stats and weight loss goals. If you tell it you want to lose 2 lbs a week (which is often too aggressive), it has to create a 1,000 calorie deficit in your intake each day. However, due to liability reasons, MFP will not assign a calorie goal of less than 1200 to anyone - even though, depending on your stats, creating a 1,000 calorie deficit per day to lose 2 lbs a week may mean you actually have to eat less than 1200. 1200 calories is thought of as a minimum because once you eat less than that, it becomes difficult to get enough energy and nutrition from the food that you do eat.

I'm not sure what your weight loss goals are, but if you change your goal to 1lb a week, you may find it much easier to stick to. Keep in mind that if you do exercise, you're meant to eat those calories back.as well

dlionsmane

I am 5'7" and started at 207. MFP never had me at 1200. At 180 I was at 1460 when calculating 1 pound per week and Sedentary. It worked out pretty well in the beginning. However, I have learned that now I cannot manage that low of a calorie intake so I have reduced my loss to 1/2 pound a week and though it will be much slower I feel for me less than 1600 calories is not enough to feel well (I am at 1640 now). Also eat back at least some if not all of your exercise calories - most certainly if you do plan to stick to the 1200 - you will need to fuel your body for workouts. What/when you eat doesn't matter. You just have to be sure you are eating enough. Check out other sites to for calorie calculations, like http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ just as another reference point. I like to put in my goal weight to see what my maintenance calories will be - I am not too far off from that now so I know that when I get there I will be able to manage it.

Good Luck!

staciw

Very helpful already. Thank you.

lynn_glenmont

Good advice here.

If you want to eat more than 1200 calories a day, don't tell MFP you want to lose 2 lbs a week, and don't say you're sedentary if you're really not (admittedly, it's hard to be sure).

I started at 210 lbs, 5'4", told MFP I was sedentary (b/c I have a desk job) and I wanted to lose 1 lb a week, and it gave me 1450 calories a day, but so far I've been averaging about 2 lbs a week, so clearly I'm not really sedentary. When MFP wanted to cut my calories by about 100 a day after I had lost 10 lbs, I overrode it (I was already losing 2 lbs a week, so I didn't see any reason to cut further). After a bit more I went into my diet profile and changed sedentary to lightly active, and now my MFP-calculated goal is 1480 net calories a day to lose a pound a week, but I'm expecting that I'll average between 1.5 and 1.75 lbs for a while yet

SherryTeach

So MFP suggests a 1200 cal diet. I guess for everyone. However, I read posts from others that say that is no a great idea. Really hard to pull everyone's experiences together to come up with a good starting plan, but sure would like to.

I'm 41 years old, struggle to exercise 30 minutes a day (trying, just really hate it but hope I'll love it one day)
. 5'6" and weight 198. I've done the 1200 cals once before and lost about 30 lbs but hit a wall and the weight crept back up over the last three years.

So many people here have so much knowledge - hoping to learn from others.

Typically, when eating 1200 cals:
Bfast: 2 eggs, coffee with cream


Lunch: apple, 2oz low fat cheese, 2-3 oz lean meat (ham or turkey)

Dinner: grilled chicken, greens, full fat dressing.

That was today's intake. Usually something similar to that - stay away from bread and sugar and all processed snacks. Only have those things rarely

Suggestions? Ideas?

Thank you.

Are you satisfied with eating only six different foods in a day? That would not work for me past day 2. I, personally, would up my calories to at least 1350 and try to incorporate more food choices in a single day.

QuietBloom

I would go higher than 1200 unless you truly are not hungry on that. I could not eat such a healthy diet day in and day out. I need to work in my cupcakes.

Make sure you eat back your exercise calories if you are going to do the MFP model.