1200 It's too much for me!!

gnutrifitness

Well, I have to say that when I joined MFP and begin to track whatever I eat, I realized It was difficult to reach my calorie goal (1200 calories), and I supossed I had a long time eating under this number of calories. Well after reading several post about starvation mode and every other things, I decided to try to increase my daily intake and sometimes try to eat some of my exercise calories. But guess what? In 3 weeks I stay at the same point first and then gained 1 lb, so I decided to stay under 1200 (often 1000), and now I'm beginning to lose some weight.

I know you always say DO NOT EAT UNDER 1200 CALORIES, but I don't think this is for everybody. I'm pretty short 5'1'' and my family (mother, aunts, sisters) gain weight easily! maybe we have a very slow metabolism? I don't know... I also I'm trying to lose the last pounds, I have a healthy BIM but I just want to lose some inches in my lower body, and I know It's harder when you don't have a lot of weight to lose!.... Does somebody is in the same situation?

Dawn_2013

Of course it is a guideline You have to do what is good for you, but if you can take vitamins, I hear 'dieters' are often deficient in Vitamin e...which is pretty easy to come by. It sounds like you eat healthy though, as you can plough through 1200 calories in one bad fast food experience!!

megsta21

Hi There Nutrigaby!!

As far as I have read, it takes 3-4 weeks for your body to adjust to the amount of food your eating, and in this time you may gain a little bit of weight because your body is still storing it in case you go into "starvation" again. You have to "teach" your body that your not going to turn around and starve it again.

So I would say, stick with it, weigh yourself now, then in 3.5 weeks, and then every week thereafter, if your not loosing weight at week 5, then consult your doctor or a dietitian to see what your body really needs.

Thats my 0.02cents worth... Good luck with it all!!!

Megs

EKarma

When I was consistently hitting under 1200 cals I didn't lose anything. I upped my cals to 1200 and the weight started coming off again. If you are having a hard time then I would suggest not eating loww-fat or fat-free foods.. Or if you wanna do that and eat more nuts, milk, or granola, that could help boost up your cals a lil without having to eat bigger meals. Good luck hun.

Melaniegibson

I also get 1200 cal/day. I try to do exercise daily to burn b/w 400-700 cal/day to allow myself the weight loss. I think if I just consumed only 122 cal/day I would not loose weight. I know it all comes down to exercise for me. I am just days away from 40 and know that as I get older I have to work out harder to loose weight. My weakness - I enjoy a vodka tonic from time to time.
I try to eat 900-1000 cal/day and work out 400-700cal/day

happily

Left to my own devices, I'd be content with 900 calories/day or fewer. I weighed 260 when I started here in July. I upped my calories to the MFP suggestion. I did gain a little bit of weight, but within a couple of weeks, I started losing weight.

I've been too "busy" to make myself eat as much as I should lately and my weight lose has slowed down dramatically.

Give it some time.

funkyspunky871

I can't lose with 1200 calories either. I stay around 1000-1100. I know it's risky, but i gain every time I try bumping it up to 1200-1300. I'm a little worried that I'm screwing my metabolism up, so I may give 1200 another try soon. (And you know what's worse? I'm constantly getting onto my mom for eating below 1200!)

Ely82010

You are a woman after my own heart. I am also short, just 5 feet tall and with a small frame. A ten lb gain for me is the equivalent of a 30 lb gain for woman of normal height and body composition. Trying to loose the last 4 lbs is a strugle and very frustating.

I am in a platau mode for the last month and half. I only lost 2 lbs in two months, and 1200 calories is also too much for me to eat. Considering that I usually have between 300 and 500 excercise calories to play with, I end up with over 1500 calories of food to consume a day. Some times even more, but I am always with calory deficiency.

I have been eating more healthy food as snacks, specially between noon and dinner time to compensate a little, and today I skipped my afternoon work out because I still have over 600 left for dinner. I already excercise in the morning. I am not very hungry most of the time so I don't eat much but then I get hypoglycemic and my energy level goes down.

Try to eat more snacks (healthy) between meals to increase your food calories and see what happens. Maybe you don't need 1200 all the time, and like other members said maybe your body is still adjusting. Good luck and keep up posted.

imagymrat

By eating fewer than 1000 calories a day, you deprive your body of essential nutrients and place yourself at risk for binge-eating, which, in turn, can lead to weight gain and a life of yo-yo dieting. How many calories a person requires per day to stay healthy depends on several things – the person’s size, bone structure, age, extent of physical activity exerted each day, weight goals and more. Anything under 1,200 calories per day is going to be insufficient and certainly 900 calories is not going to be enough and will lead to health problems. If your goal is to have a stick-thin, anorexic look, however you get there (over-exercising, calorie restriction) will put you at risk medically: Our fat cells are what produce estrogen – without enough body fat estrogen production will be compromised and our menstrual cycles will be negatively affected. An insufficient amount of estrogen can also lead to osteoporosis. People who are so thin often feel uncomfortable because they are constantly cold without any body fat to insulate them. Electrolyte abnormalities. Heart disease is a serious problem for anorexic people and is often what causes anorexics to die (such as Karen Carpenter, a famous singer who died in the 80’s of heart failure related to anorexia nervosa). I'm sure you gals already know this, and i'm unlikely to change your mind, but eating so few calories and exercising like a mad woman is going to put you in the hospital....I said I wasn't going to reply to this, because this mentality makes me very sad...but it frustrates the crap outta me.I'm a small girl as well, 5'4 112lbs, I eat on average of 1600-2000 calories a day, when I want to lose I don't cut anything in fact I eat a little more because i'm in the gym working a little harder. I wish if I could convince anyone of anything, that eating this way is so unhealthy, you really can't keep this pace up, once you start to eat real again, all that weight is going to come crashing back on, anyhow, my rant is over, good luck whichever way you decide to go!

ysaidpie

I think 1200 is key. It's the amount your body needs to live healthy. I am small too, 5 ft 3 in. I don't lose weight quickly because I don't have much to lose. I have done other "diets" where I only ate at most 900 or 1000 calories a day, and I'd lose weight but it would come right back on as soon as I stopped. No matter who you are, there is always a day when you just want to eat "like everyone else" and have pasta or a peice of birthday cake or something, and not gain weight from it. But that was always what happened with me after those low calorie diets. Anyway, I have been losing weight here with eating the 1200 and I feel better knowing it won't come right back on when I reach my goal and go into maintenance mode. I wanted to mention though, that i have had some ups and downs with the scale. Very weird but I noticed the scale will stay the same for a week or so, then I will gain a couple of pounds for no reason (maybe water retention) for a few days, and then all of a sudden I drop two pounds literally overnight! Maybe it has to do with my menstrual cycle. When the scale goes up I get really depressed and want to eat less and exercise more, that's what the old me would have done, but I have stuck to my 1200 rationalizing that 3500 calories equals a pound and there is no way I ate 3500 calories. I am happy to say that sticking to the 1200 has worked for me, and I think it will work for you as well- just hang in there and don't get discouraged if there isn't much weight loss one week, it will catch up and you will get on the scale a week or two later and be shocked by your weight loss. If there is still some concern about weight gain or slow loss- maybe ask your doctor for a thyroid test. I know my sister had hypothyroidism and couldn't eat a peice of lettuce without gaining weight!