1200 cals a day?!

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  • livelovetravelxx
    livelovetravelxx Posts: 27
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    Honestly? I believe 1200 is too low for most people!
    Losing also depends on the food we eat, the choices we make etc...if you're finding 1200 to low, look at how much you're over by each day, and set your target at that? I.e if you're over by 200, so 1400, then stick your limit to 1400?

    I'm also 5'2 an I lose on around 1500!
  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
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    2 lbs a month may seem small, but MFP, TDEE calculators, etc, are only estimates of what you will lose.

    If you are eating at a deficit and working out/moving more. It could be more depending on your body. One week I weigh myself and I haven't lost anything, a few weeks later I could be down 2 lbs. I'm set for .5 lb a week.

    Also, I've only lost 10 lbs, but I've lost significant inches and gone down a pant size.

    The scale is relative. If you can lose weight and eat more, why wouldn't you?
  • TeresaB0716
    TeresaB0716 Posts: 1
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    I am also on 1200 cals a day. In the beginning it was hard to find foods to satisfy me and keep me within my calorie limit for the day. On days I go to the gym (3-4 days a week) I get to enjoy an extra nutritious snack or glass of wine at the end of the day. Working in a doctor's office, we get a lot of take out lunches from pharmaceutical reps. I've learned to research the nutritional facts from the restaurant menus and highlight my choices for future reference. I've become more aware of more nutritional choices. So far so good, I've lost 10.6 lbs in 8 weeks.
  • spicegeek
    spicegeek Posts: 325 Member
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    I log 1200 per day but I don`t worry about the milk in my coffee to the few nuts or carrots I might have ( and by few I mean 5 or 6 max ). I also don`t worry about weighing food I go for the easy cup measures - it works for me - I may actually be eating more like 1300 - 1400 but I do not eat any exercise cals back - Once a week I have a treat that is 1/3 my exercise cals - I do this on my heavy work out day - once every 2 weeks I have a total blow out meal

    I eat a fair amount of protein
  • hannaawh
    hannaawh Posts: 51
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    P.s. forgot to mention I'm 5'2"
    FML hate being small!

    I am 5'2. I lose 0.5 lb/week weight eating 1900-2100 cal/day. I net around 1700 cal/day. I too started at 1200 cal per the MFP recommendation and then started reading more on these forums about TDEE. Went onto Scooby's calculator to find my TDEE, and then raised my goal to 1400, then 1500 and was losing a lb per week. When I got closer to goal and after getting a FitBit, I raised it again to ~ 1700 based on a 250 cal deficit from my daily burn. Just because you are petite doesn't mean you are doomed to eat 1200 calories.

    If that is what works for you - lucky you, really! If I ate 2100 cals a day I would be definitely gaining weight even though I'm 5'7''. It's not really about height, it's about your starting weight and BODY. A 300lbs lady will lose weight on a 2000 cals diet, a 150lbs lady might need a little (or a lot) luck for losing 0.5lbs/week on that diet.
  • themommie
    themommie Posts: 5,022 Member
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    I have been eating around 1200 cals for awhile, if I eat over 1400 cals I start gaining, feel free to take a look at my diary for ideas
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    change your settings to .5lb or 1lb per month. welcome to the world of still eating and still losing.
    .5lb per month?! Way too low.....
    !? no. Not too low. MFP is a broken calculator because it allows people, like yourself, to put in goals that are too aggressive.

    Is it supposed to read "lbs per week," not "per month"? :)
    yah... I broke my derp. week.
  • Valereee
    Valereee Posts: 74 Member
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    Today is my 61st consecutive day on 1200 calories. I do that because I STILL have almost 200 pounds left to lose. Some days it's a real struggle. I try to save some calories for evening so I can have a snack (popcorn, rice cakes & PB2, etc.) so that I don't go to bed ravenous. But wow.....the next morning when I log in to MFP and see those 1200 available calories --- wonderful!!!!
  • ninacapri14
    ninacapri14 Posts: 9
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    I have been on 1200 calories a day for about a month now....and I find it very easy. I log everything I eat and find myself checking nutrition labels before I buy anything. I probably dont drink as much water as I should but I don't find myself getting hungry. I don't follow the schedule on the weekends however...but I still try to eat things in moderation. (ex burger NO FRIES OR POP, 1 slice of thin crust pizza and salad vs. 2 sllices of pizza and 2 breadsticks) Hope this helps! :smile:
  • AZI1983
    AZI1983 Posts: 22 Member
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    Mental attitude and perseverance is the first step. I'm on a 1350 a day goal with 2lbs a week. First off I cut out all Wheat (most Gluten) and Dairy. I eat lots of beans (even for breakfast) because they're filling and relatively low cal when cooked without meat. (A little oil, chopped onions, minced garlic and seasonings is my fav. Make a large batch and put them in the fridge) Also each week I cook 12 hard boiled eggs and at 70 calories a piece, they make a great protein rich snack that's easy to reach for. For tasty treats I go for fruit covered in melted chocolate or honey. And I try just to have fun with it! If I feel like indulging, I do. Include lots of water, and plenty of veggies (cucumbers, spinach and lettuce are great fillers!) There's no point in trying to not be realistic. If we can't do it now, how will we keep doing it once we've reached our target weight.
    Good Luck, if you'd like a cheerleader, please add me. I love supporting people, it helps me remember why I'm on my journey and how important it is to unite in our struggles. We can't do this alone!
    Cheers ~ A
    (Oh, and I'm 5'3, so fellow shorties unite!)
  • tblanc1101
    tblanc1101 Posts: 4 Member
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    I drink an herbalife shake for breakfast and lunch and have a snack mid morning and afternoon of fruit/cheese or veggies. For dinner I have meat/chicken and a salad. Staying away from bread, pastas, rice makes it easier to stay at 1200 calories. For snack after dinner I have been enjoying an orange.:flowerforyou:
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    change your settings to .5lb or 1lb per month. welcome to the world of still eating and still losing.
    .5lb per month?! Way too low.....

    Okay, starve then. Wear down your adrenal system from eating too little. Then when you get to your goal weight and resume eating "normally" again, gain it all back and then some. Welcome to the perpetual life long diet of misery.
  • hannaawh
    hannaawh Posts: 51
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    I'm 5'2". I lost my weight eating significantly more than 1200.

    I don't understand why people would willingly eat so little.

    Look, it was perfectly and totally right for you to eat more than 1200 calories a day. You lost 82 pounds! That is a whole lot (and jesus you can be proud, by the way) so you lost a whole lot by eating 1200+ calories.
    But what people seem to not understand is that NOT EVERYBODY HERE IS THE SAME.
    If you're let's say 135lbs and you want to be 125lbs and your body is really hard on losing weight, a 1200 calorie diet might be what it takes you in order to lose those pounds.
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    change your settings to .5lb or 1lb per month. welcome to the world of still eating and still losing.
    .5lb per month?! Way too low.....

    Okay, starve then. Wear down your adrenal system from eating too little. Then when you get to your goal weight and resume eating "normally" again, gain it all back and then some. Welcome to the perpetual life long diet of misery.

    QFT
  • aschmidt679
    aschmidt679 Posts: 12 Member
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    Take a look in the exercise data base. I think you will find that you earn calories back for things you didn't even realize. My goal is 1200 a day also, but given that I work out 5-6 days a week, I rarely eat below 1500. Don't go crazy eating all of your exercise calories back (that's my motto), but make sure you are giving yourself the fuel you need to get through your day and not go into starvation mode! Good luck!
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    P.s. forgot to mention I'm 5'2"
    FML hate being small!

    I am 5'2. I lose 0.5 lb/week weight eating 1900-2100 cal/day. I net around 1700 cal/day. I too started at 1200 cal per the MFP recommendation and then started reading more on these forums about TDEE. Went onto Scooby's calculator to find my TDEE, and then raised my goal to 1400, then 1500 and was losing a lb per week. When I got closer to goal and after getting a FitBit, I raised it again to ~ 1700 based on a 250 cal deficit from my daily burn. Just because you are petite doesn't mean you are doomed to eat 1200 calories.

    If that is what works for you - lucky you, really! If I ate 2100 cals a day I would be definitely gaining weight even though I'm 5'7''. It's not really about height, it's about your starting weight and BODY. A 300lbs lady will lose weight on a 2000 cals diet, a 150lbs lady might need a little (or a lot) luck for losing 0.5lbs/week on that diet.

    Actually, if you were netting 1700 (as that poster stated they are) you would be under TDEE per your ht/wt/age.... if you were sedentary.

    Throw in a little light exercise and that's basically TDEE -20%.
  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
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    I'm 5'2". I lost my weight eating significantly more than 1200.

    I don't understand why people would willingly eat so little.

    Look, it was perfectly and totally right for you to eat more than 1200 calories a day. You lost 82 pounds! That is a whole lot (and jesus you can be proud, by the way) so you lost a whole lot by eating 1200+ calories.
    But what people seem to not understand is that NOT EVERYBODY HERE IS THE SAME.
    If you're let's say 135lbs and you want to be 125lbs and your body is really hard on losing weight, a 1200 calorie diet might be what it takes you in order to lose those pounds.

    Possibly ... while I see your point. If you are at a stand still and only have 10 more lbs to go (135 to 125), I think it would be more beneficially to lift weights and try to build muscle ("tone") instead of caring what the scale says.

    I think too many people at healthy weights care about the number on the scale too much.
  • newteachermom
    newteachermom Posts: 22 Member
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    After I changed my goal my cal per day went to 1200 a day.

    So here's my day usually:

    Bfast: 2 egg whites, a whole grapefruit and 2 tbsp of agave in my green tea

    Snack: 1 oz. almonds

    Lunch: 2 cups of cabbage soup (100 cals!). It's so filling, tastes great, is cheap to make and has hardly no cals.

    Snack: medium apple

    Dinner: 4-6 oz of sauteed protein and 1-2 cups of roasted veggies

    Snack: 2 tbsp of agave in green tea

    I am constantly drinking water in between everything and I don't find myself too hungry most of the time. Every once in a while, I'm like, "I'm so hungry!" so I'll get another apple or a small thing of probiotic yogurt (130 cal.)

    I stay at 1200 and still work out. I've been able to lose 2 or more pounds a week with that so it really is how disciplined and focused you can be. 1200 seems like starvation but it's honestly not. As Americans, we're used to eating so much food for recreation instead of fuel, so it's just getting used to it.

    I'm also 5'2'' and learned that to stay at my target weight range, I'll have to go from 1200 to 1800 a day. That's a lot really but it'll take the same kind of discipline and accountability that losing the weight is taking.
  • hannaawh
    hannaawh Posts: 51
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    mschicagocubs I totally agree. But the scale is such a nice thing to look at and be proud of, because you yourself can't always tell whether your legs are more toned or not, so it often gets frustrating to just go by "how your clothes feel" etc.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    I'm 5'2". I lost my weight eating significantly more than 1200.

    I don't understand why people would willingly eat so little.

    Look, it was perfectly and totally right for you to eat more than 1200 calories a day. You lost 82 pounds! That is a whole lot (and jesus you can be proud, by the way) so you lost a whole lot by eating 1200+ calories.
    But what people seem to not understand is that NOT EVERYBODY HERE IS THE SAME.
    If you're let's say 135lbs and you want to be 125lbs and your body is really hard on losing weight, a 1200 calorie diet might be what it takes you in order to lose those pounds.

    the range of people that actually need to eat 1200 calories is to lose is MUCH... MUCH smaller than you think.

    MFP allows folks to put in information that isn't correct for them, which is why this topic comes up all the time.. and is done to death.

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