How can people live on 1200 calories?

angiek123
angiek123 Posts: 29 Member
in Food and Nutrition
It's 3 p.m. and I'm at 1300 calories. I'm cranky and think I could die of starvation. This is no way to live. Thank goodness I still have room to eat more today!
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Replies

  • MarineCodie
    MarineCodie Posts: 256 Member
    HANGRY RAWWWRRREEREREREERERER <---- like that?
  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    because we don't HAVE to be as large of individuals as we are, and the human body is amazingly adaptable...
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    Statistically, most people underreport and underestimate their intake. So chances are, very few people truly are consuming that little chronically.
  • cwsreddy
    cwsreddy Posts: 998 Member
    they don't. eat more.
  • ScottyNoHotty
    ScottyNoHotty Posts: 1,957 Member
    They can't.....not for long periods anyway.


    You've been on MFP for 6 years and only have 9 friends?? Get to cracking girl...
  • angiek123
    angiek123 Posts: 29 Member
    HANGRY RAWWWRRREEREREREERERER <---- like that?

    LOL Yes, exactly.
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
    I have no idea how people function on only 1200 calories per day. It sounds like torture.
  • angiek123
    angiek123 Posts: 29 Member

    You've been on MFP for 6 years and only have 9 friends?? Get to cracking girl...

    I know, right? I wasn't really using the site until October. I was on a rival site before. (Gasp!)
  • drewmmm
    drewmmm Posts: 130 Member
    their stomachs shrink and they live happily ever after..
  • jlweston85
    jlweston85 Posts: 1
    I'm new to all this but so far I've hit 1200 about 50% of the time. Usually when I miss it, it's only by a couple hundred calories. Exercise also buys you some more - I don't mind stuffing my face after a long bike ride, and I don't feel guilty about it either.

    But even if you can't hit 1200, if you're still managing to make your weight goals, you're doing fine! The most important thing is that you're conscious about what you're eating and making an effort to change your lifestyle.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    I eat 1000 for breakfast...lol. I don't know how people function either.
  • Iorns78
    Iorns78 Posts: 118 Member
    I have, it is do-able (but not fun), I like to be at 1300-1400, I am happy then and satisfied and my family is happy because mom isn't acting like a monster. It is a win win :blushing: .
  • ksy1969
    ksy1969 Posts: 700 Member
    LoL, you know, I bet this same post was started at least twice last week. Probably in the same day. I got scared for a little bit and thought I was mentally losing it.
  • ghosthackexe
    ghosthackexe Posts: 181 Member
    I dont find it that crazy since I'm trying to lose weight I norm stay in a deficit so cals for me average about 1300 no biggie ^_^
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    But even if you can't hit 1200, if you're still managing to make your weight goals, you're doing fine! The most important thing is that you're conscious about what you're eating and making an effort to change your lifestyle.

    No. This is simply wrong.
  • GatorUA
    GatorUA Posts: 38 Member
    I'm on 1200 calories and honestly, it's rare for me to be hungry at the end of my calories. I think a lot of it is because I'm careful to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, the rest of it is probably because I eat low-fat vegan now. I get plenty on my plates, plenty in my belly, and it's all low calorie stuff, I get a huge amount of food for my calories. When I was eating poorly, I was always hungry, even shortly after I finished a meal.
  • SugaryLynx
    SugaryLynx Posts: 2,640 Member
    1200 calories. ..so my evening snack:drinker:
  • Leather_N_Lace
    Leather_N_Lace Posts: 518 Member
    I eat four times a day plus snacks... I eat 1200 by a little after noon... I will stick to my 1500 - 1800 calorie intake thank you..
  • Grumpsandwich
    Grumpsandwich Posts: 368 Member
    its easy, several meals of low calorie foods. I did it for 7 months! (And yes, im ocd and do measure and diary everything i eat) lots of steamed and raw veg, pork tenderloin, chicken/turkey breast baked fish. Lentil chips n hummus or salsa for snacks, several snacks through out the day of raw v eg n hummus or fat free ranch dressing. Big bowl of cereal n fruit for breakfast and 100 cal snack packs for my sweet tooth. ( i did give up butter for 0 cal butter sprays, reduced mayos ect and cook with small amounts of evo) Those were a major source of calories for me that added up. that 1 pat of butter in my meal could be an entire cup of more satisfying veg

    Calories i probably take 1/3 of what my husband eats
    Quantity i eat twice as much

    Calories have nothing to do with how much you eat but WHAT you eat
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I usually visualize something like this...

    Having-Move-Back-Your-Parents-House.gif

    That said, I really think people who are claiming to eat this and below this (particularly the ones claiming they can't lose) are just underestimating their intake...a whole lot of people are just flat out lying to themselves.
  • rachelg145
    rachelg145 Posts: 185 Member
    Anyone who's been a friend of mine eating that little gets dropped off my friend list because ALL THEY DO is complain about how they aren't losing any weight. You don't lose weight when your body thinks you are starving! Don't get offended if it works for you, my personal experience on MFP is that people just complain constantly when they are that low on calories. And I don't believe for a second that you can work hard at the gym with such a minimal amount of fuel.
  • Meerpka
    Meerpka Posts: 20
    their stomachs shrink and they live happily ever after..

    YES!
    This is where I am eventually getting to. As of right now eating anything lower than 2500 is good enough, but I try for 1370(MFP set).
  • Hungry_Annie
    Hungry_Annie Posts: 807 Member
    I struggle eating only 1500 a day....I could easily eat 4000 calories a day and be a happy, fat lady :)
  • DeliriumCanBeFun
    DeliriumCanBeFun Posts: 313 Member
    I'm new to all this but so far I've hit 1200 about 50% of the time. Usually when I miss it, it's only by a couple hundred calories. Exercise also buys you some more - I don't mind stuffing my face after a long bike ride, and I don't feel guilty about it either.

    But even if you can't hit 1200, if you're still managing to make your weight goals, you're doing fine! The most important thing is that you're conscious about what you're eating and making an effort to change your lifestyle.
    I'm not trying to single you out for attack, but this is so wrong. Idk your stats, but I'm a 5'3" woman, and there's no way I could survive even 10% of the time on 1200 calories. Thinking you can "stuff your face" just because of a long bike ride isn't doing you any favors. It's "easy" for me to burn 1200+ calories on a not very long ride, but it's also hella easy to go over my goal on those days if I don't watch it.
  • nomad1000
    nomad1000 Posts: 206 Member
    I sometimes net 1200 cals but that is on a day when I am working my *kitten* off in the yard for hours and am to busy to eat.

    I don't know that I could do it long term. I like to eat stuff that is higher in cals way too much.
  • natashahh
    natashahh Posts: 5
    It's do-able, I do it! You just have to know how to balance out your calories, and drinking lots of water helps out, so I don't ever feel hungry! (-:
  • izoku67
    izoku67 Posts: 1 Member
    I get 1440 a day, and that's VERY difficult to maintain. I get to add some for exercise, but it never seems like enough. Small portions many times a day & a 40-35-25 protein-carb-fat ratio helps some. Basically I get through it with the over-abundance of stored calories (i.e. FAT) I've accumulated while eating whatever I wanted, whenever, and not tracking any of it. My own worst enemy! :ohwell:
  • starznholes
    starznholes Posts: 170 Member
    To each their own. I range between 1200-1400 depending on activity level and i'm fine.
  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
    If I'm going strictly by hunger, 1200 calories is fine for someone of my age and current activity level. The problem is that it's insanely easy to go over if I'm not closely monitoring what I eat.
  • beachylove
    beachylove Posts: 137 Member
    At first I found it hard to be on 1200-1300/day but now that I understand better what to eat and how to eat I have no problem. Hell there are my busy days that I forget to eat my lunch until very late in the afternoon now (never happened before I never ever missed meals before...)
    I get that not everyone is the same, I have friends that cant be on that low of a calorie deficit but for me it works just fine and I am not finding that I am hungry. If I am a little hungrier one day I go closer to the 1300 but generally I am around 1200.

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