1200 Calorie a day diet. Can it be healthy?

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  • christullos
    christullos Posts: 89
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    If he wants to include a weekly diet plan, with all supplements, we could look at that as well, but he'd be better off consulting a dietitian.

    I did consult a registered dietitian on referral from my Cardiologist. I do take supplemental vitamins.

    My calories are correct. They are calculated off my brands of bread, margarine and so forth.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    If he wants to include a weekly diet plan, with all supplements, we could look at that as well, but he'd be better off consulting a dietitian.

    I did consult a registered dietitian on referral from my Cardiologist. I do take supplemental vitamins.

    (I'm not a doctor!) If I were to eat breads and pastas, I PERSONALLY would try to focus more on breads and pastas where the first ingredient on the label is "100% whole grain x". But since you're under the supervision/advice of a cardiologist and dietitian, I think you should just do what they say.
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,659 Member
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    OP is older and somewhat sedentary. His BMR will not be at the same level as many of the posters here who are young and active. If he's getting his micros and macros and he is working with a doctor, he's probably fine.
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
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    OP is older and somewhat sedentary. His BMR will not be at the same level as many of the posters here who are young and active. If he's getting his micros and macros and he is working with a doctor, he's probably fine.

    And he shouldn't be asking the opinions of internet strangers.

    I, myself, define "balanced diet" to mean one that included my macros and micros without supplementation, but I'm not going to quibble over another persons lifestyle choice.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    Maybe his point was that it's not that hard to eat healthy and low cal.

    I'm curious if you guys who want perfect micronutrients every day without supplements really count them all up each day? Or do you just eat a repetitive diet that you've added up once? I've never seen any suggestion to do that. What I've read is that in areas of the world where a variety of food is plentiful, people get their vitamin needs met without supplementation.
  • emilyGPK
    emilyGPK Posts: 83 Member
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    A am a fairly average female doing gradual weight loss on 1200, with gains from exercise added. I have to say I find it very easy to eat a balanced diet under this limit (including ice cream most days because I love the stuff). I am sure it depends on your body weight, gender etc, circumstances and eating habits. But the only thing I sometimes seem light on is iron. I have no set menus. I eat whatever seems to draw me that day to the tune of two 500 meals and two 100 snacks, or thereabouts.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    Maybe his point was that it's not that hard to eat healthy and low cal.

    I'm curious if you guys who want perfect micronutrients every day without supplements really count them all up each day? Or do you just eat a repetitive diet that you've added up once? I've never seen any suggestion to do that. What I've read is that in areas of the world where a variety of food is plentiful, people get their vitamin needs met without supplementation.

    I don't obviously eat the same thing every day. One glance at my journal will make that clear.
  • hqueen883
    hqueen883 Posts: 2
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    I had a doctor recommend a 1200 calorie per day diet. Supposedly it's the same diet plan they use for diabetics.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    Lovely answer, by the way.

    :blushing:
    I hate to say it's not healthy [edit to add: this I typed here may be misunderstood, read it like "I'm NOT saying this IS NOT healthy" as opposed to reading it as "I hate to say, but it's not healthy"]. Obviously it's fine for one day. But when someone is quite overweight, and they're eating like this for a looooong time to lose the weight, I just always am concerned about an accumulation of deficiencies. Particularly iron in women. A lot of our processed grain foods are fortified, but when people cut out grains, they miss all those fortified starch products. There's pluses and minus to that, I guess.

    (His particular plan was also only 63% of folate, but I assume that's really just a pre-menopausal woman recommendation. I don't know much about micronutrient recommendations for men)

    I edited my earlier post to clarify the meaning. Because when I went to re-read it, I see how my sentence could be read two different ways. I meant to say this meaning when I said it: "I'm not qualified to say if it is or is not "healthy" for this individual"
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    For you, no. For a very petite female, perhaps.
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
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    Maybe his point was that it's not that hard to eat healthy and low cal.

    I'm curious if you guys who want perfect micronutrients every day without supplements really count them all up each day? Or do you just eat a repetitive diet that you've added up once? I've never seen any suggestion to do that. What I've read is that in areas of the world where a variety of food is plentiful, people get their vitamin needs met without supplementation.

    I look at my diet a week at a time and look for any trends. I'm in a first world country, so much of the time I'm way over on the micros.
  • christullos
    christullos Posts: 89
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    Fascinating; In the two hours after I started this thread around 50 comments and most of them nay Sayers saying that what I am doing is wrong, is not healthy, but as soon as I mention my Cardiologist and a Registered Dietitian all the negative comments stopped. Where are all the experts now?

    Stop depending on Google and the internet to determine your diet and go to a real professional, Truly fascinting that people believe anything they read on the internet
  • beautifulwarrior18
    beautifulwarrior18 Posts: 914 Member
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    Here is the thing, yes you can lose weight on a 1200 calorie diet; however, you can eat a lot more and still lose weight. Losing weight is hard enough so why make it harder by making i so restrictive? I eat approximately 2150 calories a day, go to the gym 4x per week and I am losing weight. Now granted, I am not losing weight super quickly but that's because I really don't want to lose it quickly. So yea, I could eat 1200 calories a day and be miserable and lose weight, be tired and cranky all the time and go over my clories frquently or I could eat 2150 calories a day, eat tons of food, feel e nergized and still lose weight at a pace I am comfortable with (which would put me at about 15-20% decrease in body faf by the end of he year.
  • christullos
    christullos Posts: 89
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    I can not go to the gym. And I am not tired and cranky.
  • beautifulwarrior18
    beautifulwarrior18 Posts: 914 Member
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    I will also say that because you suffer from heart disease, it's also more imperitive that you lose the weight an lose it quickly. Your cardiologist and nutritionist will also tell you that you need to severely reduce your sodium and closely monitor your fat intake. A person who is overweight but otherwise healthy has no reasn to be on such a restrictive diet, but since you've already damaged your heart, you do.
  • christullos
    christullos Posts: 89
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    Please do not suppose to tell me what my Doctor or Nutritionist tell me.
    Are you a Doctor or a nutritionist?
  • beautifulwarrior18
    beautifulwarrior18 Posts: 914 Member
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    You are also 27 years older than I am and have a much slower metabolism so you don't need as many calories as I do. Hnse why you aren tired and crabby. I am surprised your doctor hasnt recommended cardiac rehab for your CHF.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    I eat approximately 2150 calories a day, go to the gym 4x per week...
    What one person eats or does really doesn't matter. You have zero in common with him--- age, gender, size, goals. He's not ridiculing your plan, which is irrelevant to anyone but you. Jeez. The internet has made every dieter a freakin expert on every other person's diet. :noway:
  • christullos
    christullos Posts: 89
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    I am not crabby. I am following a REGISTERED DIETITIANS diet if you don't understand that then you are one that is "crabby"
  • beautifulwarrior18
    beautifulwarrior18 Posts: 914 Member
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    I dont need to tell you what they're supposed to say I am telling you what they already have already told you. I have worked in health care for 9 years and while no, I am not a doctor or nutritionist, I am required to know what a cardiac diet is when my patients are on one. (PS most doctors dont know **** about nutrition). I am happy that a 1200 calorie diet works for you, but it's unfair to others that you are recommending a restrictive diet to those who dont need to be on one. If your nutritionist and cardiologist told you to eat 1200 calories, then by all means that's what you should do. But for someone such as myself, eatin at 1200 calories would put me at a defecit of 1300 calories a day and would make me feel like crap. That is not healthy. You need to realuze that because of your health history many times you are the eexception the rule.

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