1200 Calorie a day diet. Can it be healthy?

marissanik

Late to this, but as I started out a year ago eating 1200 calories (19 years old, female, 175lbs at the time) and I was hungry always and lost about 12lbs before being stuck for a solid 4 months and giving up. I also was more likely to cheat. Gained all the weight back.

I started losing at 1800 calories and I'm currently netting around 1600 and I'm much less miserable and still losing.

Why eat 1200 when you can eat 1600 and get better results? Answer seemed simple to me.

WalkingAlong

Who said anything about long term?

pretty sure its implied. obviously one day of eating nothing wont hurt much

This is always how the discussion goes. "1200 must be dangerous because you can't do it long term (though you can through weight loss, which is the topic) and it must be dangerous because VLCDs are sometimes found risky and 1200 sounds 'very low' to me so it must be a VLCD. And it's ok for you because you're sick or you because you're small but it's not ok for anyone else."

"And, by the way, you can't even read and you're pompous. So nice try. Oh, and go away." :indifferent:

never did i say 1200 was VLCD
never did i say you cant do it for long term, its just stupid to do so for MOST people. ive said it before, if you 5'0 and 100 lbs, its fine.
VLCD's are risky, but im not going to argue that anymore because clearly we are on two different pages. just dont recommend it to someone or say its okay for someone as large as myself (TDEE >2800)

why is bolded in quotes? are you implying i said that, because i didnt.

I was referring to replies from several people there, in this and in other threads, and using a little hyperbole. It's not personal.

BigT555

Who said anything about long term?

pretty sure its implied. obviously one day of eating nothing wont hurt much

This is always how the discussion goes. "1200 must be dangerous because you can't do it long term (though you can through weight loss, which is the topic) and it must be dangerous because VLCDs are sometimes found risky and 1200 sounds 'very low' to me so it must be a VLCD. And it's ok for you because you're sick or you because you're small but it's not ok for anyone else."

"And, by the way, you can't even read and you're pompous. So nice try. Oh, and go away." :indifferent:

never did i say 1200 was VLCD
never did i say you cant do it for long term, its just stupid to do so for MOST people. ive said it before, if you 5'0 and 100 lbs, its fine.
VLCD's are risky, but im not going to argue that anymore because clearly we are on two different pages. just dont recommend it to someone or say its okay for someone as large as myself (TDEE >2800)

why is bolded in quotes? are you implying i said that, because i didnt.

It's bolded because you bolded it, I think. I don't know how to bold here. :happy:

I was referring to replies from several people there, in this and in other threads, and using a little hyperbole. It's not personal.

yea i bolded it just to highlight it. fair enough tho

future reference; to bold
what you want bolded
with small case b's
similar to the quote function

likitisplit

You know what? I'm tired of this thread. I'm going to report it as deliberately inflammatory.

What? This is why we can't have nice things. People who ignore the jerks and actually get into a discussion, get their stuff nuked.

The OP is one of the jerks, though. Anything that actually discusses the issue takes it off topic, because the topic is to bow down before his experience and insight and admit that we were all wrong and there are times a 1200 calorie diet is healthy. Not that anybody's actually ever argued otherwise, but still.

I'm going to go post a mean people thread now.

LoosingMyLast15

This is just an example of a menu. The point is if most of my food intake consists of veggies and fruit while limiting my carbs, sugar and fat while eating lean proteins. How could this be unhealthy as many on this forum claim? no mood swings or lack of energy. Feeling better than I have in along time.

I have walked with a cane for the past two years. Now I don't

I am a retired Chef and do almost all of my own cooking. Trained in nutrition too, being the Head Chef at a hospital for some time.

i see nothing wrong with having some carbs, sugar and fat in a person's diet as long as the individual doesn't have issues with these.

the question you should ask yourself is can i eat like this forever? what happens when you start eating to maintain? many concern themselves with how to loose the weight yet never talk about what happens when you reach your goal especially if you've been eating 1200 cals a day for however long it takes you to loose it. slow and steady keeps the weight OFF - that's the ultimate goal!

christullos

the question you should ask yourself is can i eat like this forever? what happens when you start eating to maintain? many concern themselves with how to loose the weight yet never talk about what happens when you reach your goal especially if you've been eating 1200 cals a day for however long it takes you to loose it. slow and steady keeps the weight OFF - that's the ultimate goal!

You are correct I can't eat like this forever. I do not know how long I will eat like this. It could change at my next Doctor visit.

I do have an eating plan for maintaining. After I lose the weight I plan on adding 200 calories a day to my intake. Check my weight in a week, if I am still losing weight I keep adding calories until it levels off.


I do know that I will have to keep measuring and tracking my food forever though.

yarwell

do you have a study that shows eating under BMR isnt dangerous? didnt think so

I could point you at a dozen or so weight loss studies where the subjects are fed below their BMR. They all passed the ethics committees and none mention "eating under BMR" as they weren't published on MFP or written by its forum contributors. If you put "hypocaloric" into Pubmed I bet half or more of them will be under BMR.

Sedentary and 2 lbs/week loss rate means you're under BMR, it's built into the MFP software.

I could also point you at national guidelines from other countries for weight loss diets that don't have the American 1200 calories in them at all as a lower limit or in any other guide.

As the OP's ticker is looking to lose 140,000 calories worth of weight I suspect he can sustain a high deficit for a good while.

WinoGelato

future reference; to bold
what you want bolded
with small case b's
similar to the quote function

That alone was worth the pain of following this thread. I've been trying to figure out how to bold things!

*hoping that worked...

WalkingAlong

Who said anything about long term?

pretty sure its implied. obviously one day of eating nothing wont hurt much

This is always how the discussion goes. "1200 must be dangerous because you can't do it long term (though you can through weight loss, which is the topic) and it must be dangerous because VLCDs are sometimes found risky and 1200 sounds 'very low' to me so it must be a VLCD. And it's ok for you because you're sick or you because you're small but it's not ok for anyone else."

"And, by the way, you can't even read and you're pompous. So nice try. Oh, and go away." :indifferent:

never did i say 1200 was VLCD
never did i say you cant do it for long term, its just stupid to do so for MOST people. ive said it before, if you 5'0 and 100 lbs, its fine.
VLCD's are risky, but im not going to argue that anymore because clearly we are on two different pages. just dont recommend it to someone or say its okay for someone as large as myself (TDEE >2800)

why is bolded in quotes? are you implying i said that, because i didnt.

It's bolded because you bolded it, I think. I don't know how to bold here. :happy:

I was referring to replies from several people there, in this and in other threads, and using a little hyperbole. It's not personal.

yea i bolded it just to highlight it. fair enough tho

future reference; to bold
what you want bolded
with small case b's
similar to the quote function

Thanks! For the record, I deleted that part of my post because I realized you didn't ask why that was BOLDED but why it was in quotation marks. I use the 'quote' button to quote. I'm too lazy to type html. But I'll work on it. :happy:

Thanks, yarwell, too, for the further explanation. :flowerforyou:

cgallagher1019

You should look into what macro-nutrients your body needs to survive, lose or gain weight. If you look at a typical fitness meal plan, we do not track calories. We track nutrients. For example
Your breakfast was 2 eggs and 2 pieces of toast
Mine is: 25g complex carbs, 30g Protein, 10g sugar (fruit) and 15f Essential fatty Acids
(I am in a 'cutting' phase right now for a competition, so this is low)
tracking food this way will ensure you are fueling your body and our activities. Hope that helps!