This 1200 calorie minimum thing...

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  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
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    Take your current weight times by 7 and that is your minimum calorie requirements.
    966... That formula might work for the middle ranges of weight, but it sounds a bit low for me.
    I'd suggest with the regular exercise you're doing, you're eating too little. You really do need to maintain a 1200 calorie diet AFTER exercise.
    I hear what you're saying... However, as others have suggested on this thread, everyone's BMR varies, and mine is obviously extremely low.

    Trouble is, my daily requirement WITHOUT exercise is somewhere between 1150 (Mifflin - St. Jeor) and 1300 (Harris - Benedict) - so if I eat 1200 calories PLUS the calories for ALL the exercise I do, I will either gain 1lb in 70 days (Mifflin - St. Jeor), or lose 1lb in 35 days (Harris - Benedict), neither of which are an appealing prospect.

    So, given the above figures for someone as small as me, you see why I am querying the need to eat ALL the exercise calories, and would really appreciate some expert advice.
  • girlruns
    girlruns Posts: 344
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    I think it's stupid to say everyone needs to eat 1200 net or more to avoid starvation mode. There is no way the same net calories apply to a 6' tall man and a sub-5' woman, you can't just magic up a number and apply it equally to everyone regardless of any individual circumstance. It defies all common sense.

    I am eating under 1200 a day (at 5'1" about 1000 net per day) and losing at a safe and steady rate. I think if you are a lot shorter than average try what I tried: start aiming for 1200 net, see how you feel when your body has got used to it and adjust depending on how much you are losing. If you eat so little you start to slow your loss down, obviously you need to go back up. It's pretty simple.

    First, the minimum for men is 1500, not 1200. Second, that number isn't "magic", the WHO came up with the number when determining food supplies needing to be sent to countries in need. They set the number as the minimum so that the supplies should cover at least that amount. Thirdly, it isn't going to be the same for all women (or men). In fact, for some women, 1300 or 1400 might be the minimum before their body objects. And yes, it might be 1000 or 1100 for some as well. However, trying out the formula provided FIRST is going to be safer than just cutting because you think you should.

    @Tour, unfortunately, given your height and the fact that you only have 19 pounds left, this likely won't be a quick journey. You can help yourself by continuing to eat clean and exercise, get lots of water, and track everything. But I would still give it another couple of weeks at NET 1200 before considering lowering it.
  • sweetheart03622
    sweetheart03622 Posts: 928 Member
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    So, given the above figures for someone as small as me, you see why I am querying the need to eat ALL the exercise calories, and would really appreciate some expert advice.

    Perhaps time to see an expert then?
  • MyNameIsNotBob
    MyNameIsNotBob Posts: 565 Member
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    I think it's stupid to say everyone needs to eat 1200 net or more to avoid starvation mode. There is no way the same net calories apply to a 6' tall man and a sub-5' woman, you can't just magic up a number and apply it equally to everyone regardless of any individual circumstance. It defies all common sense.

    I am eating under 1200 a day (at 5'1" about 1000 net per day) and losing at a safe and steady rate. I think if you are a lot shorter than average try what I tried: start aiming for 1200 net, see how you feel when your body has got used to it and adjust depending on how much you are losing. If you eat so little you start to slow your loss down, obviously you need to go back up. It's pretty simple.

    The lowest recommended amount of caloric intake is 1200 cal. / day for women and 1800 cal. / day for men.
  • Bridgetc140
    Bridgetc140 Posts: 405 Member
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    I'm 4'11" and I eat 1050 per day...................I'm losing weight. My maintenance calories are only 1400, so to do 1200/day would take a long time to lose weight. We're sized more like children...lol.....I don't think I NEED 1200 calories per day.
  • cupotee
    cupotee Posts: 181 Member
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    1200kcal is not a magical number. It's just hard to consume all the coenzymes and minerals you need. (Starvation mode only applies if you have under 7% body fat, which is unlikely). That being said, I took a look at your food journal- you're definitely eating enough nutrients. Go under if you feel comfortable with it

    I'd recommend you take a quick look at the symptoms of vitamin deficiency, just in case you start to experience any during your diet. But other than that, go ahead and lower your intake :) .
  • jellybaby84
    jellybaby84 Posts: 583 Member
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    "Take your current weight times by 7 and that is your minimum calorie requirements."

    "966... That formula might work for the middle ranges of weight, but it sounds a bit low for me."

    Yeah, I don't know my exact weight but that formula gives me a minimum requirement on 780ish to avoid starvation mode. Not convinced!
    I'd love it to be right because I'm a chronic undereater and starvation mode sceptic but ... seems very low.

    I'm short too and doubt that eating exercise cals on top of a 1200 minimum that probably isn't really our minimum seems unnecessary to me. But I'm no expert so not qualified to advise you really.
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
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    So, given the above figures for someone as small as me, you see why I am querying the need to eat ALL the exercise calories, and would really appreciate some expert advice.
    Perhaps time to see an expert then?
    That would be ideal, but I've no idea how to go about finding one, no doubt they have opinions as varied as those displayed on here, it's nearly 11pm at night and I'm sure they're not working right now, and finally I doubt I could afford it anyway. :bigsmile:

    The responses I have had on here have been extremely helpful.

    What I would love to do is to lose 1lb a week - if I eat all my exercise calories (from specific workouts rather than calories to just get me through the day) and end up with 1200 net, the most I can lose is 0.7lb a week - which means it will take me SIX MONTHS to lose 19lb. That is without any plateaus. It's a pretty daunting prospect for so little to lose.
  • gottabekd
    gottabekd Posts: 46 Member
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    So, given the above figures for someone as small as me, you see why I am querying the need to eat ALL the exercise calories, and would really appreciate some expert advice.
    Perhaps time to see an expert then?
    That would be ideal, but I've no idea how to go about finding one, no doubt they have opinions as varied as those displayed on here, it's nearly 11pm at night and I'm sure they're not working right now, and finally I doubt I could afford it anyway. :bigsmile:

    The responses I have had on here have been extremely helpful.

    What I would love to do is to lose 1lb a week - if I eat all my exercise calories (from specific workouts rather than calories to just get me through the day) and end up with 1200 net, the most I can lose is 0.7lb a week - which means it will take me SIX MONTHS to lose 19lb. That is without any plateaus. It's a pretty daunting prospect for so little to lose.

    It seems daunting, but if it takes six months it's far more likely to stay off. If you really want to be 100% sure of how much and what you should eat, talk to your doctor and get a referral to an expert. But my guess is that you may just need to adjust your viewpoint a bit, I have only 15lbs to lose and went into this thinking I could lose it all in probably three months but then I started to realize that I need a lot more muscle on my body so rather than just losing 15 lbs I have to work at getting stronger and then the weight will adjust itself in time. So far I've lost 1 lb/week but as I get closer to my goal weight I know that will slow down, so I'm really trying to focus on seeing muscle definition as a reward, rather than weight.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    Regardless of the 1200 a day guideline, a quick look at your diary shows an awful lot of processed food - have you tried tracking your sodium? Maybe switch in a few more homemade meals would help.
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
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    It seems daunting, but if it takes six months it's far more likely to stay off.
    That is a good point.
    So far I've lost 1 lb/week but as I get closer to my goal weight I know that will slow down, so I'm really trying to focus on seeing muscle definition as a reward, rather than weight.
    The weight loss I'm talking about is 100% fat, I don't care how much muscle weight I put on, the more the merrier! :D
    I have got a very long way to go before I even think about seeing any of that muscle definition though, 19lb doesn't sound much but when you're 4' 10" that means thighs that rub together and disgusting rolls of fat on my saggy stomach.
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
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    Regardless of the 1200 a day guideline, a quick look at your diary shows an awful lot of processed food - have you tried tracking your sodium? Maybe switch in a few more homemade meals would help.
    I do want to eat more homemade food, I had time today so cooked from scratch for today and tomorrow, though I have been trying to choose healthy (ie ready cooked but without being processed) meals.

    I do track my sodium and am always under the target set by this site; sodium and many other nutrients show up on my Android App, but doesn't seem to appear on the website.
  • kbeigls
    kbeigls Posts: 1
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    My roommate and I are both doing this and have seen results but we don't eat our exercise calories. I stumbled across you post because I am considering going down to 1000 calories per day from the 1200. I feel like I'm overeating at 1200 calories. I'm 5'3 and i got my metabolic rate check and its 1050 calories per day with no exercise. On days that i don't make it to the gym, 1200 calories is too much. Getting your metabolic rate checked is easy, they offer it at most gyms or clinics.

    Hope this helps!
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
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    I'm 5'3 and i got my metabolic rate check and its 1050 calories per day with no exercise. On days that i don't make it to the gym, 1200 calories is too much.
    Actually your daily metabolic rate is what you'd burn if you did nothing but lie flat on our back and breathe all day.

    To account for normal everyday activity, cooking eating, walking from room to room, walking upstairs a few times etc you add around 20% to your BMR, so if your BRM is correct (1050 sounds very low for someone your height) your daily requirement would be 1260 calories.

    Since posting this thread I've reached a lot closer to my goal; I've increased my target calories to 1300 a day but am still not eating my exercise calories. Currently I'm still losing on average three quarters of a pound a week. It's going to take a long time to reach my goal weight - which I'll be lowering at some point - but I've come to realise that however much exercise I do, at this height and weight, my calorie burn is so low I'm going to have to monitor and control my eating for the rest of my life.
  • wise_laura
    wise_laura Posts: 4 Member
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    This totally helps Sara. I also suspect that the "minimum" 1,200 per day isn't right for me. I've been netting 1,200 calories RELIGIOUSLY for the last four weeks and only lost two pounds, even with drinking 8 glasses of water and hitting the gym 2-4 times a week.

    I'm at 130 lbs (and 5' 3") and according to your calculation my minimum is 910 per day. I think I'll try 1,000 per day for a while!!
  • wise_laura
    wise_laura Posts: 4 Member
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    Ah I see, I HAVE been eating my exercise calories... Maybe that's where I've gone wrong.
  • mick5000
    mick5000 Posts: 3
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    I find that just doing as the site/app tells you works perfect. Be sure to put any cardio exercise you do into the app and eat till you eaten your goal calories after exercise, I have been using this app for a while and doing lots of exercise and eating what I have burned off and I have lost 21lbs
  • josieblue416
    josieblue416 Posts: 4 Member
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    I happened upon this and it's great info! I've recently lost 30 pounds on about 1200 calories (high protein, low carb) a day with just my normal cleaning/work routine. I reached a plateau at 129lbs, I then added some occasional jogging, yoga and Pilates (20 min a day only) and I've lost another pound so far :D I am at a healthy weight for my height (5'3") but I want my beach body (probably around 118-120 lbs) which is the "low end" of my healthy weight. But anyway, after doing this whole equation it came up to about 1200 calories which is what I've been doing. It works!
  • redheaddee
    redheaddee Posts: 2,005 Member
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    Honestly, I was reccomended around 1000-ish and I'm 5' tall :P

    First off...NO. ^^^ You would be fed more calories by IV in the hospital than this.

    I suggest reading this...
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet?hl=road+map
  • shadriel7
    shadriel7 Posts: 20
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    if its difficult for you to eat that much and you feel like you are over eating or stuffing yourself and feel full all the time - then you probably don't actually need to eat that much. i'm 5'7 and i hardly ever eat more than 1000 calories a day, even on the days i exercise - its rare for me to hit the end of the day and feel like i still need to eat more. i have a desk job and don't get much exercise outside of going to the gym

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