But I don't WANT 1200 calories

swanny320

So I keep reading about how if one doesn't eat at LEAST 1200 calories, then one's body will go into starvation mode and you won't lose....but the thing is, I am a naturally small boned individual and before I even started eating better and working out, I never ate that much to begin with. My problem was that I ate CRAP. Now that I'm eating really good food, I'm finding that it's rare that I even make it to 1200 calories.

So my question is this: Shouldn't I listen to my body instead? I mean, if I am NOT hungry, why should I MAKE myself eat more than what my body seems to want just in an effort to hit some arbitrary number. Am I alone in this?

AshDHart

Listen to your body. Are you losing weight? Do you have enough energy? Is so then keep eating the way you do.

swanny320

Yes, I have energy and I've been losing weight until a couple of days ago...

withchaco

I see two sides to this issue.

Side 1: Not everyone needs "at least 1200 calories." Your requirement may indeed be smaller. Mine is, too.

Side 2: Not feeling hungry may actually be a sign that your metabolism is slowing down/ is too slow. Do you have more energy after you started eating healthy? Has your exercise capacity increased? If not, you might have to eat more.

therealangd

Because it's not healthy. That's why.

Seajolly

Just because you aren't hungry doesn't necessarily mean that you shouldn't eat 1200 calories or more. If you've been eating little for a long time, your stomach will have shrunk and you won't be that hungry. This is a coping mechanism for our bodies in times of little food so we won't feel as hungry. Does that mean it's healthy to eat less than 1200? Maybe, maybe not. Everybody's different.

Listen to other signs. Are you tired often? Do you get tired easily when exercising? Do you ever feel faint after doing exercise? Are you putting on weight if you eat 1 day above average? Has your weight loss stalled? These are signs that you're probably eating too little.

CodyD18

I can function on less than 1200 for a few days and then I just completely crash and I feel like I'm dying. I'm 210 lbs though. Either way, you should have at least 1200 to make sure your body has all of the nutrients it needs. I think my brain plays tricks on me sometimes because when I'm eating fast food or something I can eat a whole bunch! But then when I'm eating healthy food I'm not so hungry all of a sudden.

gellie2nice

I feel the same way, some days I get full a lot faster and only make it to 700-900 calories. When eating healthy its hard to make it too 1200 (just for me) including all the healthy snack I eat. I hope my body does not go into starvation mode because I have 60lbs left till I reach my goal. This is so frustrating.

Twylla

I am currently having the same issue i was eating crap before I came on here and now it just seems like so much food when it's healthy fruits and veggies that have next to no calories alot of the time...I try to make myself eat them though because i have been told it will actually make you gain cuz your body stores up what you do give it!

swanny320

Yes, I've cranked my exercise way up...almost every day and while, yes, I feel tired after a good workout, I'm not tired in the sense of not having energy.

I guess what I'm having trouble understanding is why it would be UNHEALTHY to not eat 1200 if I feel good and the food I eat is good, clean, food. I'm definitely not PURPOSELY trying to deprive my body of food....I like food and if I was hungry, I'd eat it...but it seems I'm usually pretty content around 1000 calories.

k8edge

Because it's not healthy. That's why.

Word.

1200 calories is relatively easy to reach if you are eating a well balanced diet. I sometimes fall 30 or 40 cal below... But I also sometimes go above. It is all about balance and filling you up with the good stuff.

Ariyasnow1

I'm all for the 'listen to your body'. As long as you are not eating crap, then I say eat when you are hungry and don't eat when you are not hungry. Simple as that. Some days you may get 1200 cal, some days you may get only 600. It is not a life or death situation if you don't make 1200 EVERY friggin day... And it is not just about Calories either...Keep in consideration of your fats, protein, sugars, sodium..ect...

Good Luck.

swanny320

I also have issues with the concept of "starvation mode". I'm not sure I buy into this notion that if you don't lose weight, you should up your calories. If it wasn;t possible to lose weight from eating less, Auschwitz victims would have been fat, right?

Interestingly, I googled to see if it was a myth and I found this:

http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2009/03/mtyhbusters-starvation-mode.html

Thoughts?

monoxidechick

I think its also about the nutrients, its hard to get all the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that your body needs on less than 1200 cals even with eating really good food. Especially if you are excercising and using extra nutrients, it is going to need more of them. I would be tracking all of the other nutrients to be sure that you are getting the right number of the requirements on most of these.

holly0623

I don't understand how 1200 can be the minumum for a 5'8 person who weighs 135, and a person like me who is 4'11 and 116. I makes sense that I would need less right? I get what you mean about being smaller and not needing as many calories. I'm not sure where that specific number came from , but I would like to know the mininum calories i could be eating and still be getting the right nurtrients.

moremari

1200 is the initial recommendation by nutritionists. It's the safest way to lose weight and hence MFP needs to be responsible. When I saw the nutritionist abt 4 years ago I was told 1250, pick any diet plan, i.e. Atkins, zone and so on. I was also told to work out 5-6 days a week. There was another topic on this today and the opinions were generally keep in mind the big picture. Good luck!

TourThePast

I can function on less than 1200 for a few days and then I just completely crash and I feel like I'm dying. I'm 210 lbs though.

You're also a bloke (from your photo) so unless you're about four foot nothing, the minimum figure for you is 1500, not 1200 which is the figure for most women.

Soziberry

Just try it for a week! Eat something that is healthy but high calorie like nuts or fibre carbs and see how you go. Eating disorders can switch and we can become obsessed about each mouthfull we eat. If the guide is 1200, maybe find a more accurate program to workout your daily amount? I found 1 called Diet Organizer and you enter lots of data, fitness and age, height etc... Then it tells you what would be ideal for you, like how a Dr would. Hope this helps.

swanny320

I eat NO processed food. I only eat organic fruits, veggies, and meat. I think people don't realize that not consuming TONS of corn based sweetners (high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, dextrin, etc ) )really limits the calories ( and again, it's not intentional...I'm just avoiding processed crap for health/personal belief reasons).

skinnyminnie

I agree with this:

"I don't understand how 1200 can be the minumum for a 5'8 person who weighs 135, and a person like me who is 4'11 and 116. I makes sense that I would need less right? I get what you mean about being smaller and not needing as many calories. I'm not sure where that specific number came from , but I would like to know the mininum calories i could be eating and still be getting the right nurtrients. "

I'm short and small boned too, and I eat about 950 calories a day and feel better than I've felt for years and years! I'm never hungry because I only eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains - all the good stuff. And I've been doing this for quite a while now. I think you should listen to your body. You know what makes you feel the best and operate at your best. Good for you!!

swanny320

Interestingly, I walked through the store and looked at supposed "health food" and found all sorts of cleverly disguised sweeteners (read sugar or corn based) in them. I think if people ate NO processed food for a week, they'd be floored as to just how little they consume in calories yet by eating lots of good, clean food (no processed, just fruits, veg, and grass fed animals) yoy get lots of nutrition

skinnyminnie

And I don't ever eat my exercise calories back unless I feel like it. It works for me, I know I'll probably catch a lot of flack for saying that, but it works for me.

LadyKT

I also have issues with the concept of "starvation mode". I'm not sure I buy into this notion that if you don't lose weight, you should up your calories. If it wasn;t possible to lose weight from eating less, Auschwitz victims would have been fat, right?

Interestingly, I googled to see if it was a myth and I found this:

http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2009/03/mtyhbusters-starvation-mode.html

Thoughts?

First off, that's a HORRIBLE thing to compare anything to. Bad example dear.

Secondly - that whole 'starvation' mode argument can pretty much be summed up as this: Eat with too large of a calorie defict = skinny fat. Eat within no more than 500 cal deficit = lean and muscular. Which do YOU want to be?

Superman1983

1200 is recommended so you don't get malnourished. It's hard to get all the nutrients you need if you eat under 1200 calories a day. As far as going into "starvation mode", that won't happen. It's a myth. "Starvation mode" is when your body requires less energy (either because you've lost weight or because you're not as active).

To back that up, here is a direct quote from the Health and Fitness Provider Network (a company that provides information to health and fitness providers such as nutritionists, personal trainers, corrective exercise specialists, etc.):

It is important to note that during prolonged periods of semi-starvation (i.e. longer than 3 days), energy expenditure (EE) may decrease (3) and may continue to decrease proportionally to the length of underfeeding. But recall that BMR is only one component of total energy expenditure. Researchers suggest that the decrease in EE is in all probability due to the resulting lower body weight (smaller bodies “cost” less to move around) and decreased activity, and not metabolic adaptation (4).

The idea that your body goes into “starvation mode” after a few hours without food is invalid. The available science demonstrates that any effects of meal pattern (frequent meals versus infrequent meals) on the regulation of body weight are likely to be the result of a behavioral adaptation -- The person is eating less because their controlled snacking prevents them from becoming too hungry – and not metabolic adaptation.

swanny320

I agree...just like no one person burns the same amount of calories in a given workout, it seems quite strange to think that people would require the same amount of intake. I get that it's a guideline but it seems people get really worked up if they hear you are consuming LESS. Oddly, the very people at work who make comments about how "little I seem to eat" now that I'm trying to be healthy are the same people who sat SILENT when I was pouring gallons of Coke in my body and chasing it with a hot dog. Ya know?

skinnyminnie

I quit eating all processed food too - and I was shocked. I've struggled with weight loss in the past because I felt like I didn't just get hungry like my skinny friends - I felt like I was dying! Hunger pangs so bad that I felt like crying and once a craving hit, it's all I could think about for literally days until I satisfied the craving.
Within 5 days of going off processed food - ALL THE CRAVINGS AND TERRIBLE HUNGER PANGS WERE GONE. Just like that. I am now a complete believer in what they say about our bodies forming dependencies on all of those chemicals.

SlowlyLosingLolita

I eat NO processed food. I only eat organic fruits, veggies, and meat. I think people don't realize that not consuming TONS of corn based sweetners (high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, dextrin, etc ) )really limits the calories ( and again, it's not intentional...I'm just avoiding processed crap for health/personal belief reasons).

Completely agree. I'm a vegan and if I eat no processed foods,breads, or junk food;I just can not physically hold the 1200 calories worth of food. I have had a few days where I only get to 600 and feel full to the point of exploding but I ate anyways because of the 1200 and actually did get sick. So, I have just been ignoring the 1200 for the most part and eating until I am full and eating better.
I don't work out,though so it may be different if I did. For now though; I just can't hold 1200.

swanny320

Yes, exactly. I am not a vegan but I don't eat anything with more than 5 ingredients and never go into the inside aisles of the grocery store.

Ultimately, I guess what I am saying is that if I eat a really great spinach salad with grass fed chicken on it... with lots of veggies, rich in vitamins and minerals and consume no corn based or sugar cane based sweeteners but come out with less than 1200 calories at the end of the day versus the person who consumed power bars and slim fast shakes (full of cleverly disguised sugars and other synthetic chemicals)...yet I feel great, have energy, etc....how can that be wrong at the end of the day? Why am I suddenly in danger of going into "starvation mode" but the person shoveling chemicals into their system is fine because they met some arbitrary number set by some entity I don't know...lol...don't get it....

...but it's been a fun discussion!

warmachinejt

Don't eat less than 1200. I can tell your protein intake is really low already without looking at your diary. I can also tell you have no good fats in your diet (since fats take up more calories). Add more peanuts/almonds and peanut butter to your diet.

swanny320

I eat grass fed pork almost every night...and chicken on my salads at much. I also eat a hard boiled egg for breakfast...How much more protein do I need?!?!?!

Soziberry

I am really curious as to what you guys eat in a day now. I have my full quota of cals but not my exercise quota unless a night out comes. I even allow myself a couple of treats daily like chocolate or biscuits as I get the feeling I am needing them if I don't have any. So no processed food passes your lips EVER? Not even a chocolate?