Why 1200?

aj_rock

I search and search and NO ONE can give me a good answer why 1200 is ball-parked as the minimum safe caloric intake!

It seems silly that everyone, male or female, tall or short, large or small, needs to live by this magic number!

You can't even say it's because its recommended by doctors and nutritionists, because I asked! They throw their hands in the air and make funny noises until I stop asking questions about things they don't know!

It sounds to me like the conversation went something like this:

Doc: So how many calories a day minimum should someone eat?

Nutritionist: F*** if I know.

Doc: 1200 sounds... good, right? We can say 1200?

Nutritionist: Sure. Lets play angry birds for 2 hours and say we thought long and hard about this.


In all seriousness, can someone point me towards a SCIENTIFICALLY BASED/BACKED paper on why 1200 calories?
I would think that, as long as you get your daily required micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), and you don't worry about lean mass loss (which could probably be counteracted by strength maintanence and some protein), why couldn't you theoretically just not eat any calories?

First person to mention starvation mode gets a special reward. And by reward I mean my car. And by 'gets' I mean 'gets run over with'.

szczepj

Not a clue. I don't go by it at all. Not even close.

VidaSana

LOL! This made me laugh. Good question....curious to see if someone has an answer....

Cathy92

I like the 'Angry Birds' part of your 'rant'. Well done...also, don't have a clue as to the 1200 cal. I try to use it as it seems to be the norm.

PandaFlight

I don't know. I know I've gone under it before (but not while eating three proper meals a day) and managed. I've heard 1000 as the cut off point before I came here. But that was told to someone who wouldn't admit that they were anorexic so maybe that wasn't the most accurate either.

Femtec74

Enquiring minds want to know...

laurad1406

haha great question, thinking you'll get some interesting responses.

ceschwartz

I think it's an I don't want to get sued number. They can always fall back on, "We told them to eat 1200 calories." Spoke with my "experts" and I maintain at 1200. The joys of being short. However, crash dieting is harmful so make sure you figure out what is right for you.

KasandraKristine

I love your comment about starvation mode!! I'm so sick of people saying you are going to starve for not eating 1200 kcal's!!

jrhstarlight

Not sure why its the magic number but its 1200 for women and 1500 for men There is that difference.

Improvised

First person to mention starvation mode gets a special reward. And by reward I mean my car. And by 'gets' I mean 'gets run over with'.

Ahahaha! Thanks for the laugh, I needed that.

helenoftroy1

isn't it something to do with BMR so... if my Basic Metabolic Rate meant I burnt off 1700 calories a day naturally. If I cut by 500 a day over the course of a week I'll have a deficit of 3500 which is a loss of 1 pound a week. And that is why you have to eat exercise calories back.
I dunno, I've read so many posts about starvation mode blah blah blah and BMR I just kinda thought up this myself due to calories in calories out.
I would like to know though if there is a scientific answer. Good question

http://www.fitsugar.com/Why-1200-Calories-Day-Important-When-Dieting-13080864

BeautifulScarsWECHANGED

This was amazing. :laugh: From what my diatician told me, it's hard to get the right vitamins and minerals if you eat less than 1200 calores. But since veggies are so low calorie, I don't see this as a valid excuse either and they all have great nutrients. :huh:

pixidaisy

The starvation mode comment in your post made me LOL. I have heard that you shouldn't go any lower than 1200, and then I have read no lower than 1500. I think people like to just pick random numbers out of a hat.

veganjeanie

It just don't see how it can apply to everyone, no matter what some people (and MFP) say. I am a small-boned person, 5'4". I net 1000 calories a day. I work out every day so I usually get another 200 or more. It sucks because despite the fact that it's the right number of calories for me, I still have a HUGE appetite. It's a struggle.

TheRaven2011

F*** if I know.

:-)

rissyroo2002

Would love to know the answer to this also. There are days I am way under 1200 and am not hungry. Why should I force myself to eat more calories just to hit that number??

TigersLions

We recently had a lunch and learn at work. Unfortunately, you have to buy this: http://www.enasco.com/product/WA24678 but it ranks Males and Females by age and then level of activity (sedentary/Mod. active/Active). According to the scale, it says I should be taking in 2,0000 to maintain my current weight assuming I stay moderately active. Yikes! I've been going by ~1,200.

LorinaLynn

I don't know why, but I know that it's too low for me. I won't say the S-M words, but I do better with more calories.

I'm willing to bet it's a "because that's the way it's always been" answer, like 8 glasses of water.

BTW, I drink between 12 and 16, so I'm not saying DON'T drink at least 8 glasses a day. I'm just saying the origin is fuzzy. I also think a good chunk of people "dieting" would do better if they upped their calories a little and didn't stress about it so much. If for no other reason than the psychological effect that going over your calories makes you feel like you did something wrong. If you ate 1253 instead of 1200, you're not going to gain weight.

Selly7749

1000 calories is the basic that your body needs to carry out standard functions like repairing itself, keeping your heart beating, keeping your lungs working etc, and then the extra 200 is to be on the safe side. Bearing in mind that it takes 302 muscles JUST TO STAND UP, this makes perfect sense. They do tests. people that consume less than this in the long term tend to get ill. simple as that.

If you think about anorexia and things like that, where people take vitamins and minerals but don't eat over 1000 calories, you can see the effects and that that minimum intake is a result of scientific research, rather than doctors and professors messing about and making random guesses in their labs. My godbrother is doing a phd in nutritional research, so it's kind of annoying to hear someone make out like the work he does is a series of arbitrary guesses.

helenoftroy1

According to the scale, it says I should be taking in 2,0000 to maintain my current weight assuming I stay moderately active. Yikes! I've been going by ~1,200.

200000!!! Wow you get to eat loads, how many doughnuts can I get for that?
Only teasing

thedreamhazer

I think it's an I don't want to get sued number. They can always fall back on, "We told them to eat 1200 calories." Spoke with my "experts" and I maintain at 1200. The joys of being short. However, crash dieting is harmful so make sure you figure out what is right for you.

This.

I think it's just a general idea that 1200 should be low enough for anyone to lose weight, by high enough that they're not killing themselves.

I get irked when people start frothing at the mouth when someone eats or nets under 1200. I never provide advice saying that people SHOULD eat less than 1200, but once in a while, if you're not hungry, it's not going to ruin you. Plus, Ms. Five-Foot-Eight, what do you know about the caloric needs of Ms. Four-Foot-Eleven?

1200 is a myth. There is no single number that could possibly work for all people and all bodies. BMR's vary too much from body-to-body. It takes one person's heart more calories to beat during a day than it does another's based on the size of the heart, the person, their blood pressure, their heart rate, etc. etc. etc.

It's pretty much just silliness. 1200 maybe safe for some but, honestly, it could be dangerous for others. I think it is just generally the line where most people are good. (I say it's silliness, but it's silliness that I use, and it works for me! [PS -- I was Ms. Five-Foot-Eight in the above hypothetical snarkiness.])

aj_rock

That's what I mean guys! It seems like some round table of fitness kids got together and just pulled some numbers out of their butts!

And the ONLY reason that we do it now is because, well, enough people say it must be so, so it must be so!

I've also heard that calories flow out through your mouth when you breath really really fast!
Spread that little tidbit to all your friends so that they too can spread this helpful information!
And when I walk the streets and see people pass out on the sidewalk from hyperventilation, I'll just chuckle to myself :P

aj_rock

1000 calories is the basic that your body needs to carry out standard functions like repairing itself, keeping your heart beating, keeping your lungs working etc, and then the extra 200 is to be on the safe side. Bearing in mind that it takes 302 muscles JUST TO STAND UP, this makes perfect sense. They do tests. people that consume less than this in the long term tend to get ill. simple as that.

If you think about anorexia and things like that, where people take vitamins and minerals but don't eat over 1000 calories, you can see the effects and that that minimum intake is a result of scientific research, rather than doctors and professors messing about and making random guesses in their labs. My godbrother is doing a phd in nutritional research, so it's kind of annoying to hear someone make out like the work he does is a series of arbitrary guesses.

All jokes thus far aside, anorexia becomes a huge problem when you lose too much lean mass & don't get your vitamins, not when you restrict your calories. Everyone ON THIS SITE has the potential to become anorexic should they continue restricting calories past their minimum BMI.

veganjeanie

And when I walk the streets and see people pass out on the sidewalk from hyperventilation, I'll just chuckle to myself :P

Ha, we need more laughs on this site! keep posting!

Articeluvsmemphis

lol. 1200 just sounds nice I guess. I usually eat more or way more than this.

glenbabe

when i was younger they used to say 1000 cals a day now its 1200 cals i think its just a sensible ball park figure acquired with a little commonsense and a little bit of maths maybe for example they have said it takes 3500 cals to create one pound of fat and an adult woman needs approx 2000 cals a day.To lose one pound a week you need to decrease your calorie intake by 3500 cals over 7days this works out at 500 cals less each day.How they reach these figures i have never understood but it seems to get results when you stick at it.Men are supposed to be allowed more than women though and i think this may be due to muscles and strength.At the end of the day its not important why, if it works why try to explain it lol

LorinaLynn

BMR's vary too much from body-to-body. It takes one person's heart more calories to beat during a day than it does another's based on the size of the heart, the person, their blood pressure, their heart rate, etc. etc. etc.

Kinda makes me wonder what happened to the Grinch's caloric needs when his heart grew three sizes in one day.

thedreamhazer

BMR's vary too much from body-to-body. It takes one person's heart more calories to beat during a day than it does another's based on the size of the heart, the person, their blood pressure, their heart rate, etc. etc. etc.

Kinda makes me wonder what happened to the Grinch's caloric needs when his heart grew three sizes in one day.

LOL. BEST.

Rae6503

It annoys me that so many people take that number and run with it. It's the BARE MINIMUM. Why would you eat the bare minimum when you could eat more?

ATT949

I've never seen anything on that and I've never even paid attention to it.

As you point out, the idea that 1200 calories is "the standard" doesn't bear even the most cursory scrutiny because, for some people, 1200 calories is more than their BMR. Further, I have questioned the value because it's silly to think that a 6' 8" female lumberjack would require the same minimum calories as a 4' 11" male, paraplegic, accounts payable clerk.

Having said that, though, I don't see 1200 calories as having no merit. Yes, I'll argue "the other side".

Most folks on this site will be able to lose weight successfully if they don't eat less than 1200 calories. In addition, by not going below 1200 calories, people will tend not to feel hungry. And that, I suspect, is a huge reason why people quit trying to lose weight — hunger is an "alarm sound" and if folks feel hunger they will subconsciously tend to change the behavior that is causing the "alarm" to sound.

One of the goals of sites like MFP is to help people lose weight. The 1200 calorie limit, like the 8 glasses of water a day, may not have any scientific backing but that doesn't mean they aren't effective. My belief is that adhering to both of those guidelines will result in more people having a positive outcome for their dieting efforts.