Confused about the magic 1200

msiamjan

So, I keep reading posts where folks are saying that 1200 is a bad idea, not sustainable, makes you prone to regain. MFP started me out at 1270, and recently dropped me to 1210. That's for losing 1 lb a week. I'm averaging about .5 a lb a week. I'm okay with that, as long as the direction is downward--but I would like to lose at the highest calorie possible, so as not to negatively impact metabolism. (Been down that road before). Should I be ignoring MFP's recommendation? I'm 5'3", my starting weight was 193, and I'm currently at 176. My goal is 130. I do eat most of the exercise calories back, which are generally between 200-500. Am I doing this the best way? Thanks.

Brownski860

MFP had started me at 1200 for a loss of 2lbs per week. I eat 1200 a day and do not eat my exercise calories. For the past 13 weeks i've been averaging 1.57lbs per week. You truly have to do what works best for you.

Rae6503

Doesn't sound bad to me. Do you think your activity level is accurate? You could raise your goal to 0.5lbs per week and see what happens.

CARNAT22

So, I keep reading posts where folks are saying that 1200 is a bad idea, not sustainable, makes you prone to regain. MFP started me out at 1270, and recently dropped me to 1210. That's for losing 1 lb a week. I'm averaging about .5 a lb a week. I'm okay with that, as long as the direction is downward--but I would like to lose at the highest calorie possible, so as not to negatively impact metabolism. (Been down that road before). Should I be ignoring MFP's recommendation? I'm 5'3", my starting weight was 193, and I'm currently at 176. My goal is 130. I do eat most of the exercise calories back, which are generally between 200-500. Am I doing this the best way? Thanks.

If you are on 1210 calories a day and doing *say* 300 calories worth of exercise as long as you are eating aprox 1500 calories you are doing this the right way!

1210 and NOT eating back 300 exercise calories would mean you were only taking 910 cals per day which is too few!

psuLemon

This is a thread I posted in a few weeks ago that goes over why 1200. Essentially, it is what the National Institute for Health came back with in their study to be the lowest calories a body needs to maintain its systems. It is not for everyone. It also provides links on how to find your caloric needs and why.


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/304983-why-1200

JeannieFo

I say if you're happy with what you're losing, keep doing whatever you're doing.

You could try to not eat all of your exercise calories one week and see what happens on the scale.

I'm 5'3 and my goal is aslo 130. I'm at 134 pounds right now and at 1340 calories a day. I eat ALL my calories each day and eat most of my exercise calories, if not all. In the beginning (I started out at 173 pounds) I tried to stay around 1200 calories a day, but I found that quite difficult and hard to sustain for an extended period of time without feeling deprived. My weight loss has been slow, but steady, and I'm perfectly happy with that.

RandaRoxs27

Mine automatically started me off at 1,200 calories as well. But i went under tools, and the BMR Calculator. After putting in my information, it told me i should be eating 1,378 calories. You should use the calculator. I think it might start off everyone at 1,200 calories, you have to change it yourself. Unless you're comfortable with 1,200, in that case good luck with your weight loss !

cmg2008

I'm 5'2 started out @ 155 and i'm currently @ 139. I eat around 1500 calories a day including my exercise calories and I lose around a pound a week if not more.

I don't go off of the MFP strandards because I feel that they are too low, rather I used this website http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ to calculate my BMR and based my calorie intake after that instead!

littlemili

I eat a little under 1200 most days because for a 500 calorie deficit I need to (5'1 and 116lbs). It's fine. I generally get near or over my nutrients and lose weight quickly but within the healthy range.

alanaosu

I'm confused. If you listen to trainers like Jillian Michaels she says that you should eat a minimum of 1200 calories per day but that you can exercise up to an additional 500 to give you a deficit.

As I understood it, so long as you are eating a minimum of 1200 (especially if you're short) your body should stay clear of starvation mode regardless of burning a few hundred via exercise. This is how they get the guys and girls on Biggest Loser to drop weight and how she recommends that you drop weight.

Burn the calories, don't starve them is the saying I believe.

Here's the resource:
http://www.everydayhealth.com/fitness-specialist/how-much-how-fast.aspx

kapeluza

"We’ve all seen the countless threads and posts about starvation mode. Many contain a lot of misinformation and apply the concept too broadly. It’s my aim to clear up some misconceptions (of both believers and non-believers). I’m going to try to keep this simple and straightforward and easily understandable.

What is Starvation Mode?
Starvation Mode – aka survival mode, famine response, adaptive thermogenesis

Starvation mode is a reaction to inadequate energy. If your food intake is too low to meet energy requirements, the body starts accessing inside sources. It will attempt to access fat stores first, and in the highest proportion. If you have a lot of fat stores, most of the energy will come from fat, and a little from muscle. If you have less fat stores, most will still come from fat, but a higher percentage will come from lean tissue, such as muscles. The leaner you get, the more difficult it is for the body to access fat quickly.

When the body perceives intake to be too low and energy stores (fat) to be inadequate for making up the difference quickly, it begins to compensate to prolong survival. First, it slows metabolism (the rate at which you use energy.) If intake continues to be too low, it then begins to access muscle, because it is easier and faster. The loss of lean tissue further slows metabolism. If this cycle continues for a significant period, at the right levels, it results in an ever-decreasing metabolism. This means a person can eat less and less (to a point), and still have slow or no weight loss because the body’s energy requirements have decreased. Remember that total energy requirements include BMR, daily activity and purposeful exercise.

Who is at Risk?
Most people with large amounts of fat stores are not at risk of starvation mode. This is usually women over 35% body fat and men over 25% body fat, but there is no exact point. They have sufficient energy stores to supplement the body’s needs for energy (however, they still have other needs that must be met, such as vitamins and minerals). The closer a person is to a healthy BMI, the higher risk and consequences of starvation mode.

When Does it Happen?
It doesn’t happen by skipping a meal or even a whole day or at 1200, 1000, or any other random cal number. Typically, metabolism will begin to decrease after about 72 hours of significantly inadequate intake. But this is dependent on the individual’s specific situation – what the energy requirements are, how much fat they have, and the exact level of intake. The loss of lean tissue begins sometime later. It could be days, weeks or months. It may be at 1200 for one person, and 2000 for another. Again, it depends on the individual and will be a different point for everyone.

Then Why are Anorexics Skinny?
Anorexics were “normal” weight at some point. They began decreasing intake and using up fat stores. How long this takes depends, again, on energy requirements and actual intake. The body has a “range” in which it feels comfortable accessing fat, without decreasing metabolism too much or burning too much muscle. As an average, this is between 250 and 1000 calories below maintenance requirements. When you drop below this range, the body begins starvation mode reactions. Anorexics WERE in starvation mode at some point – but they continued to decrease intake. There is a level of extreme calorie restriction and lack of fat stores at which starvation mode turns into actual starvation. The body is adaptable, but it has its limits. At this point, the body has no choice but to burn everything – fat, muscle, organs, hair, skin, etc - simply to sustain bodily functions. Severe anorexia is the result of continuous extreme calorie restriction and malnutrition (typically below 500 cals). You can try it their way. But remember, a lot of them develop horrible diseases from malnutrition and many of them die.

But Some People Claim You GAIN Weight in Starvation Mode?
Starvation Mode itself will not cause weight gain. However, a combination of starvation mode, binges, and carb loading, can cause weight gain. Once the metabolism decreases, your energy requirements are lower. So you have to eat less just to maintain your current weight. The body has become more efficient at using and storing energy. But most people have a hard time maintaining a very low intake consistently for long periods. So if your typical intake is 1000 (just an example), but you have occasional binges of 3000 and the binge is mostly carbs, the body can’t use all of that at one time anymore. So the body shuttles it to fat storage. This won’t be a huge gain, but a lb or two a month maybe. It’s not dramatic, but if someone lives this way for years, they can gain a decent amount of weight. "

psuLemon

Great post Kapeluza...


Additionally, below is some research that I did and hopefully it can help clarify some things. I can tell you from running the numbers on many woman and men on this board that it is an extreme rarity for a person to only need 1200 calories. The majority of the time, woman should be eating 1600-1800 and mean 2200-2500. This is especially true the closer you get to your goal but there are a few key items to figure out.. Basal metabolic rate (BMR; the rate you burn calories if you slept for 24 hours) and your Total Daily Energy Expended (TDEE; the amount of energy exerted throughout the day) to be able to creat a sufficient and effective deficit,.

There are several institutues that have research the needs of a body to maintain proper body function and all have come back with 1200 calories for women and 1500 for men (this includes teh Nation Institute for Health and American College of Sports Medicine). Decreasing your calories to below these standards (which are very low to start with) can affect your long term weight loss. Decreasing below your Basal Metabolic Rate can slow your metabolism, decrease thyroid function, decrease muscle mass, and have adverse affects on several organs, digestion, etc...

When you reduce the calories too low, your body may not go into starvation mode but your body doesn't function properly. Also, over time, if you don't eat enough, your body will store fat due to the metabolism slowing down. Your metabolism is contolled by the amount of muscle you body has. The more muscle, the faster your metabolism is (unless you have a thyroid issue or other medical condition). The AmericanCollege of Sports Medicine suggest 1.2 - 1.4 g of protein per kg of weight.


So for a 150 lb person, that comes to 88-95g of protein


150/2.2 = 68.1
68.1*1.2 (1.4) = 88/95g


Obtaining that much protein would be difficult with 900 calories, considering 400 of those calories would have to be from proteins alone. keep in mind the below.

1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
1 gram of protein = 4 calories
1 gram of fat = 9 calories

Here is a link with some good information.

http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html

Also, keep in mind, when you don't eat enough calories, your body utilizes proteins from your muscles to fuel your body and holds onto the fat. If you want to run an experiement on your, go get some body calipers or get someone to test you to calculate your total body fat. Work out for 30-60 days and go back to see if anything has changed. Even if your weight changes or doesn't, if you haven't been able to decrease your overall body fat, then you aren't gaining lean body mass (LBM). In fact, there are many cases that I have seen women lose 10 lbs but there overall body fat was unchanged. This means, that your body lost weight by losing LBM. The lower the LBM, the slow your metabolism, the lower it will take to lose weight, the quicker you will plateau and so forth. I can't tell you how many people I have worked with that have hit a plateau and each time, we increased their calories and the weight loss started again. You may just have not hit that point yet but I would highly suggest you reconsider your method.

Beside, if you can eat more food and lose just as much weight, why wouldn't you?


Hope this is helpful, I just want to make sure you aren't hurting your body. Below are some links with some good information in them. Enjoy


http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/reference_calorie.asp

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm