Eating under 1200 calories

luv4SFO

Although some debate it, I have several nutritional texts that equate extra low calorie intake (say under 1200/day) with increase in cortisol in the body. Increases in cortisol come from stress of many varieties, and tell the body to conserve as much energy (calories) as possible. This can often lead to weight gain, or at least fewer pounds lost, because the body is trying to conserve what it has. Many other kinds of stress can have this effect too. Although there are many nay-sayers their is sufficient data to support this case. If your friends are intentionally under-eating (I would verify this first), and you can talk to them, you might be able to use the data to show them that they are actually sabotaging their own plan, and that more reasonable calories (as well as other stress reducers) will help them reach their goals faster.

kelsully

I often NET uner 1200...I eat a ton of calories but due to workouts etc I NET less or really darn close to 1200. I log here to maintain at this point. I don't want to gain and I just don't think losing more would be a great idea. I am freaking little. I am only 5 ft tall, I never hit the scale but once or twice a month IF i get to the gym instead of workout at home or school. I weigh between 115-120 and have a BMR of like 1250 calories due to my size. If I eat at home I have to have ice cream, beer and my hubby's super buttered popcorn to meet that 1200 NET...I can do it easily by going out to eat but that isn't good either. I have my over days, I have big under days and my struggle in life is to get as close to without going over ..Like price is right. For a while I was trying to eat MFP's maintenance calories NET and I was gaining weight...it was too much for my frame. I don't enter my diary ever...I log and my diary is public but I never hit submit...I am not hiding anything but that little reminder about what I will weigh in 5 weeks if everyday was like today is an Eating Disorder trigger for me. I have a history with disordered eating. It might be 20 years ago but I constantly live on the edge of falling right into again. I use MFP to keep myself as close to healthy as I can get and as balanced as I can get.

I don't mind if a friend who knows enough about my past and my struggles gives me a "hey kelsully...this looked like a tough day in you diary...are you doing ok?" but if I got harped on about the sodium I consume or the fact I don't log my water etc I would just be frustrated...so figure out the person first...figure out if they might need a supportive ear or whatever. Figure out if some nutrional education might be good or if maybe you and that friend might just have different approaches. I have some really clean eating friends and they are pretty good about not slamming those who eat processed crap and I notice when they do get on their soapbox those who eat processed food get pretty defensive....so we should all be patient with one another

RMinVA

Something to consider, and that I am surprised no one has really mentioned, although the OP alluded to it, you are looking at a self generated entry that is driven by the user, and may or may not be accurate. Food diaries don't always tell the whole story. Nor does someone simply saying "I eat under 1000 calories." For various reasons, that I won't go into, they are probably still hitting 1200+ cals (someone has already posted one scenario). I think we all know that it can be hard to face the "truth" about eating habits and get to the root cause of weight issues.

While I get that everyone cares about and wants to help their friends, I think we also would all agree that a key learning those of us that have been successful in weight loss all have in common is that YOU are the only one that can make it happen. You have to figure out what works for you. So offer all the advice you want, or that is asked for, and keep them as a friend, or not, but remember that you can't change them. Inspire? Offer a piece of helpful advice? Absolutely. .....but all that is useless unless the person you offered the advice to or inspired by you actually does something about it.

Savyna

I don't set out to starve myself. Like some others here I've been eating the same way I usually eat (which is probably just twice a day and a little snack here and there) it's only now that I've joined this site did I realize that I was technically undereating and that consistently eating under 1200 calories leads to the body going into starvation mode. I had always wondered why in my family I seemed to be the heaviest when I really ate the least. Well my mother holds the title of eating the littlest amount and then I'm next. My younger sister eats about 5 times a day and is about 50 pounds lighter than I am. I just thought it was because of metabolism. I tried to do things to fix just that but it didn't seem to work. Now that I'm aware of the body and how under 1200 can be dangerous I've been trying to eat above that but I find it so difficult.

Also, I just saw the post from RMinVA, I know some might not record everything, but I've really been doing so because I want to be honest with myself about what I'm eating and that this weight loss thing not have any secrets. There were days I admit where I didn't want to give everything I ate but I did so anyways (it turns out that those were the better days where I at least hit 1280 calories). So in my case I definitely try to record everything in hopes that I make it to 1200. So far, I still have a bit of trouble with eating more solely for the fact that I don't particularly feel hungry and it feels weird to eat something when I have no feeling of hunger but today (1/11/11) I had two bowls of cereal which gave me 450 and change calories, but I had exercised earlier so it was about a net of 250, for a snack two hours after that I had an ounce of raw sunflower kernels, two hours after that at 12:53pm~ I had some lunch which was 2 tbsp of peanut butter and one of those little bananas. So far I'm at net 635 calories. Hopefully with my other snack of sunflower seeds and maybe some juice around 3pm and dinner I can hit 1200 calories).

Would anyone know why my hunger triggers are off? Is it from years of eating below the calorie safe line that it just tells me to eat twice a day because supposedly I'm stuck in a jungle or something living on grubs starving slowly to death? hehe. Is there something to increase appetite? My concern really is just the fact that I have to tell myself to eat and then force myself to do so. It feels odd.

misskb11

Do you focus on the NUMBER or the actual food that is being consumed?? I often eat around 900-1000 calories a day because I am on the slim fast program. I also am not consuming many carbs AND in addition I dont feel like I should be forced to eat when I am not hungry. My issue and the reason WHY i have gained weight is because I was eating when I wasnt hungry. So I eat 3 meals a day now and I STILL get criticized?? Who are you to pass judgement? I think its obnoxious and your looking simply at the number and not the intake.

AbsoluteNG

There is no need to worry as there is no known disease associated with eating less that will destroy their metabolism or be detrimental to their health. However, eating more can be associated with Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and the like. The only thing to watch for is if they are not getting enough potassium on a low calorie diet as potassium regulates the heart beat. Not getting enough will cause irregular beats. They might get tired, grouchy, or lose their period, but all of that can be solved by simply eating more. Their body will use fat as fuel until they are nearing the 14% body fat mark.


Diabetes Type 2, generally caused by eating more, means your metabolism is destroyed because it can't use sugar anymore. Anyone who says eating less will destroy your metabolism is just an uneducated fear monger.

med2017

First time I say something. Second or maybe third time I say something again. After that, I delete them.

I recognize that everyone is different and going about this their own way but there are limits to my acceptance. If I don't feel like I can support you I don't see a reason for us to be "friends".

Yet again ... reasons I love ya! I agree with you and I have deleted people who insist on recurrent unhealthy habits. I am not perfect by any sort, but I think we should be encouraging healthy behaviors. I also cannot say "good job" to someone who is eating 700 calories either.

I love the preaching and the judgement! That's exactly what I come here for!

I don't suppose it's ever occured to you that someone's doctor may have told them to be at a certain calorie level and that's what they are trying to hit? My doctor has told me that as long as I net at least 700 calories, it's fine. Obviously I strive to be closer to the 1200 that is outlined by MFP. But MFP is not the be all and end all of fitness and health advice!

Just a thought or two from the peanut gallery...

Hmm as a healthcare provider myself I would question whether that is medically safe. Sure you may lose weight, but will you be able to keep it off. Why not do it the healthy way. I know that medically supervised low calorie diets are out there ... but very few patients actually keep the weight off.
Please remember that just because a doctor recommends it, doesn't always mean that its right. Doctors generally have very little training in diet, exercise, and nutrition.

i have to disagree with this.... especially the part where in medical school you have physio biochem and nutrition...

tigersword

Most doctors are woefully undereducated on nutrition. I've never understood why people are perfectly accepting of seeing specialists for kidneys, or heart, or feet, or head, or any other body part that their primary physician has basic education in but not specialization, yet they will just blindly accept any dietary advice given. A registered dietician is a nutrition specialist, just like a neurologist is a brain specialist. I wouldn't rely on my primary physician to perform brain surgery on me, and I wouldn't rely on him for specific dietary advice, either.

tigersword

There is no need to worry as there is no known disease associated with eating less that will destroy their metabolism or be detrimental to their health. However, eating more can be associated with Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and the like. The only thing to watch for is if they are not getting enough potassium on a low calorie diet as potassium regulates the heart beat. Not getting enough will cause irregular beats. They might get tired, grouchy, or lose their period, but all of that can be solved by simply eating more. Their body will use fat as fuel until they are nearing the 14% body fat mark.


Diabetes Type 2, generally caused by eating more, means your metabolism is destroyed because it can't use sugar anymore. Anyone who says eating less will destroy your metabolism is just an uneducated fear monger.

You don't need a specific disease, although anorexia nervosa would fit. Severe calorie restriction leads to major metabolic and hormonal changes in the human body, as it struggles for homeostasis and works to stay alive. The human body doesn't understand "dieting." It simply understands energy in = energy out. If energy in is greater than energy out, the excess gets stored for later (the human body evolved to feast and fast, not graze.) If energy in is less than energy out, then the body burns previously stored fat to make up the difference. Now, if energy in is severely less than energy out, metabolic changes occur, as the body manipulates the metabolism to slow it down and conserve fat (obviously if the calorie restriction is severe, food is extremely scarce, who knows how long it will be to find more, so the body slows down to conserve fuel in order to survive as long as possible.) These are physiological responses that we as humans have no control over.

So yes, it's not a specific "disease" necessarily, but it's very easy to wreck your metabolism by eating too few calories, as once your metabolism slows to that point, it takes months of eating at a higher level for it to recover. There's a reason most dieters regain what they lose, and this is a major part of it. Feel free to go ahead and look up the major studies released over the last couple years showing how people who have lost weight need to eat significantly less to maintain their weight loss than people who are naturally at the same weight.

AbsoluteNG

You don't need a specific disease, although anorexia nervosa would fit. Severe calorie restriction leads to major metabolic and hormonal changes in the human body, as it struggles for homeostasis and works to stay alive. The human body doesn't understand "dieting." It simply understands energy in = energy out. If energy in is greater than energy out, the excess gets stored for later (the human body evolved to feast and fast, not graze.) If energy in is less than energy out, then the body burns previously stored fat to make up the difference. Now, if energy in is severely less than energy out, metabolic changes occur, as the body manipulates the metabolism to slow it down and conserve fat (obviously if the calorie restriction is severe, food is extremely scarce, who knows how long it will be to find more, so the body slows down to conserve fuel in order to survive as long as possible.) These are physiological responses that we as humans have no control over.

I was talking in reference to metabolism. Anorexia nervosa is a psychological disorder. And your metabolism depends on your activity level a lot more than how much food you eat. Do you have a paper or some research journal that backs up your claim that you can destroy your metabolism for "MONTHS" just by eating a low calorie diet? I call BS on that claim. If there was such a disease it would have a name in medical books for it already but there is not. There are only diseases associated with eating more, via Diabetes type 2 and Heart Disease.

So yes, it's not a specific "disease" necessarily, but it's very easy to wreck your metabolism by eating too few calories, as once your metabolism slows to that point, it takes months of eating at a higher level for it to recover. There's a reason most dieters regain what they lose, and this is a major part of it. Feel free to go ahead and look up the major studies released over the last couple years showing how people who have lost weight need to eat significantly less to maintain their weight loss than people who are naturally at the same weight.

This is not a disease. If you go back to eating a high calorie diet and stop exercising, it's common sense that you will regain weight. Common Sense??

giveMEbeauty

Bump

lulz14

I guess I'm one of those people. I usually eat 800 - 1000 cals, on days I work out this results in a net of 500 usually.

I log fairly close, maybe 100cals a day extra in small things I don't log.

I am concerned that this is low... but I'm not actively trying to eat so low it just kind of comes out like that.

But it's working for me, I don't feel hungry etc.

I tried eating 1200 - 1500 cals net and lost 3kg in a month. For someone of my size working out 5+ times a week... no where near the results I want

So I cut out drinking, cut down carbs and ended up like this.

apcartwright

Having a hard time drinking water? me too! but I find it much easier if I squirt some lemon into it, that way even if its not cold I find it easier to drink, before march of this year I rarely drank water, now I can usually get in my 8 cups, but without lemon I don't think it would happen.

Gearjammer71

Well as the calories we estimate are usually under what we eat, I would say 1000-1100 calories is close enough.
I know today I estimated the calories in the muesli I had at a cafe by looking up one that I thought might be similar. I could be 200 calories out, easy.

That's the way I feel about it too. I have MFP friends that are in the 1,000 calorie range often. In reality, they are probably at least 1200 or better. These counts are rough estimates from the word go, add to that the fact that people really aren't always disciplined with weights and volume and you could be hundreds of calories off. I personally, try to stay several hundred calories short of my goal.

MzManiak

First time I say something. Second or maybe third time I say something again. After that, I delete them.

I recognize that everyone is different and going about this their own way but there are limits to my acceptance. If I don't feel like I can support you I don't see a reason for us to be "friends".

QFT

SakuraRose13

For myself if I eat under 1200 so what its one day and not everyday , I'm 4ft 10in petite I have 14 lbs or less to lose till my goal weight , after a 29lbs loss ,when Im not as hungry I don't eat as much and other days I eat above, it happens , I don't worry to much about others food habits as long as they eat.

While in college I eat everyday around 800 to 1200 daily maintained my weight of 105 well along with exercise , Im SAHM of two small children and well my weight gain is from my first pregnancy , finally lost almost all of it , my girls are 19 months apart, anyway it has been working for me, I have my settings at sedentary so when I'm active it calculates my calorie burns more accurately.


Im sure that there are a few who should be eating more but it is not our job to diagnose people with eating disorders.

Its the same as a person eating 2500 or more a day , I don't see anyone getting in an uproar about to many calories .

Which is what causes weight gain normally.


This isn't meant to insight an argument I'm just making a point .

Only time I would delete a person is if they were not eating at all not logging for months .

unoriginalusername007

I've unfriended at least a quarter of my "Friends" on MFP when I see them consistently eating unhealthy amounts of food. If I'm friends with people who are getting all their calories from junk foods, to each her own, I won't unfriend them if they're at least eating the correct amount of calories- but when I see someone eating between 600-1000 calories consistently I can't stand to see it. A few years ago I ate extremely unhealthily like that and got myself into a rut of under-eating. It hurts me to see people in the same case. I try to help them, but they don't listen. I also don't want to fall back into poor eating habits like that again by looking at their diaries all the time and feeling like I'm the one eating wrong when I know I'm really not. I'm not going to comment on their diaries saying good job, and I get kind of frustrated with those who do. Those who write "I wish I could eat that low calorie!" as comments on the under-eaters diary are just promoting that person's bad behavior of extreme under-eating. Frankly, it grosses me out to see people eating such small amounts of food. I feel like people don't understand how careful you need to be while losing weight. Calories are the units of energy that your body needs to function, to keep your systems working properly, keep your brain working right etc. People are harming themselves when they don't give their body adequate energy. (Even 1200 calories a day is low IMO for an exercising person) It bothers me even more when someone has burned 600 calories exercising, and they're still only consuming 800 calories a day, leaving a ghastly 200 cal net! I say something carefully about eating more, and when the person is still adamant about their 800 calories a day I remove them from my friends list right away.

To those reading this eating less than 1200 calories because that's just what you eat, and you say you truly aren't starving yourselves yada yada, please try to at least reach 1200 calories a day. Whether you feel like you need it or not, chances are your body needs it and will be thankful for that extra energy/calories. Even if that means adding a couple tablespoons of peanut butter into your diet, a few bananas as snacks throughout the day, some avocado or olive oil with you dinner, or even a cookie or bowl of ice cream, just try to get there somehow. Of you don't want to add foods, just increase the portion size of the meals you're eating now. Instead of one cup of cereal, shoot for two. Instead of one glass of milk, have another etc. There's a difference between eating under your calorie intake once and a while vs. making it a daily habit; I know all of us have had a really low calorie day once in awhile, but I'm talking about those who eat like that for months.

(Also, your body can get used to eating at a certain number of calories. When I under-ate I reached a point that I was eating 1100 calories a day and maintaining. If you've maintained on a low cal number, you'd be surprised that you can increase your calories to 2000 and still maintain. I know when I did, my mind was blown. It just has to do with something about whether your body's getting the energy it needs from your food intake eating 2000 or your bones etc. when you're eating 1100.)

busy91

People eat what they eat, I don't judge.
Most of the time I go for 1600 a day, but there are days I don't get to 1200, just because I don't. Of course the next day, I can barley stand up from exhaustion.

I don't have 'friends'. But I wouldn't unfriend someone because of that.

Sakura you would be an exception I think. But 1200 calories for someone who is my height (5' 11") is not enough.

mayonie1

Thanks for this post... I'm also eating less than 1200 because I try to balance fat/protein etc. Once I reach 1200 I find red marks on other diary. So really I just don't know the right way.

Gearjammer71

By reading all the expert advice on this thread, I've realized that all those post-op bariatric surgery patients eating 750-1000 calories a day are in deep trouble!