How is 1200 Calories working for you?

Margarita211

Do you feel deprieved? How do you stretch them (calories)?

dlyeates

I don't feel deprived on 1200. Still trying to figure out if I should be doing 1200 or 1500. Best way to "stretch" them is to exercise and "earn" more. You can check out my last week in my diary for ideas (excuse the couple of days with fiber bars for breakfast....I had absolutely no time to eat. Usually its cereal or oatmeal!!)

flyspyro

i was able to do it for awhile few months.. but now it just doesnt feel like im eating enough food im always hungry

jordanashley19

You won't feel deprived if you eat healthy snacks that don't have too many calories in them. I eat every 4 or 5 hours.

CMmrsfloyd

I started out doing the 1200 calorie goal and it quickly taught me to make better choices if I didn't want to feel like I was starving all day. LOL Fruits, veggies, and lean meats. No more drive-thru. Or at least far better choies the rare times that I *do* go to a drive-thru (grilled chicken sandwiches or salads instead of burers, fried chicken, fries, etc). It's also gotten me more interested in cooking so that I can create dishes that fit into my calorie allowance but aren't totally boring. Yes salads and grilled chicken are great but you do need variety. The 1200 calorie goal also motivated me to exercise, since when you exercise the site automatically tells you that you've 'earned' more calories for the day, meaning I can either have higher-calorie meals or add in extra snacks. I don't usually eat 'all' of my exercise calories, I normally eat somewhere between 25%-75% of what I burned. Just depends on how I feel that day. Some days I do go a little bit over but those days are balanced out by the ones where I go under. These days I normally eat closer to 1400-1600 depending on how much I exercised that day. I'm still on the 1200 'plan' but I exercise more regularly so I get to eat more.

catwrangler

1500 was hard 1600 is much more doable. 1200 is starvation diet for me :ohwell:

musicgirl88

I've been doing great on it! I never feel deprived, and some days I even have trouble eating all 1200! I also do not eat back my exercise calories. I "stretch out" the calories by having 5-6 200 calorie meals. I also try to plan out my day the night before so I know if I need to cut something out or maybe I can add a desert one night! If you feel hungry, you may want to up your calories. You just need to find what works for YOU!

kimber_av

1200 is plenty for me.
I make sure everything I eat is healthy so it takes a lot to get up to 1200. the key is eating the right things.

fteale

I HATED being on 1200 a day. I was hungry, freezing cold and grouchy the whole time (about 3 months). I don't know how anyone does it for longer than that.

JediMaster_intraining

I used to think it was too much believe it or not. Now I upped mine a little bit (maybe 80 calories more?) and it seems to be working for me. It's enough for when I have a rest day and I always eat most of my exercise calories. Try eating snacks in between meals and drinking plain tea, milk, and water. I found that when I cut out juices (unless homemade) and soda I could have more room for food instead of consuming empty sugar calories.

Elle_Jamaicangirl81

i'm at 1270... works out well enough for me. there are days i feel deprived... but i just try to do some walking or exercise or something on that day

Cathygal

Don't forget to eat back the calories that you burn exercising! I never feel deprived. I burn an average of 200-300 calories a day with my workout which bumps me up to about 1400-1500 calories. If you are not eating back your exercise calories, then you WILL be deprived. Your body needs that for energy.

caveats

1500 was hard 1600 is much more doable. 1200 is starvation diet for me :ohwell:

^^This. I failed miserably at 1200. Switched it up and I intake more like ~1800-2000 now. And I'm 5'3", 128ish lbs. (SW 132ish)

davidpm

I was doing about 1280 for a few weeks. I didn't feel deprived but my body apparently did. I hit a plateau for 3 weeks. When I upped my calories to about 1500, I started losing again and I was much happier to be able to eat a greater variety of food and stay within my goal number.

Babzl1957

HI, I am on 1200cals and have been for the last 2 weeks. Recording everything has helped me and as I loved bread but it has made me realise I was eating way too much of it. You will soon get to know what you can have and how to spread things out so you manage your cals properly. I have 100lbs to loose so I have just told myself get used to it if you want to loose this weight.!! If you have something you really want and it takes you over just watch what you eat at other meals or the next day. x Changing products to lite and low-cal really has helped. All the best with your journey. Babz.xx

Getting_Fit_4_Life

I do 1200-1350 depending on the day and my hunger level. I feel this is working for me. I don't feel hungry, even on days that I stick 1200 I do just fine

Justjoshin

I burn about 1200 calories a day during workouts. It's working out pretty good for me!

Oh, that's not what you meant.

AI1108

I started out at 1200 the first few months and lost a lot. It wasn't too little for me cause I would normally hit somewhere in the 1100s and then have a light snack before bed. But as I kept going for a few more months I plateaud so I went to maintenance for two weeks cause I knew I needed to eat more. I was at a lower bmi so I upped my cals to 1/2 lb a week (1510 cals). Now I do anywhere between 1350 - 1500 a day.

JulieSD

Personally, I love working out because I get to eat more food!

So my base 1200/1300 cals works out great since I can easily bump it up to 1700/1800

JulieSD

Double post!

ennaejay

I think if I had to stick around 1200 I would start fantasizing about biting the heads off of small animals. I don't think it's healthy to eat that low, it screws up your metabolism. You can starve yourself into skinny, but what's the prize? Being stuck at a super low maintenance intake because you're a waif. Work hard, get lean, and EAT.

LiveEnjoyEndure

I pretty much feel hungry all the time. But this does not bother me so much as my cravings are low when I exercise in the morning, which gives me a dopamine high throughout the day. I also eat small and regular meals 6 times a day with 400 calories in each meal/snack. This helps me psychologically as it is never long till I am eating again :-) I aim to earn 800 calories a day thru exercise so I have around 2000 calories which allows me to eat 400 calories 6 times a day.

Kristina0202

I've been doing 1200 calories for almost a year and it's working for me. Sometimes I feel hungry but now if I eat more than 1200 calories a day I feel gross and bloaty.

GettinMyLifeBck

I think it depends on your weight!! I went down to 1200 and I went into starvation mode and plateaued for almost a month. I increased my calories and started to lose.

LorinaLynn

The biggest problem I had with 1200 was that I always felt like I had to stay UNDER it. Even though eating 1203 calories, for instance, is just fine, psychologically, didn't want the negative red numbers. It made me obsessive. I could stay under no problem on days I exercised and earned more calories, but it made me not want to take rest days because I wanted to be able to eat more. Several weeks, maybe a couple months, with no rest days, is not good.

The second problem was that I did better netting around 1400-1500. I'm glad I realized early on that I could eat a lot more and get the same, or better, results.

Rae6503

I would like to know how long 1200 calorie people stuck with their diet and what their results were in the long term?

Anyone reach their goal with 1200 and what happened then?

SueGremlin

When I first started this adventure in June, 1200 calories was out of the question. I would have been starving. I think I started out with 1800 in order to lose 1 lb per week. I am down to 1500 and for some reason, I feel like this is more than enough. The only time it becomes an issue is on nights when I go out to the pub because beer and stout are pretty calorie-rich. (as is most alcohol).
I hope this doesn't change, but for the past week or so, I have found myself consciously eating enough calories, because with the food choices I have made, I am getting plenty to eat at around 1100 calories. That ain't enough so I have to make sure I eat a little more to put me over the top. This usually includes one of my most beloved foods: Ginger snaps.

sunkisses

1200 calories certainly motivates me to do high-intensity workouts every day so I can eat more.

sunkisses

I would like to know how long 1200 calorie people stuck with their diet and what their results were in the long term?

Anyone reach their goal with 1200 and what happened then?

As you get closer to your goal, 1200 is it for you. I lost my weight eating whatever was appropriate to lose 1 pound a week. Now that I'm like 3lb from goal, 1200 is what's appropriate for losing 1lb a week. It's not awful, but as I said previously, it does keep me motivated to exercise harder because I like booze and sugar so much.

Alka97

im on 900kcl now for 1 month, i feel good on it before that diet i was 1200kcl and after i will be 1200 kcl again, it works for me and i feel like sometimes its even to much

Yanicka1

I did 1200 calories for 7 months. The result was lost of muscle so I had to put myself at maintenance for 2 months, start strenght training. Right now I am back at 1200 calories but it's only for 2 weeks at a time in order to lose fat then back at maintenance.