Why 1,200 Calories Per Day Never Works

patricia184

Thanks for the video! I need the info!

bump

tillmanlady

For example, patients with PCOS are often put on a caloric restriction of 1000 calories per day.

I have PCOS, was DX'd 10 yrs ago and was never told to live off of 1000 cals

LilMissFoodie

I don't think anyone is actually getting the point of the videos. Perhaps no one watched the whole thing. He is NOT saying 1200 does not work. He is saying it DOES work. His point is, that when people say it is not working for them, it is because they are not counting their calories correctly. My problem with this guy is that he does not state HOW we could be making such a huge error. So, I can only assume he is implying that we are all idiots who don't know how to read labels and measure food and log it.

Another possibility is that you are eating a lot of processed foods or for example foods from restaurants with calorie counts where the calorie counts will be estimations or averages. Not just processed foods really, also for example 'a medium banana'. Estimating calories accurately is actually really difficult. Or he could be saying that people cheat more often than they admit to themselves!

Sidesteal

It largely depends on how you define "works".

Absolutely. I often hear people talk about all the diets they have tried and which ones 'worked' for them. As far as I see it if you've regained the weight, it didn't 'work' for you.

^ This is one very big aspect and I agree with you.

jayliospecky

Did anyone note the part at the end of the video where he recommends to some patients that they aim for 700 calories per day, (because he thinks they will eat more like 1500 because they calculate calories so inaccurately)? I don't know if I would trust what this guy says. That seems like a very tricky road to go down...what if he gave that advice to someone with anorexic tendencies, who actually is extremely accurate at counting their calories?

Personally, I think if you're not sure if you're counting accurately, you should weigh and measure your food. That seems like more sound advice to me.

Oishii

Of course it depends o the individual... smaller people and less muscle dense people need less and so do more sedentary people!

Not always. I am considered "smaller" and I need far more calories than most women my size. At 145lbs, I should be consuming in the 1500-1800 range for maintenance. I am netting 2300-2500 and maintaining. So, again.. it all depends on your body.

I'm exactly the same, but my dad just reckons I must misjudge all my calories, just as (I gather from this thread) the doctor in the video says people are doing in the opposite direction. Whatever. What actually counts is finding what works for you WHETHER OR NOT you are counting accurately. I wouldn't want to restrict myself to eating solely what can be easily measured, so I'll just go with the way it works for me.

inammorata

Been averaging 1200 calories per day...lost nearly 30 lbs since June.

ZeroTX

I watched the video just now. The guy is kind of a douche, I think. He essentially calls you (us) stupid and tells us to psych ourselves out since we're too stupid to count accurately.

vanessaclarkgbr

I wouldn't say 1200 NEVER works...1200 will never work for me but that is because of my physical activity, lean muscle mass and fitness goals. I can't/refuse go below 1700. Some people metabolic rate is lower or some people can handle large deficits.

Nice to see more people being open to the idea that what works for them may not be what works for everyone else. :flowerforyou:

Definitely agree! Like it.

1,200 working fine for me on a rest day, eating back most of my exercise calories or saving for a spike otherwise. That's just me.

NatalieWinning

This, quote below is my opinion. Other than people's body mass and food needs may be factor to consider.

I also believe you need to accurately log and eat back those exercise calories. I have a HRM and I stayed within a hundred or so for a year of that goal. It worked great. Until I got more muscle mass and then I needed a little more. So toward the end I lowered my goal to losing slower and eating more. The closer I got the slower it was. Patience. The MFP maintence goal is also working unless I'm exercising a whole lot (then I need a couple hundred more).

I also worked with a guy (a nurse) that spent 30 minutes telling me all the ways fatter people with more fat in their diet are happier and healthier. Skinny people on low cholesterol are depressed. So, people like to say what they would like to believe. Convenient for them. Not necessarily truth.

His video should be called "1200 calorie diets work, but people don't track thier food accurately"

aregensb

I don't think that 1200 cal per day is really sustainable. Everyone is different, but 1200 is really the baseline calorie amount for the average person. If you don't eat enough, it can slow your metabolism. Go ahead and calculate your daily calories needed and eat quality foods. If it has a nutrition label, read it and educate yourself about the ingredients. Fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats are the best! :glasses:

thirtyandthriving

I am a twelve hundreder too. I do go over occasionally but it works for me. Once I hit a small plateau I eat at maintance for a day and it breaks.

dntworribhappi

My goal cal/day according to the calculator is 1330. I just started this week but have been eating closer to 1600/day and have lost four pounds. It is all realtive and dependant upon many factors, I believe.

CMmrsfloyd

1200-ish worked great for me when I was doing 'food only' and not exercising (in the beginning, first maybe month or so I think?). And then 1200-ish + exercise calories has worked beautifully ever since I started really exercising. 25 lbs in 3.5 months and feeling better than I have in probably my whole life. I'd say it doesn't work for 'everybody' b/c there is no 'one size fits all' diet/exercise plan for the countless different people at different weights, activity levels, and fitness levels out there. But it works nicely for those for which it is appropriate, especially using a site like this that makes it so easy to track correctly.

aregensb

Well It does depend I guess. If you have a decent amount of weight to lose and aren't going to exercise, limiting yourself to a 1200 cal diet is probably going to work. Once you get close to your target weight, however, you lose weight more slowly. When you have less to lose, I think people should then switch to the recommended cals for their target weight... and of course, you should exercise regularly! Being healthy isn't just weighing a certain amount or having a specific bmi... it's also about living a healthy, active lifestyle. If you are being active, 1200 cals isn't enough for an extended period of time.