Who has only 1200 calories per day?

Amy_B

I always see people who have their calories set on 1200 per day. Why so low?

I weigh 160, am 5'5", and have mine set at 1600. That's without eating back exercise calories. I have my settings on lightly active, as I am a teacher. I generally exercise 5x/week. I could NOT get by on 1200 calories per day.

How do you all do it?

chrissaucier

The only time I have 1200 cals is on a non workout day and I find myself starving. My physician frowned at the 1200 and thought it was too low for me. I do eat back most of my workout cals and find it filling

janna674

MFP sets mine for 1200...i have a super sedentary lifestyle .... the only exercise I get is walks on my lunch which I record and some occasionally after work...but I weigh 136 and am only 5 feet tall...I should weigh about 115 but I am shooting to be in the 120's

my BMR is 1229

KellyBurton1

I wouldnt survive on 1200, I had my food allowance low and I wouldnt lose, I up it all and still nothing, I had very very low energy. Got sick alot. Felt deprieved to the fullest and crash big time. Up my calories higher , I am very active and started losing weight again. The reason for so low, cause I was stupid to watch everyone esle. I had to watch ME!

PepperRocks

Mine is 1200. My weight is 135 lbs. Height is 155 cms. Not sure, 1200 is what MFP sets for me. I usually end up eating 1200, and feeling quite full.

weaverfit

One has to pick a calorie level that one can sustain for years, for life even... if this is supposed to be sustainable. 1200, in my estimation, is hard to maintain lifelong.

RainbootsToBikinis

MFP sets me for 1200 a day and I have no problem staying under and feeling full. It depends a lot on the times of foods your eating. I could eat a lot of sugar snap peas and only eat 30 cals. and they fill me up.

MissYogapants

Mine is 1200 calories a day. My daily life involves practically no moving around at all. Even though 1200 might seem low, it's really a limit for me; if I eat slightly less than 1200 during some time I will lose weight, but if I eat 1200-1300 calories a day during some time I will gain weight.

It was hard in the beginning, because a year ago I would eat probably 2000-3000 calories a day. But after a couple of weeks I got used to it, I guess it's the whole thing when the stomach shrinks to adapt to how much I eat nowadays.

Oh, and today I'm 165 lbs, 5'10''. I guess my limit is where it is simply because of my lack of daily movement.

carhicks

I was on 1200 because I set that I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week. I was eating back all my exercise calories and was not really losing. I changed my setting to 1 pound per week and am not eating back my exercise calories. I am up to 1370 calories per day now and feel a lot better.

atsantus

I have mine set at 1200 calories and I think it is more than adequate. I'm almost never hungry unless I'm having a craving. I work out 3x per week burning around 200-300 calories, so on those days I eat more... Of course, I'm smaller than most women at 4'11 and 132lbs, so I think size has a lot to do with it. But overall, I'm pretty happy and sustained on 1200.

Sharisunshine

MFP set mine at 1200 per day also, because I have a very sedentary life and want to lose 2 lbs per week. This is the first day I have actually struggled with that. I'm also a Type 1 diabetic so if I don't eat, I get low blood sugars and then I'm forced to eat. It's OK though...I'm making it

MaraDiaz

It was easy with workout calories, but now even if I don't eat back all my exercise calories, or even if I do, I seem to be stuck at 216. It's driving me nuts. Plus my knees are starting to tell me to chill. So I'm seriously considering a few days of being relatively sedentary with 1200 being the max. The only way I can see to do that is lots of coffee and missing two meals out of my three. Not a good thing for a lifetime, but if I try it for a few days maybe it'll kick start me back to losing again, along with yesterday's 2000 calories + feast of shame.

TurtleRunnerNC

MFP set mine too. Again somewhat sedentary but not completely. This is my first week so I am going to see how things go and adjust as needed. I have started to exercise a little & that is making me more hungry. I am eating back my exercise calories and still lost a little over 2lbs.

I may need to adjust it but I will see how things go over the next few weeks.

colvera59

I do...I have 1275...and its brutal...but if this is how I can do it with feeling hungry...I am going to try...

helenstebb

mfp set mine to 1220 for some reason. Im ony 5'1" and currently 126lbs. I only need that last 7lbs off, so I was quite suprised its that low. I seem to be managing it ok and not too hungry either

Sixalicious

Mine is set to 1300 calories, but the way I understand it with MFP in the goal section is that those are net calories, not calories consumed. So I eat well over 1300 calories a day because realistically speaking, if I only ate 1300 calories a day and exercised I would probably fall over.

heartshines

Mine is set at 1100. I am a fanatic on counting calories and how to balance each meal. It can be achieved, if you are willing to make sacrifices. Dieting sucks! No doubt about that, but the results are so worth it!!

Stay the path!

ljdanny

MFP gave me 1510 calories per day, my doctor had put me on 1200 and I had dropped weight quickly, but I find I always go over by a few calories so I changed mine on her to 1300 so that way if I go over the 1200 I'm not that hard on myself.

RieBerg

myfitnesspal set mine to 1200 to lose .9 pounds a week. I usually eat 1200 for about 3 days and then go up to 1400 on the 4th day which is maintenance. Then I go back down to 1200.

only4me_lori

My allowance is 1200 calories...to me it is easy.....even eating 6 small meals a day....it's all about portion sizes...like for breakfast I have 1/3 cup cottage cheese and 1/3 cup pineapple chunks and a cup of coffee..=101 calories
snacks are apples which equal 45-60 calories....salads alone without salad dressing are about 125 calories...then if you use no fat dressing and use the amount you are supposed to be...your salad shouldn't be over 200 calories...and dinner can be lots of veggies and some protein....we have all been used to eating large meals and not eating proper portion sizes....I rarely go over my calorie goal and if I do it's because I overindulged on something that was not good for me...greasy burgers, creamy soups, fatty or sugary desserts....

grassette

I have mine set at 1240. I was obese. So I clearly did not need more. And I found that eating my exercise calories kept me from losing. Some days I will find myself eating maybe 200 more calories, but generally, I stick with my limit. I am very sedentary.

I am never hungry. My strategy this time has been to eat the same things, but in smaller amounts, and in a more controlled fashion. I will eat oatmeal, blueberries and greek yoghurt for breakfast. With that base, I am good til supper. Lunch is generally a home made vegetable soup, or something in a tortilla. Supper will include 7 oz of meat, a full cup of potatoes or pasta, and lots of veggies. If I crave sweets, I will eat a fig or two. Or a very thin chocolate bar. I get plenty of protein and plenty of carbs so I am not hungry.

It is the habit of constantly munching on something that I've had to become aware of and overcome.

And I am increasingly active as my strength and stamina get better.

I am currently at 178 lbs, and it could be that as my weight diminishes, that I will need to eat more. Women seniors are usually advised to eat 1600 cals. The research that I did let me know that when obese, 1200 cals per day is a good goal, so the low daily cals are directly tied into my surplus ones.