1200 Calories?!

hoffman1990

do you eat back your calories?

sjerrott

I've done 1200 for a month and lost 8 lbs. I was only hungry for the first week.

tmm01

Mine's 1700 as well.....but I'm set to maintain weight not lose. (5'1" , 110) I thought it was alot until i seen what my 6'2 man is allowed on a 2 lb loss a week program! lol
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I know it's just not fair. My husband is on 1890, with the goal of 2lb per week. I'm on 1200 (have been since Nov - before I was on 1000) good loss to begin with, but currently in a plateau.

jasity

I calculated my BRM, took 500 calories from it, then burn 500 calories a day.

That equals to 7000 calories a week which equals 2 pounds.

Leisa42

Thats what I started out with, and it was VERY HARD! I lost about 25 then hit a plateau. I tried everything in the world to lose again, except what MFP friends were telling me, which was to RAISE my cals. When nothing elese worked, I did it, and the weight started comeing off again. I had become alot more active and my body was trying to conserve the cals because I wasn't getting enough. I'm now loseing about 1lb a week at 1450, which is slow, but I have stuck with it because I'm not hungry all the time. Good luck you can do it!

Leisa42

see my other reply

doug63

been at 1200 calories for 2 weeks lost 5lbs fisrt week 6lbs second week

Kimharbath

Been using 1200 calories as a vague goal everyday since last June. Somedays I only eat 800 and others 1400, but I have lost 75 pounds and feel great. I eat a lot of beans, fruit, Greek Yogurt, vegetables, both raw and steamed, for snacks I have pretzels, etc. I drink a lot of iced tea, and water. I don't eat meat.

angieread

I'm 5'4" and 172.4 pounds (started at 176.5). I'm at 1200 a day too, and I usually eat back my calories from exercise because I'm trying to break even at 1200 a day. I've lost 3.1 in 2.5 weeks, which is kind of slow but healthy and maintainable. On days when I don't exercise, it can be challenging to stay within 1200, which is more motivation for getting a workout in!!! :-)

laurdavis87

I love reading all of these posts! I wish there was a "like" button. I am on the 1200 calorie a day diet also. I am 5'6" and 163 pounds now. I usually eat oatmeal for breakfast & Subway or a Lean Cuisine for lunch. At dinner time we get creative. We've switched all of the meats that we can to turkey (turkey bacon, ground turkey, etc...) and have actually found that we like them better! We do big things for dinner with sensible ingredients and are always pleased with ourselves at how few calories it actually contained. In the past 12 days my husband has lost 14 pounds on a 1700 calorie diet and I have lost about 6 on a 1200 calorie diet. I am very excited!!

tonie13

oh my days, my daily minimum is 1200 without exercise!

i do struggle to eat that and usually have to eat a lot of snacks to get that much in but 1200 as a maximum is crazy?

meghowie

I'm 5'1" and 134.5 lbs, I eat 1200 per day. I stay well under that amount with diet and exercise....it is coming off very slowly!

allysonlee9

Should I eat more than 1200 if I work out?
I was eating back all my excercise calories...I am sure people have talked about this on here, but its so confusing to me.

andrejjorje

1200 cals since Nov 5h 2011. Below, the weigh loss.

natalieg0307

I'm 5' 1.5", 114 pounds, and I TRY to eat 1200 per day. I eat my exercise calories and most days i'm a little over. I started Dec 26th and have lost 6 pounds. It's getting easier. I'm finding i'm getting fuller faster and don't need as much food. And I'm definitely making better food choices. I haven't cut out all sweets.....but I'm not craving them. Best part for me is that my hubby is now on MFP too. Makes it easier to eat better.

erinsmama

I think it tends to give me a higher number of calories burned for exercise than I would expect from what I have seen elsewhere. Maybe it is accounting for my weight, but I try not to eat back ALL my calories--maybe just 75 %.

moniquelessard

If you're on 1200 cals a day, you should definitely be eating most of your exercise calories back. Think about it. Say you eat 1200, and you burn 400. That's only 800 cals for your body to work with. You will become lethargic and very sad. Trust me. Been there. xo

gwenmanning

Hi there.
I am on the South Beach Diet and at 1200 per day. They have a 2 week diet which gets rid of cravings and cleans your system.
For 2 weeks you eat only proteins and vegetables. No fruit. No carbs ( like bread, rice, potatoes, pasta , sugar - nothing.
You must have 3 snacks a day plus 3 meals. It is necessary for me to exercise in order to loose weight.
I do weight training 3 times a week plus the ellipitical machine for about 15 - 30 min. when I weight train and inbetween ( if I have energy) I do elliptical for about 45 - 60 min.
If you exercise you can choose to eat more to keep intake at 1200 cal or just have the extra excerise knock off more calories.
After 2 weeks you can slowly incorporate more foods.
I am never hungry if I follow their meal plan. Feel great.

In 3 days now I have lost 2 lb. I did this last year and lost about 8 lb in 2 weeks and it stayed off - until I went back to my old ways. ( love my wine).
I am determined to loose 30 lb this time. My blood pressure is high. My cholesterol is hige. Borderline sugar high. Back aches - so many things are associated with overweight. I just don't need the grief.

Take a look at the diet and perhaps you would like to try it too. It works.

bexdc

The rate at which you lose weight depends upon how much weight you have to lose. If you have lots of weight to lose .... it will come off more quickly. If you are close to your goal (say 10 pounds) ..... the slower it comes off (like 1/2 pound per week).

I typically eat 1400 calories per day because I eat back my exercise calories. I choose to eat my calories back because I want to build muscle (or at least keep it) .... too many years of being inactive for me.

That is SO TRUE.

JennetteMac

i have been doing 1200 a day since mid nov and i have only lost 3 lbs the last 10 days i was eating over 1200 and i put back on 1.5, so down i go again.... it's so hard for me and i am exercising too and eating back my calories but i'm not getting anywhere...

Relate to that.
I've been on mfp for almost a year and Christmas was really a shocker. Trying to drop back to where I can maintain. But it is proving very hard to drop any at all. And I really kick myself the days I go up.:huh:

EmIsabel

I eat around 1200 Calories a day I allow myself more when i do Kickboxing training! I don't necessarily want to lose a lot of weight - I want to trim down a little! Just before my first week ended I weighed in nearly 5 pounds lighter. It seemed to knock off what It needed right away I have a feeling If I'm to drop more it'll be at a slow and steady pace.

I am 5'9" and 155 pounds.

pelorizdo

1200 calories would be the absolute bare minimum.

That would mean if you are not exercising, try to stay around 1200.

If you are exercising EAT BACK SOME if not ALL your calories. This is very important. You won't plateau as much if you do this. Working out for 1 hour or more a day and eating 1200 is just going to put you into starvation mode and/or you will be losing muscle and not fat. That is a very bad thing. It means your metaboliosm will gradually get slower and slower and you won't have much success in attaining or keeping your loss.

I went to a registered dietician. I trust her opinion over anyone elses as she has been educated in this.

As it stands I follow my dietician's advice and I haven't lost much muscle (mostly fat - i get my body fat % measured) and if I go off my meal plan like I did at Christmas, and eat my face off for 2 weeks, my gain is VERY minimal (half pound) because my metabolism is still high and I'm not in starvation mode therefore my body isn't storying any extras as fat.

That also means that maintenance won't be as hard for me as it is for those drastically undereating.

Food for thought!

impersonally

If you are exercising EAT BACK SOME if not ALL your calories. This is very important. You won't plateau as much if you do this. Working out for 1 hour or more a day and eating 1200 is just going to put you into starvation mode and/or you will be losing muscle and not fat. That is a very bad thing. It means your metaboliosm will gradually get slower and slower and you won't have much success in attaining or keeping your loss.

I agree. 1200 is around the bare minimum for a healthy individual (woman ... for men I feel like it could even be a bit more, but honestly since I'm a woman I only pay attention to what applies to me . If you exercise, I believe you should eat back at least some of the calories.

I eat back around 75% of my exercise calories. Some days less, some days more (to me, the elliptical is pretty easy, so I may eat back fewer calories on those days).

Also, I find 1200 calories pretty difficult! I leave my goal as 1200 to keep me kind of accountable, but usually go to a net of 1400 or so. I don't mind losing weight at a slightly slower pace than what MFP set up for me, which is 1 pound a week.

liatski

I aim for 1200 calories a day, although it's rare I don't go over at least a little. I don't log on weekends (dieting on weekends is not sustainable for me, but I try to moderate my portions and be generally healthy and "careful"). I've lost 9 lbs in about 5.5 months, which is a good pace for me since I'm trying to tone and strenghen and not lose a whole bunch of weight. (5'7" 135 lbs). I eat back my exercise calories.

vickidwaters76

update your profile...

determinedbutlazy

1200 with no serious exercise (I work in a busy kitchen 4 hours a shift, two shifts a week, which stops me being completely sedentary) i lost 20lb from Sept 12th 2011 to now.
I'm now going to the gym three times a week, sticking to 1200 with the option to eat back my calories if I get too hungry.

UFCGirl1988

I normally do 1200 cals during the week (Mon-Thurs.) I usually eat out on fri and sat. so those days i eat up to my mfp limit and whatever i can add w exercise. Sun. is my cheat day i eat w out counting cals and i have lost 20lbs. I lose about a lb or 2 a week.

barbaranovo

hi!

i can't make the 1200!! i'm always below (except saturdays) and because i work out, i'm even lower. They say that i'm in starvation mode but i'm simply not hungry for more!! is it bad that i'm not getting enough? i'm also below carbs and protein.

barbaranovo

i agree! my normal daily food is muesli, kiwi and milk for breakfast, a light grilled lunch with veggies and rice. carrott, yogurt, 2 tangerines whole wheat roll for afternoon snack (6pm) and a soup, yogurt, pear and soft bolied egg for dinner (10pm) plus i exercise an hour a day 3 times a week.....but i can't get to the 1200! but i'm not hungry for anything else! what can i do?

kaylageserick

The app said I should eat 1200 calories a day but I changed it to 1066. I looked it up online and used a calorie calculator and it said to lose the 50 lbs in 5 months, I would need to eat that much a day! I have lost 8 lbs in 16 days!