1200 calories
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Firstly -shock that you can't eat 1200 calories. My guess (correct me if I'm wrong) is that you've gone from eating small (heck, possibly even large) high-calorie meals to eating the same size (??) lower-calorie (potentially healthier) meals. Does that sound right? If that's the case and you're eating less because you don't like the taste -that's a different question all together.
Secondly -log everything (EVERYTHING) you eat. Calories build up fast (often without realising it).
Thirdly -if you're looking for high calorie food you could try things like: avocado, bananas (or other fruits -you'd be surprised how many calories are in fruit!), fruit/vegetable juices, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, rice, beans, dark chocolate, peanut butter on toast, milk.. the list goes on and on, and on.. maybe try implementing a few of these things (e.g. glass of fruit juice to breakfast/lunch, or 1/4 of an avocado in your sandwich, or snacking on a mix of dried fruit/seeds/nuts/dark chocolate in the middle of the day) into your daily diet if you are struggling to meet your goal.0 -
So just basically listen to your body & eat back burned calories only if your hungry. Also eat a lot of proteins. Correct??0
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So just basically listen to your body & eat back burned calories only if your hungry. Also eat a lot of proteins. Correct??
thats what I do.
Make sure you are above your BMR always.0 -
You need to figure out what you're body requires to function. That is the amount of calories you should be eating. If you are eating less than that, you are starving your body. This will cause some serious long term issues in the future. It is important to have a well balanced diet as well. It can't just be about losing the weight it MUST be about being healthy. Starving your body slows down metabolism and puts your body in starvation mode where it seeks to find survival. Carbs are essential as they produce glucose which is what our brains need to function properly. The only way we can get enough glucose in our system is through carbohydrates. Make sure they are healthy, but eat the proper serving sizes, of all the food groups.0
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Try to add good high calorie foods to your diet. Add olive oil to soups or salads, eat peanut butter. If I haven't met my calories I'll eat celery with some peanut butter and maybe some raisins. It's hard at first but once you get into a routine it'll be easier and you'll start to get hungry0
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I thought this was an interesting read.... :happy:
Question: I have been told that when I eat too little, my body goes into starvation mode to protect itself, and that it will slow down my weight loss. Is this true and how can I avoid starvation mode?
Answer: Many weight loss coaches use the term “starvation mode” to describe your body’s natural response to protect itself when you don’t eat enough for extended periods. When you regularly eat too little food to provide your body with the necessary nutrients, it perceives itself to be in danger from starvation. Since your body is wonderfully designed to protect you, it will slow down your metabolism to conserve energy so it can keep vital organs such as the brain and the heart going for as long as possible in the face of the perceived threat. While it will burn fat for fuel, it will also start burning lean muscle mass for fuel, which will slow down your metabolism even further. People on starvation diets invariably find that they regain all the weight they’ve lost (and then some) very quickly as soon as they start eating again.
While a starvation diet may help you lose weight quite fast in the short term, you will pay a heavy price because you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of weight problems. Your metabolism gets progressively slower with each day you remain on a starvation diet. This resultant slower metabolism needs less fuel, so you consistently have to eat less and less to lose weight! As your metabolism slows down even further and your lean muscle mass dwindles you will also find that you become more and more tired. This in turn means you will get less exercise, which leaves you with less lean muscle, and an even slower metabolism. It really is a vicious cycle. The importance of protecting your lean muscle mass to boost your metabolism can not be stressed enough.
The question arises: when does your body go into starvation mode? As with anything that involves the human body, there is no one single answer that will be true for everyone. The levels at which starvation mode kicks in vary from person to person. What we can do though, is understand how it gets triggered so we can avoid getting our bodies in that state. Your decision of how much to eat should be based on your individual Total Daily Energy Requirements, which takes into account a variety of factors including height, weight, age, gender and activity levels. If you want to lose weight safely, without setting off the alarm bells in your body; aim to eat approximately 300 – 500 calories less than your total daily requirements. This will provide your body with enough fuel to keep it going comfortably, but will still create a sufficient caloric deficit to ensure that you lose weight. To protect your metabolism even further, make sure your diet contains enough protein and that you maintain / increase your activity levels.
Note. You will find that many experts advise you not to eat less than 1 200 calories per day to prevent starvation mode. This is just a general rule of thumb to provide advice in the absence of enough information. To be safe, get your individual Total Daily Energy Requirements calculated, and follow the advice above.0 -
Not sure if I'm posting correctly. But thank you for the information above.0
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Not to be rude, but odds are you can eat 1200 calories. Else wise you wouldn't be here.
You won't lose weight on a 1200 calorie diet with exercising, because you've increased the deficit and your body will retain what it gets, because it thinks you're in a famine. So, eat and eat healthfully when you feel hungry. Think of it this way; if you don't eat, you'll gain weight and your metabolism will slow down (especially with the added stress of exercise - which you're not eating enough to maintain). If you eat, you'll perform better at the gym or where ever you're working out and you'll lose that weight.
Need nutritious ways to get more *calories: eat avocados, have a banana with peanut butter as a snack, add veggies to all meals, have some honey with your tea and eat some nuts with dried fruit.
You can have the foods you like in moderation and that'll definitely help get your counts up. Don't lose hope.
yup.0 -
So just basically listen to your body & eat back burned calories only if your hungry. Also eat a lot of proteins. Correct??
thats what I do.
Make sure you are above your BMR always.
Was not even thinking about that. Never even heard of it until you mentioned it & I looked it up lol. So how would I go about making sure I am above it??0 -
When I first started on here 3 weeks ago, I came so so close to posting the exact thing. Honestly just wait it out for a couple more days and you will be STARVING and want every single calorie you can possibly have. Once your body realizes what's going on, it's going to let you know.
Note that I lost no weight my first 2 weeks... I'm upping my calories now to account for exercise and hopefully it works better.0 -
:ohwell: I am a little shocked by some "words of advice" or "knowledge" on this whole 1200 calorie thing. MFP gives me 1270 a day! I do all I can just to hit that. However then I hit the gym 5-6 times a week and each night I can average between 600-800 cal. loss. Then it tells me Im starving myself. First time I seen that I was like "WHAT?!" My foods ranges from an egg sandwhich with cheese on a bagel thin to Special K cereal, to chicken or tuna for lunch and typically the chicken is served with a side of carbs, my dinners are varied between chicken on days I don't have it for lunch to veggy pasta with a healthier choice of sause. I have protein granola bars as snacks or I will have 100 calorie packs for snacks! I run a daycare so veggies and fruits are my every day life as well as a tsp of peanut butter when I need something quick. I have 3 meals a day with 2 snacks like clock work and I am still stressing about not "starving" my body on nights I hit the gym hard! What else can I do?0
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When I first started on here 3 weeks ago, I came so so close to posting the exact thing. Honestly just wait it out for a couple more days and you will be STARVING and want every single calorie you can possibly have. Once your body realizes what's going on, it's going to let you know.
Note that I lost no weight my first 2 weeks... I'm upping my calories now to account for exercise and hopefully it works better.
This is how I am now lol0 -
Here's a quote from the Personal Best Nutrition website (http://www.personalbestnutrition.com/cgi-bin/pbn/articles/article24.html):
"If you fail to ingest enough protein, your body will break down its own muscle tissue to get the protein it needs for survival. This mechanism, known as muscle catabolism, is convenient when you face starvation, but highly detrimental to your everyday health and athletic performance."
Basically, if you don't eat enough, your body will start to eat its own muscle tissue. And remember that your HEART is a muscle.
A good rule of thumb is to not eat fewer than 1,000 calories a day. Do whatever it takes to get in your required calories. If at the end of the day you still have some leftover calories, eat a rice cake with some almond butter and banana slices, and wash it down with a glass of milk (or have some other healthy snack).
We all get caught up in wanting to lose as much weight as we possibly can in the shortest amount of time possible, but if we want to keep it off for good, we have to be smart about it. Remember that it took you all these years to get to this point in your life; you need time to learn some new strategies that you can put into practice and replace your old, unhealthy habits.
Good luck!0 -
I wouldn't mind betting you are actually eating substatially more calories than you think and thats why you aren't losing. Check portion sizes on pre-packed food, weigh your ingredients, count the oil you use for cooking, sugar for your coffee and all your drinks. 'Starvation mode' or not, if you are eating less than your calorie requirement you WILL lose weight (even if you believe the starvation mode theory, it just means you would lose a bit more slowly).
Yes. I'd bet that mis-counting/undercounting calories (and mis-counting the amount burned) either by accident or mental avoidance of various kinds is probably the biggest reason for anyone's trouble with weight loss on this site.0 -
I think it is more of a mental block honestly. You do not need to starve to lose weight. Your body composition will look better if you eat more.
Sunshine used to say she cant eat that many calories....
And now I never go below my BMR
So much better this way!0 -
Your friend only exists off of barely 300 calories? Did I read that right?
Okay, first things first, go to her, hold her down and FEED HER.
You're going to find a lot of what you thought about dieting is wrong.
Accept that you're going to have to teach yourself how to eat again. Obviously the old way wasn't working for you.
I recommend a Greek yogurt for breakfast, maybe with a banana or toast or a glass of juice. That's 300ish right there.
A handful or two of nuts in between meals adds up to around 300 more.
For lunch go buy some great looking wheat bread, toast it. Add some cream cheese, avocado, and turkey. Whatever you want. Consider drinking an Ensure or Boost with it. That's 300ish or more depending on what you choose.
Half of a Hersheys Special Dark Bar is 90 calories. Have that and a banana or some berries as a snack. 100-200 calories.
For dinner have some chicken and beans. Pasta with whole grain noodles. A subway sandwich. 300+ calories.
It doesn't matter if you want to eat it, do it. You need to at least meet your BMR, ideally. Even if you are not exercising-- your body needs calories & nutrients to function. Feed it.0 -
BUMP!0
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"I can't eat all those calories!"
Yes you can. If you couldn't eat 1200 calories you wouldn't need to be losing weight.
^
First of all, these comments are rude and actually false. The reason she can't eat 1200 calories is actually a good reason why she is needing/wanting to lose weight. Her metabolism is probably slower because of the low calorie intake,especially if she is getting most of her calories in one meal.
Just like everyone said, try to eat more foods that are good for you and have higher calories to fill in where needed. An apple with peanut butter is great! Bananas with peanut butter are also great. Try some yogurt with granola!! Try eating small every couple hours, this will help with your metabolism because it will constantly have to be working. Just fill in those extra calories and you will be fine girl!0 -
Wow! Are you people being real? The only time I have a hard time eating my calories is when I do some massive workout that burns 1,000 calories or something. Then I just have a hard time eating back the exercise calories. But on a typical day I have NO problem whatsoever eating my calories. And heck...I'm set to 1750!
How is this possible that so many people feel this way? I have two probably very ignorant theories.
1) Maybe you are not logging correctly? I log every bite and crumb that passes through my lips. Liquid calories, condiments, everything! It adds up quickly.
2) Maybe you are very sedentary? I need my calories just to get through my very active days. But on my sick days where I sit on the couch all day, I need very little.
I just don't understand this at all. Enlighten me on how you can be in a position where you need to lose weight and yet you are struggling to eat 1200 calories a day. It makes no sense.
I agree it is just hard to fathom how anyone can not eat atleast 1200 calories a day. I have to eat atleast 3000 calories a day and that at a deficit to lose 1 lb. a week. At breakfast I eat 3 pc. brownberry health nut toast with all natural crunch peanut butter, Dan Active yogurt, a glass of milk, and a coffee and that meal alone is 850 calories...... There are healthy fats you can work in that can easily get you extra calories like almonds, pistashios, pecan.......... I would even go to a meal replacement shake if you are missing your calorie goal by 300-400 calories........0 -
Saving for a rainy day! Great read!
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Can you give us an example of what you are eating on a daily basis?0
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Open that diary!
Opennnnn0 -
Open that diary!
Opennnnn
^^ this0 -
I have the same problem. Make sure you are getting fats, proteins and carbs at every meal. Look at your food for the day and find out what is filling you up too much, perhaps and tweek it so you have room for more food or trade something out that has more calories in it.
For instance, not saying you eat this, but I went from consuming dairy with less fat to whole fat dairy products and that helped my calories. Plus we need the fat in dairy so it doesn't make sense to get over processed milk and yogurt, etc....when we need the dairy and vitamins. The Fats are healthy fats. Whole Greek yogurt is real filling and has a good amount of fat, protein and calories per serving.0 -
can i also add that my best friend is 'overweight' but she probaly eats 300 cals tops a day and i know this for a fact, so this rubbish people have said if your finding it hard to eat 1200 cals you woudnt be here, also i used to eat loads believe me i used to be a sze 22 (uk size), now i am a 12-10 dress size, i really struggle to eat atm but have to push myself to get to 1200 cals and even when i do that i feel sick, for example this mornig i had porrige and i tried to make myself eat it (i did eat it) i really struggled and now feel sick but i know i have to eat so i don't go into starvation mode as i want to maintain my weight loss till i am the right weight for my height etc...
btw this is just my opinion bassed on my experiances
First, nobody can eat 300 calories a day and maintain weight. Jockeys in horse racing eat more than that. Whoever is counting those calories is counting them WRONG.
Second, have you talked with a doctor? If what you are saying about your appetite and weight is accurate, you have some medical issue. Or have you had something like stomach staple surgery or something similar? As others have said, eat a candy bar and there's 300 calories. Eat a McDonalds hamburger and you're in for another 350. But seriously, you should be asking this question of a doctor, not an online forum.0 -
You say you exercise frequently? I exercise frequently and I am stttaaarrving after I exercise. If I eat any less than 1500 calories a day, I get a headache. Have you considered that your exercise calories burned might be off? I got a heart rate monitor recently and I'm so glad I did!0
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Open that diary!
Opennnnn
*taps foot*0 -
ALMOND BUTTER. 2 tbs is almost 200 calories. Almond butter and a banana is 300. Avocado's are a good option too. Eat a healthy, calorie dense fat.0
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You have just inspired me to eat some almonds. I'm in the same boat, so full right now but still under 1200 for the day, and I burned over 400 on exercise today too.0
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First off if you don't get enough calories in a day your body goes into starvation mode. Basically it stores all the fat it can and you won't lose anything because your body thinks you aren't getting food so it's trying to sustain itself (keep your heart pumping and all that) You are full all day from 900 calories? Eat like 200 calories 6 times a day for that 1200 quota. Then again what do I know i'm not a nutritionist. This site tells me to eat like 8000 calories a day in the summer for triathlon training, have to eat constantly, who knows.0
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