1200 calories a day

natalie1994x

is it important that you eat at least 1200 calories a day or can you eat below and still lose weight

staceycamp

I would like to know that also. I hardly ever meet 1200, Im always below. But I have lost 9 lbs in less than a month

SLRamirez2012

It is really important that you eat at least 1,000 calories a day. If you don't at first your body will go into starvation mode, then your body will lose the weight by eating into muscle mass because it doesn't have enough calories to burn every day. You use a bunch (approx. 1,000 or more depending or your body) just to survive... so you need to eat at least a little bit more.

AmyLRed

yes, you will lose still (for awhile) easting LESS than 1200.

Is it good for you? NO. Your body needs fuel. Particularly if you are exercising. I eat about 75% of my exercise cals back each day and I am at 1200 cal target on non exercise days. i had a hard time hitting 1200 in the beginning too, but find foods that are good for you, you like, and will boost your cals up a bit. For example, peanut butter is about 200 cals per serving, but good for you.

Eating below 1200 will cause you to burn more muscle and not just fat ,you dont want that. Also, starvation mode can become a factor as mentioned above.

ashtonvv

do your BMR, it is a tool provided on here. 1200 is the MINIMUM for most people, if you have set your goal to more than 1 pound a week it will default at 1200.

I dont know how much you weigh, but this topic has been on the forums SO much... it's like beating a dead horse. I thought 1200 cals was PLENTY a day, I worked out (didnt eat my extra cals) and I crashed hard (This is before i joined mfp). I upped my cals to 1600 added strength training and dropped 2 lbs in a week and a half, and gained muscle.

EAT. as long as it's good, clean food eating more than 1200 and eating back your workout cals, is fine. You dont want to lose muscle, you want to lose fat. Personally I think 1200 is ridiculous, if you're working out hard, your body needs the fuel.

RAFValentina

It is really important that you eat at least 1,000 calories a day. If you don't at first your body will go into starvation mode, then your body will lose the weight by eating into muscle mass because it doesn't have enough calories to burn every day. You use a bunch (approx. 1,000 or more depending or your body) just to survive... so you need to eat at least a little bit more.

Where did you pull this arbitrary figure from??

wannabehealthy1980

is it important that you eat at least 1200 calories a day or can you eat below and still lose weight

I will tell you my experience with this, I did lose alot of weight real fast and I also lost my energy and sanity with that 12lbs I lost in 3 weeks. Not to mention that eventually I did eat them back. I was eating at night while sleeping I think. My wife told me I was up eating at night and I had no memory of it. I read alot first saying you would eat whether you wanted to or not, that you couldn't fool your body. Well for me it was right, I now eat the maintenance calories for the weight I want to be one day and it worked great. I've been losing around 1 to 2lbs a week. Back at the end of September I did a calorie calculator and figured out it would take 1879 calories to maintain me with no exercise at 140lbs. I started eating that and eating 1/2 my exercise calories back everyday and I am down 41lbs since Oct. 1st. I eat what I like, just not to much.

I am sure my way won't work for everyone, but its been great for me and it isn't horribly miserable.

mallory3411

Depending on your height and weight right now 1200 may be far too low. MFP gave me a goal of 1230... my BMR is over 1600! 1200 is far too low for most people. If you don't eat enough you aren't getting the nutrients your body needs and you are losing muscle as well, not all fat. Loss of muscle will slow your weight loss. Constantly not getting enough fuel for your body will also cause weight loss to slow or even for you to gain!

Bethee101

It is important to eat al least 1200 calories a day. If you work out you need to eat those calories as well, you may be loosing weight, but it is most likely muscle weight. You need to eat to keep your energy up.

RAFValentina

Depending on your height and weight right now 1200 may be far too low. MFP gave me a goal of 1230... my BMR is over 1600! 1200 is far too low for most people. If you don't eat enough you aren't getting the nutrients your body needs and you are losing muscle as well, not all fat. Loss of muscle will slow your weight loss. Constantly not getting enough fuel for your body will also cause weight loss to slow or even for you to gain!

Just because your BMR is a particular number, going under it isn't going to set you in to starvation mode, especially for a few days or a day. You will use your reserves, predominantly, fat. If you did this for long enough and ran out of fat, you'd THEN burn muscle. But you could also have this catabolic effect anyway doing /working in certain intensity zones heart rate wise when your body can't get energy to localised muscles being used quick enough so will burn muscle there.

Going under your BMR net wise for a day or two will certainly not be harmful for the majority of otherwise healthy people and will help weight loss. Just try and make sure you are careful and monitor it closely and don't do anything ridiculous. (talking about net calories by the way!) I've eaten 2000kCal on a day and had a net of about 40 at times due to the amount of exercise I've done. I made those calories as nutritious as possible. I lost weight, got lean and got fast and healthier and fitter.

vweavers

You should always take in at least 1200 calories for women, 1800 for men (consider this your minimum gross intake).
These numbers give you a general idea of what is needed for vital metabolic needs (think vitamins, etc).
Your NET calories may be decreased with exercise.

As a general guideline, you need to figure your 'maintenance level' (that is, the amount of calories you need to stay where you are at. For an average person, this is 15 calories per pound of body weight. There are several calculators online available to help you determine what this is. Now, with your maintenance level, you can (generally speaking- average person) reduce your NET caloric intake by 1000 (remember you must meet MINIMUM GROSS intake of calories).

Examples: A woman with a Maintenance Level of 1600 calories could expect to eat a minimum of 1200 calories, and exercise up to 600 calories off, and be considered relatively safe (other health factors may need consideration) with a NET caloric intake of 600.
A man with a ML of 2800 could reduce his gross intake to 1800 without exercise, or eat a little more with adding exercise, staying to a NET minimum of 1800.

Always consult your doctor if you're playing with minimum/maximum numbers- you may have health factors that cross you over into a danger zone that these numbers don't include.

**Edit**
I see there are several posts talking about burning up muscle mass. This won't happen if you include enough protein in your caloric intake. I make sure I eat @20g of natural protein about 2 hrs before a workout. After working out, I make a fruit/yogurt/juice smoothie and add 20g of whey protein powder to it. This before/after protein intake practically ensures I won't be burning any muscle mass as I exercise (cage fitness program). If your workouts aren't as muscularly intense- you don't need as much.

natalie1994x

I find it hard to eat 1200 calories when only eating breakfast, dinner and tea and I am full so will it matter

Scorpioangel

I'm not sure but I have seen people eat 1,200 calories. It is different for everyone. I can't do that because my body needs it for the intense workouts I do. I can always find foods to fill my hunger at 1,800 calories too I am always hungry - Piggy me heeee

My gym calculated my rate burned just to live if I were laying in bed to be about 1,650 so I always want to eat more than that for myself

vweavers

I find it hard to eat 1200 calories when only eating breakfast, dinner and tea and I am full so will it matter

If you're not eating 1200 calories, it's likely that your body is slowing itself down to compensate for the lack of metabolic material to use... most people would complain of lack of energy, motivation- maybe even strength. Are you?
An example is "Tiffany" will for a few days not eat much, being so busy, tired-etc. Well, her body slows itself down, and she lacks energy. Her vitamin B2 and B12 levels will drop, and she becomes even more lethargic. Then she'll eat well, but her metabolism is slowed, so she puts on weight. It can be a vicious cycle. Avoiding/correcting it starts with minimum nutrition.

amoffatt

I have eaten below 1200 calories (1200 is set for me to lose weight) and have found I lost some, but for the most part, it stalled my weight loss.:grumble: When I ate around 1200 calories and even a little over here and there (spike days of healthy calories) I was loosing weight again, plus I wasn't shaky. I didnt feel hungry at less than 1200 but very shakey. Best not to go under, its generally not fat that is being lost but lean muscle. I wanted to lose my weight faster so I figured I would eat under 1200 and its not worth it.

anulle2009

From my personal experience at first you will but then bam you stop. That is what I am going through right now. With working out at all lately I havent been meeting even 1000 cals (wasnt paying attention) i didnt do it intentionally. I have now have been at a hault since november. I actually just decided to eat 1400 cals. I have a hard time with healthy food eating 1200cals. so i am going to push myself.

ATT949

There is no question that you can have a successful, safe weight loss below 1200 calories.

MFP recommends 1200 calories per day and, for most people, that calorie level will give them the results that they want. Similarly, many folks have a successful, safe weight loss at well under the 1200 calorie figure.

I chose a low calorie diet and am thrilled with the results.

My stats are here:
http://cbeinfo.net/weight.htm

My weight loss was rapid and so consistent that I was actually able to predict my weight. After 7 months of weight loss, I upped my calories because I started running. At the end of December 2011, I decide to lose more weight (each pound of "extra" weight costs a runner 2 seconds per mile) so I dropped another 8 pounds.

cbaughman07

I think you should see a dietitian and have them check your specific body to see rather it will be harmful or not. The main concern is that you need enough throughout the day to keep you going. If it's only a day or two thats one thing, but if it is continual than it can actual make you gain weight if your not careful. Your body may go into starvation ode and when this happens it break down your food differently and causes your body to store the fat instead of allow you to burn it throughout your day. This does depend on your own body, some people can do this and not have any problems, but I would check first to make sure you won't damage your body first. Also, if you are only having 1000-1200 calories a day, try to make sure those are from healthy mostly unprocessed foods and that you get your vitamins in there as well. Good luck to you!!

SLRamirez2012

It is really important that you eat at least 1,000 calories a day. If you don't at first your body will go into starvation mode, then your body will lose the weight by eating into muscle mass because it doesn't have enough calories to burn every day. You use a bunch (approx. 1,000 or more depending or your body) just to survive... so you need to eat at least a little bit more.

Where did you pull this arbitrary figure from??

It was a low estimate.... My BMR is approx 1,400 at 5'7" and 140 lbs... I think it is a general rule of thumb because your body will eventually start eating the muscle... I did not mean that it would happen that day.... :explode: