1200 calories and struggling!

toebass

Hey all!

i'm allocated 1200 calories and i'm struggling, particularly on days where i don't exercise!

help?

goblue443

I know it's been said 10000000 times before but drink tons of water. I usually chug a tall glass before I eat a meal. Also eating things that are higher in fiber help keep me feeling fuller throughout the day. I feel your pain though! It's tough to be on the 1200 calorie plan.

Lesa_Sass

After looking at your diary you may want to reconsider bananas and all the bread and biscuits.

G30Grrl

Please tell me you are eating back your exercise calories. Judging by your profile, you seem to work out a lot, and you need to eat those calories back in order to have enough energy.

And as a matter of curiosity, who 'allocated' you 1200 calories? You might want to up it a bit. That's on the low end of NET weight-loss calories per day.

charlesb22

Google BMR calculator, get your BMR and eat to that, not 1200! MFP sets everyone to 1200 if they want to lose 1-2lbs/week. It's not necessarily enough to actually fuel your body.

When I started, I was eating to 1200 and sometimes below as I was scared to go over in case SHOCK HORROR I got fat! But I was tired, hungry, and cranky all the time. Obsessed over food - my boyfriedn was cracking it because I weighed everything, it was all I could talk about. OCD behaviour for sure!

Then I started reading community posts here, and realised I need to eat to my own BMI, not just a stock standard "diet" figure that everyone gets assigned - regardless of height, weight, gender, age and activity level. I now eat minimum 1400 net cals to fuel my body, and feel amazing. And my hair, skin & nails are looking fab in about 2 weeks of eating like this. AND I'm losing cm's on my body and not fussing about scale weight as it's not the best indicator of health.

G30Grrl

OK, just looked at your diary, and I agree that you might want to cut out some of the grains in favor of more veggies. And you definitely need to up the protein, especially with all of your workouts. And water, water, water! Good luck to you!

Bikini_Bound150

I know a lot of people have lunch as their largest meals instead of dinner, but I would suggest having something light in the evening. That way you're not starving later in the day and it will help you feel much better.

I also agree with you eating too much biscuits and crackers.

Otherwise I think your diary is looking good, especially with exercise. You definitely need to eat more when you're exercising and burning 700+ calories a day. I think you're in pretty good shape. 1200 calories isn't right for everyone. Keep up the good work.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Eat more protein and good fat; it will help fill you up. Also I'd set my goal higher if you're hungry. I've lost all of my weight without ever going hungry; there's no reason that your change in eating habits should mean starving yourself. Just make sure that the things you eat are healthy. I find that legumes are really good as far as being filling and healthy. I get low-sodium black beans, rinse them, and put them in a tortilla with some avacado, sour cream, and salsa. Very filling and low calorie.

Strodtbeckp

I am in the same boat. 1200 and struggling. I have like plateaued in losing weight also.

Dave198lbs

After looking at your diary you may want to reconsider bananas and all the bread and biscuits.

bananas are good but you need about 1/2 a regular size banana a day. if you want to eat the whole banana that day, eat half early then the other half later

pucenavel

Fresh Vegetables and Lean Protein (fish, chicken) were my weapons of choice when I just needed to fill my stomach without blowing past 1200.

DKBelle

Drink 64 oz of water, eat healthy and you will be fine!

Check out my site for food ideas:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cooking-ideasHomemade-Healthy-Foods/179121125503371

1viola1

Are you eating enough vegetables? That fills me up!

AlbertPooHoles

A heftier breakfast might help, along with more protein.

Hotrodhoodlum

Lower your carbs by 100 grams and up your protein a bunch .. Protein will stay with you and make you not as hungery

Colie140

I to was struggling with 1200 cals, so much so that I wanted to quit. So I bumped it up to 1300 and I feel much better and am still losing weight. You might want to try that and see if it works

marycmeadows

EAT MORE. 1200 is the minimum any woman should eat. Change your goal weight loss and it will increase your calories. You're probably struggling because you're hungry!

Dave198lbs

Lower your carbs by 100 grams and up your protein a bunch .. Protein will stay with you and make you not as hungery

this

rachelboddy

Eat when you're hungry. Just eat veggies or lean protein. Once you start figuring out better food choices for the rest of your calories, you'll start to find which foods can stretch far and keep you satisfied at 1200 calories. Just takes patience and flexibility, and willingness to listen to us who are here to support you.

rachelboddy

Drink 64 oz of water, eat healthy and you will be fine!

Check out my site for food ideas:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cooking-ideasHomemade-Healthy-Foods/179121125503371

I've been told by my physical trainer to get in 94 ounces of water a day. Sounds like a lot at first, but it's so good for you.

AmandaCaswell1982

Eat more! I lost eating 1200 ( I was obese) then plateaued. Once I kicked up the cals and worked out more *poof* weight is steadily coming off. Good luck!

killagb

Drink 64 oz of water, eat healthy and you will be fine!

Check out my site for food ideas:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cooking-ideasHomemade-Healthy-Foods/179121125503371

I've been told by my physical trainer to get in 94 ounces of water a day. Sounds like a lot at first, but it's so good for you.

Totally unneccesary.

toffee322

same here.. i chose only to lose 0.5 lb a week and i only have 1200 ish calories and is usually couple hundreds since i exercise every day. but still not enough. i can basically eat 3 meals, no snacks if i want to keep it on track.. but i get hungry.. i dont like that feeling! so i have been eating over pretty much everyday :x..

woou

Taking a particular multivit has helped me. Nothing else ever has.

thankyou4thevenom

Eat more.
I was trying to find my maintenance cals and was eating 1700 cals a day. I started losing more on that a week than I ever did on 1200 cals.

AliciaJane82

I was at 1200 and found that not only was I hungry, I actually gained weight. I upped my calories to 1440 and I've lost 2 lbs just in the past week (actually it was like 5 days in ). My body wasn't getting enough fuel at 1200 calories...

infamousmk

Eat your exercise calories, eat lots of proteins and veggies!

aiyana1228

Looking at your diary shows that you tend to eat several things that are low volume high calorie foods. (The banana is fine). I suggest that you look over the past week and think about other choices you could make in the future that would include things that would give you a higher volume with lower calories. For example. One of the days you ate a cup of broccoli and a cup of scaloped potatos. The potatos were about 4 times the calories of the broccoli. You could have had 4 cups of veggies in place of that 1 cup of potatos. (maybe 2 cups of broccoli and 1/2 cup of potatos? Just makiing little changes will make all of the difference. Note: if you are short like I am no BMR is going to give you more than that 1200 base rate. I just make sure I get in excercise and make good choices.

dubois75

I've been using MFP for about a month and just this week decided to change my daily cal to 1500. It is a struggle, but like everything else, we start a program and need to learn to adjust it to work for US!! Change your daily cal and go from there.

sharleengc

I struggled at 1200...i bumped it up to 1lb a week which gave me 1370 and I find I do a lot better!

lind3400

While we are on the topic of eating your exercise calories....if anyone reads this lol....why does MFP warn you about eating too few calories when ur under your calorie goal with no exercise for the day...but when you exercise and don't eat back all your exercise calories and you still have some left over it doesn't warn you???