Only 1200 calories?

WannaBeThin87

That seems low to me. I'm 5'4 & I weigh 192lbs. Anyone else out that around my height and weight that ate only 1200 calories?

dls06

I am 5'4" and started at 150 lbs. I only had 1200 calories and lost all the weight I wanted. I am now maintaining and eat 1400 cal.
For my, I needed to find healthier lower calorie, lower carb versions for the foods I love. I have a food scale to keep me honest.

lambertj

Age plays into it at well. I'm 5' 4", 46 years old and I eat 1200 calories per day. I started by just logging everything I ate and after a week I started tweaking my diet. Replaced ground beef with 99% fat free ground turkey meat. Started grilling chicken instead of cooking in oil. Switched out regular yogurt for greek yogurt. Use cooking spray when making eggs, found a lower calorie bread to replace english muffins, stopped drinking orange juice (high in sugar), basically stopped drinking any calories (only drink water and coffee now). It was a slow process to find an alternative to every food I was eating to get the calories down but now I'm never hungry on 1200 calories and some days I actually have to find other things to eat to get to 1200. I'm now losing 1 lb a week from a 1200 a day calories and one pound a week from exercise. Good luck

WannaBeThin87

ok, thanks. i just wanted to double check cause i know if u don't eat enough calories you won't lose weight!

psuLemon

A lot of it depends on what you "ideally" want to lose per week. I always suggest 1 lb per week and eat 50-75% of your exercise calories. Also, try to get 70%- 80% of your body weight in grams of protein to help aid lean muscle mass retention. But if you exercise, you can eat more.

Di3012

ok, thanks. i just wanted to double check cause i know if u don't eat enough calories you won't lose weight!

I am nearly four inches taller than you and am on 1200 calories per day, it is fine.

I have never had that - by not eating enough calories not losing weight I mean. The only time my weightloss has stalled is when I have eaten too many calories.

mamamc03

I'm 5'6.5", 299lbs & I have my cals set @ 1350, granted I adjusted that myself, but I do fine with that consumption. You won't starve, I promise. Just eat filling cals & make healthy choices., You will be amazed how far healthy calories go!

WannaBeThin87

I'd like to lose at least 2 lbs per week. And I will be working out to the 30 day shred dvd.

barefoot76

I am 4'9" and I'm doing the Spike Diet. Three days a week, I eat 800-1200 calories, three days a week I eat 1200-1800 calories, and then I have a free day where I can do 2400 or so. I am also very active, I exercise every day, and I'm training for a marathon, so 1200 seems small to me as well, but I plateaued and really want to lose these last 13 lbs!

I don't drink any sodas or juices, I do have coffee with rice milk once a day. On my low-cal days, I have to be really, really careful.

I'd love advice from others about keeping to 1200 calories or less. Sample meal plans or recipes would be great :-D

Miss_dannii

1200 is plenty, I manage fine on it. If you do plenty of exercise you will earn more calories so you can eat more
x

ahinski

Make sure you set your daily activity level to something accurate (chances are you aren't sedentary, right?) and that you eat the calories you burn during exercise. If 1200 is still your magic number (although it will be more with exercise), and you don't think you can stick with it (I know I wouldn't be able to), adjust your weight loss goal to a pound or half pound a week. You'll probably still lose two pounds a week or more in the beginning anyway since they come off so easily early on.

Slow and steady wins the race (when it comes to food--not exercise!!). Eating more and losing weight slowly prevents cravings and you'll be less likely to slow down your metabolism.

Good luck!

lambertj

Be careful eating your exercise calories unless you have an HRM, the machines lie badly

Sandra82874

I am 5'3 and when I started about a month ago I was 213. My calories according MFP is over 2000 but I was not losing weight so I started eating between 1200 & 1300 calories a day and I am now down to 207. I think it is according to the person.

CallmeSbo

Im 5'3 currently weigh 202, started here weight 223. I eat between 1300 and 1600

ASPhantom

I am 5-5 and was 196, I started with 1200 calories. Really it boils down to this, if you want to eat more, exercise more. Then you can increase your food intake. Log EVERYTHING and try to make good food choices for those 1200 calories.

1200 calories of lean protein, veggies, etc is much better than a Value meal at a fast food restaurant (around 1200) calories.

Hang in there.

CarolynB38

If you find you are too hungry on 1200 cals you could always reduce your weekly weight loss goal to just 1lb a week. That's what I did. It's slower but I find it more manageable :happy:

elliejmoore

Im 5ft 4, started at 188lbs. I now weigh 179lb after 5 weeks, and im on 1200 cals a day. Sometimes it can be a little difficult, but on the days that i exercise, i like to eat about half them calories back. x

sharleengc

I'm 5'1 and weighed 208 when I started. My goal was 2lbs a week which of course was 1200 calories. When I lived close to the gym, 1200 was fine because I went to the gym every day and exercised and gained 300+ calories back. I usually didn't eat them all but I tried. 1300-1400 is about perfect for me....

So...when I moved and lost the gym...I changed my goal to 1lb a week and 1370...I lose slower but I don't have as much of an opperturnity out here to exercise. Plus, I'm on my feet more.

So you can do it, just add your exercise back or if it's still too low, change your goal to 1lb a week

justle

i'm 5'6 and i'm on 1200 calories, i workout every day and eat back all if not most my exercise calories but i could totally make do on 1200.

I did increase my calories for a long time thinking that would be better but it didnt work out for me, i just stopped losing and some weeks i gained so i went back to 1200 and this week, 2.5lbs lost so thats obviously right for me.

i think weight loss is trial and error, if you dont feel your getting anywhere with your 1200 or your just too hungry all the time, increase your calories slowly and see where that gets you

Emancipated_Tai

1200 is the MINIMUM amount of calories that a female should consume on a daily basis.

I'm 5FT. and 215. I eat between 1200-1300/day and that satisfies me. I believe it would depend on the actual person as you would have to learn how to curb your eating if you have been used to consuming a gross amount of calories prior. I eat every 3 hours between 8am-7pm. I'm never hungry, unless I miss a meal. My body is train to tell me I'm hungry every three hours, but at night I do not have an appetite because my body knows that I don’t usually eat late at night.

My suggestion is to try to consume more protien, as it iwill keep you fuller. Eat less sodium, as this makes you body want water and most people mistake that for hunger.

Its a process, but it will soon become easy!

tinyrah

5'5 168, 1200 calories here too.

rlowe1955

I am a 5'8" male, mid-fifties. Started out at 184 lbs and got down to 165 lbs. eating 1450 calories, but then got stuck there. To get down to 150 lbs. I ate 1200 calories and got down to 150 in two months ... total six months to go from 184 to 150. I am now back to 1600 calories to maintain and that seems to be working (three weeks).

1200 calories requires being serious about smaller portions, and when eating out (which I do a lot of on business occasions) you just don't eat everything on your plate.

PearsPeppersandPeanutButter

1200 works for me, but I eat tons of fruits and veggies and whole grains and those are somewhat light on calories and make be feel full for a long while and I get to eat more times a day so that helps too.

angraham2

a lot depends on your activity level. If you are sedentary, 1200 might be appropriate, if you are even lightly active it should be higher. You may also have your weight loss goal set too high. One pound a week is healthy loss. Anything more and your risking nutrition. Good Luck with this.

RenaPink11

I'm 5'5", 204 and it has me at 1200 too.... my food diary is public, I said public, not perfect LOL I'm still new to this journey and looking for friends within the same goals. Feel free to add me.

ben3215

I am 5'6", and a full time firefighter and haven't had a problem with a 1200 calorie diet yet. I also consume no animal protein and I don't usually have a problem with hunger. Remember that plants will fill you up more with less calories.

Jazzyrose77

I'm 5'4/151lbs. 1200 is not enough for me.
If you don't exercise it may be enough but I do around 1550-1700 calories. I'm losing real slow.

buzzcogs

I've found this topic really helpful to me. Mine is set to 1200 and I've been struggling with the eating. But seeing how it is working for people I know I just have to readjust and try harder.

ElizBald

Adding exercise means you can add more calories and still lose weight. I try for at least 30 minutes of light exercise six days out of seven. It really helps. Also getting "paid" in those extra calories makes me want to keep exercising because I really do love my food. I've lost twenty pounds so far doing this.

cassellmomof7

I am 5'2 140, (was 145 when I started) my goal is 125 ( I have a very small frame) I am also on 1200. If it wasn't for exercise giving me extra calories to eat I wouldn't be able to do it. I do 40min of high intensity workout 5X a week plus I am nursing which gives me an extra 300 calories a day. I am losing 2lbs a week : )

ForeverSparkleandShine

Why do people feel compelled to lose weight so quickly? Unless you're completely sedentary, why restrict yourself to only 1200 calories? Obviously, the weight you are trying to lose did not gain in just a month or two. Personally, I'd rather eat more, lose the weight slowly, and keep the weight off.

I eat close to 1800 calories a day; I'd go INSANE if I was on a 1200 calorie a day diet! I love food!