Has anyone upped their calories from 1200 cals?

becky2967

A friend of mine is a biochemist.. she is a book of knowledge and I pick her brain all the time. I was on 1200 cals for a long time and lost nothing. She recommended a good rule of thumb.. eat your weight + 0 (so for me, I'm in the 160's weight wise, so I eat 160+0 = 1,600 calories a day. So if you're 170... 1,700 calories would be good, and yes, this is to LOSE weight. Also, she recommended eating 60-80% calories if you do strenous workouts like lifting weights, running, Spin class, etc... in turn, don't document every little thing you do throughout the day like cleaning the kitchen, making dinner, grocery shopping LOL (lots of people log this as exercise but it's just daily living activities).. only gym time should be factored into those calories you "eat back"

Since I've made this switch I've lost almost 10 pounds since 1/1/12.

Really? I'm 230lbs....2300 cals seems like a lot to me. Hmm...

i think 2,100 for me now would be to much so i have to disagree. i was eating about that at 255lbs and gained.

i also kind of disagree with this. i am 123 lb and taht means 1230 calories... that is way too few for me! of course i'm not trying to lose weight either.

MinnesotaManimal

Absolutely, I ate at 1200 total including excercise calories for 4 months and lost a pile of weight, allot of that in the form of muscle.

I now am eating 2,300 average and losing 1 lb a week. it took 3 months for my body to stop freaking out about the increase. now it is easy to maintain at 2700 and easy to lose at less.

Good luck. Trust the science and the numbers.

firesoforion

I would say I'm fairly similar to you, except I'm not on a strict plant based diet, and I didn't have as extreme a reaction to the low calories as you, but I did stall. I didn't feel that hungry and didn't feel the need to eat all the calories all the time, and I still stalled. It could be, if you're exercising, that what you want to do is switch to the system of eating at your BMR and then not eating back your exercise calories. That's what I've switched to, and I haven't gained, though I'm not losing much (which is my own fault because my exercise has not been what it should be recently). You can also vary your calorie intake and have an occasional spike day. Good luck!!

FitLink

Hi I have been on MFP since the beginning of January and have lost only 1lb in weight! Prior to that I had been on Weight Watchers for 3 months and lost 16lbs!!

I left WW because I wanted to know how many calories I was eating rather than following their mysterious points system.

MFP put me on 1200 cals - I am 172lbs currently and want to get down to 133lbs. I am 5feet 2inches tall, age 46, and mainly sedentary. I am a vegetarian on a strict plant based diet. I never struggled 1200 cals anda lot of the time did not use all that allowance. I have also now started going to the gym a couple of times a week and do not always eat back my exercise calories.

Anyway for the longest time, I have been on this plateau of not losing weight, which was bad enough. But now I find I have hardly any energy, I have dark circles round my eyes, and basically feel really lethargic and de-motivated. So I have upped my intake to 1500 cals starting today.

I was just wondering whether anyone else has had similar experiences on 1200 cals, what did you do and what results have you had? Did it get you off your plateau?

Well, WW "mysterious point system" is just counting calories and watching macros, just made easy to do without a calculator. SInce everyone has a calculator or the like with them these days anyway, or could, cheap and easy, it's not so necessary anymore. But it's really not so mysterious.

I lost my first 97 pounds in about 9 months without counting anything. I just started measuring portions. It's amazing how you eat three portions of soup from the pot if you don't pay any attention to how much you're eating. I'm now eating 250 calories less that my estimated burn for the day, and eating back any exercise calories as well and am losing the expected half pound a week. For me, that comes to about 2075 calories/day. I suppose I could lose faster if I cut another 250, or even 500 calories, and I'd still be in a very safe range. I don't choose to. I am dealing with a cancer diagnosis and disability and I don't need the stress of being hungry. But I don't think you'll do yourself harm if you increase your calories to something between your estimated burn and your BMR, and it might actually help you lose weight. If it doesn't work out--try something else. This is a long-term project!

kerriBB37

A friend of mine is a biochemist.. she is a book of knowledge and I pick her brain all the time. I was on 1200 cals for a long time and lost nothing. She recommended a good rule of thumb.. eat your weight + 0 (so for me, I'm in the 160's weight wise, so I eat 160+0 = 1,600 calories a day. So if you're 170... 1,700 calories would be good, and yes, this is to LOSE weight. Also, she recommended eating 60-80% calories if you do strenous workouts like lifting weights, running, Spin class, etc... in turn, don't document every little thing you do throughout the day like cleaning the kitchen, making dinner, grocery shopping LOL (lots of people log this as exercise but it's just daily living activities).. only gym time should be factored into those calories you "eat back"

Since I've made this switch I've lost almost 10 pounds since 1/1/12.

Really? I'm 230lbs....2300 cals seems like a lot to me. Hmm...

i also kind of disagree with this. i am 123 lb and taht means 1230 calories... that is way too few for me! of course i'm not trying to lose weight either.

Right. The question was re: weight loss, not maintaining.. My information was specific for losing weight.. when I get to a maintenence weight then I will re-consult my friend ha

MJ7910

A friend of mine is a biochemist.. she is a book of knowledge and I pick her brain all the time. I was on 1200 cals for a long time and lost nothing. She recommended a good rule of thumb.. eat your weight + 0 (so for me, I'm in the 160's weight wise, so I eat 160+0 = 1,600 calories a day. So if you're 170... 1,700 calories would be good, and yes, this is to LOSE weight. Also, she recommended eating 60-80% calories if you do strenous workouts like lifting weights, running, Spin class, etc... in turn, don't document every little thing you do throughout the day like cleaning the kitchen, making dinner, grocery shopping LOL (lots of people log this as exercise but it's just daily living activities).. only gym time should be factored into those calories you "eat back"

Since I've made this switch I've lost almost 10 pounds since 1/1/12.

Really? I'm 230lbs....2300 cals seems like a lot to me. Hmm...

i also kind of disagree with this. i am 123 lb and taht means 1230 calories... that is way too few for me! of course i'm not trying to lose weight either.

Right. The question was re: weight loss, not maintaining.. My information was specific for losing weight.. when I get to a maintenence weight then I will re-consult my friend ha

ask your friend for me about maintenace if you get a chance. i am interested in what it should be because i feel like mfp underestimates it.

SlinkyNewMe

So I am upping my calories, not because I am feeling hungry, but because I am feeling weak, tired, lethargic - and with losing no weight - slightly depressed too!

I would look into getting your thyroid checked. I was recently diagnosed with hypothyroid and I am now also looking into adrenal fatigue which may explain dark circles under eyes. I had the same symptoms... Weak, tired, not losing weight, depression and brain fog.

I did look into that a few months back, but apparently I don't have hypothyroidism - at least I didn't have it back then anyway!

1travieza1

I try to stick to the 1200 but when my exercise props up my calories I try and take advantage of those extra calories. I am on thyroid meds so it is difficult for me to lose anyways and I am always hungry. I say just keep up the work and if you need to and had better results with WW you should stick to that... I have yet to try them but if I don't start seeing major results in a few more weeks I might bump over to something ;like that.

spazgirl123

Hey all!

I have been on a 1200 calorie diet on and off for several years, and recently have been on it strictly for the past few months, but I am starting to feel the effects (light headed, tired, fatigued, irritable, "zoned out") these are the symptoms I have, but I'm not really ever hungry. I think I may be eating too few calories and have made my body and metabolism go into starvation mode and just get used to that amount. I have decided to up my calories and instead of losing one lb per week which is what i was doing on 1200 cals, I will maintain my weight of 102 (don't think I really need to lose more) and eat my recommended 1560 per day.
I just need to get past the mindset that I NEED to be losing weight- I don't, I just need to tone and stay healthy. to me, feeling like crap is not worth it! Listen to your body. I have made the mistake of not listening to mine and thought since I wasn't hungry I was eating enough, but your body will show hunger in different ways, and for me it was through feeling bad. also, I'm going to cut down on the cardio and work on strength training!