1200 calories

erin1205

Hey everyone! Just wondering something....when everyone is talking about consuming at least 1200 calories so our bodies don't go into starvation mode, is that referring to the minimum amount of calories we actually consume, or is that referring to net calories? Just wondering because I looked at a report of mine and my net calories have been hovering around 1000...

Thanks in advance!:happy:

erin1205

Hey everyone! Just wondering something....when everyone is talking about consuming at least 1200 calories so our bodies don't go into starvation mode, is that referring to the minimum amount of calories we actually consume, or is that referring to net calories? Just wondering because I looked at a report of mine and my net calories have been hovering around 1000...

Thanks in advance!:happy:

ohthatbambi

That is a really good question. I think the answer is actual consumption. The net calories would be after factoring in your exercise/activity level.

When you click on "my home" it gives you what your have eaten that day and what you have left. Those are the numbers you should go by as far as calories that count in that 1200 a day.

sanleecar

Oh boy do I wish I new. With excercising and burning calories I'm staying under the 1200 calorie amount and sometimes I feel like I'm starving to death. I'm eating 3 meals a day, I think. I usually have yogurt and coffee for breakfast. Lunch I have cottage cheese with either pineapple or peaches and I'll have a 100 calorie snack pack, then when its dinner time, I eat good because there are plenty of calories left. Then I have 1 or 2 ,100 calorie snack packs in the evening, I drink about 4-5 bottles of water a day. I can't help but feel like I am doing something wrong. I have a doctors appointment on the 7th and I'm going to ask him for suggestions. On a good note I have lost 4.5 lbs since Jan. 19th, I wonder if thats too much too fast??

figueres3

To the reply directly above:

I have the same tendency to eat really little durring the day and then eat a good dinner since I have a lot of calories left. The problem with that is the the body doesn't sense how much you're eating in a 24 hour period, it gains or looses fat based on the body's needs at that time. So in the morning, if you eat a little, your caloric need is high and it burns fat; but night comes and you are winding down and you eat a huge meal, the body doesn't need all those calories, so it stores fat.
I read something in a Diet Handbook that said:

"Always try to eat 4 meals
every day, spaced out by
at least 2 1/2 hours (you
should be breaking up
your meals in this manner
for the rest of your life).
Just "ESTIMATE" what you think you'll eat each day,
and try your best to eat those foods as evenly as
possible throughout the day.
Basically, all we are saying is that you should not eat
half of your daily calories in one single meal, because
your body will store fat if you do that.
One of the biggest reasons people gain weight is
because they eat too much at ONE SINGLE MEAL and
their bodies store those extra calories as fat tissue.

erin1205

Bamboo, I think you are right...that is pretty much what I was thinking that the 1200 referred to what is actually going in the mouth and hence, in the body. Just wanted to make sure as my net calories have not been that high, but I feel like I am eating the right amount.

Thanks again! Keep up the great work everyone!!!

BAND00CH

I started my nutrition & exerise program on Jan 12. I sought the guidance of a personal trainer/nutitionist. The key is do cardio.. the more often the better and for not less than 30 min each. In addition a really good well balanced diet. When you exercise you actually injure muscle that's why it hurts the next day... so make sure you eat some form of protein within 30 min after working out.
You should eat 5 meals a day that consist of some good carbs like whole wheat mini bagle, brown rice, whole grains nothing white (remember not too many carbs because carbs turns to sugar, 2-3 oz of protein to rebuild and strengthen muscule and Calcium and not more than 30g of fat consumed for the day. Also watch the sodium intake!! Sodium causes water retention. Then lastly, 2x a week cheat at one meal. Don't go too over board, but instead of typical lunch you would have... eat at Burger King or Mc Donald's etc. This shocks your body and gives you something to look forward to!

Another key factor is lots and lots of water!! One gallon if you can get it down. Try using Crystal light or lemon or lime juice to give it a kick. I start drinking water at 7:00 am and generally finish the first 1/2 gal by 3:00pm. I work out at 4:30pm and have no problem getting the last 1/2 gal down by the end of my work out at 5:15. The first 2 weeks of this you should feel like you are starving because it will take that long for your stomach to shrink. The last 3 days I felt fine now but yes I did feel like I was starving for the first couple weeks. I've lost 4.5lbs in the last 2 1/2 weeks. A nice healthy weight loss is between 1.5 - 2.0lbs/wk.

dulceluva

I started my nutrition & exerise program on Jan 12. I sought the guidance of a personal trainer/nutitionist. The key is do cardio.. the more often the better and for not less than 30 min each. In addition a really good well balanced diet. When you exercise you actually injure muscle that's why it hurts the next day... so make sure you eat some form of protein within 30 min after working out.
You should eat 5 meals a day that consist of some good carbs like whole wheat mini bagle, brown rice, whole grains nothing white (remember not too many carbs because carbs turns to sugar, 2-3 oz of protein to rebuild and strengthen muscule and Calcium and not more than 30g of fat consumed for the day. Also watch the sodium intake!! Sodium causes water retention. Then lastly, 2x a week cheat at one meal. Don't go too over board, but instead of typical lunch you would have... eat at Burger King or Mc Donald's etc. This shocks your body and gives you something to look forward to!

Another key factor is lots and lots of water!! One gallon if you can get it down. Try using Crystal light or lemon or lime juice to give it a kick. I start drinking water at 7:00 am and generally finish the first 1/2 gal by 3:00pm. I work out at 4:30pm and have no problem getting the last 1/2 gal down by the end of my work out at 5:15. The first 2 weeks of this you should feel like you are starving because it will take that long for your stomach to shrink. The last 3 days I felt fine now but yes I did feel like I was starving for the first couple weeks. I've lost 4.5lbs in the last 2 1/2 weeks. A nice healthy weight loss is between 1.5 - 2.0lbs/wk.

You've made me want to go home and dig out my college materials. I took Nutritional Biology in college and boy did it help me out a lot but I guess the reason that so many of us are over weight is because we "know what to do, but chose not to do it". *sigh*

ConnieLynn

To the reply directly above:

I have the same tendency to eat really little durring the day and then eat a good dinner since I have a lot of calories left. The problem with that is the the body doesn't sense how much you're eating in a 24 hour period, it gains or looses fat based on the body's needs at that time. So in the morning, if you eat a little, your caloric need is high and it burns fat; but night comes and you are winding down and you eat a huge meal, the body doesn't need all those calories, so it stores fat.
I read something in a Diet Handbook that said:

"Always try to eat 4 meals
every day, spaced out by
at least 2 1/2 hours (you
should be breaking up
your meals in this manner
for the rest of your life).
Just "ESTIMATE" what you think you'll eat each day,
and try your best to eat those foods as evenly as
possible throughout the day.
Basically, all we are saying is that you should not eat
half of your daily calories in one single meal, because
your body will store fat if you do that.
One of the biggest reasons people gain weight is
because they eat too much at ONE SINGLE MEAL and
their bodies store those extra calories as fat tissue.

This is very helpful.

Thank you,

Connie Lynn

AtlantaSara

I'll let others chime in but I do think its the calories consumed vs the net calories - otherwise you would only be able to loose a pound per week. I made that mistak in my first three weeks and could not for the life of me figure it out... my net calories were always around 1,000 -1,600 and I was exercising and burning between 500 and 800 calories per work out. Then it hit me -- In order to loose 2 pounds per week, I need to net about 750 calories. Which means consume 1200 and burn around 600 per work out. I'll let you know how it turns out at the end of the next two weeks.

mmtarase

What helps me not starve during the day is to fill my food diary out in the morning. I fill in what I'm going to have for dinner, then breakfast and spread the reast of the calories out during the day for lunch and snacks. It helps me a lot to do it this wey. And stops me from overeating at any one time.

melathon

Hmmm...I could be wrong, but I really think the answer to the original question is NOT calories consumed, but net calories. If a person burns 1600 calories/day at rest (that's my BMR) and then does 500 calories of exercise, if that person only eats 1200 calories, I believe that's almost "starvation mode"--that person is at a 900 calorie deficit for the day. It makes no sense for someone to eat only 1200 calories, regardless of whether they burned 200 or 1000 through exercise. More calories burned = more calories need to be eaten. If this person does no exercise, then they would eat 1200 calories, but exercise would always add more calories.
When we log in our exercise, it automatically adds calories to our day to make sure we're eating enough. I think the easy answer to this question is to just eat how much MFP is telling us to eat - it does the math for us.
But this is just what I think...

dulceluva

Hmmm...I could be wrong, but I really think the answer to the original question is NOT calories consumed, but net calories. If a person burns 1600 calories/day at rest (that's my BMR) and then does 500 calories of exercise, if that person only eats 1200 calories, I believe that's almost "starvation mode"--that person is at a 900 calorie deficit for the day. It makes no sense for someone to eat only 1200 calories, regardless of whether they burned 200 or 1000 through exercise. More calories burned = more calories need to be eaten. If this person does no exercise, then they would eat 1200 calories, but exercise would always add more calories.
When we log in our exercise, it automatically adds calories to our day to make sure we're eating enough. I think the easy answer to this question is to just eat how much MFP is telling us to eat - it does the math for us.
But this is just what I think...

Me thinks you are right.

That is why my answer is always, think of excersing as a reward...you are rewarding yourself with more calories to eat (just eat appropriately).

rhondababy

Definitely! Your goal should be for your NET calories to be in the 1200 range. Though if you add so many calories to your 'pot' by exercising that you are unable to eat it, don't force yourself. Otherwise, you are doing the same thing as cutting your calories too low without exercise- causing your body to panic a bit and hold on to the fat.

SEHines

I have to agree with Melathon, for the past month I've stuck to comsuming 1200 calories. I work out six days a week burning between 500-700 calories each day and this past month I gained a pound. I was crushed but my personal trainer say's i've been in starvation mode and if i don't increase my calories he's gonna cut back my weekly workouts. So I've paid attention to him and what this website says I should take in and heck I even feel better. I was starving to death each day but I wanted to stick to the 1200. But now it's 3 meals a day and two snack's for me. I'm lookin forward to the next weigh in.

mjfer123

Oh boy do I wish I new. With excercising and burning calories I'm staying under the 1200 calorie amount and sometimes I feel like I'm starving to death. I'm eating 3 meals a day, I think. I usually have yogurt and coffee for breakfast. Lunch I have cottage cheese with either pineapple or peaches and I'll have a 100 calorie snack pack, then when its dinner time, I eat good because there are plenty of calories left. Then I have 1 or 2 ,100 calorie snack packs in the evening, I drink about 4-5 bottles of water a day. I can't help but feel like I am doing something wrong. I have a doctors appointment on the 7th and I'm going to ask him for suggestions. On a good note I have lost 4.5 lbs since Jan. 19th, I wonder if thats too much too fast??

eating large at night might be your killer here
try to space out your intake more. especially in the morning and lunch time.
Also, coffee (caffeine) may give you energy, but it is also known for retaining water and weight.

lnsbaseballmom

These are great suggestions and I am following almost all of them. I drink two 32 oz bottles of water a day and sometimes it's 3. I'm staying right at my 1200 calories a day and am on the treadmill for 30-45 mintues every other day if not every day, burning over 200 calories and then I do ab and leg exercises.

BUT.......I am not losing any weight. I am getting so discourages.

HELP!

Families_R_Forever

Hmmm...I could be wrong, but I really think the answer to the original question is NOT calories consumed, but net calories. If a person burns 1600 calories/day at rest (that's my BMR) and then does 500 calories of exercise, if that person only eats 1200 calories, I believe that's almost "starvation mode"--that person is at a 900 calorie deficit for the day. It makes no sense for someone to eat only 1200 calories, regardless of whether they burned 200 or 1000 through exercise. More calories burned = more calories need to be eaten. If this person does no exercise, then they would eat 1200 calories, but exercise would always add more calories.
When we log in our exercise, it automatically adds calories to our day to make sure we're eating enough. I think the easy answer to this question is to just eat how much MFP is telling us to eat - it does the math for us.
But this is just what I think...

Me thinks you are right.

That is why my answer is always, think of excersing as a reward...you are rewarding yourself with more calories to eat (just eat appropriately).

This is also something I have been taught and it makes perfect sense. Heidi

markfloyd

Calories? :ohwell: Oh my!! I just consumed a Birthday Dinner served by Uncle Sam. Once I entered everything in, I had exceeded all daily totals in one meal. :laugh: But, that T-Bone and Lobster sure was delicious. :bigsmile:

jessneill

These are great suggestions and I am following almost all of them. I drink two 32 oz bottles of water a day and sometimes it's 3. I'm staying right at my 1200 calories a day and am on the treadmill for 30-45 mintues every other day if not every day, burning over 200 calories and then I do ab and leg exercises.

BUT.......I am not losing any weight. I am getting so discourages.

HELP!

on the days you are working out do you only eat 1200 calories? If you are burning 200 calories in your workout you should eat as many of those as you can to help refeed your body.

Think about it this way. If you only eat 1200 calories and then burn 200 your total caloric intake for the day is now 1000, 200 below what is recommended for healthy weight loss.

If you eat 1400 calories, burn 200 in your workout then your caloric intake for the day is 1200, right where you want to be.

by not eating enough calories you are telling your body to retain the fat to help feed it.

Hope that helps.

lnsbaseballmom

jessneill,

that clears everything up. I stick to the 1200 calories very strictly.

I've heard many things about working out also. One person has told me that you should only work out every other day and the other has told me you can work out 5 days a week and rest two. Any perspective on this?