Anyone else on a 1200 calorie diet?

Suzannejl

I am on a 1200 calorie a day diet, and I also usually burn about 500 calories on the elliptical 3-4 times a week. I was wondering if anyone else is doing something similar or on a 1200 calorie a day diet and is having success? I need some motivation, so if youre in the same boat as me with your calorie goal, please tell me how it is working for you!

Sorry, I digressed...I just went back and read the original post.

When I feel I'm plateauing, I try to eat smarter, like phase 1 of the south beach diet, just for a little bit, no more than a couple of weeks. It's basically no carbs(white foods), LOL, no sugary foods, no junk foods, and no fruit just for a little bit. Then after your carb cravings are back under control slowly add back in fruits and complex carbs.

Moorlady

Hi Amber, I'm on the 1200 plan. I've been purposefully hitting a little below the 1200 calorie mark (even with my BMR (the amount of calories you burn in a day, just by being alive) at about 1300 (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/). And like beautymark1 said, if you do that, if you go below 1200, you have to be careful that your body's getting enough nutrients. I take a multivitamins + other vitamins. I also exercise only moderately, so that doesn't cut into my daily calorie allowance very much. If you exercise a lot (cardio), you should be cautious about going below 1200 calories. How long have you been doing it? I've seen an average of 1 to 2 pounds lost per week.

I weigh in once a week on the same day. I make sure I'm wearing roughly the same amount of clothing to get more accurate results.

nickelsthoughts

I am on the 1200 calorie a day plan BUT.... I have my profile set to sedentary. So when I burn 300+ calories walking ( I have waaaaay more than 20 pounds to lose, more like 100), I get those extra calories added back into my diet. Sometimes I eat the extra calories sometimes I do not. I always make sure I don't go over that amount, but if I'm not hungry, I'm not going to force myself to eat either. I work out five times a week and have much more energy now than when I was eating over 2000 calories a day. Each person is different so you have to remember that. And while 1200 doesn't seem like a lot, if you eat sensibly it is a lot of food. Especially considering that a serving of veggies is less than 100 calories. You can fill up and fuel up on low calorie foods and have tons of energy. If, however you eat one meal at mcdonalds and nothing else the rest of the day it's not enough fuel to keep going.

I lost two pounds this week already. I had a profile at webmd and it was telling me to eat 1700 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week and that wasn't working. My weight loss stalled. But now that I switched to MFP and am limiting myself to 1200 calories I am making progress again. So I'm looking forward to the next few weeks when I can really see the results.

Good luck to everyone!!!

rachiech13

It's hard but it's not really that bad. I bike to work everyday, about 20 mins total and that gives me an extra 230 calories I can eat up again.
It really helps!

Tzippy7

From november to january I did this, I ate under 1200 almost every day and I worked out all the time, the eliptical mainly. It was awesome, I lost 26 lbs and i was really happy and proud of myself. However, I have been seriously plateauing since then. I cant help but think its because my metabolism get so slow from the 1200. So i would say, stick to the 1200 if you like it but eat back what your burn. I think that was my mistake. Who knows, maybe that is not why I am plateauing.

Calif_Girl67

This appears to be a HOT topic around MFP. I myself have a hard time eating 2000 calories a day much less trying to eat that plus exercise calories. With that being said I have been told by several different people that if i don't eat 2000-2200 calories a
day that I will not LOSE weight but yet I see people here posting that they eat 1200 calories a day and are losing weight. SO it
seems to keep people like me confused as to what or how many calories a day we need to eat in order to lose the weight.

This is so frustrating!!!

The last few days I have been playing with the calories because I have no idea what to use for calories anymore. I have mine
set at Sedentary because thats what I do, I exercise 5x a week and don't eat exercise calories. Right now its at 1700 cal and im sure i'll be changing it again. :frown:

Calif_Girl67

Bump