eating 1200

brookepenni

WOW, a lot for me to consider. Thank you each and every one of you for your input. I think I will have to experiment and see what works best for my body that is all. I have not had any cheats or bad days in nearly three weeks. I find the less crap you put in your body, the less your body craves it. I have been focusing on what it is I am eating, like the carbs and the sugars and salts the most. I know there is going to be a day when the husband wants to go out to eat or there is a party or something and then I don't want to freak out because I don't know how many calories is in something. I also agree with one of the posts on here that there should be a daily allowance for error because just because it says that you burned so many calories in a workout, what if you didn't go as hard that day, or went harder another day. It will all even out I am sure but I really want to trust this process. The first 5 pounds came off pretty easy but this week I haven't changed what I am eating and it has stalled already. It has only been three weeks and this week kind of sucked in the weight department.

Dont think of it as stalled. Its not a stall (plateau) until youve noticed no movement for a few weeks - I think if you asked everyonehere on MFP - week three is always one of the smallest losses you will record. Dont let it deter you - keep doing what youre doing and itll make up for it next week

shellsy0424

Dont think of it as stalled. Its not a stall (plateau) until youve noticed no movement for a few weeks - I think if you asked everyonehere on MFP - week three is always one of the smallest losses you will record. Dont let it deter you - keep doing what youre doing and itll make up for it next week
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Oh, thanks that's good to know.

OccupyFitness

I recently upped my calories and it has been great for me. I have continued to lose at the same rate so it has not affected my weight loss goals.

I upped my calories (from 1200) for a few reasons. I was feeling low energy and cranky. I was often hungry. I did not want to eat breakfast because I worried that my meager amount of calories was disappearing too early in the day. I didn't want to eat healthy fats like peanut butter and avocado because they were too expensive for my calorie count. I hated exercising because it exhausted me but I had to if I needed to have the amount of calories to make it through the day.

A week ago I made my minimum my BMR. I eat breakfast. I have energy. I LOVE to run! I put avocado on my chili! I am happy and am eating plenty. I feel so much better.

I am losing the same amount.

taylmarie

It should also be noted that losing muscle means a slower metabolism and, therefore, a higher chance of gaining the weight back unless you intend to remain on a 1200 calorie/day diet for the rest of your life. That sounds like hell to me, but to each their own. I'll happily eat away my 2,800 calories a day and look awesome doing it!

Agreed! A few years ago I lost a great deal of weight and got "skinny" but I was having trouble increasing my muscle tone. I was working out and eating 1200 calories per day. By not eating my exercise calories I was not allowing my body enough nutrients to build muscle, instead I was losing it along with the weight. Not to mention, muscle burns more calories than fat so you don't want to lose muscle mass. Also, to me 1200 calories is pretty restrictive. I think for most of us it is, many of us are here to lose weight and if 1200 calories did not seem like very little food, we wouldn't be here in the first place! And might I add, I did in fact gain the weight back and that is why I am here. For MOST people, 1200 calories a day is not a sustainable life goal. Not to mention it is almost definitely under your BMR. To each his own, but I think if you look all over the site and other health resources you will find that eating exercise calories and eating a net minimum of 1200 is the right way to go! Good luck!

shellsy0424

It should also be noted that losing muscle means a slower metabolism and, therefore, a higher chance of gaining the weight back unless you intend to remain on a 1200 calorie/day diet for the rest of your life. That sounds like hell to me, but to each their own. I'll happily eat away my 2,800 calories a day and look awesome doing it!

Agreed! A few years ago I lost a great deal of weight and got "skinny" but I was having trouble increasing my muscle tone. I was working out and eating 1200 calories per day. By not eating my exercise calories I was not allowing my body enough nutrients to build muscle, instead I was losing it along with the weight. Not to mention, muscle burns more calories than fat so you don't want to lose muscle mass. Also, to me 1200 calories is pretty restrictive. I think for most of us it is, many of us are here to lose weight and if 1200 calories did not seem like very little food, we wouldn't be here in the first place! And might I add, I did in fact gain the weight back and that is why I am here. For MOST people, 1200 calories a day is not a sustainable life goal. Not to mention it is almost definitely under your BMR. To each his own, but I think if you look all over the site and other health resources you will find that eating exercise calories and eating a net minimum of 1200 is the right way to go! Good luck!

I agree that 1200 right now is easy because I am on a "diet" but probably not easy to do for the rest of my life. If I continue to make good choices but eat more I will probably be ok. It's also a lot about what you put in your body, and not always necessarily how much.

taylmarie

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I agree that 1200 right now is easy because I am on a "diet" but probably not easy to do for the rest of my life. If I continue to make good choices but eat more I will probably be ok. It's also a lot about what you put in your body, and not always necessarily how much.
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Definitely, gotta have lots of good protein for the awesome toned muscles we'll have! I think it also helps to change things up to see what works. I recently upped my cals to 1450 on non-workout days and will eat any additional exercise on workout days. I know people on the site who have upped their cals in 100 increments to see what works for them and have found that they can lose on more than 1200. It is def a strange concept to me, I always figured the less you eat the more you lose! I know I like to eat though, so the more I can have, the better!

EDIT: I tried to delete my part of the "quote" to respond to you, but then your part didn't "quote" right! I am new and forum illiterate!

shellsy0424

no problem, I am new on here too so I am getting the hang of things too.

JaenaM

personally i eat 1500-1600 on average and eat back very little (if any) of my exercise calories. but with the way im eating, what im eating, when im eating...im just not hungry and im losing weight so i dont stress about having a much lower net (often less than 1000)

queenbeejulie

I am very new here, and already I keep seeing stuff about this, and I just want to make sure I understand... so if I eat like 1580 calories in a day but burn off 380 by doing cardio, my net calories is 1200.... that is the healthier more sustainable way to lose weight or no? I am genuinely looking to learn here, hoping someone can point me in the right direction...

themommie

I started MFP in july 2010 and have lost 99lbs only 1.5 lbs to go to reach my original goal of 100 lb weight loss. I have done it eating 1250 cals a day not eating back my exercise cals and exercising 30-90 mins 6xs a week. You need to find what works for you. Everyone is different........

shellsy0424

I started MFP in july 2010 and have lost 99lbs only 1.5 lbs to go to reach my original goal of 100 lb weight loss. I have done it eating 1250 cals a day not eating back my exercise cals and exercising 30-90 mins 6xs a week. You need to find what works for you. Everyone is different........

wow, great job!! That is inspiring:happy:

Sarauk2sf

When I first started needing to lose weight about 15 years ago, I went from a 35+% body fat % and a size 12/14 (US) to a size 8, 18% BF by eating on average (weeks did vary) about 1800 - 2000 calories. I did not do much cardio but weight trained 3 x week. I pretty much ate what I wanted. It took me about 2 years to get there and I sustained this for 5 years until I got very ill (not food or exercise related!).

After my illness I put a lot of weight on and at my heaviest was 202lb. So I decided to do something about it about 2 years ago and restricted my calories to about 1500, did not eat my calories back and did alot of cardio and quite a bit of strength training. After about 3 months, I had lost about 20lb - hurray I hear people say....not!! I had my body fat tested at the beginning and after 3 months in the water dunking thing (very accurate but I cannot remember what it is called!!). I had lost more muscle than fat. I was baffled - how could I have possibly lose muscle as I was weight training. The reason - I was not eating enough and all the weight lifting possible would not have changed that fact.

I am now back to eating much higher calories - 1745 goal plus my exercise calories (which are never very much as I pretty much only weight train) - and so far so good.

My little 'cheat' is that I usually go a little under in the week (only by about 50 - 100 cals a day at the most) and use these at the weekend when I do not usually work out.

So, from someone who has done this both ways (the eating too low was just inattention and lack of understanding on my part), eating more definately works for me if I want to lose weight while keeping my lean muscle mass maintained and also, do it in a more sustainable way (1700 - 200 calories is far more sustainable and more fun than 1200 or even the 1500 I was at before) like I did the first time round.

Anyway, as you have seen, there are a lot of people who will argue both sides here. Whatever decision you make, I would urge you to keep track of your body fat %. It is especially important to women to keep a healthy lean body mass for the health benefits. That, along with measurements, will allow you to better monitor what works for you while keeping healthy.

LorinaLynn

For me, I didn't even go into this trying to really lose weight, because I didn't think it possible. If I could barely lose weight eating barely any food, why should this be any different?! As I went along, I was amazed at the progress I had... it seemed so easy! This didn't feel like "dieting." I was just paying attention to what I ate, and being more active. And as I got more involved with the site and the forums, I noticed that the majority of the women with bodies I looked at and thought, "WOW!" were ones that ate more. Losing a lot of pounds is admirable, but transforming your body without losing all that much is just incredible.

But to be fair, I think we all tend to gravitate towards the success stories that fall in line with our own beliefs. As a "big eater," surrounding myself with other big eaters, those are going to be the ones I notice more.

donna_glasgow

WOW, a lot for me to consider. Thank you each and every one of you for your input. I think I will have to experiment and see what works best for my body that is all. I have not had any cheats or bad days in nearly three weeks. I find the less crap you put in your body, the less your body craves it. I have been focusing on what it is I am eating, like the carbs and the sugars and salts the most. I know there is going to be a day when the husband wants to go out to eat or there is a party or something and then I don't want to freak out because I don't know how many calories is in something. I also agree with one of the posts on here that there should be a daily allowance for error because just because it says that you burned so many calories in a workout, what if you didn't go as hard that day, or went harder another day. It will all even out I am sure but I really want to trust this process. The first 5 pounds came off pretty easy but this week I haven't changed what I am eating and it has stalled already. It has only been three weeks and this week kind of sucked in the weight department.

take measurements, normally when the scale wont budge your inches are going down .... I lost no weight last week but I lost over 8 inches across my hips, bust, waist and belly .. then this week my loss was 1.8lbs .... think of no weight loss as your body getting ready for a big weight loss

Tara4boys

Bump - helpful stuff here

VanessaMFaulkner

EVERYONE is different from activity level to what their body is sensitive to (sugar, starch, carbs). I don't think there is a live or die by formula to losing & maintaining...long story short to maintain & lose you must make a lifestyle change. Find what works for you. What works for me...cut starch, carbs & sugar...I eat about 1200 (many times less) & am doing well. I have energy & have 5 kids. I eat mostly organic & gluten free & lean proteins, fruits & high fiber veggies.

jjennyb4

I'm on a 1200 calorie diet.... I sometimes eat some exercise calories back. Most of the time I'm pretty good about being at 1200 but I usually get yelled at by MFP for not eating enough. I'm not going to force myself to eat if I'm not hungry. I workout everyday and I'm losing weight.

bizgirl26

When on 1200 calories per day, WHAT you eat is vitally important.

Agree

ElizaRoche

I do not eat them back, I rarely do.. just when I have family gathering on the weekend , or just some sort of special ocassion. Other way I stick to my 1200..

cmccorma

edit, wrong quote

CoderGal

Starving yourself works (which is what 1200 calories is to someone who's my height). But eating at your TDEE also works. I've lost 27 pounds and weigh 123 pounds (I'm 5'7). Woopie! * celebrate* *eats more then 1200 cals worth of food*

Di3012

Starving yourself works (which is what 1200 calories is to someone who's my height). But eating at your TDEE also works. I've lost 27 pounds and weigh 123 pounds (I'm 5'7). Woopie! * celebrate* *eats more then 1200 cals worth of food*

It depends entirely on what you eat. 1200 calories per day is not starving yourself if what you eat is good food.

Kebby83

I eat 1200 and I am satisfoed, not hungru amd energetic. And losing weight, gaining muscle.

Kebby83

Excuse my typing-android keyboard

littlememo

I've been loosing weight sloooooowly over the last few years, although the last year was prety much a plateau until about 2 months ago when I started using MFP again and have been sticking to 1200 increased my exercise and sometime eating the calories back.
I have read a lot over the last few days about people's ideas on calorie allowance and I agree it's whatever works for you, I've personally upped my allowance to 1300 and am going to play around with eating or not eating back exercise calories until I find what works, I might up it even further not sure at the moment just wasn't sure how sustainable 1200 calories was and was worried about what would happen when I reached goal and started eating to maintain..........
I've learnt alot from reading everyone else's discussions and realise it's not an exact science and you need to do what works for you

mayaaxibal

I would recommend 1500 calories for women and 1800 calories for men(depending on a person's weight as well and how much exercise she/he does). Not 1200 because it's too low. It'll just make you miserable and such.

lcat2000

I'm on the 1200 calories allowance too. I joined this group about 3 weeks ago and stared exercising 5 days a week for about an hour, both cardio and sculting. I've been doing 1200 to about 1600 calories depending on my daily workout. The first week and a half I lost 3 pounds and have since gained 1. No matter what I do my weight doesn't seem to budge. Am I doing something wrong? Should I just stick to the 1200 calories for a few weeks and gradually increase? I've been dieting my whole life, and the idea of increasing calories, as logical as it sounds, terrifies me. has anyone experienced this plateau, and if so what did you do?

ladyraven68

I have been reading a lot on here about eating more calories for success but what I am wondering is if anyone is having good results with NOT eating your exercise calories back and sticking to the 1200 recommended calories?? Curiosity has me wondering if it's possible to eat 1200, exercise and still lose. It seems that the hot topic is always about eating more but to me this just doesn't make sense, even though it is explained well.

The thing is - MFP doesn't set just 1200 calories.

it sets 1200 NET calories, so 1200 + exercise calories.

People just chose not to follow it because they assume less food = more weight loss.

If they aren't going to follow MFP's logic then they should find their Total Daily Expenditure including exercise and work out their defict from there.

Too often people come here, they ignore all the stickied threads above which explain how the site is supposed to work, and away they go.

freckledrats

I'm sedentary, I do a light workout 3x a week at home, and eat 1000-1200 most days. I lose approximately as much weight as you would expect for my age, gender, and size. When I plateau it's because I've gone drinking, not because I've "starved" myself into some mysterious "ate too little to lose weight" hole.

All of my weight loss problems that I've ever had stemmed from not logging, drinking too many alcohol calories, sweet tea, but mostly not logging.

Log it all, people. Log everything. Eat a 500 calorie deficit, get better at judging calories burned, and you'll be golden. Metabolism is a factor, but it's not the holy grail of factors a lot of people believe it is. The biggest factor in dieting is human error.

Roseisrose3111

This site rec 1200 cals for me as well, but when I talked to the trainer at my gym he told me if I am working out I should be eating at least 1400 and no less. Otherwise your body goes into starvation mode and stores fat. You have to eat cals to lose weight. strange I know.