So 1200 calories is wrong? Confused!

bholmes21

I started with 1200 and lost a little weight and then hit a major Plateau I was not eating back exercise calories (I work out hard 5-6x per week) and since I upped calories to 1350-1370 i feel better and finally lost some weight. Just listen to your body!

spinitoff

3500 calories is one pound.

Your body burns a certain amount of calories each day just by existing (basal metabolism) which is what MFP is trying to estimate with its calculator. THIS IS ONLY AN ESTIMATE. Everyone burns a different amount of calories per day, but you can estimate your basal metabolism by using any number of online calculators.

So, if you naturally burn 2,000 calories a day (just a random number), and you are eating 1200 calories a day, you have a daily calorie deficit of 800 calories. That means that (roughly) every 4-5 days, you'll lose a pound: 800*4.5= 3600 calories, or just over one pound.

It's fairly simple math, are you asking if you should be eating more? Or eating less? That all depends on how much weight you want to lose and how quickly. Going under a certain amount of calories (again, this varies from person to person, but usually about 1200 is correct), you can slow down your metabolism and actually burn less calories a day... and you'll also be hungry all the time. So maintain a healthy calorie intake that will get you to your goal. 20 pounds in two months isn't going to happen for you if you're just trying to exclusively starve away the calories. Exercise or revise your goals.

jmeade524

It's all about WHAT you eat, not just the calories. Protein, veggies -- low carb, low fat!

LindaLenn

So, if MFP recommending 1400 calories for me per day because I exercise a lot? I noticed on the days I do exercise, my calorie allowance goes up however many calories I burn. So, there are days where my allowance is up near 1900. Man, I couldn't imagine 1200 calories per day....kudos to you.

Tangerine16

I started here on Jan 9th, start weight 155lbs.

I asked mfp for a 2lb a week loss, but it gave me 1200 calories (+ about 1/2 lb per week), as that's the lowest it will give you.

Eating 1200 calories, fairly consistently, from the start, and with minimal exercise (not good, I know!), I've lost 23lbs so far.

16lbs of that came off in the first 2 months.

jennkain97

People of varying weights/heights (yet still not "obese") are all being told 1200 calories because that is the minimum that any adult should consume in order to maintain basic organ function, etc.... People who are much heavier will be told to eat more in order to lose 2lbs/week (not healthy to lose it faster w/o a dr's supervision). It's not easy to eat only 1200 calories/day, but your cardio exercise (housework & kids unfortunately do not count) allows you to eat more, as you need 1200 NET calories. If you're not working out, you can still stay at 1200 calories, but you'll have to be really careful about what you eat/drink. Start w/ cutting out all beverages except water, and decaf coffee/tea. eat lots of fruits/veggies, and lean protein, and you should be able to do it w/o feeling hungry. I get in an intense workout every morning before my kids get up, and because of that I sometimes have trouble forcing down my 1200 NET calories, because I'm simply not hungry. Cardio and weight training boost your metabolism for the whole day, causing your body to burn more calories than it normally would, so if you want to lose that 20lbs in 2 months, you're best bet is to find a good program that incorporates both, and commit to it. You'll also look better than if you simply lose the flab w/o tightening everything up. A good one to try is www.kettleworx.com. This is what I use, recommended by my brother-in-law/physical trainer. It's easy to do, and only takes 10-20 min, 3x/week. Also includes great nutritional info for fast weight loss. Please don't listen to those telling you to "just trust your body". That's what got you (as well as the rest of us) into this mess in the first place! Trust what MFP is telling you that you need. It's working great for me!!

faithstephenson

I am confused also. I can't eat enough calories and still stay within my limit for protein and sugar. I have only been on program for two days, but am struggling what to eat. I need some menus!!!!!

If you are new, I would suggest starting with just trying to hit your calorie goals to start with. If you find that you are too hungry, look at what you're eating and see if there are alternatives that would help you be fuller longer. Many people on MFP have their food diaries open, and you can kind of look around (feel free to look at mine-though my calorie goal is a little higher-1450 or so) to get ideas. If you find you can't eat enough to hit your calorie goals because you're too full on what you're eating, look for some calorie dense foods (peanut butter is a fave of many people). Once you get to a place where you can routinely hit your goals and feel satisfied fullness-wise, you can start to look at those macros more closely and try to get them more in line. I will say, I'm not a huge follower of the macros, but I am trying to use them to make decisions more often than I used to.

Nancy_AZ60

I am 5'5" and at 1200 calories I can loose 1.5 to 2 lbs a week, at 1400 I maintain. I think that dropping 20 in 2 months. that is 2.5 pounds a week. I think possible if you exercise a lot and go with really low or no carbs and low fat. YOU CAN DO IT !

marycmeadows

You do have to figure out what works for you - but remember it's not as simple as calories in vs calories out - you have to feed your body properly. If you don't lose weight, don't get frustrated, if you have only 20lbs or less to lose it could very well take more than 2 months. my weight loss has slowed quite a bit since i've gotten a lot closer to my goal.

and I eat somewhere between 1600-2000 calories a day

Helloitsdan

It's all about WHAT you eat, not just the calories. Protein, veggies -- low carb, low fat!

False!
Low fat was debunked.

Fat helps with the absorption of vital micronutrients and people will lose more weight on a high fat and high protein diet as opposed to carbs.

Nancy_AZ60

1200 is good, you will lose

madamepsychosis

So, if MFP recommending 1400 calories for me per day because I exercise a lot? I noticed on the days I do exercise, my calorie allowance goes up however many calories I burn. So, there are days where my allowance is up near 1900. Man, I couldn't imagine 1200 calories per day....kudos to you.

No. MFP doesn't include the amount you exercise into your calorie allowance. You have to add that in yourself, hence why when you do exercise, your allowance goes up. Because MFP doesn't include it in your deficit originally, it wants you to eat those back. Some people do eat them back, some people don't. The 1400 calories MFP gives you are based on your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate - what you'd need if you stayed in bed all day), but also on what lifestyle you plugged yourself in as having. If a 5'5 150lb woman who leads a sedentary lifestyle puts in her stats to lose 1lb a week, she'd get a smaller calorie allowance than a woman of the same height, weight and goal who works in a job where she's on her feet all day.

Shayztar

It depends on your size and what your BMR and TDEE calculates to if you want to be as exact about weight loss as possible. As other people have said, your goal in such a short amount of time might also be attainable, but to what end? You might gain it or some of it back again. 1200 will allow you to lose weight, but it is unhealthy to eat less than that. I eat 1800 calories a day, plus I try to eat back my exercise caloires as much as I can. I am continuing to lose weight fairly consistantly. When I was eating 1200 I was grouchy and hungry ALL THE TIME. And I stopped losing weight after I lost the initial 15 lbs.

Consider researching dieting according to your BMR and TDEE if you are wondering why some people are telling you 1200 is unhealthy.

cmccorma

You don't have a lot to lose actually. I started at 173 at 5'2". I have lost 14 pounds in two months. I think 20 pounds in two months for someone with a lot less to lose might be difficult without exercise.

Edit to add I have eaten 1,200 calories a day for 55 days (consistently). A little inconsistently before that!

sheryllamb72

I'm on about 1200 cals per day, and normally with exercise, end up with about 1500/1600 cals to eat per day and I normally never eat all of my daily cals. I've usually got about 200/300 left over at the end of the day.

When I say exercise, I mean just walking for 45 minutes to an hour every day in my lunchtime. I'm too busy to do any proper exercise, but walking is great. I've lost almost 2 stone since 1st Jan.

I would say that 1200 cals per day is a weekly loss of about 2lb with a bit of exercise (walking).....that's that I was losing anyway. I've only got 2lb to go which will probably be when I weigh in on Sunday morning, and then I've reached my goal.

Good luck.

xarla16

If you read a lot of posts in the topics, you will find people who say 1200 is to few calories and that you won't lose weight. What I know is that I have been eating 1200 calories for 50 days, and I have lost 17 lbs. I have way more energy than I do normally and I'm never hungry. Everyone's body is different, but it's working for me.

Helloitsdan

1200 is good, you will lose

meshashesha2012

let's see i lose on anything that less than my maintenance (which is around 2200). there's no way i could consistently eat 1200 calories and still be able to get through my workouts.

id rather eat 1600-1800 and not get lightheaded when i'm lifting heavy things over my head than to eat 1200 calories and catch the vapors halfway through my sprint HIIT sessions

oh i'm 5'5, 40 and 202 pounds

Di3012

It's all about WHAT you eat, not just the calories. Protein, veggies -- low carb, low fat!

False!
Low fat was debunked.

Fat helps with the absorption of vital micronutrients and people will lose more weight on a high fat and high protein diet as opposed to carbs.

That poster was correct in that it IS about what you eat though.

So many times on MFP people post threads saying something along the lines of "I am short on my calories today, I still have 1,200,200 left, what should I do?"

The answer is invariably something such as "eat pizza" "eat sweets" "eat spoonfuls of peanut butter" - basically eat rubbish just to make up the calories...... - was this not the exact thing people were doing that maintained their weight at a heavy level or worse still made them pile the weight on?

ps peanut butter is fine, but eating it by the spoonful just to make up the deficit in calories? Can't be doing with all that.

Eat your meals, do not binge, do not snack just for the sake of it. Do your exercise, log everything.

scriehl

Honestly, stop listening to anyone else's guidelines about how much you should be eating. YOU need to figure out how much your'e comfortable eating every day, enough that you won't be starving or unhappy, but little enough that you'll still be losing weight - however quickly or slowly.

Listen to YOUR BODY, not anyone else's recommendations. If you keep eating 1,200 a day and decide that's too little and you want to be able to eat more, okay, up it to 1,400 or 1,500. If you start eating 1,500 for a while and notice you're losing much slower than you'd like, okay, find a happy medium at 1,350. But bottom line trust your own self to be able to decide the number that's good for you.

Well said. Also, if you are doing a lot of housework and chasing kids around, that IS exercise girl. You can definitely log that and allow your body more calories if you feel that needs adjusting. Good luck to you.