Under 1200--- how do ye do it? o.O

HeatherLeahxx

I've been taking in about 1200 calories a day for the last two months. And it has left me soo weak, starving, exhausted, dizzy.....

Alot of people on this that I have come across are actually surving on 500calories a day....AND LESS!.....As well as exercising on top of that!.......Alot of people are fasting, or doing liquid fasts etc......I've no interest in doing this to get the record straight......

I'm just wondering how in god's name do these people have the energy to live???:huh:

It is seriously boggling me :noway: :huh:

HeatherLeahxx

*surviving...... before any grammar nazis attack me

ShaeSweetie

Maybe your not meant to take in just 1200? and if you exercise you should eat back those calories! sometimes MFP doesnt give you the right calories...they gave me 1300 to start but that was wayyy to low for me..especially since i was doing insanityy...i think you should properly calculate your daily needs and then up it a little if you need to..im not eating 1600 calories..much better for me and im still losing weight

impyimpyaj

People who are taking in 500 calories generally have an eating disorder. It's not something you want to strive for.

I did 1200 for a while and did all right. Then I increased it because I wanted to, and felt even better, and still lost the weight I wanted to lose. Eat more. Your body will thank you.

toysbigkid

eat! Increase your calories per day, eat healthy foods for those calories. Your not eating enough if your hungry all the time.

now_or_never12

Those who take in much less than 1200 are probably used to it now. When you constantly take in too few calories in a day your metabolism will slow and therefore you aren't as hungry as you should be.

If you are feeling weak, tired, etc it's a sign you should try eating more. 1,200 is far too low for most people.

I was set with 1,250 cals a day... it wasn't nearly enough so I bumped it up to 1600 and am feeling great and still losing.

ironanimal

At 20 and 5'8", 1200 calories isn't enough. Have a look at TDEE and the Eat More to Weigh Less group.

HeatherLeahxx

What I mean is by my post is......How are these people surviving on just a few hundred calories a day alone??? when I am here so weak and exhausted after only eating 1200....

I'M JUST ASKING A GENERAL QUESTION! Nothing about myself ha..... As in like noone should be able to get through every day just taking in like 500cals

aliceallure

Prehaps it is to do with what your eating? I used to eat a good 3000 odd calories a day. I switched to healthier foods, like salads, soups, less red meat etc and now i struggle to eat my 1200 calories!
Check out the food and nutrition board, it does has some good suggestions.

Also remember the 1200 is the net calorie intake, therefore if you exercise and burn of 200 calories you can eat 1400. It sets that as a target as thats the lowest you should go to maintain healthy weight loss. You can up it, as long as it is lower than the calories you need per day (mines about 1800) You will loose weight

HeatherLeahxx

i think it's just what you and your body is used to. i mean i would have died on 500 a year or 2 back, but now that's like a big eating day to me and yeah unhealthy i know don't yell at me guys

someone who actually knows what I mean haha ...so its a matter of like training your body??

*DISCLAIMER*....I'm just curious! No plans on dropping my intake incase I get abused to fook

stephyy4632

What I mean is by my post is......How are these people surviving on just a few hundred calories a day alone??? when I am here so weak and exhausted after only eating 1200....

I'M JUST ASKING A GENERAL QUESTION! Nothing about myself ha..... As in like noone should be able to get through every day just taking in like 500cals

the body is using itself to work breaking down its a disorder and not something they can do forever its a sad ending if they try

ashshields12

I have been on a 1200 calorie diet for 12 weeks now, I am not hungry at all actually struggle to eat the 1200 some days. I workout 6 days a week, sometimes twice a day and dont increase my calories if I work out.... Maybe its the foods that you are eating that are making you feel like 1200 isnt enough? what does your diary look like? what do you allow for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and snacks?

HeatherLeahxx

I have been on a 1200 calorie diet for 12 weeks now, I am not hungry at all actually struggle to eat the 1200 some days. I workout 6 days a week, sometimes twice a day and dont increase my calories if I work out.... Maybe its the foods that you are eating that are making you feel like 1200 isnt enough? what does your diary look like? what do you allow for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and snacks?

Just put it on public now incase u want a look

AprilOneFourFour

By being older / shorter / lighter to start with.
Or not exercising much.

I eat 1200-ish and I find it very do-able, but I eat very heathy foods and I cook / make nearly everything from scratch. So I might have Greek yogurt and fruit, or Bircher Muesli, or smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Homemade soup, or Greek / tuna / chicken salad for lunch with lots of raw veg, and a casserole, stir-fry or burger for dinner. There's even some cals left for the odd glass of wine or piece of chocolate or ice cream.

That might sound like a nightmare if you're teenaged / early twenties / a beefy bloke, but for an older woman, it's absolutely fine.

HeatherLeahxx

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/554/facepalm.jpg

leslisa

I'm 42 yo, 5'1" @ 135 lbs with diet/exercise controlled blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes on 1000 cals a day diet to lose weight (per docs order before anyone starts in about starvation mode crap).

Well, here is a typical day for me:
Breakfast:
Cheerios (100 cals) or kashi 7 grain puffed (75 cals)
Milk (1/2 cup) 45 cals i think
Sometimes (depending on my time crunch) 1/2 cup of fruit (25 - 50 cals)
Vitamins and supplements: Centrum for women under 50 with iron, 2 fish oil pills, 1 osteo bi-flex, and 1 aspirin

Snack : 6 - 8 almonds (42 - 56 cals)

Lunch:
Broccoli or lettuce and tomatoes and tuna (or chicken or turkey) (100 - 125 cals)
Maybe a fruit salad with almonds or walnuts and some coconut? (100 - 125 cals)
Oriental veggie salad with some cheerios for crunch (100 - 125 cals)

Snack: 6 - 8 almonds (42 - 56 cals)

Dinner:
Chicken or turkey or tuna (100 - 180 cals depending on rest of meal),
veggies (20 - 80 cals),
2 slices wheat bread or wheat bun or arnold flat roll in rye, wheat, whatever (100 cals).
Condiments I might add: Salsa - homemade or jarred (20 - 40 cals), mustard (0 cals), Fage plain yogurt (70 cals), sugar free jams and jellies (10 - 40 cals), creamy cheese wedge (35 cals).
Spices: Zippo cals (no salt)
1 cup milk (85 or 90 cals)
Still feelin' hungry? Salad with tomatoes, radishes, onion, and maybe some parm or fresh fruit (10 - 100 cals)
Desert: 60 or 80 cal yogurt with redi-whip

After dinner snacks (depending on cals left over :
Popcorn (100 cals)
1/2 fiber one bar on top of 60 cal sugar free pudding (130 cals)
Sugar free jello and redi-whip (45 cals)
Graham cracker with redi-whip in sandwich frozen (75 cals)
More milk (love my dairy!!)
Carrots (sweet and awesome)
Fruit (sweet and awesome) sometimes with yogurt, sometimes without
1/2 cup sugar free sorbet or sherbert
ETC.

I actually eat quite well. I can't say I never go to bed hungry but I can't say I never go to bed completely full either. It depends.

And though the doc did not recommend a cheat day, if I do everything I am supposed to do, I take either Sat or Sun as a cheat day and eat 600 more cals that day.

Cheers!!:bigsmile:

impyimpyaj

What I mean is by my post is......How are these people surviving on just a few hundred calories a day alone??? when I am here so weak and exhausted after only eating 1200....

I'M JUST ASKING A GENERAL QUESTION! Nothing about myself ha..... As in like noone should be able to get through every day just taking in like 500cals

They're surviving, but they're not healthy. It takes a lot of punishment for a body to actually stop living.

ashshields12

I have a look at your diary, I guess some of your choices might not be that clean. but you are doing a good job for you age :-) if you wanna chat about clean food choices ideas etc you are welcome to add me :-)

fudgebudget

You can survive on very few calories - of course it's not healthy, but people do it. It's always kind of boggled my mind how some ballet dancers eat almost nothing and manage to dance all day long - some of them will even eat non-food items to quell hunger (cotton balls, etc). But, at the same time, while we're accustomed to seeing that physique while they're dancing, taken out of context they tend to look like famine victims (...because they kind of are).

Anyway, the human body is a crazy thing that is made to survive a lot. It can survive 500 calories a day.

yarwell

I've been taking in about 1200 calories a day for the last two months

Really ? I must be reading the wrong diary as you've been over 2000 a couple of times and I've not seen it below 1300.

I can eat less than 1200, at least while I have the fat reserves to go at and provide the difference. I don't eat a lot of carbohydrates that are here and gone in a flash though, so choice of foodstuff is relevant as well as calories, and I'm not hungry.

People can fast for days, the hunger goes away fairly quickly, does require a fat store to go at - someone looking to lose 100 lbs has 350,000 calories on tap so any "logic" about calorie deficiency goes out of the window with the obese.

hbuckholz

Once you start eating a lower amount of calories, your body gets used to it. I keep a lower than 1200 diet usually unless I'm in a sports season, then my body needs more energy for how active I am. It's just like if you start out eating 2000 a day and work back to 1200, your body is trained to want as many as before. You get accustomed to it if it works for you. Some people just need more to function in a healthy way.

It also depends on what kind of calories. If you eat 500 empty junk food calories a day, you'll be thin but not healthy at all. If 500 calories was packed full of protein, whole grains, and fiber, its at least better for your body. You can manage your body at any caloric intake, really, but too low is dangerous and so is too high. The body can usually adjust itself pretty well to either for a while.

leslisa

I've been taking in about 1200 calories a day for the last two months

Really ? I must be reading the wrong diary as you've been over 2000 a couple of times and I've not seen it below 1300.

I think she might mean net??

HeatherLeahxx

I've been taking in about 1200 calories a day for the last two months

Really ? I must be reading the wrong diary as you've been over 2000 a couple of times and I've not seen it below 1300.

my diary isnt accurate....apologies,my diary is purely to keep my boyfriend and friends happy as they see 1200 as too little...... my mistake!

however u are going completely off the point. If you read my post correctly, i was asking a question on how people survive with such little calories. no need to jump down my throat about my diary.....i was asking a general question about others.....

joker2348

I eat something small every 2 hours and this seems to be the best thing for me plus I drink a lot of water during the day which fills me up. here is my calorie breakdown for the day....

8:00 am -Breakfast: 200 calories
10:00am -snack: 100 Calories
12:00pm -Lunch: 200 Calories
2:00pm -snack: 100 Calories
4:00pm-snack- 100 Calories
6:00pm-Dinner: 500 Calories
After dinner snack sometimes if I am craving sweets or anything - 50-100 Calories

1200-1300 Calories a day and I am rarely hunger

ironanimal

I've been taking in about 1200 calories a day for the last two months

Really ? I must be reading the wrong diary as you've been over 2000 a couple of times and I've not seen it below 1300.

my diary isnt accurate....apologies,my diary is purely to keep my boyfriend and friends happy as they see 1200 as too little...... my mistake!

however u are going completely off the point. If you read my post correctly, i was asking a question on how people survive with such little calories. no need to jump down my throat about my diary.....i was asking a general question about others.....

They're right.

soontobeskinnysara

I think it depends on what you eat. My goal is 1200 calories a day, and my diet mainly consists of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables. The fiber is filling and I eat ALL day. It's just what I'm eating isn't very calorie dense so I can have much more food. 1200 is certainly not for everyone - I'm 5'2" and 118lbs. I also exercise and eat back most of my exercise calories, so sometimes I'm eating upwards of 1600 a day. Just do what feels right and comfortable to you. Don't use anyone on here as an example; we're all different!

vonallena

I'm 23 5'7 and 200lbs and I hover between 1300-1800 depending on my work out schedule. On days I don't workout, because I will be on the lower end of the calories, I make sure that most of the food I eat has a lot of protein in it. It keeps me full. I avoid carbs on those days too just because that tends to make me crave more food.

So a lot of 93/7 Ground Turkey Breast. It keeps me wicked full. make it into meatballs, roll it in curry powder, chopped basil, black pepper and red chili flakes. Pan fry with PAM spray, finish in the oven. Use Tzatziki or hummus for a dipping sauce.

Almost 2 months on MFP and I'm almost down 12lbs so I'm gonna keep going with what I'm doing.

adry20

Some people are under supervised diets and take vitamins. I eat my 1200 per day but I'm 5 inches shorter than you and I take vitamins (D3, super foods like chlorella and spirulina and others) and eat clean so I'm not hungry nor tired. If you find yourself being hungry you need to look at what you are eating, look into taking some vitamins and maybe up your calorie intake because there's not such thing as a one size fits all when it comes to eating.

takehimaway

I eat something small every 2 hours and this seems to be the best thing for me plus I drink a lot of water during the day which fills me up. here is my calorie breakdown for the day....

8:00 am -Breakfast: 200 calories
10:00am -snack: 100 Calories
12:00pm -Lunch: 200 Calories
2:00pm -snack: 100 Calories
4:00pm-snack- 100 Calories
6:00pm-Dinner: 500 Calories
After dinner snack sometimes if I am craving sweets or anything - 50-100 Calories

1200-1300 Calories a day and I am rarely hunger

This is how it is for me 12-4, 4-8, 8-12, 12-4, 4-8, 8-12 = all split up = 200 calories per slot. I sleep through two or three slots, though, so that means if I sleep through two, I get 300 calories per slot, but if I sleep through three, I get 400 calories a slot. It's easier. Sometimes, I eat say a 600 calorie thing, but not until dinner. Like right now, it's breakfast, I'm going to eat a yogurt - 80 calories, a fruit cup - 25 calories, and a thing of string cheese - 80 which is 185 calories, which gives me 15 calories to move into the next slot.

lindsy721

I'm now eating 1700 cals and still losing. Check out the Eat More to Weigh Less group.

Hawkian

Weak, starving, exhausted, dizzy...

You need to STOP THIS. Please eat more. Please. Are you doing regular exercise?