1200 calorie diet? But what about if you exercise?

Louisecooper1977

I too have stuck with the 1200 calories & eaten my exercise ones back & this week have gained 2 pound !!! Its really demotivating does anyone have any suggestions ?

niknox9

Hi

Have a look at the type of foods you are eating. If you are exercising lots, are you getting enough protein? Are you eating foods too high in fats? Are you eating carbs late at night?
By changing a couple of habits' such as making lunch your biggest carb rich meal and evening meal based on veggies then that could help the way your body burns off fat.

Also look at the exercise your doing, with strength would it benefit to do more but lighter reps, with CV could interval training help?

Good luck!

paigemarie93

Please don"t! if you choose to eat 1200 cals, PLEASE eat your exercise calories back - you are setting yourself up for failure if you don't....

I rarely eat back my exercise calories, does it look like I'm failing?

AntWrig

I don't know your "stats" as in how much you weigh currently, how much exercise you are doing etc. But I would have to say that 1,200 is too low.

Just arbitrarily saying that 1200 is to low is idiotic. 1200 goal is common for shorter women who aren't way overweight. :grumble:

Please stop. People in coma's require more than 1200 calories. Your example female would have to be 2 ft 3 inches.

AntWrig

The more frequent the eating pattern, the lower the body fat and the higher the muscle mass. Instead of eating all your calories in 3 meals(breakfast, lunch, dinner), divide the same amount of calories over 6 meals(breakfast, snack1,lunch,snack2,dinner,snack3). This will keep your energy balaced. Avoid large peaks and valleys throughout your day. When you eat a large meal, your body will not utilize all that energy and store it as fat. When you go for more than 3 hours without eating your body will breakdown your lean mass and use it for energy thereby reducing your metabolism even more. A steady stream of energy is ideal.

False.

paigemarie93

I don't know your "stats" as in how much you weigh currently, how much exercise you are doing etc. But I would have to say that 1,200 is too low.

Just arbitrarily saying that 1200 is to low is idiotic. 1200 goal is common for shorter women who aren't way overweight. :grumble:

Please stop. People in coma's require more than 1200 calories. Your example female would have to be 2 ft 3 inches.

My BMR is 1280, so she's right...
If I eat over 1300 I gain like crazy!

ash190489

Personally I have found for my body I lost 14 kg in 3 - 4 months and I did this by barely ever eating back my exercise calories. I occasionally did if I was hungry and I allowed myself to still enjoy life every once in a while and eat out with friends but I still counted my calories and they were the days I ate my exercise calories back.

To this day I have not put on any weight, however now that I have reached my goal I have slowly put my calories up and I more often then not eat SOME of my exercise calories, sometimes them all.

I don't think there is necessarily a right answer, it really depends on you and what works for you and your body. Like someone's already said - if I wasn't hungry there was no point stuffing myself with food.

I think a good balance would be to maybe eat SOME of your exercise calories back and if it is just a platue, mix it up a bit, either your exercise or food consumption or both to trick your body and then switch back again and your body will be fighting fit and back into fat burning mode!

fizzletto

According to this BMR website: I'm a 19 year old female, 5'3", weigh 135lbs. That means my BMR is 1449.05.

I live a sedentary lifestyle, so that means my calorie intake needed to MAINTAIN my weight, is 1739 per day.

According to this website, if I want to LOSE weight, I should consume 500 calories BELOW that figure, per day.

Which would mean I need 1239 per day.

So for everyone saying 1200 is too low, and quoting this website to prove that, explain this.

fizzletto

Please stop. People in coma's require more than 1200 calories. Your example female would have to be 2 ft 3 inches.

Well I guess I must be in a coma then, because both MFP AND this BMR website say I should be eating around 1200 a day in order to lose weight at a steady, healthy rate. And I'm half way there, so I guess it must be working so far.

yarwell

This way, your body starts eating away at your muscle, and packs on the fat instead.

That would be pretty stupid. "I'm short of something, so I'll store what I do get and not use it". What a load of bollocks.

That is why people in third world countries have bloated bellies.

No, That's caused by protein deficiency. See http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002571/

You can get all the protein you need for less than 500 calories a day, so you're on the wrong horse there.

half_moon

I'm actually kind of sad that this thread died. I liked it. BUMP.

Verity1111

In before someone brings up "starvation mode"...

--P

Why? Starvation mode exists and it can make you gain weight, so it is important to bring up, even if it is mentioned 10000000 times.

Starvation mode may exist, but 99.9% of the people who use the term have not experienced it.

And it can't make you *gain* weight. If that were the case, nobody would ever die from starvation, would they?


--P

Untrue. Just a bad name, but eating too little can make you gain weight and I have read studies about it as well as studied it in nutrition in college. Your body will temporarily store as much fat as it can and burn less, also depleting the energy you have to burn and making you fatigued, while releasing ketones to try to make up for the lack of caloric intake. You can gain weight and of course you would eventually lose most likely, some people eat just enough to stall their weight, but not enough to lose.

Verity1111

This way, your body starts eating away at your muscle, and packs on the fat instead.

That would be pretty stupid. "I'm short of something, so I'll store what I do get and not use it". What a load of bollocks.

That is why people in third world countries have bloated bellies.

No, That's caused by protein deficiency. See http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002571/

You can get all the protein you need for less than 500 calories a day, so you're on the wrong horse there.

Sorry to tell you, but that is TRUE. Your body is short on protein or carbs then it will store whatever you have as fat and vice versa or release ketones, which can damage your kidneys and other organs with time. If you start to run short on the amount of fat it wants your body eats away at "muscle" or breaks down protein, in other words. It is just how it works scientifically speaking. You may think it is stupid, but a lot of natural or instinctual things are stupid.

Verity1111

In before someone brings up "starvation mode"...

--P

Why? Starvation mode exists and it can make you gain weight, so it is important to bring up, even if it is mentioned 10000000 times.

Starvation mode may exist, but 99.9% of the people who use the term have not experienced it.

And it can't make you *gain* weight. If that were the case, nobody would ever die from starvation, would they?


--P

I agree, only third world countries will experiance it, if that is indeed what's going on with them. Don't believe anyone here on this site will every experiance it or even know anyone who's experianced it. It's a term someone decided to use freely in place of the word plateau.

I beg to differ. Two years ago I tried a diet and wasn't eating enough and working out like crazy. I was only eating 900 calories a day, if that, but I didn't realize it. I would lose 10 pounds, gain 13, lose 9, gain 15. I didn't get what I was doing wrong. So, I went to my doctor to get checked for a thyroid condition. I was feeling lethargic, sick all the time, just wanted to sleep. I felt miserable. So, she sent me to a dietitian. She told me to keep a diary of what I ate everyday; I did. She told me I wasn't eating enough and that I did in fact put my body in starvation mode. This means that your body things you are starving, so when you eat things, even healthy things, your body instantly turns it into fat to store because it thinks that you aren't going to get food for a long time. This way, your body starts eating away at your muscle, and packs on the fat instead. That is why people in third world countries have bloated bellies.

"Starvation mode" is in fact real. And it happens to people who AREN'T just in third world countries. I have experienced it first hand. It took my body almost 6 months for my body to get back to it's regular metabolical rate, so I kept packing on pounds that long.

THIS! Entirely true. I was not eating enough while pregnant and gained 11lbs lost 3 gained 6 lost 2 etc. Yes since I was pregnant it is harder to tell, but I was also releasing ketones TMI into my urine.

Verity1111

The 500 calorie per day example was cleary exaggerated for me to illustrate my point, I am not suggesting that members here are actually doing that. Go back and read the post again. I was merely pointing out that there is an overwhelming attitude here that less is always better, which is not the case.

Of course more calories can be beneficial in certain circumstances. Probably fewer circumstances than people want to believe, but still, I agree it can be helpful.

My point, which you seemed to dispute, was that the vast majority of people here claiming to have been in "starvation mode" were not in starvation mode. To be in starvation mode, you need two things: (1) run massive calorie deficits for a prolong period of time; and (2) already have low body fat (10% for women, 5% for men).

Every example I read here is someone who is a long way from 10% body fat! They are still overweight, their weight loss has slowed, they're frustrated, and they start claiming to be in "starvation mode". Or, rather, others here try to tell them they are in starvation mode, or soon will be. Which is ridiculous.

--P

WRONG. You won't need a low body fat. I know because I experienced it. Proof is in the pudding. Your body begins to release certain things and levels raise and you gain weight and I did on a low calorie diet AND I was overweight as well and it happened more than once. This was also shown with tests from my dr. I had blood tests, urine tests, etc and they concluded I was not eating enough and that is why I would gain a lot of weight really quickly. (6 or 10 lbs in a week or two!).

LadyBeryl

You folks are talking and arguing among yourselves. The OP hasn't responded to a single post. She may have just been bait.

AllisonRae01

I am on the 1200 limit, and I feel fine. I went uo to 1450 calories a day about 2 weeks ago because everyone was saying 1200 calories was not enough. I lost weight for the first week, but then was at a standstill for about 2 weeks straight. I dropped my calorie goal back down to 1200 and started losing weight again. I curently weigh 147 and and exercise 6 times a week eating back my calories i burn when exercising. If I i feel fine, am I still putting my body in starvation mode with 1200 calories? Am I losing muscle mass instead of fat? I am a athlete, so I need my muscle. Please help

Eatkansasbeef

Bump

artemis814pa

Why would I want to eat back my work outs? Defeats the purpose of me busting my *kitten*. I'm just all confused now. And nothing is working for me. It's like I'm just stuck gaining weight for eating period, or maintainting with diet and busting my *kitten* at gym. What the heck I gotta do to lose 2 lbs a week?! I get so frustrated. Now I have mfp to do some serious tracking n figure out what I'm doin wrong. My maintenance base is round 1800 so I've been at a 1200 to 1800 range For a month with 30 mins of cardio, 30 mins of walking at whatver speeds I feel, and 20 to 30 of strength training 4 to 6 days a week. doing the random zumba class as well. mfp recommends 1200 cals so I'll see if I can stick with only 1200.

maheenkqm

I'm 5'11 and weigh 160lbs goal weight is 130
I aim to eat 1200 calories a day..but my min on myfitnesspal is 1280

I haven't lost any weight
UGH its so annoying to have to diet, when none of your friends are and they're always going out to eat.