How do you people stay at 1200 a day??

cubbies77

OP, if you are over 300 pounds, you can probably eat more like 1800 - 2000 calories per day. I started out eating 2000 (I was 357) and dropped to 1870 just recently (I'm 312 now).

MouseTmom

I try to be around 1200 calories (my dr. said 1200 - 1300).
Breakfast is bagel thin with laughing cow strawberry cream cheese, 2 pc Kraft fat free cheese slice
and banana

Snack is 100 calorie pack of chex mix

Lunch is sandwich thins with turkey, frozen peas, salad w/ fat free itialian, snack size no sugar added mandarain oranges

Dinner varies - suggestions are
baked chicken breast with frozen vegies and a little ice cream cup
smart ones frozen dinner
progresso light soups
chinese carryout - white rice with hot and sour soup or won ton soup
Popeyes jambalaya and 1 or 2 chicken strips

If I still have extra calories I will eat some peanut butter, nuts, popcorn, glass of milk or vanilla silk soy milk.

I only eat back about half of my exercise calories because i think the MFP counts are a lot higher than actual.


If I am still under calories i will eat a little peanut butter or some nuts. Maybe some light popcorn.

KOlmert

portion control! When I first started, I physically measured everything I ate! Now, I can visually tell how much most things are!

jess393

Years ago I lost a lot of weight very quickly by only eating 1200. NOW, there's no way. I follow the tdee, and it is working wayyy better for me I'm never starving, I have a decent amount of energy, and I'm not as crabby (win-win for everyone, haha). I like it this way... don't think I could eat 1200 if I tried, now!

justwannadance

Maybe, I am doing this wrong.
I have a Special K protein shake in the morning at 8:00am. It sustains me until about 10 where I eat and orange and water. At 12:00pm I have been eating chicken breast and 2 slices of whole wheat bread. At 2:00 or so I have another orange and then for dinner (tonight) I had 1/2 cup of mac and cheese and a grilled lightly seasoned pork chop. Before I eat anything I consume one whole bottle of water. This way I have my daily water serving and I also stay full longer. I haven;t been working out recently but I don't over do myself either! Hope this helps some.

SCsexy1

I agree that losing the soda is a major plus and will make you feel better in general. Walking, dancing, and even cleaning (yes, cleaning, and you will get something else accomplished in the meantime) are great ways to exercise without even feeling like you are exercising and getting burnt out when you are starting out.

DanielleHinkle24

Actually, I guess I mispoke..MY goal is 1700, set by this site, but I see lots of people who say that they stay at 1200 so I guess I was just lashing out at THAT particular number. I can't seem to stay under 1700. I eat A LOT of healthy food........but apparently not low cal enough......because I struggle with the numbers....and the scales have gone no where.....I guess exercise is the key and I have not built up to that hour of mad crazy exercise yet.....ugh......I just am doing a MILLION times better than I was BEFORE I started this and I still can't get the lbs to go anywhere....I don't know why I didn't weigh four tons when I think about how I ate before and how I ate now....if eating the way I eat now gains lbs then I truly don't know why I wasn't dead from my weight before....honestly....

I know exactly where you are coming from when you say "I just am doing a MILLION times better that I was BEFORE I started this and I still can't ge the lbs to go anywhere". Before I started with MFP (again), I was probably consuming at least 3,000 calories a day of junk (chips, sweets, candy, processed food, and a ton of diet soda). I felt terrible - sluggish, tired, and bloated. For me, I had to start "hard core" meaning that I eliminated all processed foods, all sugar, dairy, grains, alcohol, and diet soda. The first few days were VERY HARD but I kept telling myself that it would be worth it in the end and that I could do anything for a few days. I noticed that once I stopped eating all the crap (that I had been eating up until that point), I didn't crave it. HOWEVER, even though I had dramatically changed what I was eating and my calories were about a third less, the scale was not moving - AT ALL. I tried to tell myself that I didn't put all this weight on overnight and that it was going to take a long time to lose it. Slowly, I began to see a pound here and there. Hang in there!! This way of eating has it's challenges in that there you need to plan ahead. I work full time so I have to know in advance what I am having for lunch (typically leftovers from the previous night's dinner).
There are often times when I am not even hungry which is hard to believe from a life long "big girl" who loves to eat. So, as other writers have mentioned, it's the kind of calories we consume that often do us in. I highly recommend the book, "It Starts With Food" by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. If you decide to read it, do so with an open mind. I was highly skeptical and kept saying "there is no way I can eat like this" but I have and am now on day 20. I plan to proceed this way for as long as I can. Although, I am very strict with myself right now, after 30 days, if I go out to dinner or have a bite of something sweet for a celebration I'm not going to stress about it. Think about it..."It Starts With Food". Best of Luck to you!!

metacognition

Oh sure, I can stay at 1200 a day...for about three days after the inevitable 2,000 - 3,000 calorie binge. LOL.

When I first started losing weight, I stayed at around 1200 and got used to it - probably because I wasn't exercising too much. I would have a 1300 calorie day every few days though sheer mismanagement though.

I now eat between 1200 - 1500 per day.(I grunt and bear with those 1200 calorie rest days) and exercise very intensely on the others.

I am losing more weight on higher calories than on 1200 per day because I am not very tempted to binge.Mu hunger is manageable or minor now.

If you want to try 1200 calories a day, here are a few hints that I found vital to doing it:

Eat small meals often, not large meals a few times a day that will trigger appetite later.

Avoid stuff heavy in added sugar, go for low calorie substantial high fiber foods like a sweet potato half or a 100 calorie popcorn bag.

Try to eat foods high in volume.

Avoid added fats (nothing wrong with fat, but it is dense so your food will be higher in overall calories)

Take vitamins. Learn to love fruit & veg.

Practice overestimating your calories every now and then, since people are prone to underestimate. Assume that piece of pie is just a bit larger than you remember it. Add vegetables to your rice mixes so the overall calories are lower per cup than just the rice mix alone. If you try this you will likely be more accurate in calorie counting since as human beings we are prone to underestimate what we eat.

icandoanything2

when i first started losing weight, i could not eat at or under 1200. i found it really hard. i focused on the foods i ate and made healthier choices. weight loss doesn't happen overnight, so if you need to, take it slow.

amills1152

Simple: Do a forum search for "In Place of a Road Map" - it's likely you aren't meant to be @ 1200 calories a day!

gemstone4

I dont know about how to set your calories yet but I do know about being hungry. I am still new at this but flax seed seems to curb my hunger. I normally like to eat yogurts in the morning then I decided to add in some way flax seed. I tried it with the yogurt and noticed that it was more satisfying. Also beans help keep away the hungries.

kelsanderson78

I haven't read all these replies, but my goal is net 1200 calories. have a look at my food diary to get an idea of what I eat - I don't go hungry, I have protein and carbs at every meal, 2 pieces of fruit a day and veges with at least 2 meals per day. I don't really snack, if I do its just almonds

MariaHammer750

Not sure how many lbs a week you have indicated that you are trying to lose, but if you are trying to lose too much too fast that is not considered to be healthy and you may be depriving yourself too much with restricting calories to that low of an amount. I have learned through much trial and error not to do deprivation type diets. For me, I find that when I deprive myself that much it makes it hard to stick on a diet for very long and then I fall off the wagon and eat everything in site and gain back anything I lost plus some. I am considered morbidly obese and I have set a safe goal of 1.8 lb weight loss per week, which means I have 1700 calories a day, however, I try to stay at around 1600 a day. I just learned recently that when I exercise, it earns me another 300 calories a day for just 20 minutes of riding my stationary bike. So I can actually eat more than the 1600 calories if I wanted to or bank it and lose weight at a faster rate than 1.8 lbs per week, which is what I have been doing. Exercise is not fun when you are heavy, but I encourage you to keep trying to find something that works for you because it will allow you to consume more calories and still lose weight. For me, the easiest thing is my stationary bike which has a comfortable seat with a high back. Also, if you like to cook, check out some low cal recipes on line. Spark People is a site that is similar to MFP, but is not as easy to use but does have lots of recipes. I'm not sure if I have my profile set to where my food diary is able to be viewed by others, but if you want some ideas on low cal things to eat, take a look. You'll see I'm not always completely on track, but a lot of the time I am, and a Weight Watchers leader once told me that success is being on track more times than you are not! Best of luck to you.

MariaHammer750

P.S. I forgot to say that as you lose weight, you will then have to adjust (lower) your calories to still be able to continue losing weight, but I think the MPP will calculate that for you.

wendybird5

I did 1200 calories for four months and lost 32 pounds. I didn't feel hungry because I ate a lot of clean foods that were filling and low calorie. But I did notice the low calorie limit affected me in other ways and I was more prone to heavy binging on my cheat days. I've now gone up to my BMR and feel much better. There are some people who can do it, but it's not for everyone and it's not the only way to lose weight.

MaraDiaz

Thread from the dead? I'll bite. I'm getting close to a proper weight, I'm middle aged, I'm extremely sedentary except when I work out. I'm unemployed, I have no life, I rarely leave the house, and I don't chase small ankle biters around trying to keep them out of dangerous chemicals and whatever else kids get into when you aren't standing right over them.

So yeah, 1200 is fine for me. In fact, if I always ate my exercise calories back I'd lose weight so slowly on 1200 that I would go stark raving mad. So unfortunately right now I'm netting less than that. I sometimes do eat my exercise calories back, depending on how many innocent people will die if I don't.

sokkache

I started off at 1200 calories and realized that I should be eating at least a little bit more so I bumped it up to 1400 calories. But everyday I still always have about 100-200 calories left. How I do it: Eat one large meal a day with snacks in between. I eat breakfast and lunch. My breakfast is usually a smoothie or greek yogurt with honey and sometimes its just a kellogs bar. Lunch is a nice sandwich with milk and some chips (I know I shouldn't be eating it but it's a tiny bag). When I get home, all I do is snack every hour. Each hour is either a 90 kcal bar or some walnuts or almonds and dinner is just leftovers. And after that, it just all adds up to about 1200-1300 calories.

It's honestly not that hard. But then again, I'm only looking to lose 15 pounds. I'm already in pretty good shape. Before I started losing weight, I was eating not much more than I am now. I was eating maybe 1600 kcal a day but it included lots of sugar and fats and junk. Now it's a lot healthier and I have more protein so I feel fuller longer.

You really shouldn't start off at 1200 though considering as you said you are obese. I would start off with 1800 or 1700 if I were you and slowly make your way down.

eatrainsmile

I have a pretty small frame and I can not manage to stay at 1200. Never. So I work my butt off and work out so that I have more calories to eat without getting fat.

Bumbeen

I just feel like I'm wasting my time if I'm not eating the minimum. I'm just extreme like that so don't be like me. I mean I could run on a treadmill for two hours or I could just not eat those carbs and save the cost of the food and the time lost burning it off lol

1brokegal44

Log everything. Drink lots of water. Chew sugarless gum. Get busy doing something non-food related. After a while it will become second nature. Good luck!

tryclyn

1200 is for the first half of my day and then about 700 for the rest of my day. 1200 is not a magic number, you need to find what works best for you. Start with what you learn here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12 , use the number for at least a month and then adjust up or down accordingly.

Also, more good info here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

BamBam125

I have been doing this for a long time and I can not stay under calories, no matter how hard I try. How do you people do it??? I looked at some of your diaries and that ones I looked at.....one ate one meal a day and some vitamins, one ate protein shakes twice a day and a salad for the other, the others complain about not being able to get to 1200 a day, one eats pizza and goes over and still says he/she loses two lbs a week.

My diary is private but I can tell you just of what works for me.

I've never been a breakfast person, but I do try to have something, even if it's just soy milk, juice or a yogurt. So my breakfast calories are typically under 200cal. Sometimes I have cereal but I try to make sure it's high in fiber. I do take 2 gummies for vitamins and another 2 for fiber each day.

I keep a reusable cup full of ice water on my desk at all times. I drink water pretty much non stop while I'm at work. Yes, this means I have to pee frequently, but my desk is near the bathroom, so I don't mind.

For lunch, I have either a salad (I like those artisan salads from Publix deli (I sent them an email and they replied back with a PDF of the estimated calorie and nutrition info for me) or I make a lunch and bring it to work with me. The Artisan salads are big, so I often get 2 lunches out of those. As long as I get dressing on the side, they stay crisp for the second day. They have a good baja salad (like the taco one at Wendy's), a sweet apple with sugared pecans and balsamic glaze, and my favorite--shanghai chicken with spicy peanut dressing and crunchy noodles.

When I make my own lunch, I try to make it snack-able. That is, I try to make it something that I can snack on so that it takes me awhile to eat. For example--Bread that I toast and then spread with hummus, Nutella, or laughing cow cheese; cucumbers or carrots with dip; hard boiled eggs with salt and pepper. I also use Lean Cuisines, but not the meals. I get the appetizers instead, like pita pocket with cheese dip (I toast the pita) or fajita rolls (3 for 200cal or a whole box for 400cal) that I can dip in hummus.

My biggest meal is dinner with hubby and it's often my least healthy meal of the day. I try to watch my portion size and have something green/veggie with each dinner. I often only put half of "my" dinner on my plate. For example if dinner is chicken parm, I'll cut a breaded chicken breast in half instead of putting the whole breast on my plate. I go back for the other half only if I'm still hungry after finishing the 1st half. I often find I'm not hungry for the entire other half. The leftovers end up in my lunch the next day, or hubby eats it later, or I eat it on leftovers night.

Don't you people get hungry???

Yes, but then I usually realise my glass is empty. I refill it and see if a glass of water fixes my problem. Sometimes I get into part of my lunch early (fine because I made it snackable) or I don't eat my whole lunch and instead I use the rest of my lunch as an afternoon snack. I usually log it as lunch no matter when I eat the different parts of it.

For the evening, when I get the urge to snack, I just start cooking dinner instead. Normally, hubby gets the urge to eat before I do, so I'm often cooking before I'm really hungry. So it's rare for me to want a snack before dinner.

After dinner, if I have room in my budget, I will allow myself a treat (Hersey's kisses, ice cream) etc. If not, I try to distract myself--water, a walk, a book, etc. It doesn't always work, but most of the time it does.

In general though, veggies tend to be low in calories, so I try to have as much of those for lunch and dinner as I can. That way I get more food for less of my calorie budget.

I try to keep my biggest temptations out of the house or at least out of my reach (Soda, crackers/cookies, etc). I'm short and anything I can't see I tend to forget exists--which makes the top of the fridge the perfect place for hubby's stuff---chips, pretzels, etc. When he gets into those I'll have a bite or two, but not much. He might give/feed me a frito or two with salsa while I'm cooking or while he's watching TV but as long as he keeps control of the bag, I can think of them as just for him and I'll stay out of them.

tifalva

Its hard to stay in that range, for a lot of people that's too low. There are days that I am able to do it (not on purpose, my calories are set at 1400). The days that I do are the days I eat salads and veggies for most of the day with a lot of water. I'm not hungry at all on those days. I have found the trick is you can eat more for less when food isn't processed, eat it as natural as possible and it fills you longer and you can eat more because they are next to no calories. Good luck to you

bmqbonnie

Eating 1200 a day is a good idea if either you are very small and sedentary or you want to be skinny-fat and miserable.

I eat almost 2k.

nitiegen

I don't have to hard of a time once you get use to it. When I get so hungry between my meals I will find things to eat like pickles, salad,or things with little to no calories. Light soups are a really good choice as well. There are lots of different foods out there you just got to search!!!

kirstyfairhead

If you have been a big eater for a long time trying to cut to 1200 all at once might just be too much to ask. Try cutting back a bit more slowly to allow your tummy to shrink and remember any deficit is a good thing, you don't have to loose lbs and lbs every week you just have to loose something!!!

fernandocontreras24

Eat all the fruit and veggies you can. They fill you up and are low in calories. I also do meal replacement bars and shakes from Labrada. Home made turkey sandwiches are also filling and low in calories. I'm at 1300 cal a day. Also "EXERCISE" is big. The more calories you burn the more space to eat healthy, and drink WATER like it's SODA! =0) But the main secret is determination. Write you goal down and look at it everyday. It all start in the mind.

AuntShanna

It is very different for everyone. What works for some, may not for others. I am a shorty at 5'1"... so I need to keep it real low. I eat LOTs of veg/fruit/lean protien. I dont worry about going over a little. Loosen up a little on the weekends. and I eat my exercise calories, since 1200 is so low to begin with... I figure my body needs to, to keep it happy/losing. But everyone is different. activity level, nutritional value of food, and your own bodies ability all come into play. I have a sluggish thyroid and suspected insulin resistance... so I keep it low... but believe me I'd love to eat 1600 calories a day... but I would gain there.

amills1152

Eating 1200 a day is a good idea if either you are very small and sedentary or you want to be skinny-fat and miserable.

I eat almost 2k.

^^^ This. I was skinny fat once because of taking in too little calories. I was low weight and squishy as all hell. It's all about TDEE and BMR!

alimarie53

I try and stick with raw veggies, egg whites, lean meats... But I'm human and will mess up and have chocolate (more often than I would like to admit.) I go over my calories almost every day... But I make sure I get a small workout in everyday so I can make up for the calories.