Who has been able to lose with 1200 calorie diet?

melizakhoo

I lost 4Kg. started 30 Dec and today 26 Apr, nearly 5 months, I lost 4KG so yeah, I am so excited, it works.

Foodiethinking

I've lost 27lbs in 4 months on generally 1,200 but sometimes to 1,400. If I'm hungry I eat more, if I'm satisfied I might eat less. Your calorie goals are flexible and probably take some tweaking I like being low though because if I want an 1,800 day at maintenance then I don't give it much thought.

RebelMiltonMom

I do 1200, BUT, I do average that throughout the week. Soooooo, some days it might be 15-1500 others it may be 800. This helps with my rotating work schedule and family dinners. It's working for me so far, down 6 lbs. in 10 days (I've been doing it for about a month but only tracking for 10 days). You need to figure out what works best for your lifestyle and schedule.

Faye_Anderson

About to get crucified here, but I'm a guy doing 1200 calories.

>your body can't function on that
>you can't sustain that

I started on Christmas day at 321 and about 44% bodyfat, I'm down 70 lbs down in 4 months, feel great, plenty of energy, walked/jogged 5 miles yesterday. Obviously I can't do 1200 forever, so probably another month of this then I'm going to start upping the calories a little.

What happens when you start to eat a more reasonable amount and the scale jumps up? Will you go back to 1200 or persevere?

jsuaccounting

When I first started MFP I did 1200 calories. I didnt eat back my calories.I didnt know I was suppose to. I hardly ever had a cheat day. I worked out 7 days a week.
I lost 40lbs, very quickly. HOWEVER. I think I may have damaged myself. I binge now. I never had ever done that before.
I gain weight super easily now. I should be able to maintain my weight at 2000 calories a day, but I cant seem to.
I put some of the weight back on and it just will not come off. I think my body is holding on to it in case I decide to starve myself again.

I did something similar about 1200 cals + eating back exercise calories sometime around 2010 I went from like 149 to 123 - I looked great! However, the rebound was terrible. I gained up to 135 really fast and I couldn't tolerate going back to 1200 either - ravenously hungry at times. To stop the gaining I started doing a lot of simple cardio. There was no way I was going over 135 again - but then I started injuring all my tendons! Back up to 147. I figured out that I had also lost a lot of muscle which seemed to cause my weight to be centered in the belly with skinny legs- not an attractive look.

Long story short - I did some weight training, low carb, then eventually lowered my stress and have gotten back down to a pretty good looking 132-135 range which I maintain without too much attention. I want to put on muscle and maybey lose another 5-10 pounds. while I am playing around with the low calorie thing, I am strength training and trying to keep with very low carb in the hopes of maintaining muscle and keeping my blood sugars stable.

Everybody is different, I think some people do well with the 1200 calorie thing but I also hear some stories of people who have side effects - fast rebound, food obsessions, muscle loss. I think personally, I had undiagnosed blood sugar issues which disappeared on a lower carb diet.. If you do the low calorie thing- I would add some weight training to maintain your muscle mass and would try to focus on very nutritious whole foods.

Good luck - keep focused and keep trying - you will succeed.

BrittanyMG3

I am at 1200 calories, I have lost 52lbs in the last 3 months since I had my daughter! Most of that was with dieting alone and now I am on the "21 day fix" program and I am still seeing great results. I was stuck up in the 200lb range for YEARS..I would say since after I had my son 7 years ago. I struggled to lose and never got below 185 no matter how hard I tried..Today I am 155lbs and only 25lbs away from my high school weight and ultimate goal!!

Christi132

Although the 1200 calorie/day worked for me when I had 40 pounds to lose, now that I am fit and want to re-lose the last 5-10 pounds (again), the 1380 works much better for me. At 1200, I felt like my body as kicking me into starvation mode and the temptation to binge eat was overwhelming.

mzbek24

I tried to do the 1200 for the first four weeks and in the first two weeks I dropped 8 pounds. In the third week I dropped 1. In the fourth week I actually gained back two. And I was cranky and miserable and hungry. I know it works for some people but for me personally 1200 was too low. I calculated my BMR and my TDEE and using those two numbers I set myself at 1650. I usually don't get that high, though. I tend to stick around 1500. I've been doing that for about five days and I am hoping it helps (haven't weighed in yet). I definitely feel less cranky though, haha

I'm doing the same thing!
It has been just 8 days for me. I have still lost 1kg in the past week! but feel like I'm stuffing food in to even make 1500 lol (big mistake not eating til midday!) It's certainly a lot better than being hungry, though.

infinitevast

I started 1200 calories on January 9th with an occasional cheat day (about every 3-4 weeks). So far I have lost 46 pounds.

BlueberryWatermelon

I aim for 1200 calories per day, but I only started tracking two weeks ago. I find it's pretty easy to hit 1200 (or even below) on my exercise days, but I have a LOT of difficulty on days when I'm really busy at work (12 hr shifts) with no time to exercise. (And no, I'm not on my feet at work; I have a desk job.) So, I'm hoping my good days will balance out my bad days.

PriscillaLaine

I've been on 1200 for a couple of months now and have lost 11lbs. I'm happy with that loss, and think 1200 is a good number for me, but I don't sweat it if I go over sometimes.

KristenMarieRuffles

I am doing the 1200 calories a day plus I eat back some of my calories burned...I try to make my 3 main meals a combined 900 calories out of the 1200 (approx 300 per meal) then spend the other 300+ on little snacks throughout the day like light hummus and wheat crisps or honeydew melon or chopped pineapple or yogurt etc....I burn usually like 200-300 calories on a slow day and 600-700 on a good day....on a good day I dont eat all of those calories back but it eases my mind to know they are there and available so I dont feel like every snack/meal is my last lol....it seems to be working so far...im almost on my 3 week anniversary of joining...on my two week weigh in i was down a total of 8lbs so we shall see on Monday where I am at now, however, being a female certain monthly occurences tend to add water weight and make the scale do wonky things soooo Im anticipating a more disappointing number come monday but i wont be distracted as I am mentally prepared for WHY it may say something I dont like lol....1200 is doable if you do your research into lower calorie healthy snacks and meals...I have found some AMAZING recipes that are lower calorie that are delicious and easy to make and keep me on my calorie count and have spent some time at our local grocery stores checking out products and their nutrition info to find things that work for me that i like and are much lower in calories than my "fat snacks" :P Plus when you come to realize how much healthier options you can have in one sitting for the same amount of calories as one "fat snack" its insane....my hubby sat down with a passion flakie one night...i looked at the nutritional info and it was well over 300 calories...for almost the same amount of calories I was able to have a giant dinner plate full of honeydew, pineapple strawberries, apple slices with peanut butter a granola thin and of course my water....I take weight smart vitamins with green tea extract in them once a day (as I dont like green tea itself) and I drink 92oz of water a day....so if you do your research and learn what works for you, then its totally doable

KristenMarieRuffles

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KristenMarieRuffles

I started 1200 calories on January 9th with an occasional cheat day (about every 3-4 weeks). So far I have lost 46 pounds.

thats fantastic! Good Job!!

radryan0

I am thin framed and over 40. I stick to about 1250 calories a day plus walking. I ensure I get all my fiber naturally. I drink 1-2 GNC Lean 25 protein drinks a day. I also have a small morning and afternoon snack. I cut out bad carbs almost completely (once in awhile I have pizza or chips, cause we must also enjoy life too!) I stay between 117-119lbs and I feel great. When I started, I was at the top of my "healthy" weight range, now I am near the bottom. Why do I watch what I eat and stick to a specific calorie intake? Because my doctor said my arthritic knees and hips will feel better. She was absolutely correct. I will not go back to the life of painful walking. I lost 25 lbs. and I feel wonderful and I can go on long walks again which I love. Walking is the sum extent of my workout as I am very busy with a full-time career and completing my graduate degree. A side benefit to cutting out the bad carbs is that I was able to get off all my asthma medicine. I had chronic bronchitis too. No more. No inhalers, nebulizers, steroids, daily maintenance or antibiotics. NOTE: That isn't going to be true for chronic asthmatics. My doctor said my asthma was definitely food (bad carbs) related. You CAN loose and maintain. I believe like many who have responded that you have to get to know your body and what works. As we age its very important because losing weight isn't as easy as it was in our 20s. Every body is different. Remember that and find the mix that works for you. That is truly the key. Tracking your food, water, vitamins, etc. will get you there!

airangel59

Started here on 1450 calories (6/7/12), changed after losing to 1250 calories (3/10/13)
Sedentary and had over 130 lbs to lose
I usually don't eat my exercise calories back, if I do its no more than 200.
I walk 3-5 miles a day per RunKeeper, Fitbit, HRM, but work from home computer job and if I didn't go out walking after work, I'd be sitting on recliner till bedtime...yep sedentary
I don't feel I need to have cheat days, cheat meals etc ..I work what I want to eat (fast food, chocolate, junk food etc) into my diary.
Yes if I am hungry, I will of course eat,but eating for the sake of eating got me morbidly obese in the first place.
Everyone's body/metabolism is different, one has to take age, metabolism, health issues etc into consideration.
My doctor's have been supportive of my weight loss and how I've done it.

jec285

About to get crucified here, but I'm a guy doing 1200 calories.

>your body can't function on that
>you can't sustain that

I started on Christmas day at 321 and about 44% bodyfat, I'm down 70 lbs down in 4 months, feel great, plenty of energy, walked/jogged 5 miles yesterday. Obviously I can't do 1200 forever, so probably another month of this then I'm going to start upping the calories a little.

What happens when you start to eat a more reasonable amount and the scale jumps up? Will you go back to 1200 or persevere?

When I cross that bridge I'll report back with details

rose313

I have tried many, many different calorie goals, been on MFP for 2 and a half years, and the only time I've ever lost weight was on 1200 or close to it. If I'm hungry, I'll eat more. I can go up to 1400 with no setbacks, so I don't starve myself. I sit at a desk all day and JUST started going back to the gym, so I expect I'll need to increase calorie intake soon.

Mygsds

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