1200 calories is hard!

runboostie

I agree that 1200 is too low. Could you be setting yourself up for a hard time? 1400 sounds way more reasonable to me.

vienna26

MFP also has set me at 1200 cals im around 5ft 4 and weigh 140lbs wanting to lose 2lbs a week,is this right for me or should i up my calorie intake lil bit confused now lol any info given is appreciated :-)

meshaal_twanted

I just started MFP a few days ago, and I agree: 1200 calories is too hard, but mostly if you eat white starches (rice, bread) and processed food. If you stick to snacking on fresh fruit, and having lots of boiled veg in your meals, you'll be filled up for longer!

Feel free to add me Or take a look at my diary if you like.

slipchuck

When I am getting close to my calories I have Kiwi or unsweetened applesauce and that works for me

sandieashing

Hi have a hypno gastric band fitted (as the name suggests not a real surgical one) but my mind sends a signal to my stomach that I am full and stay feeling full after eating only a cup full size of a meal. I am using this site and counter to make sure I actually reach the 1200 cals a day ! as I am full up after 900 each day so must eat yoghurt's ect to boost the calls.

astrylian

1200 calories for me is a LOT of food, I eat a lot of vegetables and lean cuts of fish. Majority of my intake is vegetables, which often make me feel like I am eating a lot more for less. I also drink a lot of water, all the time - sometimes you think you are hungry when you are actually thirsty. I only eat grains in the morning, if ever - a slice of pumpernickel toast with hummus or something - and I never eat cheese or fatty toppings.

brighteyes31143

Bump!!! Gotta Run!!!!

Kristie18

I did 1200 for a year and I was always starving. I didn't eat my exercise calories. Now I eat 1200 on non workout days and 1300-1500 on workout days.

RealWomenLovePitbulls

if you are drinking soda and such during the day, switch to water. it will be hard to stick to 1200 if u are drinking half of them... open your diary so we can give better advice!

LuxHappens

Everyone using MFP should understand that if you have a goal of losing more than a few (>10-15 pounds), the "have MFP set my goals for me (recommended)" option is going to set you at 1200 calories per day. You can manually adjust your calories.

nataliexxxx

Lots of veg and fruit, celery is good as its negative calorie, yoghurts, potatoes (they are filling), rice, pasta, meat such as turkey, chicken and tuna. Ive basically listed everything I eat but I find it quite easy to eat 1200 most days.
If you do exercise you can eat more calories.

jmagdalena707

I honestly don't get the replies. They're all saying "HOW TO" eat 1,200 calories a day. Is this a eating disorder support thread? 1,200 calories is wrong 95% of the time. Go do a forum search for "plateau" and see how many calories most people are eating. 1,200. Here's why a copy from one of my topics

A plateaus is when the body reaches homeostasis, meaning you're burning as many calories as you're consuming. Someone might ask, "I am exercising a lot and eating very little and I am not losing weight, that statement makes no sense." This statement is correct, your metabolism has declined so much you're burning very few calories a day. This is a very common debate, "Well the starving people in Africa are losing weight, so starvation mode does exist" Yes they are losing weight, because despite everything their food consumption is so low, they are still eating below their daily calorie burn, even if their calorie burn is 500 calories a day.

There are 3 things that cause metabolic decline,

1. Loss of weight
2. Loss of muscle mass
3. Impaired hormonal functions.

1. As you lose weight, you will weigh less and burn less calories when you move.
2. Muscle mass burns more calories per minute than fat, if you lose muscle mass you're also impairing your calorie burn abilities.
3. When you eat low amount of calories, thyroid function(which controls metabolic rate) Gets impaired. (not going to discuss leptin here)

You can't do anything about losing weight and slowed down metabolic rate. I mean that's most of our goals here to lose weight, and as we weigh less we burn less calories. There is something you can do about loss of muscle mass, and impaired thyroid functions.

A person should have a deficit of 15-20%. The leaner you are, the smaller the deficit should be, people around 10% bodyfat should have about a 10% deficit. Why? Because if your calorie deficit is to great you can easily suffer from loss of muscle mass (slows down your metabolism) and impaired thyroid functions(slows down your metabolism).

So lets say I am a woman burning 1700 calories a day. You know what 20% of 1700 is? 340 calories. So if you have a metabolic rate of 1700 calories, you should eat 1360 calories. BUT MFP has you eat 1200 calories, because it only has the option to lose 1lbs a week or 2 lbs a week.

You have to burn about 500 calories a day to lose 1lbs a week. 1700-500 = 1200(this is what MFP will put you at). This is a deficit of .29.5%. WHICH IS EXTREMELY HIGH, for smaller people.

Thanks for sharing this. This is great info!

tbellamy1

The only thing I see making 1200 calories hard is excepting the fact that I can only EAT 1200 calories!!! Why are you eating 1200 calories? Is this your BMR? How much do you exercise?

Lets say you burn 500 calories and you only eat 1200 calories
1200-500=700 calories that your body is using to function. Which eventually is going to cause to stop losing weight and if you do lose it wont be fat it will be muscle. You want to keep the muscle and lose the fat. But eating that little amout will force your body to hole on to the fat and release the muscle.
Im sorry but Id rather lose the fat and keep my muscle. ENJOY YOUR BIRD FOOD!!

christimw

The only thing I see making 1200 calories hard is excepting the fact that I can only EAT 1200 calories!!! Why are you eating 1200 calories? Is this your BMR? How much do you exercise?

Lets say you burn 500 calories and you only eat 1200 calories
1200-500=700 calories that your body is using to function. Which eventually is going to cause to stop losing weight and if you do lose it wont be fat it will be muscle. You want to keep the muscle and lose the fat. But eating that little amout will force your body to hole on to the fat and release the muscle.
Im sorry but Id rather lose the fat and keep my muscle. ENJOY YOUR BIRD FOOD!!

i'm the opposite, its hard for me to even get to 1200 calories since i changed the way i eat. now, i had no problem eating that or much more when i was eating junk with empty calories. now that i only eat meat, veggies, and fruit, and i even added coconut oil just for extra calories, and it's still really hard. i'm eating foods that keep me fuller for longer. i'm also 4'11 with a small frame. i was -73 from my 1200 goal yesterday, and that was after literally STUFFING myself to the point i was uncomfortable. all on meat, fruit, and veggies. it was suggested i eat back the calories i burn from working out to get to 1200, so i've tried that only to gain back 5 lbs in two days. i had 6 ounces of chicken, 1.5 cups of collards, and .25 cup of veggies stir fried in coconut oil last night. far from bird food i was beyond stuffed from that meal, if i had that three times a day, i would only have just over 1000 calories. not everyone who doesn't reach 1200 calories isn't eating bird food.

tml224

1200 cals is NOT GOOD for anyone unless you are a bariatric patient! Even someone who is sedentary and doesn't exercise requires more calories just for every day living! If you are having a hard time "eating below" your threshold, my guess is that you will not sustain this for very long. The holidays are right around the corner and your willpower will definitely be tested and you will find yourself on that new Year's resolution kick for weight loss. Check out the Eat More 2 Weigh less group and their website eatmore2weighless.com and you will be amazed and the info and what you will learn!

ShanR77

Open your Diary and let us have a peek and maybe we can see what is putting u over.

Also do you have your weight loss at 1 lbs a week? You might need to do some readjusting because 1,200 calories is a bit low.

erickirb

Thanks for all the help so far! Keep it coming!

1200/day is what my app started me at based on wanting to lose 10 pounds at a rate of 2 lbs/week approximately.

with only 10lbs to lose your goal should be more like 0.5lbs/week, to fast a weight loss when you don't have much to lose will lead to the loss of a large % of lean muscle, not just the fat you want to lose.

Brandicaloriecountess

That is why I eat like 1800-2000 a day

christimw

exercise and eat those calories back. trust me

i've been doing that, and i've gained weight. and i'm not eating anything junk, processed, or any grains or sugar, all good nutritious food. so why am i gaining and not losing? it doesn't make sense.

MemphisKitten

You shouldn't be eating a diet that low in calories anyway. You may lose weight quickly, but you aren't replacing your fat with muscle, increasing your metabolism, or fueling your body the way you should be. Message me if you're interested in learning how to eat closer to 2000 calories a day and still lose weight!