1300 calories???

celtsguy81

I see my GF and her projected calories for the day and it boggles my mind. How does someone limit their calorie intake to 1300 calories a day? That pretty much means you HAVE to exercise for a decent amount of time every day. And then you still can barely eat. Let alone if you want to go out for a few drinks?

Am I missing something? Is that crazy or no?

renegadecupid

Hardly. Once I reach my goal weight, even as a man, to keep losing from there, I have to have 1300 or less. And that's for a goal of 190lbs.

You can still eat with a limit of 1300, but you have to eat smart, and not eat processed high-calorie, high-sugar, high-fructose corn syrup laden crap.

For instance, just cutting out a 2 liter of soda a day means you're cutting 800+ calories out of your diet (just there).

This morning I had cereal, oatmeal, an english muffin and still stayed under 500 calories. 2 sandwiches for lunch (both pastrami) and cheese and mustard with 35 calorie oatmeal bread, another 420 calories.

a sensible dinner and I'll be at 1300.

drinking alcohol on a diet is not the best idea because it dehydrates you, and in order to process food, you have to be hydrated. and the drinks add up. I used to drink molson xxx... until I plugged it into my journal here. 201 calories per beer. lol.

haley0h

i am on 1225 cal a day and i am under it mostly. which i try and eat more but sometimes i just dont have time. it depends on what you eat, if you eat clean, or replace meals with shakes (which is what i do and that allows me to have one large meal a day 600 cals, and 2 snacks up to 125 cals a peice) and i stay relatively full. the trick is to eat every few hours to keep your metabolism up. and get the right amout of protein. protein will make you feel full and lessen your cravings for other bad foods

Swizzle1986

If you want to lose weight you need to adjust your eating, make healthier choices and decrease your overall calories.
I can usually have a beer every day (if i wanted to) even when i dont exercise.

Plan your day. I basically log my entire day in the morning so that i can tweek it throughout the day to make sure i stay within my calories. And i am at 1200 a day and dont find it hard to stay under.

If you know that you are going out for drinks, exercise in the morning to make sure you are burning off those calories.
No pain, no gain.

aryastarkk

yep, being a short woman sucks! Haha, my cal goal is 1200. Honestly, it drives me crazy. I was able to eat oatmeal for breakfast and am planning to eat a granola bar and salad for lunch just so I can maybe eat some dinner with my bf when I get home.

On the bright side it doesn't take a lot of fuel to keep us going! My plan is to build some muscle and exercise regularly so that I can actually eat once in a while

justal313

My net is currently set to 1200. I exercise for at least 500 calories everyday because 1200 is kinda skimpy. I've done it once or twice but I had to be VERY selective about what I ate on those days.

My diary is open. I eat 3 meals a day and have 3 snacks. I'm just rather particular about what I eat and it's not rabbit food. I have a cookie and a glass of milk just about every night before I go to bed. If I exercise more than 500 calories I can have a more calorie dense meal or two or failing any of that a second cookie. These are Kashi cookies so they are fairly dense and filling and one is plenty and two is quite the treat.

_granola

Seems low to me, but I suppose it depends on her goals. Most people should set their activity level to lightly active, and aim to lose no more than a pound a week.

I honestly think women (or men, I suppose) who eat less than 1200 calories per day are kidding themselves if they think it's going to be sustainable.

KipDrordy

I see my GF and her projected calories for the day and it boggles my mind. How does someone limit their calorie intake to 1300 calories a day? That pretty much means you HAVE to exercise for a decent amount of time every day. And then you still can barely eat. Let alone if you want to go out for a few drinks?

Am I missing something? Is that crazy or no?

I can't believe how easily staying within a 1310 calorie diet has been, and it doesn't take a ton of exercise. I'm to the point where I sometimes struggle to eat enough calories as I have deemed many foods to not be worthy of the calories and no longer stock them. I'll still stray at times and go way over on a day, but for the most part I don't quite hit my caloric goals. If you dig into my daily log, you'll see Taco Bell, pizza, Thai food, Doritos.....etc.

kiittenforever

Drinking now thats tough to stay in the 1300 range!

mfpcopine

I have to keep to around 1150 to see any progress. You have to eat carefully.

mfpcopine

Drinking now thats tough to stay in the 1300 range!

Sadly, if you're committed to weight loss, drinks have to be limited to maybe a couple of times a week. I drink Amstel Light, which is only 95 calories.

3foldchord

guys seem to need more calories. also, the more thin and fit one is, the less they seem to need as their BMR, I think (I am not knowlegable on this, just from what I have sen here the last month)

KipDrordy

Seems low to me, but I suppose it depends on her goals. Most people should set their activity level to lightly active, and aim to lose no more than a pound a week.

I honestly think women (or men, I suppose) who eat less than 1200 calories per week are kidding themselves if they think it's going to be sustainable.

I'm assuming you meant 1200 calories per day. I think it's important to enter an activity level that realistically represents your activity level. Mine is sedentary. You only need to sustain a deficit as long as you are above your goal weight. Once there, you rework your numbers to reflect maintenance which will likely add about 3500 calories per week (500/day). Now, an 1800 calorie day is certainly within reason and sustainable.

Equally important is adding the right amount of exercise to your plan. I've seen some here go from doing absolutely nothing to a very high level of exercise while trying to lose weight. To me, that seems to be the unsustainable part. Say my caloric goal is 1310 and I add 1000 calories a day in exercise and eat 2300 calories. I'm going to lose weight. But I'm not so certain I'm going to be able to sustain that 1000 calories/day in exercise. The problem is I'm training myself to eat 2300 calories/day. The minute my exercise level drops to a more realistic amount, I'm probably going to have a problem reducing from an intake of 2300 calories. I think this is why professional athletes seem to balloon up right after retirement or during the off season. I've raised my exercise level to an easily maintained level. I will up the level only after proving that I can maintain this one.

_granola

Seems low to me, but I suppose it depends on her goals. Most people should set their activity level to lightly active, and aim to lose no more than a pound a week.

I honestly think women (or men, I suppose) who eat less than 1200 calories per week are kidding themselves if they think it's going to be sustainable.

I'm assuming you meant 1200 calories per day. I think it's important to enter an activity level that realistically represents your activity level. Mine is sedentary. You only need to sustain a deficit as long as you are above your goal weight. Once there, you rework your numbers to reflect maintenance which will likely add about 3500 calories per week (500/day). Now, an 1800 calorie day is certainly within reason and sustainable.

Equally important is adding the right amount of exercise to your plan. I've seen some here go from doing absolutely nothing to a very high level of exercise while trying to lose weight. To me, that seems to be the unsustainable part. Say my caloric goal is 1310 and I add 1000 calories a day in exercise and eat 2300 calories. I'm going to lose weight. But I'm not so certain I'm going to be able to sustain that 1000 calories/day in exercise. The problem is I'm training myself to eat 2300 calories/day. The minute my exercise level drops to a more realistic amount, I'm probably going to have a problem reducing from an intake of 2300 calories. I think this is why professional athletes seem to balloon up right after retirement or during the off season. I've raised my exercise level to an easily maintained level. I will up the level only after proving that I can maintain this one.

Yes, per day. Sorry - corrected that.

I have a bodymedia FIT, which measures my activity level throughout the day. I have a desk job, work 8 hours a day, go home and sit on my butt or exercise and then sit on my butt. When comparing MFP to my bodymedia fit, "sedentary" is too low. I think it is for most people. And for most people 1200 calories per day is below their BMR. Not healthy to eat so little every day. Yes, if you exercise, you eat more, but for a lot of women here, they are not eating those exercise calories. They claim they aren't hungry, or they are "short," or have some other excuse that makes them a unique and special snowflake. I think most women can eat 1700 calories or more and still lose weight, retain their lean body mass, have energy, and maintain their sanity. This is sustainable to me.

The fact that we continue to perpetuate the idea that women need to eat so little and torture themselves for several months to weigh some magic number that will supposedly bring them all the happiness in the world really bothers me. It's not reality.

rtpjmlm5

Seems low to me, but I suppose it depends on her goals. Most people should set their activity level to lightly active, and aim to lose no more than a pound a week.

I honestly think women (or men, I suppose) who eat less than 1200 calories per week are kidding themselves if they think it's going to be sustainable.

I'm assuming you meant 1200 calories per day. I think it's important to enter an activity level that realistically represents your activity level. Mine is sedentary. You only need to sustain a deficit as long as you are above your goal weight. Once there, you rework your numbers to reflect maintenance which will likely add about 3500 calories per week (500/day). Now, an 1800 calorie day is certainly within reason and sustainable.

Equally important is adding the right amount of exercise to your plan. I've seen some here go from doing absolutely nothing to a very high level of exercise while trying to lose weight. To me, that seems to be the unsustainable part. Say my caloric goal is 1310 and I add 1000 calories a day in exercise and eat 2300 calories. I'm going to lose weight. But I'm not so certain I'm going to be able to sustain that 1000 calories/day in exercise. The problem is I'm training myself to eat 2300 calories/day. The minute my exercise level drops to a more realistic amount, I'm probably going to have a problem reducing from an intake of 2300 calories. I think this is why professional athletes seem to balloon up right after retirement or during the off season. I've raised my exercise level to an easily maintained level. I will up the level only after proving that I can maintain this one.

Yes, per day. Sorry - corrected that.

I have a bodymedia FIT, which measures my activity level throughout the day. I have a desk job, work 8 hours a day, go home and sit on my butt or exercise and then sit on my butt. When comparing MFP to my bodymedia fit, "sedentary" is too low. I think it is for most people. And for most people 1200 calories per day is below their BMR. Not healthy to eat so little every day. Yes, if you exercise, you eat more, but for a lot of women here, they are not eating those exercise calories. They claim they aren't hungry, or they are "short," or have some other excuse that makes them a unique and special snowflake. I think most women can eat 1700 calories or more and still lose weight, retain their lean body mass, have energy, and maintain their sanity. This is sustainable to me.

The fact that we continue to perpetuate the idea that women need to eat so little and torture themselves for several months to weigh some magic number that will supposedly bring them all the happiness in the world really bothers me. It's not reality.

I totally agree

thinnnnnnner

1200 seems to be the magic number on this site. I eat around that most days and am usually content. When people feel they need to eat more than this they're usually doing so for emotional reasons, not actual hunger.

elyelyse

They claim they aren't hungry, or they are "short," or have some other excuse that makes them a unique and special snowflake.

first of all, we ARE all special snowflakes

some women, depending on age and height, and a dozen other factors, really truly can not lose weight without restricting to 1200-1400 calories a day. It's ok that you don't believe it, you don't have to, you do what works for you, and we'll do what works for us.

and it's also true that one can eat at around 1200 calories and not be hungry. Do i get the munchies? sure. That's not the same as hungry.

McBully4

I eat in the ball park of 2200-2500 and I'm losing weight just fine.

My wife eats 1900ish and she has lost more than me.

kayyydee_cancel

Unless I end up going out to eat, I have no issues staying within my 1200 calorie budget. I eat good meals and healthy snacks. I eat a lot of fresh veggies and fruits too during the day. I've even found that if I want a drink or two, I can just switch a few things up and I'm still within my goals.

lizziebeth1028

I'm definitely a 'eat more to weigh less' person! It's true and it works. I 'starved' myself for years thinking I had to stick to 1100 to 1300 calories. In fact my body was so used to getting too few calories that I never really felt hungry. My metabolism eventually screeched to a halt and I hit the big plateau. Starting upping my calories a little bit at a time and I'm now at 1600 and still seeing results!!! Seriously.....being healthy (key word is healthy here) does NOT mean starvation, deprivation and HOURS at the gym. Eat above your BMR and below TDEE, get enough protein, lift weights and do a sensible amount of cardio and you will get fit!

cmriverside

Hardly. Once I reach my goal weight, even as a man, to keep losing from there, I have to have 1300 or less. And that's for a goal of 190lbs.

This is nuts! You need way more than 1300 cals a day as a man. The recommended absolute minimum for a male is 1500, and that's if you are morbidly obese.

A man 5'10" 35 years old, 190 lbs, has a BMR of 1897 (using an online calculator). You would then add your activity ( you know, brushing your teeth, getting dressed, walking to your car, going to ANY type of job)...so , say another 600 on top of that...that would make your TDEE about 2400 - if all you do is sit on your rear all day at work. Subtract a 15%- deficit for weight loss (because that's really all you can subtract at that weight), and you get ....wait for it....2040 - that would be the absolute lowest you should be going.

Where did you get this notion of a male eating 1300 at his healthy weight? You can do it for a while at 311 lbs, but you're asking for trouble at 190.