1200 Calories? Really?

DontWeightStartNow

Hi All, I just started MFP about 10 days ago and based on my level of activity, my NET calories that I should be eating per day works out to 1200. I'm 5'7 and weigh 237 lbs. Maybe I'm not getting this, but it appears that if I ride my bike and burn an additional 500 calories, or do some kind of exercise that burns, I can then eat dinner - just kidding, then my caloric intake goes up to what I consider 1700 to 1800 calories a day (what my nutritionist said I should be eating). Does this mean that if I have one day where I don't exercise, I should restrict myself to 1200 cals per day if I want to continue to stay on track?

Also, at what point (pounds lost) should I reevaluate my caloric intake or adjust it???

deksgrl

It gave you 1200 because you probably chose that you want to lose 2 pounds a week.

To lose 2 pounds a week, you need a calorie deficit of 7,000 calories per week, or 1,000 per day. But 1200 is the minimum daily recommended.

This is not smart for many people especially non-petite people, because they have a BMR of higher than 1200 (that is the amount of calories they would feed you in a coma to fuel your basic bodily functions).

At some point you won't continue to lose weight on 1200, and you will have to increase. As you get closer to your goal, then losing 2 pounds a week isn't sustainable and you will have to adjust to 1 pound a week and then half a pound a week.

tryclyn

MFP is a tool that you can customize to your needs.

I would start here.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717565-in-place-of-a-road-map

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/752778-how-wrong-i-was-600-days-of-mfp-lotsa-pics?hl=600+days#posts-11136303

gtahvfaith

1200 Calories is very realistic, depending on how badly you want to lose the weight.
At my heaviest I was 235 pounds. I am 5' 7".
I am now at 144.
Was it easy?
Absolutely not.
But I wouldn't change this journey for anything.
You can do this!

jealous_loser

MFP is a tool that you can customize to your needs.

I would start here.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717565-in-place-of-a-road-map

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/752778-how-wrong-i-was-600-days-of-mfp-lotsa-pics?hl=600+days#posts-11136303

^^^ This.

I started where you are too, I didn't have as much to lose, but you don't have to restrict so heavily.

kristinmschmidt

I agree. I started 3 days ago and 1200 calories is HARD to stick to, but I am going to do my best because I am motivated. If it is more comfortable and easier for you to lose 1 lb per week, then do that. I have a trip coming up in a few weeks, so I want to drop weight pretty fast. After my trip, I will adjust to losing 1lb per week to make my life a little more tolerable (it is not fun to be hungry!).

Aviva92

I'm 5'4" and weigh 123. I don't find that eating 1,200 calories is that difficult. Sometimes I go a little over, but if I stick to a healthy diet, I haven't found it to be all that much of a challenge. I suppose for bigger people it might be a different story. I doubt that for me 1,200 is the bare minimum to keep my body functioning while in a coma. I think it's less.

It's way more difficult to stick to 1,200 calories if I eat a cupcake like I did yesterday. Leave cupcakes out of my diet and I can do it.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

It's not necessary to restrict that much. Just set your goal to 1 pound a week instead of 2 and you'll gain some calories. The more sustainable your goal is, the longer you'll stick to it. Remember this isn't meant to be a short-term thing, so it's ok if your loss is slower just as long as the changes you make are ones you're willing to do for the long haul.

deksgrl

I'm 5'4" and weigh 123. I don't find that eating 1,200 calories is that difficult. Sometimes I go a little over, but if I stick to a healthy diet, I haven't found it to be all that much of a challenge. I suppose for bigger people it might be a different story. I doubt that for me 1,200 is the bare minimum to keep my body functioning while in a coma. I think it's less.

Your BMR is 1223 according to the Mifflin - St Jeor equation.

eliza46142

Try the "clean eating" diet (Tosca Reno). I follow that (loosely - I'm sure if true "clean-eaters" saw my diary, they wouldn't claim me lol). Before trying it, I was starving to death trying to do 1200 calories a day, and I was working out just to get the extra calories for snacks, instead of working out for me. On the whole foods approach, I ended up losing the last 15 pounds to reach my goal weight, and I was adding "treats" into my diet to get up to 1200 calories a day. It's not for everyone, but certainly worked for me.

LeidaPrimal

Heh, at some point i calculated that I don't get to eat at all on the recovery days if I wanted to keep 2 lbs a week loss deficit. I still feel guilty when I eat on recovery days. But i am getting over it. That's said don't go on that bike to 'earn' dinner. Find an activity you enjoy and try doing it. Dancing, walking, gardening.... Start with eating 1800 cals a day. See if our weight drops. Ir it doesn't, next week eat 1700 cals a day.... Don't forget to throw in one day a week when you eat >2,000 calories. Your body needs it to feel assured you are not starving. Cut out all the foods that increase your appetite, like grains and sugars and fruit. Stick to meat and vegetables for a while...

You can do it, honest.

srark

I met with a nutritionist and she set my calorie goal to 1300 calories a day. That gives me a little bit more wriggle room.

TeaBea

Hi All, I just started MFP about 10 days ago and based on my level of activity, my NET calories that I should be eating per day works out to 1200. I'm 5'7 and weigh 237 lbs. Maybe I'm not getting this, but it appears that if I ride my bike and burn an additional 500 calories, or do some kind of exercise that burns, I can then eat dinner - just kidding, then my caloric intake goes up to what I consider 1700 to 1800 calories a day (what my nutritionist said I should be eating). Does this mean that if I have one day where I don't exercise, I should restrict myself to 1200 cals per day if I want to continue to stay on track?

Also, at what point (pounds lost) should I reevaluate my caloric intake or adjust it???

Yes - it would be 1200 for non exercise days. Honestly, you can just average things out for the week if that's easier. If you exercise 1400 calories total for the week .. give yourself 200 extra calories each day.

It's all about what you can tolerate ... if 200 isn't enough ... use 300 ... and just lose a little slower (no biggie). Don't torture yourself, besides you might find it gets easier over time.

SoDamnHungry

That's basically how the math works. If 1200 is too low, you can customize and do unguided goals.

Heather_Rider

Hi All, I just started MFP about 10 days ago and based on my level of activity, my NET calories that I should be eating per day works out to 1200. I'm 5'7 and weigh 237 lbs. Maybe I'm not getting this, but it appears that if I ride my bike and burn an additional 500 calories, or do some kind of exercise that burns, I can then eat dinner - just kidding, then my caloric intake goes up to what I consider 1700 to 1800 calories a day (what my nutritionist said I should be eating). Does this mean that if I have one day where I don't exercise, I should restrict myself to 1200 cals per day if I want to continue to stay on track?

Also, at what point (pounds lost) should I reevaluate my caloric intake or adjust it???

#1. read the forum rules.

#2. search forum for 1200 calorie posts.. and eating exercise calories back.

#3. if you find nothing, THEN post.

Im sure you may find SOMETHING about it... maybe one or two posts..

ascotton80

Also, don't worry about the daily calorie totals being over or under, just make sure net calories for the week are at 0 at the end of the week.

You can find this under "weekly summary" on the App.

HypersonicFitNess

It's not necessary to restrict that much. Just set your goal to 1 pound a week instead of 2 and you'll gain some calories. The more sustainable your goal is, the longer you'll stick to it. Remember this isn't meant to be a short-term thing, so it's ok if your loss is slower just as long as the changes you make are ones you're willing to do for the long haul.

^^^ Agree with this! 1200 is the minimum you should be eating but if you are taller and have more to lose, this will not be healthy for you. Go to some of the sites to check on what you should be eating to lose weight and modify (customize manually) MFP to fit your needs:

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

http://thefitgirls.com/weight-loss-calculator.aspx

http://calorieline.com/tools/tdee

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmi/

californiagirl2012

Hi All, I just started MFP about 10 days ago and based on my level of activity, my NET calories that I should be eating per day works out to 1200. I'm 5'7 and weigh 237 lbs. Maybe I'm not getting this, but it appears that if I ride my bike and burn an additional 500 calories, or do some kind of exercise that burns, I can then eat dinner - just kidding, then my caloric intake goes up to what I consider 1700 to 1800 calories a day (what my nutritionist said I should be eating). Does this mean that if I have one day where I don't exercise, I should restrict myself to 1200 cals per day if I want to continue to stay on track?

Also, at what point (pounds lost) should I reevaluate my caloric intake or adjust it???

Yes - it would be 1200 for non exercise days. Honestly, you can just average things out for the week if that's easier. If you exercise 1400 calories total for the week .. give yourself 200 extra calories each day.

It's all about what you can tolerate ... if 200 isn't enough ... use 300 ... and just lose a little slower (no biggie). Don't torture yourself, besides you might find it gets easier over time.

This is a really good answer. It's all in what you can tolerate. Everyone is different. When you eat at a calorie deficit either big or slight your body does go into a state of flux with hormones and such and it is different for each person. Also each person has their own issues or emotional eating issues or whatever that come into play. Your are tall so you have more room to play with up or down without getting hassled by everyone about eating too low, use that to your advantage.

As you get closer to your goal you will need to taper your calories up and the process becomes much slower (as if it wasn't slow enough to begin with!) But also taper up whenever you get burned out on a deficit. Eating right at maintenance is not backwards if you need the break from the deficit, and it's a better strategy than going crazy and binging.

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

MBSNANA

Hello, if your nutritionist has suggested something different I would reset my limits to what suggested. I did. MFP set my calorie limit to over 2000 calories a day. My doctor no more then 1200 and I have been losing.

Kagami_Taiga

To be honest, at your current weight burning a large number of calories isn't that difficult. I'm 242 right now. Swimming one hour of laps, moderate pace can burn almost 800 calories. 20 minutes of jogging burns 300.

It can seem difficult, but you get used to it.

ps I eat 1200 everyday too (almost, I have days where I go out with family for massive meals). Also the weight lost in my tracker with the scottish flag, shows the weight I've lost since July.

desiv2

Listen to your dietitian, ask them. You'll get a lot of different opinions on this, and she is the one that will probably know what is best for you.