Is it ok to go below 1200 net calories?

crunchybubblez

Eat more protein? Honestly, from my point of view, going over you macros is so much better than having a net of 1200.
Figure out you tdee and bmr. Then do a 15% on you tdee. Eat that amount everyday including the days when you aren't exercising/active.
On the days that you do exercise, try to net at least your bmr.

Thanks.
Someone posted a link above explain tdee and bmr in detail.
I custom raised my calorie intake.

crunchybubblez

I would be cautious about going too low with your net calorie intake. I'm a nutrition student (waiting for my results for my final exams to see if I have my nutrition degree) and everything I have read and been taught so far is that to lose weight successfully you do need to eat and take it slowly. If you cut down your calorie intake too much you may lose weight but your health is likely to suffer. Also, most people who cut down their calorie intake heaps cannot stick to it and end up gaining more weight than they lost.

First of all, congrats!

Im actually not cutting back on food.
I figured out the reason I'm so over weight is because I don't eat enough food.
A lot of days (before I started counting calories) Im sure I wasnt close to eating 1200 calories.
We go out to eat fairly often and I didn't realize some of the stuff I was ordering was 2,3, even 4,000 calories!
So now I'm trying to eat more calories at home, and A LOT less calories when we go out.
I just don't eat enough. Plus I try to stick to a vegetarian diet.
So Im eating all day and I want to make sure it's enough.

crunchybubblez

..

crunchybubblez

(Oh, and please spare any condescending lectures.)

This comment tells me that you have read up on the damage your are doing to your body at such low calories, so not sure why you are asking.

You should never go below 1200 net calories, nevermind remain AT this level for too long unless you are really short (less than 5'3).

*sigh
Apparently you didn't read all of what I've written in this post.
I've eaten over 1400cals today.
Im over on my macros.
I HAVE seen people say to eat at least 1200 calories.
Question was do they mean at least 1200 net calories and is it
Ok to be over on my macros.
I was in no way trying to justify eating too little food.

My comment was meant to keep people from leaving rude comments because
I'm constantly seeing them on all kinds of posts.
Apparently it didn't work.

crunchybubblez

I would continue to work out and eat more. It took me a while to figure out, but the more exercise you do (and enter into MFP) the numbers for your macros go up, so you have more wiggle room and can still be under or around 1200 calories.

Oh nice!
See, I didn't realize that the macros went up.
I thought only the calories did and the macros stayed the same
*phew
Makes so much more sense now.

LittleMissRainey

Glad to help

brazillover

Everything I've read and what I heard from my own doctor say that under 1200 calories is putting yourself in starvation mode. Which means your metabolism will slow down drastically because it wants to hold on for dear life because it's just not enough food.

crunchybubblez

Everything I've read and what I heard from my own doctor say that under 1200 calories is putting yourself in starvation mode. Which means your metabolism will slow down drastically because it wants to hold on for dear life because it's just not enough food.

Thanks.
I just wasn't sure if that was just 1200 calories or 1200 net calories.
And I found out my macro limits go up on here when I enter exercise.

TavistockToad

I would continue to work out and eat more. It took me a while to figure out, but the more exercise you do (and enter into MFP) the numbers for your macros go up, so you have more wiggle room and can still be under or around 1200 calories.

Oh nice!
See, I didn't realize that the macros went up.
I thought only the calories did and the macros stayed the same
*phew
Makes so much more sense now.

so actually there was no need for your less than friendly response to my comment - as by eating more (my suggestion) your macros increase.

rfsatar

It happens... sometimes I am a little under, sometimes a smidge over.
I found the secret was to change the order in which I ate things (which worked for me... chatting with a bestie - it is totally the opposite for him!)

If I snack I try and make it fruit, or something more proteiny and filling. Then again some days I throw caution to the wind, and have a piece of WHITE toast, butter and jam... and you know what? I don't go to Hades...
I have lost half a stone, and I think I eat a lot healthier than I used to, and I KNOW I am much more aware of how my own calorie intake has worked.

I eat back some of my exercise cals some of the time, sometimes all - it really does depend on your day!

I like to view it as a marathon, not a sprint. One day under is never going to pitch me headlong into full on starvation mode....

Above all, be honest with yourself, how you feel and how to want to achieve what you want to achieve.
How you get there is down to you :-)

MouthyMatthewCHANGED

I really feel for the women on this board, because they so often face this issue. As a man, my calorie allowance is so much higher that I've never really had to face this much, but I see the question doing the rounds really often.

My personal view, for what it's worth, is that the clue is in what you've said in the title: NET calories.

I see 1,200 as the *bare minimum* that you should consume during a day. Then, if you burn off calories which results in you coming underneath that, that's OK.

The comparison I make is for a fuel tank of a car. If you fill the tank up, you can travel around in it, and run it down anywhere between full and empty without causing a problem. But if you don't fill the tank up, and still try to go the same distance, you'll be running on fumes and damage the engine.

So make sure you're topping up your fuel tank properly each day, and you ought to be OK.

Just my opinion, though :-)

MouthyMatthewCHANGED

(Oh, and please spare any condescending lectures.)

This comment tells me that you have read up on the damage your are doing to your body at such low calories, so not sure why you are asking.

You should never go below 1200 net calories, nevermind remain AT this level for too long unless you are really short (less than 5'3).

I'm not entirely sure I agree with this.

To my understanding, you should always try to avoid going below 1,200 GROSS calories. As long as you consume at least 1,200 you can take your net below it.

I could be wrong, but that's my opinion on the matter

crunchybubblez

I would continue to work out and eat more. It took me a while to figure out, but the more exercise you do (and enter into MFP) the numbers for your macros go up, so you have more wiggle room and can still be under or around 1200 calories.

Oh nice!
See, I didn't realize that the macros went up.
I thought only the calories did and the macros stayed the same
*phew
Makes so much more sense now.

i

so actually there was no need for your less than friendly response to my comment - as by eating more (my suggestion) your macros increase.

My response was not meant to be "be less than friendly".
And I was not responding to your suggestion.
I was responding to the last part of your comment which seemed like you were insinuating
that I was purposely trying make my body "burn muscle".

crunchybubblez

I really feel for the women on this board, because they so often face this issue. As a man, my calorie allowance is so much higher that I've never really had to face this much, but I see the question doing the rounds really often.

My personal view, for what it's worth, is that the clue is in what you've said in the title: NET calories.

I see 1,200 as the *bare minimum* that you should consume during a day. Then, if you burn off calories which results in you coming underneath that, that's OK.

The comparison I make is for a fuel tank of a car. If you fill the tank up, you can travel around in it, and run it down anywhere between full and empty without causing a problem. But if you don't fill the tank up, and still try to go the same distance, you'll be running on fumes and damage the engine.

So make sure you're topping up your fuel tank properly each day, and you ought to be OK.

Just my opinion, though :-)

THANK YOU!
Thanks for reading my question in it's entirety!

After doing some research I raised my daily calories. So I'll be eating about 1,700 calories a day
and I won't eat back what I burn unless I start getting close to 1200.

crunchybubblez

(Oh, and please spare any condescending lectures.)

This comment tells me that you have read up on the damage your are doing to your body at such low calories, so not sure why you are asking.

You should never go below 1200 net calories, nevermind remain AT this level for too long unless you are really short (less than 5'3).

I'm not entirely sure I agree with this.

To my understanding, you should always try to avoid going below 1,200 GROSS calories. As long as you consume at least 1,200 you can take your net below it.
P
I could be wrong, but that's my opinion on the matter

That's where it gets so confusing...

midnight333

I've only been eating around 1100. I even pre-plan my diary for the days ahead but they don't turn out that way sometimes. I like my 'net' number to be 1200 my diary is public. I don't exercise much because of my MS. BUT I have a lot of weight to loose. I had plateaued (don't know on spelling) a month ago) so I switched up my macros it seemed to help a bit during these past few weeks. Still keeping max caloric intake around 1200 lately.

just read the above post my height is 5'2

loveskinny27

if your breastfeeding you need to eat more I'd say stay at least 1500 cals aday and eat plenty of nutricious food and drink plenty.

crunchybubblez

if your breastfeeding you need to eat more I'd say stay at least 1500 cals aday and eat plenty of nutricious food and drink plenty.

Thanks. I'm actually about done breast feeding.
The "baby" is over 2.5yrs old.
I'm trying to get him to self wean, so if my milk did stop coming in that's wouldn't be bad.


I did a little research and have raised my daily calories to about 1700.
We'll see what happens...

crunchybubblez

I've only been eating around 1100. I even pre-plan my diary for the days ahead but they don't turn out that way sometimes. I like my 'net' number to be 1200 my diary is public. I don't exercise much because of my MS. BUT I have a lot of weight to loose. I had plateaued (don't know on spelling) a month ago) so I switched up my macros it seemed to help a bit during these past few weeks. Still keeping max caloric intake around 1200 lately.

just read the above post my height is 5'2

Lol
Im 5' 3.5"
I guess I'm 1/2" from making the cut.

castadiva

Definitely 1200 net, not gross. If you're thinking gross and then deducting exercise/breastfeeding, you could easily end up with a dangerously low net intake. Re. macros, you can manually set these to reflect your personal needs - as you're breastfeeding, you may need higher intakes of certain nutrients - check with your doctor for recommended percentages. As previously stated, your macro numbers will increase as your gross intake does - the numbers represent ideal percentages (most easily seen using the pie-chart function on the app, unfortuantely not available online) though the preset percentages are not ideal for everyone.