Is this just a 'side effect' of the 1200 cal MFP gives ?

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  • Jongfaith
    Jongfaith Posts: 195
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    Yep Same here! If I stick to 1200 calories the first two days I am fine although my workouts are rough! After day three there is no joy in my life and I'm barely alive!

    I now eat back all my exercise calories and although the weight is coming off slower I feel better and have energy to do things other than just going through the motions.
  • darleyschroeder
    darleyschroeder Posts: 322
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    Yep Same here! If I stick to 1200 calories the first two days I am fine although my workouts are rough! After day three there is no joy in my life and I'm barely alive!

    I now eat back all my exercise calories and although the weight is coming off slower I feel better and have energy to do things other than just going through the motions.

    I agree here. Sometimes I feel a bit jealous of the ladies here who can eat at 1,200 daily, work out and not eat their calories back and feel great! Sometimes I can eat at 1,200, but I do better with more food. I work out stronger too. It just depends on the day. It's frequent that I get fatigued on the lower numbers. I lost 70 pounds doing about 1,500. That was enough for me.
  • Snapper1985
    Snapper1985 Posts: 124 Member
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    It's just a matter of finding the intake that's good for you. I've noticed that the net number doesn't usually mean much in that if I net 1200 or if I net 500, I don't usually notice much difference in my energy level as long as the intake was enough. I try to stick around 1400-1500 intake and usually have plenty of energy to go burn hundreds of calories and still survive the rest of the day. Again, just find what works for you and go with it.
  • RetiredAndLovingIt
    RetiredAndLovingIt Posts: 1,394 Member
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    bump
  • cindl24
    cindl24 Posts: 178
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    I am on a low-carb diet, which means I eat very few processed foods and find it very difficult to eat 1200 calories in a day. I have had the most success when I exercise regularly and eat most of the calories suggested by MFP in a day. Right now it's 1400. As someone else said, 1200 calories are very different based on what you are eating to make up those 1200 calories.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    Unless a person has a metabolic disorder or has suppressed their metabolism through years of under eating then you will need more than 1200 calories. There are a lot more fit people eating 1800 + calories than 1200 calories. I cant tell you how many people i have gotten off of 1200 calories and started eating 1700-2000 and started to lose more weight. The issue with 1200 is it doesnt supply most people enough calories to even feed their bmr. And if you dont feed your body right it increases the chance of going catabolic which means your body will use the amino acids in your muscle to create energy. This also leads to a slower metabolism.
  • LadyRhodes01
    LadyRhodes01 Posts: 88 Member
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    I started at 1200. It was fine when I started. I recently had to manually increase to 1400 because it put me at 1320 (which still wasn't enough). I agree, I now have more energy and don't go to sleep/wake up hungry. It's not for everybody.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Yep Same here! If I stick to 1200 calories the first two days I am fine although my workouts are rough! After day three there is no joy in my life and I'm barely alive!

    I now eat back all my exercise calories and although the weight is coming off slower I feel better and have energy to do things other than just going through the motions.

    Great job. The faster weight loss was most likely muscle mass, since studies have shown that happens all too easily.

    So at least now you know it's fat coming off, hopefully only fat. You'll appreciate that muscle later when trying to go into maintenance mode.

    Skinny fat usually end up at maintenance, doomed to 1200 until they risk gaining to get their metabolism repaired and LBM increased.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    1200 calories isn't enough really for anyone. When I was eating at that I was tired.....run down, zero energy, and didn't lose a pound. When I upped them my energy was up and the weight fell off. You need to feed your body in order to lose weight. Being tired and run down is your bodies way of saying I need more to function!

    perhaps what you really mean is that 1200 calories wasn't enough for YOU.
    i'm pretty sure you don't know what's right for me, as I am not run down and have more energy than ever.

    She wasn't talking to you specifically, though. Why are you taking that as a personal attack when it isn't meant to be one?

    lol, i know she wasn't talking to me specifically and I didn't take it personally. anytime I speak about my personal experience are you going to accuse me of taking things personally?
    She said 1200 is not enough for anyone. I pointed out that since she doesn't KNOW EVERYONE, she's mistaken. LIKE ME FOR EXAMPLE.

    You're going to owe me dinner if you keep riding my *kitten* my dear.

    Perfect place to hide an ED or to show your true fear of food and physiology.
    Congrats on your loss but I'd stand you next to any of my women who are losing at the same clip as you and watch you fail at deadlifts, squats and bench press.
    At low cals its best to walk daily and rest.
    Anything more and you're doing more harm than good.

    This is close to the same conversation we've had with mcarter99 for months on end.

    Just keep in mind that the more LBM you lose at low cals will at some point give you that luscious skinny-fat look that commonly happens when dieting incorrectly.
    The only way to fix skinny-fat is to eat above TDEE and build muscle.
    So keep defending how great the low cals are working.
    The ones who do this right will look great naked and the ones who don't wont.
    Period.
  • darleyschroeder
    darleyschroeder Posts: 322
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    1200 calories isn't enough really for anyone. When I was eating at that I was tired.....run down, zero energy, and didn't lose a pound. When I upped them my energy was up and the weight fell off. You need to feed your body in order to lose weight. Being tired and run down is your bodies way of saying I need more to function!

    perhaps what you really mean is that 1200 calories wasn't enough for YOU.
    i'm pretty sure you don't know what's right for me, as I am not run down and have more energy than ever.

    She wasn't talking to you specifically, though. Why are you taking that as a personal attack when it isn't meant to be one?

    lol, i know she wasn't talking to me specifically and I didn't take it personally. anytime I speak about my personal experience are you going to accuse me of taking things personally?
    She said 1200 is not enough for anyone. I pointed out that since she doesn't KNOW EVERYONE, she's mistaken. LIKE ME FOR EXAMPLE.

    You're going to owe me dinner if you keep riding my *kitten* my dear.

    Perfect place to hide an ED or to show your true fear of food and physiology.
    Congrats on your loss but I'd stand you next to any of my women who are losing at the same clip as you and watch you fail at deadlifts, squats and bench press.
    At low cals its best to walk daily and rest.
    Anything more and you're doing more harm than good.

    This is close to the same conversation we've had with mcarter99 for months on end.

    Just keep in mind that the more LBM you lose at low cals will at some point give you that luscious skinny-fat look that commonly happens when dieting incorrectly.
    The only way to fix skinny-fat is to eat above TDEE and build muscle.
    So keep defending how great the low cals are working.
    The ones who do this right will look great naked and the ones who don't wont.
    Period.

    You got a point there. Building muscle does make all the difference. However, is it really that bad to eat below TDEE and put in the physical effort? I remember when I had lost most of my weight, I was eating at about 1,500 daily and was pretty toned. Of course, over time I gained some of it back and that's why I am here today.
    I personally am afraid to eat at TDEE because it's hard to burn a lot of calories off. The lower your weight, the harder is seems to get to burn calories. I feel like if I ate at a higher calorie rate then I would have to be a slave to the cardio!
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    Working at a lower body fat% means you'd need a smaller deficit.
    Try to retain as much LBM as you can while cutting and measure weekly progress with how you progress with weights and losing size in your waist.
    For instance someone like me lost the majority of my weight at 1600-1800 calories.
    Now I'm at 2k because 1600-1800 is too low and can hinder my lifting.
    One issue I notice with people first getting into the higher calories but still below TDEE will gain some water weight while regulating.
    Those who stick through the water weight fluctuations in the beginning and not freak out and immediately lower cals, they lose fat better than the LCDs.
    They also maintain LBM and have better strength.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Just keep in mind that the more LBM you lose at low cals will at some point give you that luscious skinny-fat look that commonly happens when dieting incorrectly.
    The only way to fix skinny-fat is to eat above TDEE and build muscle.
    So keep defending how great the low cals are working.
    The ones who do this right will look great naked and the ones who don't wont.
    Period.

    You got a point there. Building muscle does make all the difference. However, is it really that bad to eat below TDEE and put in the physical effort? I remember when I had lost most of my weight, I was eating at about 1,500 daily and was pretty toned. Of course, over time I gained some of it back and that's why I am here today.
    I personally am afraid to eat at TDEE because it's hard to burn a lot of calories off. The lower your weight, the harder is seems to get to burn calories. I feel like if I ate at a higher calorie rate then I would have to be a slave to the cardio!

    He was just referring to what happens at goal weight when skinny fat. The only way to get out of it then is eat above TDEE and accept weight gain along with some muscle gain.

    But of course, you do have to eat below TDEE. But the axiom slower is better is true, but not if it's done because you've slowed your metabolism down and tearing down muscle.

    Realistic deficit is best to encourage just fat lost.

    It went on slow, just fat, best to take it off the same way, slow, just fat.

    Edit - Dan, someone owes someone a Coke I think. Too bad we don't drink sugar drinks! Ha.
  • gabriellejayde
    gabriellejayde Posts: 607 Member
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    Here's a thought... my goals aren't the same as your "women".
    They should eat more if they are building muscle. No doubt.

    Btw, as far as who lifts more, i held the state record bench press at one point. Not sure what my max is but it still might be pretty good...
  • tequilasunris3
    tequilasunris3 Posts: 197
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    I try to eat between 1600 and 1700 calories when I'm at work (I work at aldi, non stop running around and loads of lifting) and between 1300 and 1400 on my day off :)
  • atvfanatics1
    atvfanatics1 Posts: 6
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    I'm on 1200 calories and working monthy with a NUTRITIONIST. She checks the balance of my carbs, fat and protein intake each month. And I make sure to record everything because you would be surprised how little things add up. It's working GREAT for me and in 2 1/2 months I've lost 22 pounds which she feel is a nice slow and steady way to loose weight. I feel wonderful!!

    I agree with a previous post that it really depends on WHAT you are putting into your body because I don't feel hungry at all and have more energy than ever before. Lots of whole grain, fruits and vegetables for me. I also take into account what I am burning in exerices for that day and with Fitness Pal you get extra calories for that day. Some days I need that and some days I don't depending on the workout.

    Best of luck to you. :bigsmile:
  • soulfulsally
    soulfulsally Posts: 326
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    BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
    or your weight x 14-16

    first formula gave me 1865.95
    second formula gave me 3246

    Yeah, I got 1,690 and 2,940. Maybe while the 1st one is only BMR, the 2nd one includes daily activities?
  • soulfulsally
    soulfulsally Posts: 326
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    BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
    or your weight x 14-16

    first formula gave me 1865.95
    second formula gave me 3246

    Yeah, I got 1,690 and 2,940. Maybe while the 1st one is only BMR, the 2nd one includes daily activities?

    And there's no way I'm eating 2,940 - 500 or even -1,000. Way too much food.
  • raichhype
    raichhype Posts: 74 Member
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    Personally, I have more energy eating 1200 cals than eating 2,000+ because I'm not stuffed and lethargic all the time.

    Everyone is different!

    You'd have better weight loss once you regulate using the extra calories.
    Probably why you only have a 13lb loss since June.
    Eat more and become more efficient working out and you'll see better losses and higher energy.

    You seem to be mistaken, I started using FMP in June last year :)
    But I started using it again in September this year, I've lost 13 pounds since September xx
  • AmberJo1984
    AmberJo1984 Posts: 1,067 Member
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    It probably was a side effect. You have to have energy from the food for your body to function properly.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    Here's a thought... my goals aren't the same as your "women".
    They should eat more if they are building muscle. No doubt.

    Btw, as far as who lifts more, i held the state record bench press at one point. Not sure what my max is but it still might be pretty good...

    Are you eating back your calories burned from activity?
    What's your height and body fat%?

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