Exercise tips for a 1,000 calorie diet

shaggerty410

Hey everyone!

I just joined MFP today, and after completing my profile, I am now beginning a 1,000 calories/day diet. I've been researching online to see what a healthy exercise plan would be for my new diet, but I haven't had much luck. Anyone else on ~1,000 cal/day diets who can share some beginner tips?

Thanks!!

ubermensch13

Why?????? 1200 is the normal minimum....are you on a specific medically supervised low calorie diet? It is going to be hard to have the energy to do a lot of exercise on that low of a calorie deficit. I hope you are going to at least eat back your calories form exercise.....

AnvilHead

At 1,000 calories, I wouldn't suggest much exercise at all. You're not taking in enough calories to support your most basic bodily functions, let alone an exercise program. If you're highly overweight/obese, your body will draw from your fat stores to help supplement, but 1,000 calories is a very low intake level.

meshashesha2012

fixing some food and eating it would be fantastic exercise on a 1000 cal a day diet

PikaKnight

Hey everyone!

I just joined MFP today, and after completing my profile, I am now beginning a 1,000 calories/day diet. I've been researching online to see what a healthy exercise plan would be for my new diet, but I haven't had much luck. Anyone else on ~1,000 cal/day diets who can share some beginner tips?

Thanks!!

You aren't going to find a "healthy" exercise plan for a 1000 calorie diet because a 1000 calorie diet isn't healthy.

If you want, check out this link by MFPer Heliotsdan - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

It'll give you a detailed walkthrough (with pictures even) on finding your TDEE and calculating what you should be eating.

Also, if you are worried about the calorie intake, I also suggest you read this thread that has numerous people who met their goals and are maintaining. Some for years and they also provide their calorie intake and how often they work out.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/816542-let-s-hear-it-for-maintainenance

And if you are looking for foods to help with upping your calorie intake, I suggest checking this out:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/410771-i-can-t-reach-my-calorie-goal-it-s-too-much-food




For the whole eating under a 1000 calories, look...you are going to do what you want but check out the link below at some of the stories of people who thought it was okay (especially because they weren't "feeling" hungry a lot of times) but ended up regretting it. These links are just information to give you options. I'm not preaching or trying to tell you or anyone what is the "right way"...just throwing some info your way is all.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/521480-1000-calories-or-less-a-day

shaggerty410

Thanks guys!

Yes, the plan is to eat back what I burn off at the gym. And my focus right now is cardio to burn fat.

DopeItUp

Tip: Don't do a 1000 calorie diet.

ubermensch13

Strength training will help burn fat too....fyi.

AnvilHead

Thanks guys!

Yes, the plan is to eat back what I burn off at the gym. And my focus right now is cardio to burn fat.

Doing a bunch of cardio combined with a highly restricted diet like you're contemplating isn't just going to burn fat - it's going to take a large amount of muscle along with it. If "skinnyfat" is your goal (being skinny with no muscle mass and a saggy, flabby body), then proceed on the path you're contemplating - it's the perfect recipe for it.

Take the advice of the poster above - read Dan's "Roadmap" thread, set your caloric intake at a reasonable level with adequate protein/fat intake and be satisfied with a reasonable rate of weight loss that won't damage your metabolism and cause loss of lean body mass.

jojorocksforeva

ill take the skinny flappy body:)

shaggerty410

If I were to adjust to a 1,200 calorie diet...?

volume77

At 1,000 calories, I wouldn't suggest much exercise at all. You're not taking in enough calories to support your most basic bodily functions, let alone an exercise program. If you're highly overweight/obese, your body will draw from your fat stores to help supplement, but 1,000 calories is a very low intake level.

This


Please don't do 1000 calories a day . You'll just stall out and damage your metabolism

volume77

fixing some food and eating it would be fantastic exercise on a 1000 cal a day diet

Hahaha
This

PikaKnight

on a 1200 cal diet, you might not have a lot of energy...depends on your body and also what exercises you are planning to do. When I did that (before I researched more about fitness)....I could barely get through a 30 minute workout without feeling exhausted.

I eat 1600 calories and exercise 4-5 days a week. I have done some pretty high cal burn days since then (800-1600 burns at 2-3 hour sessions) and I can tell you if you plan to do anything more than 30 minutes or anything intense, you need energy and you won't get that on a 1200 calorie restricted diet.

Pixi_Rex

eat more food.

shaggerty410

Thank you. My goal is to exercise 2-3 times a week doing at least 30 minutes cardio, or substitute for weight training. I work A LOT and on top of my school requirements, I won't have much time to turn my body into a saggy mess...lol

theWinchester

I tried low cal diets and they "do not" work! I only lost when I started eating bmr!

MoreBean13

Here's my tips:

- Don't do a 1,000 cal diet. The deficit is too large. You don't burn FAT faster with that big of a deficit, the extra weight you may lose will come from your lean body mass. The really unfortunate thing is that LBM is MUCH harder to replace once it's lost than fat, so when you inevitably crash and burn on 1000 cals and regain weight, you will end up with proportionally MORE fat than you started with. Seriously. Don't discount what I'm saying here because you don't like that I said it's inevitable that you'll regain. Seriously consider that at the end IF you regain the weight (which you will) you will be fatter. It's the curse of the yo-yo diet.

- Start strength training YESTERDAY. You can do as much or as little cardio as you want, but devote 90 minutes a week to lifting, and your body will transform. Eat back your exercise calories, or at least most of them.

- Get enough protein, 1g/lb LBM, or if you don't know your LBM 100-120g is a good place for most women to start, call it an educated guess on my part.

-Keep your maximum deficit at 20% from your TDEE. Fat loss is proportional to how much you have to lose, not to your deficit. Of course, it is DRIVEN by your deficit, but there's an upper limit to how much actual FAT you can lose. If you can't lose more fat, why eat less?

- Log every morsel of food you eat. Get a food scale and weigh the morsels.

- Get off the scale, and take body measurements with a measuring tape, and take "before" pictures of every angle of your body in a swimsuit (or underwear, but you won't be able to post underwear shots here later when you do awesome!)

-Cut all excuses. ALL excuses.

That's pretty much it!

AnvilHead

If I were to adjust to a 1,200 calorie diet...?

Once again:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

[ETA:] MoreBean hit it on the head. Read her advice carefully if you really want to succeed at this. Starvation doesn't accomplish the goal you're looking for.

shaggerty410

Thanks everyone - I appreciate all of your input!

DiaryOfaThickFitWoman

I personally hate anything under 1250. Been there, done that. Eat and exercise, simple. You have to be committed and in it to win it. Slow and steady if necessary.

geekyjock76

Do you mind sharing us some stats? Like height, weight, body fat percentage (if known), etc.

Verity1111

fixing some food and eating it would be fantastic exercise on a 1000 cal a day diet

Lmso

Verity1111

Here's my tips:

- Don't do a 1,000 cal diet. The deficit is too large. You don't burn FAT faster with that big of a deficit, the extra weight you may lose will come from your lean body mass. The really unfortunate thing is that LBM is MUCH harder to replace once it's lost than fat, so when you inevitably crash and burn on 1000 cals and regain weight, you will end up with proportionally MORE fat than you started with. Seriously. Don't discount what I'm saying here because you don't like that I said it's inevitable that you'll regain. Seriously consider that at the end IF you regain the weight (which you will) you will be fatter. It's the curse of the yo-yo diet.

- Start strength training YESTERDAY. You can do as much or as little cardio as you want, but devote 90 minutes a week to lifting, and your body will transform. Eat back your exercise calories, or at least most of them.

- Get enough protein, 1g/lb LBM, or if you don't know your LBM 100-120g is a good place for most women to start, call it an educated guess on my part.

-Keep your maximum deficit at 20% from your TDEE. Fat loss is proportional to how much you have to lose, not to your deficit. Of course, it is DRIVEN by your deficit, but there's an upper limit to how much actual FAT you can lose. If you can't lose more fat, why eat less?

- Log every morsel of food you eat. Get a food scale and weigh the morsels.

- Get off the scale, and take body measurements with a measuring tape, and take "before" pictures of every angle of your body in a swimsuit (or underwear, but you won't be able to post underwear shots here later when you do awesome!)

-Cut all excuses. ALL excuses.

That's pretty much it!

& Yes! :]

keeponkickin

If I were to adjust to a 1,200 calorie diet...?

Once again:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

[ETA:] MoreBean hit it on the head. Read her advice carefully if you really want to succeed at this. Starvation doesn't accomplish the goal you're looking for.

THIS THIS THIS! Please don't eat 1,000 or even 1,200. It's recommended to not go below 1200 minimum but why give your body the minimum. Do you want minimum safety in your car, home, medical care, etc? Why give your body the minimum when you can feed yourself more and still lose weight?

shaybuggie

I know I've seen at least two others say this, but I want to say it again because it works.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

I've tried eating under 1500-- I only say 1500 compared to your 1000-1200 because I weigh more and need more to make me "full"-- and didn't lose anything, but following this program I lost about 2 pounds the first week, breaking my plateau and putting me under 200 finally. I work out 3-6 times a week.

perseverance14

I see you made your goal! That gives me inspiration. I am doing a medically supervised 1000 calorie a day diet and it is very healthy food. Once I get the fat off I can do the high intensity interval training and other things I love to do.

ThickMcRunFast

I see you made your goal! That gives me inspiration. I am doing a medically supervised 1000 calorie a day diet and it is very healthy food. Once I get the fat off I can do the high intensity interval training and other things I love to do.

OP hasn't posted in a year and still has '0 lbs lost'. This is not the success you are looking for.

DavPul

I see you made your goal! That gives me inspiration. I am doing a medically supervised 1000 calorie a day diet and it is very healthy food. Once I get the fat off I can do the high intensity interval training and other things I love to do.

You may want to take a closer look at the OP's ticker

"goal "

Rosplosion

fixing some food and eating it would be fantastic exercise on a 1000 cal a day diet

Exactly what I was thinking.

mustgetmuscles1

Here's my tips:

- Don't do a 1,000 cal diet. The deficit is too large. You don't burn FAT faster with that big of a deficit, the extra weight you may lose will come from your lean body mass. The really unfortunate thing is that LBM is MUCH harder to replace once it's lost than fat, so when you inevitably crash and burn on 1000 cals and regain weight, you will end up with proportionally MORE fat than you started with. Seriously. Don't discount what I'm saying here because you don't like that I said it's inevitable that you'll regain. Seriously consider that at the end IF you regain the weight (which you will) you will be fatter. It's the curse of the yo-yo diet.

- Start strength training YESTERDAY. You can do as much or as little cardio as you want, but devote 90 minutes a week to lifting, and your body will transform. Eat back your exercise calories, or at least most of them.

- Get enough protein, 1g/lb LBM, or if you don't know your LBM 100-120g is a good place for most women to start, call it an educated guess on my part.

-Keep your maximum deficit at 20% from your TDEE. Fat loss is proportional to how much you have to lose, not to your deficit. Of course, it is DRIVEN by your deficit, but there's an upper limit to how much actual FAT you can lose. If you can't lose more fat, why eat less?

- Log every morsel of food you eat. Get a food scale and weigh the morsels.

- Get off the scale, and take body measurements with a measuring tape, and take "before" pictures of every angle of your body in a swimsuit (or underwear, but you won't be able to post underwear shots here later when you do awesome!)

-Cut all excuses. ALL excuses.

That's pretty much it!

In case you missed it. : )