1200 Calories??? Are you kidding me...lol

CM9178

If what you think actually worked then you would have created several post asking about this stuff. I am not trying to be rude but stating facts. Every women i know who is successful is eating 1700-2100 calories a day. If you want to be fit and lean, you need to fuel your body. Its that simple.

It should be noted that a calorie cut without exercise can slow your metabolism slightly, but only by a small amount (8-12%). Adjusting back to maintenance once you reach your goal will take several weeks of slowly upping your calories.

See and I've read that a cut without exercise can screw up your metabolism and will be very hard to maintain.

I don't know if what I'm currently doing works in the long run, because I'm not there yet, that's why I'm asking.
I do know that I have been steadily losing weigh without exercise, gradually decreasing calories and now I'm at about 1200.
But I have 45 more pounds to go, so if I can't go lower than 1200, I have to do something else. Or I'll stop losing. THAT"S why I'm asking.

CM9178

If what you think actually worked then you would have created several post asking about this stuff. I am not trying to be rude but stating facts. Every women i know who is successful is eating 1700-2100 calories a day. If you want to be fit and lean, you need to fuel your body. Its that simple.

Ignorance is bliss.

Yes you can stick to your lower eating values instead of eating 1500, then burning 300, because it IS pointless. Cardio does just that, it improves your stamina, cardiovascular performance, conditioning, and helps with your agility, and is a great tool for fat loss, if you find it hard to eat at a significant cut.

It should be noted that a calorie cut without exercise can slow your metabolism slightly, but only by a small amount (8-12%). Adjusting back to maintenance once you reach your goal will take several weeks of slowly upping your calories.

Personally, I think that if you consume enough protein, and make a head nod towards some kind of strength or light resistance training in your regimen, maintaining a cut like that is fine. If you don't care about looking rounded and muscular in places, then don't follow a regimen that will give you size and strength.

Although I would be one of the men in the camp who think that jessica biel's rock hard *kitten* is the stuff that dreams are made of...

Even with strength training, if its in conjunction with a lower calorie diet you will lose lean body mass.. only the obese can get away with a lcd. She is no where close to obese. Body needs fuel, if it doesnt have enough glycogen store it will go to the amino acids in muscle to create energy.

Actually, according to every calculator that I've ever used, I am considered obese.

LiftAllThePizzas

If you feel like you're starving, you're doing it wrong. Up your calories to a point where you can get healthy AND enjoy your days, instead of trying to suffer through starvation.

igottaworkout

I did the 1200 cals for 2.5 months.. lost steadily 24 lb. I then got pregnant lol. I was only two lb away from goal weight though so I thought that was great Now I eat at maintenance at 1590/day and have maintained my weight for the last 14 weeks. I am 5'6" and 125lb currently.

I just had a full blood work testing done because of the pregnancy and everything was perfect! I am not low in iron (like I was before I cut my diet down and started watching my macros and diet more carefully), and I was not low in anything.

So all you people who say it's so horrible to do 1200 and you can't stick to it etc. you are wrong, it works for some people and they can healthily loose that weight. Since my maintenance cals are only 1590/day based on my height/weight how else would I loose weight then by cutting from that? I of course also worked out and didn't eat my exercise calories back. I just cut out every bad item, only when I got back to maintenance I started enjoying something like a ferrero rochet at christmas etc

My blood workup proves to me that I am healthier now then when I first started, and I had so much energy until the pregnancy tiredness hit, but I am starting to feel more energetic and plan to start working out and eating my exercise calories back. I am also going to bump up my calories in a few weeks as I will need to gain about 20lb over the rest of the pregnancy and I feel excited that I can do that so easily with MFP's calorie tracker, it's really awesome!

LiftAllThePizzas

Let me further clarify - if I did exercise, it would strictly be cardio. But if I'm going to have the same result either way, I'd obviously prefer eating 1200 with no exercise.

But it's not the same result. You will have better heart health, less risk of some nasty things (women do have heart attacks) in the next 20-30 years, and more overall vigor and energy to take on the day. You can do more, enjoy more activities like swimming or biking or walking or hiking, or anything that is not just sitting around all day long. (If you don't like outdoorsy stuff now you might find that you like it when it's not kicking your butt.)

Exercising also reduces stress hormones and produces all natural happy drugs. It may not happen the first time, but it's like sex: the first time was blah, but it gets better. Speaking of, women who work out have better sex. (It's a circulation thing. More blood to your lady parts = more pleasure.)

Strength training is also worthwhile and won't make you all muscular, search for threads on strength training for women.

notenoughspeed

Why do we only get calories back if we do cardio....but nothing for an hour of strength training? Also, why does it only add the time doing cardio vs. strength?

There is an entry under cardio. Just search for strength training in the cardio section, and add the minutes spent. It's there. I use it every day.

MelisaDonald

Not all calories are created equal - Eat a pile of veggies and/or a piece of fruit and a 3-4 oz portion of protein, and a source of good fat with EVERY meal, and you'll not tend to feel hungry. I can't eat refined sugars or starches without craving more and more. Some foods are satisfying and some are addictive.

Also, not all exercise is created equal. Cardio will burn calories during exercise and make you feel happy for the day. Strength training will burn calories during exercise, burn calories for up to 48 hours after exercise, and cause you to burn more calories at rest. I find both help me feel satisfied and control my appetite, unless I exercise a LOT and don't eat enough - then appetite goes crazy later or the next day.

This is about taking good care of my body so it will do what it was created to do, easily, with lots of energy to spare, to prevent sickness, need less sleep, be satisfied with good and healthy food, have a good attitude with my family, etc.

Nmira09

Cooking your meals really helps! I NEVER used to do that and when I started using MFP I had a hard time. My goal was to consume 1200 calories but I kept going over. I started walking every day and cooking so I felt I had a lot of energy and didn't feel as hungry as the first week. Now I find myself consuming less than 1200 and I don't feel as hungry as I used to. The cooking really did help though!

trogalicious

Cooking your meals really helps! I NEVER used to do that and when I started using MFP I had a hard time. My goal was to consume 1200 calories but I kept going over. I started walking every day and cooking so I felt I had a lot of energy and didn't feel as hungry as the first week. Now I find myself consuming less than 1200 and I don't feel as hungry as I used to. The cooking really did help though!

cooking = awesome
under 1200 = notsomuch.

do yourself a favor and read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

seriously.