1200, and why it won't work

labissonette

Valuable insight. Thanks!

aelunyu

What an amazing (and sensible) post. It absolutely makes sense!

So for those of us who have only been on (or back on) the wagon for a few weeks at 1200, do we bump our calorie intake up again?

I can kind of guestimate how many calories I was inhaling before the first of the year, but I didn't log until I came back to MFP a week or so ago.

Thank you for taking the time to write it all down for us.

I came back to MFP on the 1st of the year. I started at 1200 again and am slowly inching my calories up until I find a level I like where I'm still losing. Curious as to the OP opinion on doing it that way.

that's more or less the same thing. but think about it...would you cherish a few days of being above your caloric needs..or cherish the slow grind up to that point? I always have people set it higher than I think it is. That way, you get to at least enjoy your last days feasting!

4summer38

What I don't understand is why MFP doesn't adapt to this? In reality it's us 1200 calorie people that are getting mixed signals. I mean with the vastness that is MFP, you'd think they would have used this concept if it worked. I'm not trying to knock the idea, cause I like the idea. It's just a little frustrating trying to figure out what to do.

photojunkie28

I applaud your post and the time and thought that went into it. I only wish that I could believe EVERYBODY would listen. I also wish that I knew of MFP and these types of blogs before I became an example of a "self destructive dieter".

This time last year I started the old fashioned way with pen and paper and the thought (I dont remember how I came upon the decision) that 1200 was my new number. To shorten my story a little, I was exactly the person you described. At 5'5 I weighed 212.5 on a good day, had an active job and AMAZING WILLPOWER (in the form of anger at my body) to which I stuck like glue to my diet. Especially when I started seeing results. It was working, I was losing weight, I wasnt about to give up my strict counting practices no matter how hungry I got. I wanted to be thin more than I wanted food. Roughly 18 lbs later I was stuck and started killing myself with workout after workout. Lost a bit more taking me to around 185 and at some point or another my body quit asking me for food all together. I quit getting my menstral cycle and I was dead tired and cranky...BUT STILL FAT!

Fast forward...I got schooled and did the whole EM2WL thing which was painfully difficult and have been gradually increasing my calories ever since while exercising still of course. I still havent gotten my period back (roughly 7 month strike so far) and am still trying to repair all of the damage I did. Now eating about 2000 cal a day and tipping the scale at 164 lbs I am still "broken" but on my way to the right path. (yes , I have been INCREASING calories to gain, maintain and lose weight at each stage as my body adjusts to each new level)

Moral of the story: Say no to 1200. Listen to this dude. Do your homework...Figure out your TDEE, -15% , take it slow and exercise and lose fat NOT mind and muscle.

End rant!

LaNena01

bump! This was awesome! Thanks for the info!

loriepaulin

Great post!!!

SameMe_JustLess

Where were you three months ago? I finally upped my calories and have been losing weight, not hungry, and still have energy! Wish I would have had your advice in the beginning!

Barbarapurnell09

Thank you for posting

aelunyu

Where were you three months ago? I finally upped my calories and have been losing weight, not hungry, and still have energy! Wish I would have had your advice in the beginning!

Sorry! 3 months ago, I think I was enjoying a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner .

Most of the people that employ a serious and sensible approach to dieting will never EVER have to only eat 1200 calories a day...to me, that's a travesty!

clarkeje1

bump

HopeAnchorstheSoul

bump

Chickabittie

Thanks for sharing your wisdom and experience. I hope to get off the MFP 1200 calorie bandwagon. It's not working for me.

Lindz2323

Thanks for sharing!! I may come to you for some advice in the next week or two when I get back in town and can get back to my usual schedule. I enjoyed reading this..

aelunyu

One last thing, and perhaps I'll edit the OP in this..but if you have a question for me attached to your friend request, please PM me instead. I am just clicking "accept" on them, and may have lost some questions. Thanks!

sxci8

Thank you!

MrsG31

Read the whole thing, very informative and well written. You sound like a great trainer!

I've read a few other well-thought and explained posts about why 1200 a day won't work. I even changed my settings to only lose .5lb a week and it gave me an extra 40 calories to my day...whoo hoo, lol. Most days I am over that. I don't exercise at all right now ecept for walking during my 2 breaks at work, but am hoping to change that soon. I initially joined so I could start SEEING what I was eating and how much of it. I have lost 1lb, but am starting to think it is not going to budge much more unless I start exercising.

Anyways, thanks for the info and taking the time to write it all out!

SanteMulberry

Fantastic--thank you so much! :flowerforyou: It's kind of like finding your way back home---you just reverse the way you got there in the first place.

deksgrl

What I don't understand is why MFP doesn't adapt to this? In reality it's us 1200 calorie people that are getting mixed signals. I mean with the vastness that is MFP, you'd think they would have used this concept if it worked. I'm not trying to knock the idea, cause I like the idea. It's just a little frustrating trying to figure out what to do.

You need to read the supplemental information, the stickied topics. It explains how MFP works. Once you understand that MFP simply subtracts a certain amount of calories depending on what you choose for a weekly weight loss goal, to a minimum of 1200, you can make more educated decisions about your plan.

tcompton70

Ok. So I'm curretly doing the 1200 calories and it is not working. I worked out for 4 months cycling 5-6 days a week burning 350-400 calories (per my heart rate monitor) and i only lost 5 lbs. My doctor put me at 1200, told me not to eat my exercise calories back and put me on a pill to help me stay at 1200. I'm currenlty trying to figure out what I should do. I'm 43 year old femail about 5'2" and currently at 210 lbs. Current goal is to loose 25 lbs. but ultimatly I want to loose 100 lbs.

peggyalex

I have been on MFP for 2 yrs the first yr I lost 50 lbs in about 9 months using the 1200 diet method but then platued at 180 and the scale WOULD NOT BUDGE no matter what I did! so I kinda gave up and have gained back 20lbs. as of yesterday I figured my BMR and TDEE and just started today eating a 1640 calorie diet. I won't lie..........Im scared to death Im going to gain back even more but am willing to give it a go for a month or so to see how I do. any advice will be helpfull. thanks!

jenilla1

Holy wall of text! :yawn:

hamonk

*

4summer38

Thanks for your feedback. I'm doing a lot of searching and reading through things right now. I like the eating more concept because it makes a lot of sense to me. I'm just one of the scaredy cats.

Lexi507

So are there any rules of thumb to guesstimate the calories to start with? I don't know what I was eating before MFP and I don't seem to be able to log and not pay any attention to portion size. While I'm still eating the same things as I was eating before (will improve this at some point, but working on increase exercise to at least 4 times a week from 3), I suspect that some days I was having a few hundred more calories while other days I was eating even less. At 1300-1400, I get a little bit of the "want" munchies, but not "need more food."

SanteMulberry

So what happened when she reached her weight loss goal. Did she eventually go down to 1200 and does she remain there?

I'm actually so happy you asked. Actually, she got down to 140s just eating 2000. her body adjusted as I thought it might. Plus, when you start losing that much weight, you become naturally very curious about upping exercise. She did that, and now she squats 185!..granted she's 40 now and still going strong. Just recently, she emailed me about some contest prep dieting ideas, and I was so pleasantly surprised about how much she knew. I guess she was always very hungry for knowledge, just life throws curve balls and one minute you're partying in college and the next with 3 kids and 300 lb.

Thanks for the compassionate understanding of the struggle that obese people face. What they need is information like you supply---not censure.

VelociMama

Pinging to read later.

WAHMto5

Great info......thanks!

runwmeNC

Though I don't doubt it a bit, still hard for me to wrap my head around this concept.

Ozzie68

I assume this will shock my body into realizing it doesn't need to be in "starvation mode"? How long would you suggest I stay at 1200? Sometimes I don't think it's sufficient, especially 2 days a week where I do 2.5 hour sessions (60 min circuit training followed by 1.5 hours of MMA).

Athena125

Thanks for posting this. I have no idea how people eat 1200 calories. I can *net* 1200 if i workout & burn 300-600 calories. On days when I'm supposed to be eating only 1200 and can't workout, I always go over.

I wish I knew how much to eat. I literally have no idea how much I should be eating. Every website calculates it differently. Do you know a good site to go to to figure it out?

I'm losing 1/2 to 1 pound a week right now. I usually eat 1200-1700 calories a day and workout 5x a week burning 300-600 calories each time. I'm actually starting to get used to eating less but am worried my metabolism is going to slow down. I want to build muscle so I feel that extreme dieting would get in the way of this. It is so frustrating!

I wish that when I started this diet, I would have just eaten regulary for a week or two to see what my starting point was, then went down slowly to see how much less I needed to eat to lose weight.