I'm struggling with this 1200 Calories a day thing...

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  • nikbolok
    nikbolok Posts: 107 Member
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    Eat! 1600 cals a day at least! That's what we feed comatose patients at the hospital to keep them alive...... don't you think your "alive and running" body needs more? If you are worried about "starvation mode" this will help. Hope that's simple enough :)
  • Crankstr
    Crankstr Posts: 3,958 Member
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    said Crankstr NEVER
  • whoeveryouwant
    whoeveryouwant Posts: 7 Member
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    Wow...well thanks to those who had supportive input. Surprising to see so much negativity with one post. When I wanted easy to understand it was my way of saying I didn't want to have some odd mathematical formula as everyone seems to say something different. I am not eating tons under, I have just seen people talk about eating an absolute minimum of 1200 cals a day. How did I get overweight in the first place? Well, pretty much as easy as the rest of us here. I am still eating only now I am not eating unhealthy crap...
  • cdetamore1
    cdetamore1 Posts: 1
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    eat something every 2-3 hours so you are never trying to eat too much at a time. Peanut Butter is a great idea or any nuts with a fruit/veggie/carb. You could also make your own shake with protein powder and use whole milk to add the calories if you are having trouble getting enough. I use grape nut cereal in my shakes sometimes for the fiber, but it adds the calories fast (and I eat too many already).
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
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    It always amazes me when overweight people tell me they can't eat even a basic amount like 1200 calories. No one, ever, ever, ever got fat on 1200 calories or less a day. An 8 year old should be eating that much! EAT NORMAL FOOD! Forget sticking to broccoli and chicken breasts! It doesn't have to be that hard.

    This. It defies logic,
  • PrincessLou71186
    PrincessLou71186 Posts: 747 Member
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    How did you get overweight in the first place?

    ^^^^

    Always makes me giggle when people say they can't eat 1200 calories a day.

    They had to have been eating at least double this to need to lose weight in the first place.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    How did you get overweight in the first place?


    AGREE!!! :huh:
  • jack1925
    jack1925 Posts: 186 Member
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    i have my mfp set to 1200 calories a day, but i wish i had the same problem u do, lol. im always struggling to stay under my daily goal, lol.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    Cook your lean proteins and veggies with healthy fats, like olive oil. Or add nuts. Have solid food for breakfast. Greek yogurt has as many calories as most shakes and most people like to add fruit or granola to it, thus adding more calories.

    For the doubters, if someone got fat eating junk food, they are not used to eating the shear quantity that you get from healthy foods. McDs is not known for its fiber content.
  • purplegoboom
    purplegoboom Posts: 400 Member
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    I have a hard time believing that you cannot reach 1200 calories... you were obviously eating more than 1200 calories a day before if you gained weight.

    Well, you can eat 1000 calories of junk in one meal and still be hungry afterwards. Think about it, the average sandwich at Mcdonalds is 500 calories, add in fries for an average of 400. 900 calories total in one meal, and you'll still be hungry 3 - 4 hours later.

    If you've lived on that type of diet for awhile, you get full quick on nutritionally rich and fiberous foods. That's the exact problem I had when I cut the junk and fast food and started eating veggies and fresh meats. I can easily eat 2500 in junk a day, but 1600 in fresh foods I really feel like I'm stuffing myself.
  • ylor89
    ylor89 Posts: 105 Member
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    Hmmmm...I guess I have the opposite problem. My calories are at 1300 at the moment. I used to be at 1200 but I really struggled with that...I eat A LOT! I'm a muncher so I don't go more than two hours without eating...unless I'm sleeping of course. :tongue:

    I did have one day where I was at maybe 980 calories for the day and I wasn't hungry at all. I keep lots of healthy snacks around though...fruits, veggies, lots of yogurt, crackers, etc. So if I'm ever low, I just munch on a few things.

    I think something that helps me is that I make sure I eat several small meals a day. I give myself 350 calories for breakfast, 350 for lunch, 200 for dinner, and whatever is left is for snacks eaten between the bigger meals. Maybe that will help?

    Good luck! :)
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
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    Cook your lean proteins and veggies with healthy fats, like olive oil. Or add nuts. Have solid food for breakfast. Greek yogurt has as many calories as most shakes and most people like to add fruit or granola to it, thus adding more calories.

    For the doubters, if someone got fat eating junk food, they are not used to eating the shear quantity that you get from healthy foods. McDs is not known for its fiber content.

    This is true. But 1200 calories of straight, raw, broccoli is still not so massive an amount of food as to cause sincere issues towards reaching a sustainable calorie goal.

    This issue comes up too often for it to be quite believable. I don't know if it's some form of vanity (wanting congratulations on being an overweight person suddenly "unable" to eat) or what, but it is beyond explanation of simple "healthy foods vs unhealthy foods."
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
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    I just have a hard time understanding how this is even possible... I had a snack after dinner tonight ( 1/2 cup of shelled pistachios and a glass (2 cups) of 1% Chocolate Milk) total calories 620!!! There are plenty of good fats out there that are higher in calories that I would suggest to you as an option... Peanut butter tops my list as a go too when I need to make up calories.. I would suggest adding a couple tbsp. to your protein shake there is an instant 200 calories right there... Best of Luck....
  • Jaulen
    Jaulen Posts: 468 Member
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    It always amazes me when overweight people tell me they can't eat even a basic amount like 1200 calories. No one, ever, ever, ever got fat on 1200 calories or less a day. An 8 year old should be eating that much! EAT NORMAL FOOD! Forget sticking to broccoli and chicken breasts! It doesn't have to be that hard.

    This. It defies logic,

    Agreed.

    Also, probably signed up for a 2 pound a week weight loss.
    And is using the protein shakes as a meal replacement instead of a supplement to boost protein intake.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    ...When I wanted easy to understand it was my way of saying I didn't want to have some odd mathematical formula as everyone seems to say something different. I am not eating tons under, I have just seen people talk about eating an absolute minimum of 1200 cals a day...
    Although my post was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, there was a serious undertone. 2 tablespoons of peanut butter is around 200 calories, not very filling, and full of essential (healthy) fats. Quick way to add a few calories to your day.

    There are a couple great threads here which tell you how to figure out what your calorie intake should be - but since you didn't want math or formulas, I won't link you to them. With that said, 1200 calories is too little for most people and can negatively impact your weight loss. Most people's BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is higher than that - as the nurse above said, BMR is how many calories they feed people in a coma in the hospital just to keep their organs functioning.
  • Answers2ip
    Answers2ip Posts: 1
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    Yes, the key is to eat foods you love and stay within the calorie range it gives you. I was finding it hard to eat all of my meals until I figured out that I could eats things I loved. I put together each morning the list of foods I want to eat that day and if I am short on one meal I make up for it on the next.

    Examples:
    Breakfast : 2 Bacon and Egg Tacos and coffee with cream and sugar
    Lunch : Roast beef sandwhich and a banana
    Dinner: Steak, Sweet potatoes and corn on the cob
    Snack: Choclate Fudge Ice Cream (Skinny Cow)
    16 ozes of Crystal Light ( All flavors)

    I am then still within 1200 calories and may be shy of perhaps 40 calories and if I am I add 1 sppon of Nutella (Wonderful stuff if you love choclate). I lost 4 pounds within 7 days and I do 15 mins workouts a day ( treadmill 1 day, dance 1 day, yoga 1 day, 1 day Tai Chi and so on. ( I am so not a workout person), but thus far it works.

    I think all of the protein shakes keeps you from wanting to eat ( Drinking itself is filling, so the foods you need naturally, you are to full to eat them.
    I hope this helps some with you rmission :)
  • tndejong
    tndejong Posts: 463
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    this could be easily solved by adding calories? its not going to ruin your health if you got some yummy low cal treats here and there. they have awesome fiber one brownies as an example. make up some yummy dips for fruits and veggies? a glass of chocolate milk? not that complicated.
  • originalcookiemonster
    originalcookiemonster Posts: 278
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    I'll be very honest with you. Eating right is simple. Lean meats, good fats, veggies, fruits, grains, etc. HOWEVER, there is math involved and you are not going to be able to get away from that. Fat loss is simple, but its not always easy.

    I will give you a link that I highly suggest you read. Losing FAT while maintaining lean muscle mass is very important and should ultimately be your goal. The scale is less of your friend than the tape measure will be.

    The math is simple, and will eliminate your need to "eat back exercise calories". You can have one simple number to reach every day and not worry about adding numbers you burned off later. I happen to enjoy this method a lot. Also, its nice to remember that you should not eliminate every single food you enjoy. Balance was hard for me to achieve at first, but the more I stuck at it, the better it got.

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

    This is step by step with pictures included. :flowerforyou: Please don't despair. Learning to eat more calories will come, just don't give up trying, ok? :wink:
  • justjo83
    justjo83 Posts: 16 Member
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    I usually am the same way pre workout. I just don't eat big portions. I'm not overweight and never really have been. I don't agree that you can't live on 1200 calories. I struggle some days to make the amount when I eat healthy foods. And I weigh and measure things so I know my tracking is fairly precise +/= 50. IF I'm full I stop eating, if I'm not I eat. It's really as simple as that. I'm never in starvation mode. Some days I make enough or more than 1200 if I workout some days its only 900-1100. I think people saying well how did you get overweight in the first place...just do that! Yeah great advise on a fitness health site guys :P. Good luck.
  • purplegoboom
    purplegoboom Posts: 400 Member
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    Cook your lean proteins and veggies with healthy fats, like olive oil. Or add nuts. Have solid food for breakfast. Greek yogurt has as many calories as most shakes and most people like to add fruit or granola to it, thus adding more calories.

    For the doubters, if someone got fat eating junk food, they are not used to eating the shear quantity that you get from healthy foods. McDs is not known for its fiber content.

    This is true. But 1200 calories of straight, raw, broccoli is still not so massive an amount of food as to cause sincere issues towards reaching a sustainable calorie goal.

    This issue comes up too often for it to be quite believable. I don't know if it's some form of vanity (wanting congratulations on being an overweight person suddenly "unable" to eat) or what, but it is beyond explanation of simple "healthy foods vs unhealthy foods."

    It's also a psychological and taste issue. People don't think when binging on junky food on how much they are eating because a) it tastes good so why not finish what's on your plate, and b) people who do this don't normally care about how much they're eating. When you're not really thinking about your food, it's easy to overeat. When people switch to a healthier lifestyle and track their calories, they're made more aware of what and how much they are eating, and let's face it, it doesn't always taste as good as the junky food. So it might be a struggle for them to get through that plate of broccoli, and it might be hard when they find out they're under their calories for the day because they are over thinking "what am I allowed to eat?"

    Edit: I do agree some of these questions might be vanity, like you said. I just don't think all of them are because I had this issue before.

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