A Success story from someone who eats 1200 calories

TattedInStilettos

Well you go girl...

Junerewind

I don't know anything about the people bashing 1200 calories allotments, but I was at 1260 calories for a long time and had a lot of success with it. Yes, it did stink for the first month or two because I was convinced I was starving, but I soon learned that I could eat a TON of vegetables and barely make a dent in my calorie count. Fruits were a bit higher, and lean meats kept my amounts low, too. If you can swap out any of your "normal" foods with vegetables, it'll make it easier to stay under your 1200 goal. Best of luck!

Bettyeditor

I lost over 40 pounds eating 1200 calories a day.
When you make healthy choices, sometimes it's hard to even get to 1200.. healthy food can be very low calorie and filling.
[/quote

That's very true. Healthy food is low cal and filling and I average around 1,300 cal a day but sometimes can't stuff down more than 1100. LOL

We shouldn't get so hung up on a number like "1200." Everyone is different, everyone's body is different. Everyone has a different metabolism and percentage of muscle mass. And even the calories are different. I can eat 1200 a day with a single Big Mac a day. Or I can eat 1200 a day with three meals and three snacks that include 5-7 cups of vegetables, 4 ounces of lean meat per meal, under 160 g carbs and less than 40 g of fat. So just the number "1200" is kind of meaningless, really.

There is no "one size fits all" diet. Period.

nextrightthing

bump to read later

jenniferdlake

First off congrats!!

I started my weight loss journey eating 1200 calories. I'm able to do it because I greatly increased my water intake. I drink half my body weight in water now. Anytime I feel hungry, I drink some water. If I truly am hungry, the feeling will stay, otherwise, my body was just telling me I needed water. I stay so full with the water I am rarely truly hungry. And I have learned the difference between being satisfied and being full. I no longer eat to be full. I eat until I'm satisfied. Learning that difference and increasing my water intake has really helped me.

12skipafew99100

I lost over 40 pounds eating 1200 calories a day.
When you make healthy choices, sometimes it's hard to even get to 1200.. healthy food can be very low calorie and filling.
[/quote

That's very true. Healthy food is low cal and filling and I average around 1,300 cal a day but sometimes can't stuff down more than 1100. LOL

We shouldn't get so hung up on a number like "1200." Everyone is different, everyone's body is different. Everyone has a different metabolism and percentage of muscle mass. And even the calories are different. I can eat 1200 a day with a single Big Mac a day. Or I can eat 1200 a day with three meals and three snacks that include 5-7 cups of vegetables, 4 ounces of lean meat per meal, under 160 g carbs and less than 40 g of fat. So just the number "1200" is kind of meaningless, really.

There is no "one size fits all" diet. Period.

very good point here

judiiiiindisguise

congrats! I hope I can keep at it. My doctor years ago told me I needed to be at 1200 calories yikes! My hardest part is when you make stuff from scratch it is hard to figure out calorie counts, so I have to wing it a lot. Hoping the 1200 pays off soon this sucks lol

If you really want to maximize success, stick to eating things that are easily quantifiable.

need to remember this!

Meamo

Thanks for a lil confirmation!

maddmaddie

I also eat around 1000 calories a day, I've played with my calories and the weight does not come off at 1400+ calories. I'm sure it has something to do with being short and having a lower BMR. :-)

Glad you found what works for you! Keep up the good work.

Millie2045

I only eat 1200 calories a day as that is what MFP allocated me.
I have only been doing it since the 2nd Jan and have lost 9lb already I
haven't a lot to lose only about another 10lb or so & as it seems to
be working and I feel okay (no hunger or anything) I will keep going.
You can eat quite a bit it is just about making the right choices I normally
have porridge or weetabix for breakfast . Snack on fruit during the day as fits
In around my work & the same as the rest of the family in the evenings
just smaller portion. We have 2 roasts a week & I have Saturday nights
off as the family are out so I always do a romantic meal
for myself and my hubs :-)) I don't exercise as my job is quite tiring and I
work quite long hours

misseenk

hey girl you just keep doing what works for you, and everyone who wants to tell you different can shove their foot in their mouth and stfu

CarleneOelofse

I lost 20pounds on 1200 calories. I reached my goal and adjusted my settings to maintenance and have kept it off for almost 6months now and going strong....

Chadomaniac

you are ridiculous ...

Fozzi43

I'm 5 ft and I eat more than that..but each to their own..but if you hit a plateau....you can't lower the calorie allowance any more?

AntWrig

I'm 5 ft and I eat more than that..but each to their own..but if you hit a plateau....you can't lower the calorie allowance any more?

BINGO.

It amazes me that people don't understand this. The perfect analogy for weight loss is peeling an onion. Most people immediately strip the onion and see *amazing* progress. They then hit a wall. With that low calorie diet, they can't move anywhere.

PrincessNikkiBoo

When you make healthy choices, sometimes it's hard to even get to 1200.. healthy food can be very low calorie and filling.

I really have to agree on this!

AntWrig

When you make healthy choices, sometimes it's hard to even get to 1200.. healthy food can be very low calorie and filling.

I really have to agree on this!

Is this a joke? My "healthy" meal of sweet potatoes, chicken breast, and coconut oil can go over 1200 cals.

Nice try though.

invisibubble

When you make healthy choices, sometimes it's hard to even get to 1200.. healthy food can be very low calorie and filling.

I really have to agree on this!

Is this a joke? My healthy meal of sweet potatoes, chicken breast, and coconut oil can go over 1200 cals.

Nice try though.

Look, we're not all men trying to bulk. We don't all eat 500g of potatoes alongside likewise huge portions of fats and proteins, looking for gains. That said, I think 1200 calories and below is too little. I've lost half my body weight and I didn't eat that little.

Maidofmer

First off, you're awesome. thank you for posting this. very inspiring.

I'm close to 250. I'm 245.2 lbs right now. I am eating 2000 calories with moderate exercise five times a week. I think I'm eating too much. But I'm afraid to go down to 1200. I don't know if I can do it, Lol....I wonder if I should lower to 1600-1800 like you did? Results are SLOW right now. I started tracking since December 27. I started at 247 then went up to 251, and now back to 245.2 as of today.

Well, it's inspiring and hopeful to see someone who started around my weight lose so much and gain a lot more. If you have any advice for me, please let me know! Thanks...

I'm the same. 2160 I think. that seems way too much especially since im on day 65 and have only lost 3 pounds. I'm still getting over a double pneumonia so my cal intake has been very low, and exercise too. Tonight I ate about 1265, burned 1000. first time actually working out in a few weeks. i'm not happy with a net of 250 and I will eat something, but 1200-1300 seems more reasonable to me. did you cut out like 100 a week to get to 1200? or something like that?

cathydow

Bump

AntWrig

When you make healthy choices, sometimes it's hard to even get to 1200.. healthy food can be very low calorie and filling.

I really have to agree on this!

Is this a joke? My healthy meal of sweet potatoes, chicken breast, and coconut oil can go over 1200 cals.

Nice try though.

Look, we're not all men trying to bulk. We don't all eat 500g of potatoes alongside likewise huge portions of fats and proteins, looking for gains. That said, I think 1200 calories and below is too little. I've lost half my body weight and I didn't eat that little.

Doesn't matter. Olive Oil, natural peanut butter, Avocado's. 1200 calories or 2000, it doesn't matter. There are plenty of "healthy" calorie dense foods.

SarahCW1979

Congratulations on your success!! Must be the single most amazing feeling :flowerforyou:
1200 worked for me in the short term, then I hit a wall. A big b@st@rd one... So I tried the TDEE calculations, I gained a lot back. Now Im sat comfortably in the middle of the two (after MONTHS of faffing with numbers) turns out my TDEE not the 2323 that popped out of Scoobys. Roughly 1500 a day seems to be doing the trick.

ashleab37

My only concern here is people saying "when you get to a lower weight, you need to eat less..." - this simply isn't true. You need to create a larger deficit but that does NOT always mean eating less. Move more and build muscle! You can continue to eat 2,000 calories the whole way through if you 1) build sufficient muscle as muscle burns more than fat and 2) just MOVE.

ashleab37

Good to hear and congrats on your loss! Eating more, for me, has always meant weighing more. Plus, I am very comfortable with what I eat to get to 1200/day. Healthy meals, healthy snacks. If I force myself to eat more-- why would I do that???

There must be individual variations at work. Like, older women? Come on! We are not going to lose weight by eating more. Sorry. The weight packs on and eating more is not going to take it off.

This is so true, when i read people telling older ones to increase calories, i know that is bad, bad advice. It would lead to us gaining for sure.

Besides, if people eliminate extra fat and sugar ........1200 calories is a lot of food!

Why would you eliminate fat? This isn't the 70s; fat is a dietary necessity.

ashleab37

Congrats and No offense to the OP, but the reason I'm against the 1200 cal is because I was on it and ended up screwing myself a bit. Yeah, I lost weight..woohoo. But I also ended up very protein deficient..enough so that I ended up with those nasty side effects. It seems when you are 245lbs and eating like 3000 calories and suddenly dropping down to 1200 cals for a long period of time is not all that great for your body's internal health (of course this is void if it is prescribed and supervised by your doctor).

Plus, my body would revolt now and again and I'd go on huge binges. It definitely didn't put me in a healthy mind set, let alone physically healthy.

And I'm so mad now that I realize the wrong I was doing. If I could go back, I'd tell myself to get educated and do it right..lol. But at least now I'm doing good and eating more and STILL losing..woot!

ETA - When I was eating 1200, I was also very lethargic and could barely get through a 20-30 min workout . Now that I'm eating more (around 1600-1800), I can workout for longer periods of time and at a great intensity.

I hope you mean for you 1200 calories was no good.

I eat 1200 calories a day, I do about an hour of walking/jogging, insanity, and a few other workouts on my own each day. I run circles around everyone I work with at work, my boss has told me (I'm a waitress) to stop running because when I get in my zone I run and don't realize it. My metabolism is higher then it's ever been before. So for me, 1200 is right.

What makes you say your metabolism is high if you're still losing slowly/maintaining at 1,200? If your metabolism was higher than ever shouldn't you be needing to eat more?

HotMummyMission

I lost 35lbs eating 1200 cals 2lbs a week I was loosing feelings n looking better than ever now

prium01

I lost over 40 pounds eating 1200 calories a day.
When you make healthy choices, sometimes it's hard to even get to 1200.. healthy food can be very low calorie and filling.

I agree to her

Liberty_7728

Use the recipe tool on MFP to enter all the indigence and how many servings....it will tell you what the calories are per serving. The best tool on here since most of us want to cook fresh meals at home and still need to know what the nutritional value accurately is.

healthyloserxxx

I make everything from scratch as I have to limit sodium. I just put each ingredient in the food tracker. If I make soup and all ingreds. come to 1200 cals and I have 6 svgs, I know each serving is 200 cals. I can delete my initial entries and add the adjusted measurements.

tabinmaine

What happens if we eat even less than this 1200 calories? I am not hungry enough to do this? And I prefer to eat healthy so sometimes it is hard for me to eat as much as 1200 calories. Should I still try to eat the 1200 calories or do you think I will still lose while being under 1200?? I am at a major plateau and cant lose

Once again I am baffled.... just how did you become overweight and needed to join a weightloss site if you can not even eat 1200 calories ? ...... curious.....

what a stupid question. people get fat by eating loads of crappy food and most of the time, dont give a crap about it. once people make a decision to get fit and lose weight, they get a different mind set, and realize that being genuinly hungry is different then simple cravings. can i eat an entire bag of flaming hot cheetos and drink a case of corona beer? SURE CAN, but, now, do i want to? nope. now, i can get satisfied and full on a glass of water, some steamed veggies and a serving of baked chicken. 1200 calories of nutrient dense foods, full of veggies, fruit, protien, etc can be very filling, more so than 3000 calories of flaming hot cheetos. wow, some people on here... they run thier mouth on the internet because in person they are usually the most week.

"im gone cyber punch you in your cyber eye, because on the internet, i can act like a big boss and no one will know that in real life im a sensitive tulip... hold on, let me put on my cyber boxing gloves..."

lmao..
You crack me up !

If you eat 1200 calories "full of protein and good nutrients" than why the hell can't you eat another 2-300 calories, be stronger and not skinny fat and workout harder and have a toned body instead of a sagging and fat one ?

I had every damn right to ask that question ..... it does completely baffle me... I was over weight, I ate 3-4000 calories a day of crap food.... I "get" how you can eat crap and now eat well and feel somewhat satisfied on 1200.... but a few more calories are a simple spoonful of peanut butter or another 2oz of baked chicken or a handful of almonds.......

We are not saying " eat a bag of doritos" ..we are saying.... EAT, workout, be strong, grow some muscles, have the body you want and drop FAT % not scale weight....