any 1200 calorie success stories?

Trilby16

No. I eat 3200 calories a day and stil lose right at .5 a pound a week. Unless you're 4'11" or you have to for medical purposes, I see no point in eating a 1200 calorie diet. Especially if you're working out as well.

Another 26 YO male heard from.

ShantesNaturalVanity

I think we must all remember that 1200 cals of junk food is ALOT LESS than 1200 cals of healthy eating. If you stick to grain, fruits and vegetables and avoid fillers like soda and candy. then 1200 cals, especially for a woman is maintainable.

CherylLouise1994

i follow a 1200 calorie diet and it works for me, i hardly even have time for exercise and i've lost 36lbs

Miss_Krissy87

I think the thing is can you eat 1200 calories forever. I mean I am not going to lie I did it for a while but then I stopped losing weight so I increased my cals and I started losing again. Everyone is different. Do what is best for you and your weight loss journey!! Good luck!

beekuzz

You'll have to figure out how what works for you. One person put it to me that we're all our own chemistry sets. One thing that works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. It's purely trial and error.

but, with that said, I have been on 1200 cals since last mid June. As of today, I've lost 70 lbs. I would have to say that it works. Depending on what you eat, you can fit a lot in - just not any room for fast food and a lot of junk.

Some people want to loose faster or slower and it depends on your activity level.

I jumped in with both feet to 1200 cals and I've never regretted it. I don't have very many cheat days at all. My activity has went from barely able to walk 5 minutes to now 7 miles at a time.

Good luck.

CeCe_711

I think we must all remember that 1200 cals of junk food is ALOT LESS than 1200 cals of healthy eating. If you stick to grain, fruits and vegetables and avoid fillers like soda and candy. then 1200 cals, especially for a woman is maintainable.

^^^^this^^^^^

eating clean and healthy means you get to eat at least twice as much as you would if you were eating crap. i generally eat 1000-1200 a day (minus my cheat day when i'm closer to 1300) and i feel fantastic. i have more energy now that i have ever had. i workout 6 days a week. i am 5'4" and if i'm hungry, i eat. but i eat GOOD food. food that fuels my workouts and feeds my muscles. of course this is not going to work or a 20 something boy who has an appetite comparable to an entire football team... two completely different bodies, two completely different needs. i HATE when people harp on what works (and works well and healthy) for other people. just because you eat more and you have results does not mean you are some sort of food/calorie/body genius.

tntgal2

I started @ 1200 calories/day back in May 2012, because that's what MFP "assigned" and I hadn't read all the "fright stories" about TDEE and so on yet. I usually gained about 100 calories daily during the week through exercise and "ate those back", and on the weekends, I'd walk further and usually eat back 400 to 600 extra exercise calories each day. I'm heading towards 60 years old so my metabolism isn't supercharged as it used to be, but I've felt very healthy throughout. I have substituted a lot of higher fiber healthy choices for previously calorie dense foods, and rarely feel hunger pangs. My doctor in December did all my blood work and said I was in great shape (physically - including cholesterol, heart rate, blood sugar, lung capacity, etc ). I recently upped my daily calories to 1300 and I'm still losing, though (as it's been throughout) very slowly. Once I'm at my goal (I have a general weight goal, but I also want more muscles, so I've added in some weight training to my cardio), I'll slowly keep adding calories until I find something I can live with without putting on weight or losing. I plan to continue to weight myself once weekly forever ... no more cheating and then not looking for a week (that stretches to a month and then to years).

DebbieLyn63

I can promise you this, you won't fill me up on 1200 calories, you would just make me mad.

You are a 26 yo male. Of course you shouldn't be eating 1200 cals per day. It certainly would not be appropriate for you. But it certainly IS appropriate and works for many others.

Just curious, however, I see you have lost well over 100 pounds. How long did it take you to lose that much? 4 yrs?

da_bears10089

The question I have is: if you CAN eat more than 1200 calories/day and still lose weight, why wouldn't you?

Would you lose the same amount of weight in the same amount of time by eating more cals? I think the obvious answer is no. So that could be one reason.

What's the rush? The loss of lean body mass associated with accelerated weight loss is enough of a reason to take it slow and steady, IMO. Eating at a more "normal" level also helps teach you good, healthy, manageable behaviours for maintenance and long-term success.

I don't think a pound a week is rushing it. It's enough to keep you motivated.

there are LOTS of people on here that eat a lot more than 1200 calories on here that are losing a pound a week on average.

da_bears10089

The question I have is: if you CAN eat more than 1200 calories/day and still lose weight, why wouldn't you?

The question is what if you can't lose weight eating more than 1200?

the question is... have you tried for more than a week or 2?

Unknown

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dawndw

I do 1200 maybe a little more if I really workout but it has not stopped me......I joined the site in 2010 but only started my journey this past August 2012 so I think we all are individual and not everything works for everybody you really need to tweak to find what is suited for you.........IMHO

DebbieLyn63

I started here at the end of August, on my 49th birthday. I am 5'6" and other than riding my bike 3-4 days a week, I am fairly sedentary. My TDEE is around 1700, so 1200 a day gives me a fairly steady 1 pound a week loss.

Of course, for a 25 yo male, or even active female, 1200 would not be appropriate long term, or perhaps even short term.
If your TDEE is 3000, then you can eat 2000 cals a day and lose 2 pounds a week. But that is not the case for many people.

I have been staying around 1200 for the past 7 months and have lost almost 40 pounds in that time. I still have about 40 more to go, so I will stay at this level for another 20 pounds or so, then start working my way up to maintenance level, which should be around 1500-1600 for me when I get to goal weight.
If I could lose 1 pound a week while eating more, then I would probably relax a bit, but that is not the case for me. Over the holidays I ate around 1500 a day, and stalled for several weeks, even with increasing my exercise a bit. I ended up overdoing the exercise and my back went out so I reduced my cals back to 1200 while I was recovering, and was happy to see the weight loss return. I have been losing 1 pound a week steadily ever since. I keep my exercise in moderation now and it is working just fine.

The trick is making those calories count. I shoot for 90-100 gr of Protein (360-400 cals) and 50 g of healthy fats (450 cals) per day which leaves 350-400 cals of high fiber veggies and fruit to bulk up the meals.
I eat 3 meals (around 300c each) plus 2-4 snacks per day, and feel like I am eating all day long.
I don't go hungry, don't binge or crave carbs, and have more energy and strength than I have had for years.

You have to find the calorie level and food/exercise plan that works for YOU. You can't compare yourself to someone else, or depend on an online calculator to tell you what is right for you and your situation.

Because you eat less and exercise less, doesn't mean you are lazy.
Because you eat more and exercise more, doesn't mean you don't have self discipline.

Figure out what works best for you, and ignore the noise.

april1445

I think 1200 cals has worked for me in the past because it has built in binge protection. I'm thinking I need to take my splurges into account. 1600 should work, but not if I eat 3000 every Saturday, you know?

gaylynn35

No. I eat 3200 calories a day and stil lose right at .5 a pound a week. Unless you're 4'11" or you have to for medical purposes, I see no point in eating a 1200 calorie diet. Especially if you're working out as well.

This^^^

I am 4'10" tall and 49 years old, so when I do not exercise I need to stay at 1200 calories or below. If I exercise I allow myself to eat back about half of my exercise calories.

Abells

I did this for a bit when I wasn't lifting. I would do cardio a few days a week and hike on saturdays. Stopped drinking. I lost 16 pounds in a bout 2 months.

It works pending on what you are doing and really isn't that bad if you know how to eat correctly.

Now that I lift all the time, I eat a lot more to feed my muscles.

donna_glasgow

I believe I am a 1200 success story ....... I lost my first 28 lbs eating at around 1200 cals, it took me 3 months eating that low, then I maintained it for a year .... I still had more weight to lose so I am back to lose the rest of it ... but this time (at it 2 months already) Im eating higher (1600) and so far seem to be losing also ..... The reason I am eating higher cals this time round is because my life is much more active than it was.............. I'm 5'6"

gtslow

I think a lot of the negative reactions towards eating 1200 calories or less comes from men who naturally are burning more calories or people of significant height and muscle mass compared to shorter women. Why would a woman who is 4'11" burn nearly the same number of calories as I do being a 200 pound male at around 20% body fat at a height of 5'10"? The common sense answer is they wouldn't. It makes for a lot less room to play with your diet for smaller women which I can definitely sympathize with.

n0shitsherl0ck

The question I have is: if you CAN eat more than 1200 calories/day and still lose weight, why wouldn't you?

Would you lose the same amount of weight in the same amount of time by eating more cals? I think the obvious answer is no. So that could be one reason.

It's not a race, why do you HAVE to lose weight FAST? You don't.

ACTUALLY yes, I do, for surgical reasons.
Don't assume people are all trying to do it at their own pace, for any given reason, they may need/want to lose it fast.

Edit: I don't personally religiously keep to 1200 cal diet, sometimes I eat less out of sheer circumstances that the food I eat isn't necessarily high cal.
My point still stands, if people want to keep to a 1200 cal diet to lose weight fast, be that perhaps a non-healthy decision, then they will regardless of your input.

karen34684

I am eating 1200 or less and have lost 21 pounds in 20 weeks. I walk about 1 mile per day at a fast/moderate pace. I snack at work on carrots, celery, green peppers, to keep food in my stomach and don't feel deprived at all.

So_Much_Fab

I started my weight loss journey netting between 1200-1350 calories a day and lost 21 pounds pretty quickly. But I became miserable, I no longer had any energy, and my weight loss stalled for weeks. I was still eating the correct amount of calories (and I have a food scale so I weighed everything), and it was "clean" calories, plus I was working out as usual (but with less intensity because I just didn't have the energy to), but the scale would not budge and I wasn't losing inches either.

I almost gave up, but I decided to look online first and that's when the idea of eating more was introduced. I was very skeptical: why in the world would you eat more to lose weight? It made absolutely no sense. I was terrified: but what if I gain the weight back? But I was at my wits end and willing to try anything short of surgery.

I lost 2 pounds the first week after upping my calories to 1900 a day. Most suggested to do it in small increases, but I'm impatient. That was last week. I only weigh myself once a month, so I won't really know if that was a fluke or not, but the tape measure doesn't lie, I'm also losing inches.

I have WAY more energy, I feel better, my mood is better: trust me, I was the crankiest person ever on 1200 calories. My concentration improved (which is really important for me since I study a lot).

Like seriously, I'm a 23 year old 5'7" fairly active female netting only 1200-1350 calories? My BMR (what I need to eat to maintain my body weight if I was in a coma and not moving at all) is 1730. No wonder I felt horrible.

I eat 1900 calories now, which is ~500 less than my TDEE (2400 at lightly active). And coupled with exercise, I should be losing approximately ~1.5 pounds a week. Which from my first week's result is just about right.

Sure, not everyone* will be able to lose following the TDEE-20%, so do what is best for your body, but I'm willing to bet 90% of people (without health problems) will, it's just human stubbornness that is keeping people from following common sense (math is always common sense).

Getting fit and losing weight doesn't have to be miserable, nor (for me) does it have to happen in a certain amount of time. I'll get there when I get there, but I don't want to spend the next couple of months in agony.

Plus I don't get why there seems to be a sense of "I have more discipline" for eating so little calories. That is eating disorder territory. Being able to eat less calories than you're supposed to doesn't make you better in my opinion. It just makes you quite foolish.

If it works for you, fine, but I'd like to maintain the weight loss for the rest of my life. There's a reason why so many people gain the weight back (and it's not always immediately, sometimes it happens 2+ years later), and I think eating so little calories and expecting your body to be content with it forever is the reason. Our bodies are smarter than we are, and losing weight is not something it likes to do. I don't want to get into the physiology of it, but our bodies have powerful regulators against losing weight. And once you stop eating 1200 calories and eat more for whatever reason (life has a way of doing that), guess what your body will do? That's right, pack on the pounds. Then the cycle starts all over again. I'm totally not for yo-yo dieting.

So did I have success with 1200 calories? Yes I did, I lost 21 pounds. I'm not saying it doesn't work. But I want sustainable weight loss.

Eating 1200 calories for the next (hopefully) 50+ years** of my life? I'll pass.


But even after that long winded speech, it comes down to this: do what you want to do, because at the end of the day, it doesn't affect me personally. But I like to see people succeed and remain successful.

*People with special considerations and health problems. I'm not bashing a VLCD as long as it was recommended by a dietician/physician. There are situations where this is necessary, and I recognize that. I don't think it is for most people.

**Obviously when I become older I'll have to eat less calories. But even as a 65 year old woman with a sedentary lifestyle I'd have to eat 1550 calories to maintain my goal weight. And I don't plan on being sedentary.

I hate to make a quote wall here, but this is 100% spot on, so QFT. :drinker:

ron2e

You're [almost] all a bunch of ****ing idiots.

Try doing some weight training to failure before implementing this moronic 1200cal diet. Then do your stupid diet and watch your strength nose dive.

End of story!

In very few instances its the right answer (obese or old)

This isn't debatable. Weight loss does not = smart diet. Have fun with your poor health, ****ed up hormones, and deleloping eating disorders.

Would you like to provide some medical proof on that? Otherwise it's just your opinion, set out in a very arrogant way. And yes it is debatable whether you like it or not.

louiseshaw88

Why can't people just say "I dont think it'll work because blah blah blah but if you want to try it and it works for you go for it and good luck" My biggest gripe on here is people sat on their high horses dishing out their opinions as gospel !

astronomicals

Lack of hunger means nothing.... The body adapts. In fact, over training often leads to lack of appetite, and when your overtrained is when you really need calories the most... Lack of hunger and feeling sated do not + a healthy diet.

louiseshaw88

You're [almost] all a bunch of ****ing idiots.

Try doing some weight training to failure before implementing this moronic 1200cal diet. Then do your stupid diet and watch your strength nose dive.

End of story!

In very few instances its the right answer (obese or old)

This isn't debatable. Weight loss does not = smart diet. Have fun with your poor health, ****ed up hormones, and deleloping eating disorders.

One more thing.... 1200cal+6 days in the gym?!? Have fun when your weight loss plateaus, and it will... You can either cut more calories and become anorexic or you can up your activity level until you get injured and fail miserably.

I think your the idiot....calm down and take your OPINIONS else where, this is not motivational or supportive it's just rude - did your mother never tell you to keep your mouth shut unless you have nothing nice to say ?

Do you feel like the big man now ? because you've come across like a little brat

prattiger65

I would like to see a thread about 1200 calorie success stories of over, say, 5 years. If you are morbidly obese the health problems associated with the weight probably outweigh the long term effects of under eating. I find that the extreme, arguably unhealthy methods of weight loss have the most dogmatic people in the group. These are the groups where the snowflakes seem to land. They are different and the science doesn't apply. I have determined that in the end, that for whatever reason, they must deny themselves food. Perhaps it's a badge of honor to them to say they only ate 1200 calories. I have serious doubts that anyone sustains it for years, much less for a lifetime. Too much risk for me long term. Slow and steady for me, but I'm not a snowflake.

katiepugh

Short people need fewer calories... if you are a half pint then 1200kcals may be the way to go. I certainly can't eat much more without gaining weight

louiseshaw88

Sugar coated lies or hard truths? I think I know your flavor.

You know nothing about anyone on here so stop acting like a know it all

sitastar2004

I am also doing 1200 calories a day, and I love it. This is my third week. The first few days were kind of hard, bc I wasn't use to counting calories, measuring my food etc, so at first I still felt hungry. I often am under my 1200 calorie goal bc I work out 6 days a week. So, what I'm saying is stick with it!

tmauck4472

I would like to see a thread about 1200 calorie success stories of over, say, 5 years. If you are morbidly obese the health problems associated with the weight probably outweigh the long term effects of under eating. I find that the extreme, arguably unhealthy methods of weight loss have the most dogmatic people in the group. These are the groups where the snowflakes seem to land. They are different and the science doesn't apply. I have determined that in the end, that for whatever reason, they must deny themselves food. Perhaps it's a badge of honor to them to say they only ate 1200 calories. I have serious doubts that anyone sustains it for years, much less for a lifetime. Too much risk for me long term. Slow and steady for me, but I'm not a snowflake.

Sure you are and you seem to be the special special snowflake. What you refuse to see is that EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT. No matter what is supposed to happen to everyone does NOT happen. If that were the case we'd all have cancer or no one would. We'd all be fat or no one would. We'd all lose weight eating a certain amount or we'd never need to worry about it. Everyone is different and we are all special snowflakes, EVEN YOU. And give us time for the 5 years to get here, we'll show you, maybe not all of us, but in all honesty even you people who eat more than 1200 will fail and go back to enjoying 4000 calories a day. Maybe not all of you but some sure will. Eating 1200 has nothing to do with failing and giving up, it has to do with getting tired of having to watch what you eat day in and day out. It has to do with the person and their ability to maintain so yes even folks from EMTWL group will certainly fail. Maybe even you.