1200 Calories

Phrick

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/908271-when-is-1200-calories-appropriate-hint-almost-never

laurainvt

I think if you are having eating under 1200 calories AND exercising then you are most likely not getting enough fuel in your body. Weightless is part of the goal, but so is creating healthy habits to get US out of the bad ones we created. (Like eating potato chips at 10:30 at night...) If we all had good eating habits then we probably wouldn't be trying to lose weight to begin with!!

Calorie intake is important! Eat less calories, lose more weight... I'm not an expert, but you also have to make sure you are feeding your muscles lean proteins and other nutrients to get to a long term goal. Being 200-300 calories UNDER the 1200 goal isn't going to get you there. There are days that we are busy and maybe miss a meal, but consistently being there isn't going help long term.

I am 5'5" and 169lb down from 179 in about 6 weeks. I net an average of 1500 calories a day. I also use a fitbit which I like to think "rewards me" by not taking away my calories when I don't move enough (I have a desk job). My diet is full of healthy snacks, lean meals, and yes...the occasional cheese and crackers or piece of chocolate. To loose weight you have to eat the right choices. In the long term, it will help us all keep the weight off and feel better.

There are great calorie choices you can make like peanut butter (About 190 cal) with carrots or edemame (a good serving is 150 cal or so). I changed my meals on here to be named Morning, Noon, Afternoon, Evening. That also helped me spread my calories during the day!

I guess I am just saying, it is OK to eat! Look at the choices you make and the long term effect of your weight loss!

ficbot

When I first started, I put in moderate activity level (I am a teacher) and did it for a month and barely lost anything. Took a break, gained enough pounds that I started to get serious about taking it off again and now am back for round 2. What I did differently this time is, I did not put in ANY activity multipliers. I put in the most sedentary couch potato setting. It gave me 1230 as my goal. BUT I have been adding back the exercise calories. So on a typical day, I am eating 1500-1600 calories, earning the extra calories through walking and the occasional cardio DVD. And I am averaging 1.5-2 pounds a week for the last 3 weeks. I am happy! I don't think I could stay at 1200 and be active though. I think the key to losing, for me, has been to properly balance everything so that on days I am less active, I eat less and on days I am more active, I eat more. What I think stalled me before was that there were some days I got a lot less activity than others (or else the tracker over-estimated how active it thought I was being based on what I put in) so I didn't have enough of a deficit. This way, it's more clear.

The other thing I have been doing, learned this trick years ago in Weight Watchers, is counting from dinner to dinner instead of breakfast to dinner. So, last night's dinner is today's meal 1, breakfast is meal 2, lunch is meal 3, afternoon snack if I have room for it, then at dinner it all resets. This has been working for me because dinner is usually the more unpredictable meal. Sometimes, we go out, sometimes, we order in, sometimes I eat more. I can't plan that at the beginning of the day and leave space for it since the BF is not a planner and a lot of this stuff happens for us spontaneously. So what I do is count it as meal 1 and then I can adjust tomorrow's breakfast and lunch, which I 99% of the time pack from home, accordingly. So for instance, let's say I go over my plan and have a 700-calorie restaurant dinner. That leaves me 550 for breakfast, lunch and a snack. I usually have 300 or so for breakfast, so if I knock that down to 250, that leaves me 300 for lunch. I usually have 400 for lunch, so I have to either choose a lower-calorie lunch or else do a 30-minute walk (totally do-able now that the weather is nicer! I can just get off the bus at the station on my way home and walk from there) and I will be even. That is just with cutting 50 calories off my breakfast and keeping my lunch the same. And then if I want an afternoon snack, all I have to do is fit in a workout DVD before dinner and I am set! At dinner, it all changes over to tomorrow's calories. So, I over-indulged by 300 calories at a restaurant meal, but still balanced out. I never would have if I had left myself 400 calories for dinner, then eaten out and been 300 calories over.

hilldiggity

The other thing I have been doing, learned this trick years ago in Weight Watchers, is counting from dinner to dinner instead of breakfast to dinner. So, last night's dinner is today's meal 1, breakfast is meal 2, lunch is meal 3, afternoon snack if I have room for it, then at dinner it all resets. This has been working for me because dinner is usually the more unpredictable meal. Sometimes, we go out, sometimes, we order in, sometimes I eat more. I can't plan that at the beginning of the day and leave space for it since the BF is not a planner and a lot of this stuff happens for us spontaneously. So what I do is count it as meal 1 and then I can adjust tomorrow's breakfast and lunch, which I 99% of the time pack from home, accordingly. So for instance, let's say I go over my plan and have a 700-calorie restaurant dinner. That leaves me 550 for breakfast, lunch and a snack. I usually have 300 or so for breakfast, so if I knock that down to 250, that leaves me 300 for lunch. I usually have 400 for lunch, so I have to either choose a lower-calorie lunch or else do a 30-minute walk (totally do-able now that the weather is nicer! I can just get off the bus at the station on my way home and walk from there) and I will be even. That is just with cutting 50 calories off my breakfast and keeping my lunch the same. And then if I want an afternoon snack, all I have to do is fit in a workout DVD before dinner and I am set! At dinner, it all changes over to tomorrow's calories. So, I over-indulged by 300 calories at a restaurant meal, but still balanced out. I never would have if I had left myself 400 calories for dinner, then eaten out and been 300 calories over.

I really like that idea. I have unpredictable weekend dinners, usually last-minute invites to the in-laws, and I never know what to expect. Or my husband cooks 600+ calorie burritos! :noway: