Is 1200 Daily Calories Too Low?

Ashley_Megan
Ashley_Megan Posts: 14 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello
I'm seeing a lot of diaries have higher daily calorie food goals. I've been losing an average of 1-4 lb per week, and am doing that on a 1200 calorie goal. I try to gym at least 3 times per week and the days I'm not at the gym, try to reach my step goal of 10,000 steps. I'm just worried that I am eating too few calories, and destroying my metabolism in the process. Any insight on this would be great!

Thanks!
Ashley
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Replies

  • kae_blah
    kae_blah Posts: 180 Member
    At 1200 calories a day goal I would recommend eating back most if not all of your exercise calories, then when you get closer to your goal slowly increase the calories a day closer to maintenance levels.
  • calisunrise
    calisunrise Posts: 307
    losing more than 1 lb per week is very unhealthy and you will most likely gain that back
  • robot_potato
    robot_potato Posts: 1,535 Member
    Do what works for you. I am currently at 1600, and frequently a little over that. I'm losing around 5 pounds a month, I lift 3-4 times a week and go for a hike or bike ride when I feel like it. One more month at 1600, then I will got to 1850 as I will have only 10-15 pound to lose so I will require less of a deficit.
  • angelcurry130
    angelcurry130 Posts: 265 Member
    i maintained an average of 1250 for about 2 months. the only thing that made me amp up my intake a bit was that i would begin to feel faint. listen to your body. if you feel OK with that amount, keep it up. if you feel dizzy, faint, hungry, get headaches...take care of it. don't ignore it or fill up on fluids instead. THAT is unhealthy. just try to keep the foods you do eat as high in nutrience as possible (fresh greens and meats instead of processed stuff.) *shrug* or, in doubt, set up a consultation with a nutritionist to see if they can give you a ballpark figure to work with.

    :)

    take care

    (ps. the 1250 average was NET intake after workouts were calculated in.)
  • thepotz
    thepotz Posts: 34 Member
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    use that and add your gym into it and you will soon have daily cals
  • selina884
    selina884 Posts: 826 Member
    1200 is too low.

    It is the minimum required for the body to survive, not good for conditioning and overall health.
  • zeta30
    zeta30 Posts: 40
    My uneducated opinion is yes it is too low. If you were completely sedentary then depending on your current weight and goal you would be about right. But it sounds like you are exercising. If you don't eat enough on those days your body may go in to starvation mode where it will slow down your metabolism.

    My calorie intake is between 1800 - 2000/day on days I work out and around 1500 on days I don't. I'm not a big guy, about 5' 5" and 145lbs, I lost 7 lbs in 3 months eating that amount. I've been at my goal weight of 145 for about a month now.

    My wife eats between 1500 - 1800 calories/day and lost 20 lbs in 3 months. She is down to 135 now and has been at her goal weight for over a month as well. (but she exercised a lot more than I did too).
  • Ashley_Megan
    Ashley_Megan Posts: 14 Member
    Thank you very much for all the quick replies.
    A 1200 calorie debate it is. I'm scared of eating more now since I've been doing well on the 1200, but I completely understand where everyone is coming from and realize I may have to make that change. Not too sure what to do yet. :|
  • _AalexisA_
    _AalexisA_ Posts: 41 Member
    1200 is too low.

    It is the minimum required for the body to survive, not good for conditioning and overall health.

    this
  • kcallas88
    kcallas88 Posts: 192
    from experience, i lost a lot of weight for my body eating 1200 calories a day. In the end, i regret it. I lost a lot of muscle and now am 25% body fat and don't look nearly as good as i thought id look at my goal weight.

    so now im trying to reverse it by strength training, but its still sad to me that for months i ate too little, and lost muscle and not nearly enough fat.
  • leighann881
    leighann881 Posts: 371
    If you open your diary then you will get better advice...
  • leighann881
    leighann881 Posts: 371
    Thank you very much for all the quick replies.
    A 1200 calorie debate it is. I'm scared of eating more now since I've been doing well on the 1200, but I completely understand where everyone is coming from and realize I may have to make that change. Not too sure what to do yet. :|

    Suggestion as a reformed 1200-er. Switch up your days. So decide your weekly calories and eat 1200 on one day then 1500 on another and then 1300 etc. For me this worked well because it adjusted with my daily cravings and exercise goals. For example: I know that I will on average eat 300-500cal more per day on the weekend because that's just how life is. Instead of over-lmiting myself on these days, I shave off calories during the week when I find it easy to eat at a greater deficit to compensate. That way I am always happy. I am never forcing myself to eat or guilting myself because I ate "too much."
  • skinnydreams19
    skinnydreams19 Posts: 282 Member
    Yeah, especially if you're not eating back exercise - eat or your metabolism will slow over time. Not a good place to be, trust me :/
  • Railr0aderTony
    Railr0aderTony Posts: 6,803 Member
    Read this

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/943139-weight-loss-cheat-sheet-ipoarm
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
    If you feel fine, stick with it, If you feel like crap then up the cals and work out less...sounds like you're doing okay to me...
  • harleenarang
    harleenarang Posts: 174 Member
    I was doing the 1200 thing for a while and realised that it left me hungry and fatigue which pushed me away from working out.
    I was in the same dilemma as you 2 weeks ago and decided to try a new diet plat with the help of some calculations from http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    Since then I eat 1400 calories on rest days and upto 1800 on the days I work out with a carb/protein/fat ratio of 40/30/30.

    I have seen very good results in the last weeks and I am more satisfied with my food too. I think 1200 is way too low and though it might give you the results you are looking for - its not healthy. I do not want to comment on how it affects your metabolism because that can be debated but it is common sense that you cannot meet your nutrition needs.

    Try calculating your calories through a deficit of 10 - 15% from your TDEE. That includes your exercise calories.
    If you want to discuss on this more - you can message me and I can speak in detail.

    Good luck !! :smile:
  • SarahBeth0625
    SarahBeth0625 Posts: 685 Member
    They would give you 1500 calories a day if you were in a coma. So, short answer, YES! Too low. 1200 will only cause your systems to slow down to help your body because it thinks it's starving. Up those cals! (This is, of course, my honest opinion and the general consensus on here.) I was SO HUNGRY at 1200 and customized my MFP calories based on my body percent fat, current height and weight, and TDEE. 2113 is what it tells me and that's what I'm sticking with, understanding that some days I do run a deficit of 300 cals or so.
  • stephanielynn76
    stephanielynn76 Posts: 709 Member
    It saddens me every time I read one of these threads. It seems everyone wants to lose as much weight as possible as quickly as possible so they start out on these incredibly low calorie diets. Will a person lose on that? Of course!! But at what cost? Is it worth potentially ruining your metabolism and losing precious lean body mass? So you manage to lose a decent amount on that... but what happens when you plateau? Where do you go from there? You can't go LOWER with your calories. A smarter and more healthy approach is to start out at a smaller deficit... lose weight on as much food as possible. If you can lose 1/2-1lb per week on 1800 calories why not? If you plateau then you can always go down and/or add a bit more cardio. The point is... you keep more "cards in your deck" to play for later. Starting at 1200 calories is like playing all your best cards right up front.

    Don't forget that the body likes homeostasis. It adjusts. It "gets used to" whatever you feed it and how you train it. I NEVER want my body to "get used to" 1200 calories. I would never survive on that little. I cut my body fat down to drastic levels for a figure show last year and never ate under 1600 calories. I started my diet 20 weeks before at 1800 and slowly dropped calories and added cardio. Slow... steady... little changes at a time is the way to do it.

    So... my advice to you OP is to reverse diet. Add calories little by little and continue your training/exercise until you are back to a reasonable caloric intake. You may gain a little back but it will be temporary and you should eventually plateau. Get your body used to "normal" calories again.
  • albertabeefy
    albertabeefy Posts: 1,169 Member
    Hello
    I'm seeing a lot of diaries have higher daily calorie food goals. I've been losing an average of 1-4 lb per week, and am doing that on a 1200 calorie goal. I try to gym at least 3 times per week and the days I'm not at the gym, try to reach my step goal of 10,000 steps. I'm just worried that I am eating too few calories, and destroying my metabolism in the process. Any insight on this would be great!

    Thanks!
    Ashley
    I don't know how tall or heavy you are, but if you were 5'0" and 100lbs and did nothing but stay in bed 24/7 your TDEE would be 1250 calories ... So ...

    If you're of average height, say around 5'5" and a little overweight - say 165 lbs, and are pretty sedentary but spend 1/2hr a day exercising, your TDEE would be 1925 calories and your BMR about 1553 ... as such you'd be well under your BMR for calories, which isn't a good place to be for weight-loss or general health.

    Good advice is to calculate your BMR and TDEE using a calculator like this http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html or one of the others out there, then limit your calories to LESS than your TDEE but at-least as much as your BMR.

    And make sure the calories you get are nutrient-rich. Eat as much real, natural food as possible, avoiding processed junk where you can.
  • becca2911
    becca2911 Posts: 149 Member
    from experience, i lost a lot of weight for my body eating 1200 calories a day. In the end, i regret it. I lost a lot of muscle and now am 25% body fat and don't look nearly as good as i thought id look at my goal weight.

    so now im trying to reverse it by strength training, but its still sad to me that for months i ate too little, and lost muscle and not nearly enough fat.


    ^^ agree with this. I lost weight on the 1200 but at 110lbs (underweight for my height) i still wasnt happy with how I looked. Now strength training and eating at least 1500 net

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