Success With 1200 Calories?

Dom4less

Anyone have success with it? I've heard people say its bad to consume that little but I've been eating 1200 calories for the past week and I feel great! Never hungry! Been eating clean foods and making sure I get a large mixture of fruits and veggies with lean meats and fish

Hi,
I've been eating 1200calories @ day with Jenny Craig for the last 6 weeks and I've lost 8 lbs and 2.5 inches off of my stomach (started with a waist of 50 inches), I also feel great because although we only eat 1200 calories, we fuel up with lots of veggies that are great for you. I do, I truly feel great and loving the results.

cathrynfay

I'm short, and I eat around that much. I've switched to more intuitive eating instead of planning everything around my calorie limit, and I end up eating about 1200 a day. After playing around with different caloric allowances and eating plans, this is successful for me. Eating 1200 is a very, very controversial topic around here, and people get really angry about it. Consult with your doctor or a nutritionist, and do what is best for you.

ERAY13

Anyone have success with it? I've heard people say its bad to consume that little but I've been eating 1200 calories for the past week and I feel great! Never hungry! Been eating clean foods and making sure I get a large mixture of fruits and veggies with lean meats and fish

Hi,
I've been eating 1200calories @ day with Jenny Craig for the last 6 weeks and I've lost 8 lbs and 2.5 inches off of my stomach (started with a waist of 50 inches), I also feel great because although we only eat 1200 calories, we fuel up with lots of veggies that are great for you. I do, I truly feel great and loving the results.

Agreed...1200 can be an ample amount of food if you're eating a lot of veggies, some fruits, leans proteins, and avoiding processed food.

rosemaryhon

Anyone have success with it? I've heard people say its bad to consume that little but I've been eating 1200 calories for the past week and I feel great! Never hungry! Been eating clean foods and making sure I get a large mixture of fruits and veggies with lean meats and fish

Hi,
I've been eating 1200calories @ day with Jenny Craig for the last 6 weeks and I've lost 8 lbs and 2.5 inches off of my stomach (started with a waist of 50 inches), I also feel great because although we only eat 1200 calories, we fuel up with lots of veggies that are great for you. I do, I truly feel great and loving the results.

Agreed...1200 can be an ample amount of food if you're eating a lot of veggies, some fruits, leans proteins, and avoiding processed food.

I agree too.

debbielh412

I am 5'3, typically eat about 1,200-1,300 calories a day. I don't eat my burns back and I also have PCOS which sometimes makes it even harder for people to lose weight. I have lost 30 lbs since January. Mostly with a high protein (150g a day) low carb diet. I allow 1 cheat meal a week and I go all out. I do think that us shorter ladies seem to function a little better with only 1200 from what I have been reading in these forums though. Good luck with whatever you choose!

ndj1979

ahhh yess another dead horse thread...

Im in for the gif of a dead horse being beat...

bring it!


oh - and if 1200 works for you then go for it ..some people might plateau and make adjustments but other do just fine on it...

SerenaFisher

My 'success story'
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/SerenaFisher/view/my-1200-calorie-success-story-534099

dixiewhiskey

I was just like you, feeling great on 1200 calories for quite a while, and it helped me lose 20 pounds. But then I was always hungry and was constipated, and my weight loss stalled. I upped to 1500, then 1600, and am still losing and feel much better. I think if you want to do it while you still feel great, then go for it. But eventually, you're going to feel not so great. Or your weight loss will stall.

:drinker: :flowerforyou: You rock!

Btw, OP ask the user kyman.. I forget her name but she swears on her 1200 cal diets.

Mcgrawhaha

ive been eating 1200 cals a day, ive lost 72 pounds in 8 months. going great for me!

VBnotbitter

Yes 1200 cals works. I've got to goal about six times in the last 8 years. I once lost 55lbs. Unfortunately It meant that my metabolism eventually decided that I should put weight on if I ate up to 1500 cals, so I had to stick to 1200 to maintain. Until even that didnt work.

Cant believe Im joining in this thread. Doh!

axialmeow

I stalled out on it. And eventually couldn't sustain it. At first I was never hungry then suddenly I was ravenous. Like I could not get full no matter what. I had to find a happy medium. I did lose weight on it. I also lost a ton of hair.
I suppose everyone is different. I am 5'10" and work a physically demanding job. Now if I were 5' tall and worked a desk job things might be different.

marfhutch

I eat at 1200 GROSS and am not having much luck. The reason I don't do net is that I think its nearly impossible to accurately judge how many calories I'm burning through exercise and don't want to net more than 1200.

For those having success, how are you judging your exercise calories to ensure they're correct? Is there a chance your eating back more than you burn (and therefore its not really 1200?).

lisaabenjamin

It's working for me! I'm eating 1200 cals a day and eating back exercise calories. It's obviously harder on the days I don't exercise but actually, you can eat a LOT of veggies on 1200 cals! It also gives me an incentive to exercise so I can eat more! :-) I'm just getting started (again) so I guess my intake will increase when I have less to lose.

lisaabenjamin

For those having success, how are you judging your exercise calories to ensure they're correct? Is there a chance your eating back more than you burn (and therefore its not really 1200?).

It's hard to accurately judge exercise calories so to be on the safe side I usually try to overestimate my exercise cals and don't eat back my entire quota. I seem to be getting it right as I am still losing but I guess some people may need to play around with this to find out what works for them.

lcalvert87

I have mine set at 1200, and I find it hard to even eat that much. Heathly food doesn't have many calories. What counts is that you're not starving yourself and eating healthy. Plus when I work out that day it gives me mm ore calories to eat. So it's never been a problem for me. I once did the hcg diet for 2 months and that's only 500 calories a day, and once again with the right foods it turned out to be enough for a short time. I lost 18 lbs doing the hcg injections in 2 months.

MoRiv1986

I'm hating this 1200 calorie set. I go over it quite often, and I'm realizing, my body needs more calories than that to feel satisfied. I may have to up my calories.

xAndreaWx

This is my first time reading the forum and 1200 calories per day was what my fitness pal suggested to me when I told it I wanted to go from 152lb to 131lb... have found it very achievable and have been losing (on average) a steady 2lb per week. Fingers crossed it stays this way though!

irishblonde2011

You can lose weight on 1,200 but why not eat more and see if you lose on that first.
I wish I had done it this way from the start.
Good luck whatever you pick.

omma_to_3

For those having success, how are you judging your exercise calories to ensure they're correct? Is there a chance your eating back more than you burn (and therefore its not really 1200?).

Most of that time, I used an HRM with a chest strap and subtracting out my BMR calories. However, over the last few months, my weightloss had really slowed down (.5 to 1.5 lbs per month) so I decided to try something else. Now, I take the gross value my HRM shows (which includes my BMR) and only record 65% of that. I've been doing that for 2.5 weeks now and the scale is moving again. I've lost 4 lbs over the last 3 weeks.

dewsmom78

Some people on here don't realize that 1200 calories may be someones TDEE - 20% - and that pretty close for me. I have a desk job, so other than my 30 min run or workout each day, I'm pretty inactive during the day. Too bad I listened to people saying "eat more to lose" . Well I either gained or maintained with that advice.