BMR vs. 1200 Help!

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judsip62
judsip62 Posts: 2
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been on here faithfully for about a month and have been doing the 1200 calories. I lost 9 pounds in the first 3 weeks and last week nothing. I have been sticking to the 1200 calories faithfully. I was excercising and eating back those calories but I had foot surgery on 7/27 so will not be exercising for the next month. Thus why I've been faithful to the 1200.
After scouring these boards it seems that there are those that feel like you should eat your BMR and those that stick to 1200. I'm posting here to see if people really had success eating their BMR. I'm almost afraid to try it. What if I gain back the weight I already lost? I will kick myself as I have a goal to reach for a trip I'm taking at the end of October! lol

Replies

  • now_or_never12
    now_or_never12 Posts: 849 Member
    I have found I lose better eating more than eating less. Personally I couldn't survive eating 1,200.

    What about working out your TDEE and eating at 20% less than that? It's the whole eat more to lose strategy which some here swear by.

    You can try it and see. Depending on the increase of cals you MAY see a slight gain on the scale the first week or two as your body adjust. You have to give any changes time before you come to conclusions.
  • WickedSpinSistr
    WickedSpinSistr Posts: 139 Member
    My BMR is only 75 greater than 1200. Do people usually have much more of a difference?

    I just aim for the 1200 because I figure the 75 is negligible.
  • judsip62
    judsip62 Posts: 2
    My BMR is 1471...quite a difference from 1200.
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
    I lost 10 in the first couple weeks and almost nothing after that by eating at 1200. I found I was tired, lethargic and feeling completely worn out. My BMR is closer to 1900 and TDEE around 2100.

    I decided that 1200 was far too low for me and upped my goal to 1400. So far I am feeling much better but we will see at the end of the week if I manage to keep the energy up - if not then I will go up again. Eventually I will find something that works for me and does not leave me unable to function. I refuse to starve myself. It may be that I will have to eat 1900 but I can't go from 1200 to 1900 in a week so I am taking small steps.
  • aqm22
    aqm22 Posts: 153 Member
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

    Use this. It's pretty accurate. It will tell you how much you should eat to lose weight.
  • carriempls
    carriempls Posts: 326 Member
    First of all - 1 week with no loss is no big deal. You'll have that from time to time. Next week you'll probably see a result again. You're still averaging over 2 pounds per week and that's a good rate.

    My BMR is 1400ish. My daily goal is 1200-1300 and I am usually good at sticking to it. I keep it low on weekdays so I can splurge a little more on weekends.

    If you average my calories out over the week, it would be more like 1450 per day.

    I am averaging a pound a week loss with minimal exercise. When I exercise harder (weekends I might do long bike rides or hikes), I tend to eat a bit more.

    If you're unhappy on 1200 per day go ahead and try to bump it up. You should lose just fine, it just might be a little slower.
  • smilesalot1969
    smilesalot1969 Posts: 392
    I started off eating 1200 ( my BMR is 1558) but i lost nothing in 6 weeks, if anything i gained. After 6 weeks im really tired and ive upped my calories to between 1400/1500 for now to see how i do but it'll take a couple of weeks to settle before i see if anything improves. My diet is mostly very healthy but it clearly wasnt enough because i'm totally wiped out and at 8pm i could happily go to bed!!
  • WickedPixie1
    WickedPixie1 Posts: 111 Member
    I'm finding at 1400 that I get plenty of food, the odd cheat treat.
    Quite often I have trouble finding a way to get in all those calories.
    I have yet to feel hungry at any point from lack of food.
    I do like my veggies, so I can really stuff my face with those and someone else on MFP mentioned that if you are going to over-do it on your daily limits, do it on protein, not carbs or fats (sorry I can't give proper dues at this time).
    1200 might only be good if you know you're going for a night out a couple days in advance added with some extra exercise calories, so you can allot for a few extra indulgences.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    My BMR is 1708 and my TDEE is 2400, so I eat at about 1750 net.
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