1200 too low?

Thanks everyone. To answer this and a few other questions:

Actually, I'm not eating at Olive Garden at all. That was simply the closest thing I could find to what I actually was eating. I went to a local restaurant this past Tuesday and got chicken parm (which was a bad move but I'm still getting used to this). I split the portion (which was huge) into 3 meals Tuesday night, Weds night & Thursday night. Each night's portion was about the size of the one chicken breast they give you at the Olive Garden. So that entry was simply my best guess based on the options MFP gave for chicken parm. I do not eat at chain restaurants but I do dine out locally once a week or so and all I can usually do with local mom and pop restaurants is guess.

I don't do fashion modeling. I'm not tall and/or thin enough for that. I actually do a lot of work for local photographers who want to build up their portfolios and I do some 40's & 50's style pin up (so I don't need to be super thin).

My daily goal is set at 1200 calories. I set it at sedentary because I have a sit down office job during the days. I also set it at wanting to lose 2lbs per week. I walk a lot throughout my day to and from my train though and log in my walking whenever I do 10 or 15 minutes throughout the day. I usually end up eating more than 1200 but I do burn some of those calories off with walking. I still net usually a few hundred over the 1200.

I do need to change what I eat. I'm eating a lot of Lean Cuisine dinners right now to get myself accustomed to the smaller portion size. Once I get a good feel for it, I'll go back to cooking my own food. I tend to eat crappy food while I'm in the office because it's easier to obtain and transport. I need to start bringing healthy snacks from home.

I am really used to having at least one 5 oz glass of wine a day usually with my dinner. It's a treat I really don't want to give up but I know I have to.

My husband is not bashing my weight. The problem is actually that he doesn't care about my weight at all, thinks I am obsessing over it and doesn't want to hear me talk about calorie counting or go walking with me. He'd much rather me be fat and just eat what I want all the time. He says he'll love me no matter what I look like. I don't want to lose weight for him. I want to lose it because I need to love how I look and I don't love how I look at almost 160 pounds.

Good I was worried you husband was being a jerk. Men have been known to do that. lol. They also know there is usually no right answer or reply to weight loss conversations.

You will be fine, cook more for yourself when you can, homemade food is better and will fill you up better than lean cuisine.

Whoever tells you 1200 calories works, is wrong. If they say that, they are not getting all of there nutrition. It is not possible to get all of your nutrition in with 1200 calories, and hence 1200 calories is the minimum any doctor or specialist will tellyou.

This is simply not true. 1200 works really well for some people. It isn't working for OP because she is hungry all the time and is more tired. You can definitely get all of your nutrition eating 1200 claories. Everyone should do what works best for them, and not what some random poster thinks is right.

It sounds like you've got it together fairly well. I will tell you, the weight watchers meals (or lean cuisine or whatever) are deceptive. I don't know why they are like they are, but I can fill my plate with about three times as much food for the same calories. A dinner for me is usually (not always), a serving of meat (3.5-5 oz depending on the meat) about 8 oz of veggies and a little helping of some starch (rice or pasta or bread or a couple mini perogies when I'm feeling decadent). Don't get me wrong, there are days I eat super low cal lunches (almost entirely veggies) so that I can have hot dogs for dinner! But that's not the norm.

When I eat out, I don't restrict myself to the one plain chicken breast they have, but I also avoid creamy sauces and cheesy dishes. I had a half plate of parmesan crusted chicken and its accompanying veggies (I skipped the potatos) at Not Your Average Joes the other day. It was a little more than I expected, but still pretty fair in calories. It's actually not to hard to eat well at Mexican restaurants too, cause there is are a lot of veggies available. I love getting fajitas, hold the sour cream and cheese.

What if you have water with dinner, and as you're getting close to the end, have a 4oz glass of wine as you finish. It'll be something to look forward to, but only 40% of the calories of two 5oz glasses!

I bought a food scale at WalMart that is the best thing ever. It's helped me learn portion sizes fast. I still can't estimate exactly 4 oz of meat, but if I'm at a restaurant and look at my plate, I do know enough to tell when it's one serving or more than one. That's helpful.

One other thing I do that helps me avoid junk food at work is to keep a few things in my desk drawer. A jar of nuts, a bag of freeze dried fruit (Trader Joes has these, and they're goooood), etc... and sometimes on a Monday I'll bring in a few other things for the week, like a couple apples, a couple bananas... this way there's always something available, even if I forget to bring something from home, and I have no excuse to go to the vending machine. Also, I got one of those 2.5 gallon jugs of water from the grocery store - the kind that you can set on your fridge shelf and it has a dispenser built in at the bottom - I leave it on my desk and have no excuse not to drink water all day. I guess what I'm saying is, I replace typical "convenience" food with food that I make convenient

Your husband sounds like a good guy. Maybe if you ask him to be your ally and cheerleader through this - like, ask him to try new foods with you, explain to him that you're trying to do this the right (healthy) way so you won't obsess over it anymore, etc. Seriously? I asked my husband to complement me now and then. Like when he notices that I'm especially worn out after a workout video, or when I'm bragging about my tasty wrap that day, or find something good about what I've been doing when I'm feeling frustrated. It seems kinda like how you'd treat a kid, now that I type it, but it seriously helps me stick to this when I have a stretch where I'm not losing pounds on the scale. My joke is that next I'm going to start rewarding myself with stickers on the calendar. Don't laugh, I might do it yet!

The only way I can get my calories 1200 without being starving hungry is by going vegan. You can eat much more food for very few calories. Maybe try that for a couple of months and take a good multivitamin every day.

I don't eat much meat. Once you start adding more veggies and fruits you can really eat a lot of food. I would rather stuff myself with veggies than drink a diet shake. lol.

If you do eat meat just watch the portion size. I eat a lot of beans myself. They are cheap and good for you.

It really depends on the person but I've been using a 1200 net calorie count and I've lost some weight. It's only been 10 days

I wrote a reply on a thread similar to this the other day and a couple of people have come back and said that they found it helpful so hopefully it will help you too.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/692123-feedback-on-my-diary-please-please-please

If you or anyone else would like to add me as a friend, please feel free to do so.

Good luck!

Yes, same one. I put in that I do 3-5 days of exercise (I do 4 so seemed accurate). That is the result I recieved.
Doesnt make sense and I am sure NOONE on this webiste would agree with this result.
I took this survey and it says I should eat 1079 calories per day. I would get slaughtered on this website if I told people I was eating 1079 per day.

Is the survey you took at http://thefitgirls.com/tdee-calculator.aspx ? Because I can't even access the site. Work has it blocked.

YES!, same one. I put in that I do 3-5 days of exercise (I do 4 so seemed accurate). That is the result I recieved.
Doesnt make sense and I am sure NOONE on this webiste would agree with this result.