Why do people not allow the "under 1200" friend requests

I had the gastric sleeve 8 months ago. The calorie count for somone in the losing stage is anywhere between 700-1200. You might be missing out on learning about a new person if you decline based on the 1200 calorie count. Unless you dont want to associate with someone who has had WLS. I eat anywhere from 800-1000 based on my exercise a day. I am glad my friends didnt feel that way or i might not have that many friends, cause a lot of my friends havent had WLS.

There are a lot of "pro ana" people which is terrible. But the people with legitimate eating disorders, the ones that don't promote their disorders (I wouldn't call it a lifestyle for it's not something you can choose to have happen to you) may be eating under 1200 too if they are not getting help. Probably people just don't want to see the Pro-Ana in their newsfeed. I know coming from me, somebody who is in doctor-supervised recovery, seeing pro-ana/under 1200 a day in my newsfeed is too triggering.

* Edited to add that I don't think 1200 calorie eaters are ALL of the above. They probably have one of the bullets tho. And before you start hating because you are a 1200 calorie eater, read again and see if you adopt at least one of the bullets. If you do, your argument TO ME is invalid.

Nope, none of those. And .32 tablespoons is just about 1 tsp. I log that amount (.33) and have hit 1200 on the button, though I'm also sometimes under or over, no big. If I can make 1 tsp meet my needs for 30 calories instead of 90, I will. I do plan my calories in advance, so that's why it's easy to make 1200. I'm just short and not overweight and not terribly active. So I need less than someone who is short and active or short and overweight.

I dont agree with people who say this, if eating under 1200 calories works for people then let them eat that and if they have eating disorders they may need help not people who dont want to get to know them! I dont think other people should be so concerned with what people eat unless they are eating a really low amount

Agreed! Which is why I have that 1200 note in my profile :laugh:

I mean just eating. I often net below 1200. It doesn't mean I "really ate 900." I really, really, really ate 1200. Your body needs a deficit to lose weight. My body doesn't wait until the end of the day and divide up the calories I took in for my organs and my exercise.

Also, if someone on my friend's list has a good reason to be eating below 1200, I don't say anything about it to them (unless I forgot.) If their doctor says eat 900 for your PCOS, who am I to argue? But most people don't need to eat 900 calories.

I don't really get it either. Maybe those who don't accept the requests are jealous of people with extremely low calorie diets. . . which is stupid because the human body adapts very quickly to super low calorie diets halting weight loss and slowing metabolism. But to each his own!

If you are obese, you cannot go into starvation mode (under 1200=starvation mode) its complete nonsense.

Jesse Short
ISSA Certified Personal Trainer

Thanks for letting us know this irrelevant-off-topic information Jessie

CoderGal
2 diplomas in this and that
several certifications in this and that
several certificates in this and that
most of a degree
went to a gym with certified personal trainers
dated several dumb certified personal trainers who have proved to know jack squat about most things including health

p.s. Not saying you don't...just that it's irrelevant. Certificates do not make you intelligent.

I feel like more people on here are encouraging others to over eat and not under eat. Give in to your cravings, just measure the ice cream so it can fit in with the day, just exercise more so you can still have your treats. More of that is on here than anything else. Few people suggest eating healthy. I think a lot of people on here have eating disorders and that is why they are trying to lose weight. Disorders are not just for the skinny folks. If you weigh 300 lbs you have a problem of some sort.

I stay around 1200 with a wide variety of foods and a lot of vegetables. I don't agree with trying to keep at 1200 if you are doing it with all shakes and bars with a taco bell dollar item tossed in every day. That isn't healthy.

This site has really opened my eyes to the food obsession in this country. My God, are you going to go into starvation mode if you can't squeeze in a damn cupcake? I had to cut out a lot of stuff when diagnosed with Celiac. I've gone through all the missing things. But I wasn't living off donuts to begin with.

I have blocked a person on here who is constantly saying anyone who eats 1200 calories is eating like a 6 yr old. I've seen her diary and she eats all crappy food and complains about being fat.

Don't take advice on health from anyone but your dr. Not people who claim to be nurses or whatever. Some people want to suck you into their world because they will never change theirs. The pro ana people can move on along with the chronic overeaters. If you want to be healthy then take steps to do so, don't make excuses. If you slip, start over. Don't make excuses. Leave the rest of us alone if we want to eat healthy and force feed. We don't all have disorders.

^^This

Myfitnesspal needs to work on getting a "like" button of some sort.

Out of curiosity - and this is a serious question - how do those of you who won't friend 'under 1200 calories' people know how many calories people eat before you friend them? A lot of people have friends-only diaries. Do you ask the person? Or do you simply not friend anyone who doesn't have a public diary?

I'm asking for practical reasons. My food diary is friends only. Would it be helpful if I put a disclaimer on my profile? Something along the lines of: 'By the way, I sometimes deliberately eat less than 1200 calories, because I like to sometimes have a couple of fasting days. I've been doing this for 18 years, on and off, and it always has tremendous positive effects on my health and wellbeing, and I've also read a great deal about it - so if you try to persuade me not to do it, however much I respect you, realistically I'm not going to obey you. On the plus side, I don't try to persuade anyone to convert to my personal eating habits - but if you feel you might be led astray by having access to my diary, better not friend me.''

(I know that comes across as a bit facetious - it's not intended, but honestly I'm finding this whole thing so ludicrous it's hard to know how else to word it! Basically, what I want to know is this: is this really seen as such a serious problem that those of us who don't fall into people's friending stipulations need to announce it on our profiles so that people are pre-warned?)

This thread makes me feel huge, lol.
I'm 5'11" and MFP has me at 1900 calories to lose 1.5 lbs a week. I've been thinking about adjusting to try and lose 2 lbs a week. Even then, I'll probably still be at 1700 or 1800!

I've tried 1200 calories before and I was getting headaches and feeling fainty. I've tried 1500 and same thing. I think where I'm at now is darn near perfect. I've only been on MFP for about 2 weeks, but if I see that this really works (seems to be) I don't think I'm ever going down a(what I consider to be) starvation path again.

Personally I find it difficult to be friends with people starving themselves. Unless you've had a surgery or some type of digestive problem, would it really hurt you to have some healthy nuts, oils (flax, coconut), whole grain pastas? I mean, I go through my calories so easily I'm wondering if other people are eating bird seed and water or exercising everything they eat right back off.

I love food and consider it a joy in life, and I do not get pleasure from being restrictive with myself. But, I fear that I could get that way because I've been the kind of person to quit a diet because I couldn't be "perfect." ("Well I had an ice cream cone. All is lost now. Might as well just give up.") That is so illogical and that's really what I'm battling most of all. So the danger of going the other way is real for me, and I don't want to see myself adopt another unbalanced mentality about fitness.

Food restriction becomes a game for some people where they win an invisible trophy the less they eat or the hungrier they are. I didn't come here to adopt a new addiction, I came here to get rid of one. I'm a bit passionate on this topic because I had a cousin two inches taller than me who went fanatic on a crash diet and walking 8 miles a day. She lost all of her weight in a few months but aged herself horribly and became so mentally unstable. Lifesaver gummy snacks were her "supper" ... she's gained about 3/4 of the weight back over the last ten years. Just don't want that to happen to me, or anyone for that matter.