1300 calories???

They claim they aren't hungry, or they are "short," or have some other excuse that makes them a unique and special snowflake.

first of all, we ARE all special snowflakes

some women, depending on age and height, and a dozen other factors, really truly can not lose weight without restricting to 1200-1400 calories a day. It's ok that you don't believe it, you don't have to, you do what works for you, and we'll do what works for us.

and it's also true that one can eat at around 1200 calories and not be hungry. Do i get the munchies? sure. That's not the same as hungry.

i have to stuff myself to get to 1200 calories. i definitely have come to realize that no one way works for everyone, and that there are many different factors to what you need. i don't eat crap food, what i eat fills me up for hours. i'm not going to stuff myself anymore eating back calories or trying to reach some magic number each day. if i get hungry, i'll eat some meat and veggies. if not, so be it, it will even out in the next few days or so. the whole "eat more weigh less" didn't work for me. it has been driving me crazy being focused on reaching a number each day, that's not a life i want to live.

As I said, most days I stuff myself as well to get to 1200. It's about WHAT you eat that keeps you full throughout the day. Yes I am a special and unique snowflake, but not because 1,200 calories fills me. LOL

I can't drink either. No room in my need to fill up on food. I am working very hard on getting my fitness level up so I can eat more.

i really dont see the big deal with 1200 calories or even less then that.. is it really that bad to eat less?

I find I net under 1300 often when I exercise. When I eat healthy meals and snacks with plenty of fiber and just enough fat I don't feel deprived AT ALL. I drink lots of water and tea(with stevia).

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/715411-you-are-not-different

I'm on a 1200 cal diet. It isn't hard, just eat foods that fill you up and don't waste the calories you can eat. You may not be used to eating smaller portions of food. You want to eat until you are satisfied not "full" or bloated. Some days, I don't exercise and I still only eat around 1000 cal a day. I don't even get hungry. I'm 5'1" currently at 110 and wanted to get down to at least 105.

Most people don't get that you really need to eat very little in order to lose weight. That's why so many people fail at it.

I don't think you need to eat very little to lose weight, i think the biggest issue why people don't lose is because they either eat too little or are eating the wrong things. When you restrict yourself to the point that it is not sustainable in the long term, this is why people fail. And lets be honest, alot of people fail because they honestly don't give it their all and put the work in. I used to be one of them! Complain all the time that I wasn't losing, but was I doing everything I could and putting in all the effort? Definitely not. We never want to blame ourselves for failing at dieting, but sometimes you need to take off the rose colored glasses and realize sometimes it is yourself getting in your way. Eat healthy foods!! Get your butt up and get moving! When you change your lifestyle and not just think of it as the quickest way to get the pounds off, alot of times you will see that you made a lot of sacrifices when it comes to food when you really didn't need to, you just needed to make better decisions. NOT saying at all that this is the way everyone is, but there have been quite a few I have seen on here posting how they are not losing and what not, but then take a look at their diaries and you can see why.

People that are good under 1200 cals a day alot of times are usually women who are short or just petite in general or if they figure out how much their body burns at rest and that is where they should be. Most people do the 1200 because they believe that will get them the weight loss the best way or like I said, for their body type that is just what is right for them. I have never heard anyone tell a man he should be at 1200 cals, it is not healthy! I bet if alot of people did this test thing they would see they are eating well below their BMR. I just did it today and was shocked at how low I was eating!

Like some of the others posted, I would check out the road map post and do the calculations on fit 2 fat radio, to see where you body is actually burning.

I get weighed on one of those tanita scales and I have an armband, and while I know they are not 100% accurate, I will tell you that I did the calculations on that site, and they were pretty close to what the scale gives me for the same information.

Hopefully no one takes offense to anything I said, there are definitely people that are right and this is their target calorie range, but for alot of people this is not the case. Even when I eat 1400 cals, and if I burn 600-700 working out, I net well below 1000, and considering my BMR is 1764, I am no where near having enough cals to sustain just my bodily functions!

Seems low to me, but I suppose it depends on her goals. Most people should set their activity level to lightly active, and aim to lose no more than a pound a week.

I honestly think women (or men, I suppose) who eat less than 1200 calories per week are kidding themselves if they think it's going to be sustainable.

I'm assuming you meant 1200 calories per day. I think it's important to enter an activity level that realistically represents your activity level. Mine is sedentary. You only need to sustain a deficit as long as you are above your goal weight. Once there, you rework your numbers to reflect maintenance which will likely add about 3500 calories per week (500/day). Now, an 1800 calorie day is certainly within reason and sustainable.

Equally important is adding the right amount of exercise to your plan. I've seen some here go from doing absolutely nothing to a very high level of exercise while trying to lose weight. To me, that seems to be the unsustainable part. Say my caloric goal is 1310 and I add 1000 calories a day in exercise and eat 2300 calories. I'm going to lose weight. But I'm not so certain I'm going to be able to sustain that 1000 calories/day in exercise. The problem is I'm training myself to eat 2300 calories/day. The minute my exercise level drops to a more realistic amount, I'm probably going to have a problem reducing from an intake of 2300 calories. I think this is why professional athletes seem to balloon up right after retirement or during the off season. I've raised my exercise level to an easily maintained level. I will up the level only after proving that I can maintain this one.

Yes, per day. Sorry - corrected that.

I have a bodymedia FIT, which measures my activity level throughout the day. I have a desk job, work 8 hours a day, go home and sit on my butt or exercise and then sit on my butt. When comparing MFP to my bodymedia fit, "sedentary" is too low. I think it is for most people. And for most people 1200 calories per day is below their BMR. Not healthy to eat so little every day. Yes, if you exercise, you eat more, but for a lot of women here, they are not eating those exercise calories. They claim they aren't hungry, or they are "short," or have some other excuse that makes them a unique and special snowflake. I think most women can eat 1700 calories or more and still lose weight, retain their lean body mass, have energy, and maintain their sanity. This is sustainable to me.

The fact that we continue to perpetuate the idea that women need to eat so little and torture themselves for several months to weigh some magic number that will supposedly bring them all the happiness in the world really bothers me. It's not reality.

Awww....If I wasn't already married I'd ask you to marry me

I am a 5'4" male with a BMR of roughly 1450 and a TDEE around 1800. To lose 1 pound a week, I need to eat 1300 a day.

For me, 1300 a day is very sustainable. I sometimes go over or under, but average out in the week. I keep my exercise to light walks and opt for strength training over cardio.

MFP has my suggested calories at 1320 a day. I am losing weight every week.

Women typically DO require FEWER calories than a male of equal weight. Why? Simple. BODY COMPOSITION. A 150 pound female as more FAT than a 150 pound male *unless she has removed ALL her breast tissue for some reason such as cancer, body mutilation, etc). Since FAT requires fewer calories to maintain than MUSCLE, all things being equal, a male will have more muscle than a woman of equal weight and thus need more calories in the day.

So, yeah, your GF needing 1300 a day to lose fat seems completely reasonable to me. Great thing is when she gets her weight loss goal, she'll be able to eat more throughout the day and keep her weight!

I do 1300 a day and an hour of cardio everyday.But I think someone posted earlier about when you eat different its enough.Like I eat a lot of vegetables and chicken.(cause I can't cook) and I find myself under on my cal intake..But I guess the point is if you want to lose weight you have to make changes like soda and beer...So I smoke pot!lol jk jk

I do 1300 a day and an hour of cardio everyday.But I think someone posted earlier about when you eat different its enough.Like I eat a lot of vegetables and chicken.(cause I can't cook) and I find myself under on my cal intake..But I guess the point is if you want to lose weight you have to make changes like soda and beer...So I smoke pot!lol jk jk

Good answer! and yes i do too!! sometimes it does help curve my appetite.. it really surprises my sisters cause ive lost weight and maintained and i smoke everyday.. i try to do 1200 cal a day and usually go over to 1400 which is still not that bad. its all about choices.

I do 1300 a day and an hour of cardio everyday.But I think someone posted earlier about when you eat different its enough.Like I eat a lot of vegetables and chicken.(cause I can't cook) and I find myself under on my cal intake..But I guess the point is if you want to lose weight you have to make changes like soda and beer...So I smoke pot!lol jk jk

LOL

If I can keep my metabolism ticking over nicely, and maintain my weight on 1800 + without exercise, what on earth would be the point of dropping it lower? The reason most people who eat only 1200 or less a day ultimately fail and regain the weight, is because they are on 'a diet' and not actually really doing something sustainable for life. The number of people I have seen who have dieted, come back, lost, regained, back again, and they still don't get it into their heads that you do not need to eat such stupidly small amounts to lose weight.

And for the record, I am 5'10 and only 126Ibs, so if I could lose weight on 1500+, I fail to see how on earth those heavier than me could not. And, I eat pretty much 80/20, the 80 comprising of fish, vegetables, greek yoghurt, fruits, nuts, organic sprouted bread and eggs. I find it incredibly easy to hit over 1500 eating these foods, and fail to see how anyone else would struggle to get to 1200 eating 'clean' given a serving of nuts is around 150-200 calories, and a 200g serving of fish is 200-300 calories. Toss in a few eggs, and there is another 150, decent amount of veggies for another 150 and a decent serving of greek yoghurt or quark for another 150-200.

The reason people stop being hungry when they drop to 1200 and maintain that, is their body has slowed down to be able to continue to function on such a low calorie intake. It seems kind of counter productive to me. Why not eat more so your body is more happy to function at its optimal level?

Ah well, to each their own, I suppose.

I think it really depends on what you eat/drink. If you stick to lean protein/veggies, its doable. Plus, I don't drink alcohol/juice/soda, so its not too bad.

Definitely this. I'm supposed to eat 1300, which is totally doable without hunger if I'm eating beans, whole grains, veggies and fruits. Once I start sneaking in the snack foods, though, I go over really fast.