if eating under 1200cals is so bad.......

124»

Replies

  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,785 Member
    I really hate condescending people. Bleh!!! Condescending know it all's who don't know crap. They don't know everything. Drives me nuts.
  • AngryDiet
    AngryDiet Posts: 1,349 Member
    Just out of curiousity - what would all of the NO LESS THAN 1200 calorie supporters suggest for me? I'm 5'2" and would like to be in the middle of my BMI. which means I'd like to weigh 120. According to this site, my BMR is currently 1209 calories a day. (I'm 138 right now)

    So how many net calories do you suggest?

    Proof right there that the 1200 calorie thing is a rule of thumb, which fits many but not all people, and not a hard limit and you'll drop dead if you ignore it.

    Having said that, you should verify that BMI number, and probably add exercise instead of removing too many calories.
  • emnk5308
    emnk5308 Posts: 736
    Eating under 1200 long term, get results = TEMPORARY!!! :grumble:

    Doing it the right way, eating enough = FOREVER!! :smile:
  • dawndw
    dawndw Posts: 203
    With all due honesty, I dont associate with people who eat well below the 1200 or net below 1200.. it is not a healthy management of weight loss or health. Yes, there are people who willingly do that, but I personally find it to be self-destructive... Id rather lose the weight gradually and do it the right way...

    Totally agree.
  • clobercow
    clobercow Posts: 337 Member
    With all due honesty, I dont associate with people who eat well below the 1200 or net below 1200.. it is not a healthy management of weight loss or health. Yes, there are people who willingly do that, but I personally find it to be self-destructive... Id rather lose the weight gradually and do it the right way...

    Totally agree.

    The dogmatic mentality people have around here is destructive.
  • banks89202
    banks89202 Posts: 270
    I eat a litte over 1500 cals a day, BUT I am a big girl and I have a ton of weight to lose. I would just not eat back your cals you burned?
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    Honestly, I don't think it's fair to make blanket statement like "1200 is bad" for all the cases. It's fact that people do lose weight on a lower caloric intake and it proves the simple math of "input vs. output". I am not saying it's good for everybody either. I just feel sometimes, people jump to the conclusion just because some of the board "gurus" say so.
  • vmekash
    vmekash Posts: 422 Member
    I do eat my exercise calories. I simply try to net at or around 1200. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. Basically, what is working for me (where other concepts have failed) is that I use that 1200 like cash in my wallet. I cannot use what I do not have. If I want to earn more "cash," (so that I can eat more or have a real treat) I do it w/ exercise (so maybe today, I have more like 1400 in my wallet).

    Once I got serious (non-yo yoing), this concept has me losing about a pound a week. Sounds like slow going, I know, but I plan for every pound lost to be a permanent pound lost.

    Oh, just as a footnote, I exercise five days a week. MWF - cardio, TTh - strength. On cardio days, I'm happy burning 300+ cal. I do not feel compelled to burn 800 or 900 cal, but am amazed by those who do. :noway:
  • aishaarivera
    aishaarivera Posts: 10 Member
    Keep in mind that if you are doing insanity you must've built muscle, which could explain some weight gain since muscle weighs more than fat, and they in the other hand are losing muscle, which could explain the rapid weight loss, don't be discouraged you are on the right track. :)
  • aishaarivera
    aishaarivera Posts: 10 Member
    Good job, I also celebrate every pound and half a pound, they seem so little but each of them make a huge difference. I also workout 5 days a week, mainly cardio, walking, elliptical, jogging and weight train weekends or at home, sometimes I do circuit training, I live a busy life but every single bit counts. :)
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    I'm getting much better results since I increased my calories over 1200. I think of weight loss/ fitness as a tringle with each corner represented with one item:

    Healthy/ Fast/ Easy: You can only pick two.
  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
    define "good results"
  • Heather_Rider
    Heather_Rider Posts: 1,159 Member
    With all due honesty, I dont associate with people who eat well below the 1200 or net below 1200.. it is not a healthy management of weight loss or health. Yes, there are people who willingly do that, but I personally find it to be self-destructive... Id rather lose the weight gradually and do it the right way...

    With all due respect, because you dont associate with people LIKE ME, you are only putting people out of your life who not only can be a great friend, but may NEED your support also. What a shame that you are someone to judge me.. when my doctor has me on a 800-1000 diet.
  • KeegansMomma
    KeegansMomma Posts: 156
    With all due honesty, I dont associate with people who eat well below the 1200 or net below 1200.. it is not a healthy management of weight loss or health. Yes, there are people who willingly do that, but I personally find it to be self-destructive... Id rather lose the weight gradually and do it the right way...

    I agree with this. I do not like to friend people who net well below 1200cals a day, in junk food and LOSE more weight than I do. Now, if someone is netting below 1200 cals a day but eating very healthy (little to NO junk food), I will keep them on as a friend.
  • DaraEden
    DaraEden Posts: 68 Member
    They might be taking the weight off, but it's not all fat. They're loosing muscle, too, and that's not good. Eating 800 calories of rubbish is not nourishing your body. They might get skinny, even if their metabolism fights them, but they've actually harmed their bodies and they're not a healthy, sexy thin.

    While you're doing insanity, you're putting on muscle. I didn't loose for the better part of a month myself while I was building muscle, too. Now it's coming off well and I'm sure having this extra muscle is part of the reason. Keep doing some exercising and maybe cut back on your calories a tad....leave some of your exercise calories not eaten each day and see if that doesn't work for you. That is what I have to do. I have friends loosing weight while eating enough calories that would put weight on me. I joke that I'm famine resistant, but honestly, I am.....it's genetic and it's from having done ultra low calorie diets in the past. I damaged my own metabolism.



    Really really good point!
  • sarah692
    sarah692 Posts: 136 Member
    Well, at one point I was only eating 700-1k calories a day, not because I was in a hurry to lose weight or deliberately trying to starve myself but because my schedule was so out of whack I only had the appetite/time for two meals a day. Stayed that way for about a month and I lost 11 lbs, but only maybe 3 inches all over. At the time I was only 20 lbs away from my goal so that was definitely a lot to lose, and I gained most of it back when I started eating more (almost double) again. Now I eat anywhere from 1200-1600 a day and I am losing weight and inches consistently. Of course it was nice to see an 11 pound loss, but my body hadn't really changed at all so it didn't mean anything to me. I'd rather lose weight more slowly (and be able to eat more lol) than lose a lot, feel like crap, and not see the changes I want.
  • AmyFett
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
    The people you mention who are eating rubbish and losing fast....how much do they need to lose? If they're quite big then dropping to below 1200 calories will make them lose fast, however they're eating those calories. I don't think you can maintain good loss while eating like that though.

    Personally I eat around 1400 a day, and I don't eat back my exercise calories. I was eating around 1200, and since I upped it slightly I've been losing faster. I suppose since I exercise a lot and have been doing so for well over a year now, my metabolism has probably speeded up.

    If that's you in the pink dress on your profile pic, then you clearly don't have a lot to lose, so it'll take you a bit longer anyway. The last 7lbs or so are always the toughest I think.

    Just ignore the people eating rubbish. You know it's not healthy and it won't do them any good in the long term.

    I started with nearly 100 to lose, 1200 was not making me lose fast. It depends on the specific person in general. Not just huge people. I wish it was that simple, lol.
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
    With all due honesty, I dont associate with people who eat well below the 1200 or net below 1200.. it is not a healthy management of weight loss or health. Yes, there are people who willingly do that, but I personally find it to be self-destructive... Id rather lose the weight gradually and do it the right way...

    With all due respect, because you dont associate with people LIKE ME, you are only putting people out of your life who not only can be a great friend, but may NEED your support also. What a shame that you are someone to judge me.. when my doctor has me on a 800-1000 diet.

    I...dont...have...to...associate....with...that... its not a bad thing. If you go back a couple pages, I made an additional comment that said I would rather have like-minded people around. I dont accept the help from people here because they are not my doctor...and the people in my friends list understand that I will not accept their help because of the fact they are not my doctor. I am also someone who is being monitored by a physician as well. 1600 cal per day with other restrictions. There was no judging - just preference, so how dare YOU judge me...
  • toriaenator
    toriaenator Posts: 423 Member
    i used to eat around 800. what happened was i lost all my muscle, became lethargic, sad, freezing, and weak. it was NOT fun! So i would delete those people if they are triggering you; take your TDEE and take off 15-20% or set MFP to 1lb or even 1/2 lb loss a week. Honestly slow and steady wins the race.

    goodluck :D
  • speediejane
    speediejane Posts: 496 Member
    bump
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    i havent been logging for ages now ...
    i havent lost any weight in ages infact iv gained about 8lbs since i started doing insanity last month!!!

    Some of that weight might be muscle or water or TOM.
    Do you weigh what you logged before?

    Do you measure your size?

    Are you healthier?

    Log better, focus less on the scale.
    I have seen the effects of long term under-eating (well above 1200 but with 1500 of cardio every day...) on a person metabolism it then becomes very difficult to stay active and lose weight. So go ahead and eat under 1200 if that is your wish, for a short while, it isn't an issue.

    But what is the long-term lifestyle that you want to have?
  • Fozzi43
    Fozzi43 Posts: 2,984 Member
    I personally think what works for some may not work for others..I wouldn't actively encourage anyone to eat below 1200 cals but if there is a medical reason for it then so be it. I wouldn't unfriendl someone who ate below that amount, I'd gently encourage them to eat more...different strokes for different folks etc :noway:

    Btw I'm on 1200 a day as I'm only 5 ft but do eat exercise cals, sometimes I also go over, just depends :noway:
  • Delovelybella87
    Delovelybella87 Posts: 69
    Taking daily vitamins added to your diet can be beneficial as well! Specially to those who are paleo/have gluten intolerance as myself and eat under 1200 calories daily.

    Vitamins .....seriously? Vitamins will not help you retain healthy muscle mass, that's what eating1200 Net calories is about.

    I exercise to keep muscle mass and I eat those calories to FUEL my workouts. By netting under 1200 calories regularly, you risk burning healthy muscle tissue.
    I Meant:

    Add vitamins if you fear your not getting the correct amount in your diet plan.

    I eat balanced meals daily under 1000 calories and my muscle tone is defined due to a high protein and fiber diet , so to me it's all about a balanced non processed non fried food diet, maybe the people that eat rubbish and under 1200 calories will be at risk. But really it all depends on the individual everyone's body processes things differently it's a matter of finding what works best for you.

    Anyone ever try eating a diet based on your blood type?
  • agent99oz
    agent99oz Posts: 185 Member
    why do i see people getting such good results doing it argh!!!

    i have never gone under 1200cals and i eat back most exercise cals too. i havent been logging for ages now though but have been maintaining as i dont usually try new things so i have a rough idea on my cals. i eat around 1600cals and when i exercise i log that and usually eat more so around 1900-2300cals a day. i havent lost any weight in ages infact iv gained about 8lbs since i started doing insanity last month!!!

    yet i have friends on here who fill there diary in daily and eat pretty rubbish but under 1200 some only 800cals of pure rubbish! and still seem to be losing weight at a fast pace!

    i really dont understand this, i do delete these people but havent in afew weeks, its just really off putting i dont get fast results any more yet it seems eating afew ready meals, mugshots or processed crap is making these people lose up to 2lb a week!!

    I was eating 1460cals a day....BMR is over 1560 cals, For 8 months - nothing no weight loss...dropped to 1200cals 3 weeks ago 2.5kgs gone! My diary is open, my food choices are good and I train hard! Just saying it works...sorry those who hate 1200 cals... I even tried a day a week for a month no food...NOTHING! So for me it is working
  • Moniqua1
    Moniqua1 Posts: 195 Member
    Bump.to read later. This has often confused me. I eat over 1200 but don't eat my gym calories back so I net low. Want to figure this all out. Don't care how fast or slow it comes off.
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
    1. Some people are on medically supervised diets below 1200 calories a day. So they're not all following a "cut way down to lose faster mentality."

    2. Any and all comparisons to concentration camp diets are stupid. Yes, concentration camp rations were 1300 calories a day, but with all the slave labor, they were netting at about -2500 calories a day. Even someone eating 600 calories a day and exercising a bunch isn't netting that low. Plus, the diets were completely unbalanced, with extremely little protein.

    3. That said, starvation mode exists, it's scientific name is adaptive thermogenesis, and it does cause plateaus. And multivitamins are no replacement for real food.

Categories