1200 is not difficult.
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To me yogurt isn't a meal. If you're exercising you need more than 1200 calories.
Yogurt is definitely a snack. (or an add-in)
ya, maybe with NO exercise you could pull of 1200 but i can't usually do it without exercising and eating around 1400 or more.0 -
Glad you can stick with it, but some of us prefer to minimize lean mass losses and would rather lose slower to do so.
THIS
Because I am eating more, almost all of my losses have been strictly fat loss and not muscle (according to my monthly bio impedence analysis tests).
You might be feeling fine and able to do 1200 just fine...but what it is doing to your metabolism and loss of muscle mass the main issue.
She blatantly doesn't care!! As long as the scale goes down it's all good!! Completely mad, just to say hey i'm losing 2 lbs a week!!0 -
THIS!Glad you can stick with it, but some of us prefer to minimize lean mass losses and would rather lose slower to do so.
THIS
Because I am eating more, almost all of my losses have been strictly fat loss and not muscle (according to my monthly bio impedence analysis tests).
You might be feeling fine and able to do 1200 just fine...but what it is doing to your metabolism and loss of muscle mass the main issue.
I stick with a 1200 diet plan (as stated in my last message), lift weights daily and feel stronger then ever. As long as people feed their muscles with whey isolate afterwords. It can be done.
Well you certainly won't be building any new muscle at that kind of deficit, protein shake or not.
I'm only 5 ft and I don't have a lot of weight to lose so i'm definitely not depleting my body of anything. I make sure I eat lean protein with every meal. Like I mentioned before, everyone is different. In my case and many others it can be done. if done PROPERLY, End of.0 -
But....
I like food!0 -
Please show me one instance where I said my way is the right way.
Then I will show you 5 where I said "this is what works for me, but other people should do what works for them.
If you honestly need someone to pick your op apart and break down all the reasons why they disagree with you, you either a) have a problem with admitting you're wrong even when multiple people tell you so, or b) this is your natural way of communicating with people and you can't understand why what you've said comes off as condescending. Either way, no one is obligated to pick apart your words and explain to you why they disagree. People have already explained in as much detail as they can why they think your post may have been offensive to some and why they disagree. You can take it or leave it, but being defensive isn't helping anything.0 -
Ok, I have to jump in here. First off, do not assume that your way is the only way and everyone else on here will agree with you.
Do all of you realize that the OP is a 45 year old female?? Of course her caloric needs are less than a 30 year old, especially one who is lifting heavy and has very little excess fat. So please stop telling her that she needs to eat more, she is losing muscle mass, she is losing too fast, etc. What she is eating is healthy. She is getting in all the nutrients she needs. She makes good choices in her foods, so she doesn't have the carb cravings that someone eating donuts for breakfast would have. She is eating enough protein to sustain her muscle mass.
There are HORDES of women in their mid to late 40s and above who are losing safely and steadily at or even below 1200 cals per day. And guess what? They are even keeping the weight off! They never went into starvation mode. They kept their muscle mass by exercising and eating enough protein.
I have no idea who came up with the magic number of 1200 being the minimum that EVERYONE needed to get the proper nutrients. You will not find that on any reputable, scientifically proven website. The only reason this number is such a big deal is because that is the number that the MFP people decided was the minimum amount of calories that it would suggest for someone to eat. This is primarily to discourage eating disorders among young people who are already in a healthy or underweight range.
The goal of losing .5 to 1 pound a week is mainly for people with very little excess fat, who are trying to build muscle. You may want to spend hours a day lifting heavy weights and bulking up your muscles, but not everyone has that same goal.
Someone who is 100 pounds overweight NEEDS to lose more than that. It is perfectly safe for them to lose 2 pounds a week, or even more, as they have plenty of fat stores to use as fuel.
And your BMR is NOT the minimum number of calories to keep you alive if you are in a coma! I am so sick of hearing that. Your BMR is the number of calories to MAINTAIN your current weight if you are sedentary. To lose weight you HAVE to either eat less or move more.
So those of you who want to spend hours in the gym burning 1500 calories a day so you can eat 3000 calories a day in food, and lose a half pound a week, good for you. Go right ahead.
For me personally, I would rather eat less, exercise moderately, and spend my time and energy with my family. You can choose how you want to do it, and the rest of us can choose how we want to do it. Neither side is wrong, if we do what is right for us.
But please stop with all the scare tactics and blanket statements. It is getting SO old.
I couldn't have said it better myself :flowerforyou:
I get you probably agree with the message but there is some misinformation in there.
Sorry, I just have to point that out because the glaring misinformation of the BMR. People get confused enough about it, I feel it's important to note..
Also people looking to gain muscle do not eat at a deficit period.0 -
There is a legitimate reason why persons who chronically restrict calories get full eating for less than actual TDEE: a severe decline in serum leptin concentration levels (your satiety hormone). After one day of eating less than what your body truly needs, leptin levels drop. If one continues this long enough, they will find themselves feeling full on a really low calorie intake. The body is really telling them they are not full, but because leptin signaling is greatly altered due to chronic calorie restriction, they are getting the wrong message that they are full. This leads to a person wrongfully believing they are receiving the optimal amount of energy in the form of calories to meet their body's energy demands when they aren't. Unlike the increase reregulation of resting metabolic rate, leptin reregulation is one of the alterations of the endocrine system that takes a substantially long time to return to near normal levels - with anorexics, even recovered ones, their leptin signaling will always be far below "normal" values.I'm eating around 1100 a day right now, last night I was trying to force myself to eat something, but I was so full from eating all day that I thought I might get sick if I put another thing in my stomach. I feel if your not hungry then don't eat, your body know's what's good for you. There is no point in forcing yourself to eat if your not hungry! Then your just setting yourself up to gain weight.
hahahahaha oh my god people like you are so full of it!! 'I'm just so full I cannot possibly eat another bite!!' How did you get fat in the first place then!!!?? Please don't come back to the forums moaning when you can't shift the last few lb's because your body has had enough of being fed like a small child and given up.0 -
I agree with you - I'm at 1250 & it's working well for me.
Weight loss is personal & individual. If it works for you & getting results by achieving them in a healthy way then rock on sister!
Each to their own.0 -
I've been reading the forums tonight and have read around 10 different posts from people saying that 1200 is impossible, or that unless they workout, there's no calories left for dinner, or that 1200 calories a day translates to starving yourself or living on only salads.
My diary is open- I eat 3 meals a day and 2 snacks. If you eat healthy, real food, 1200 calories is not difficult and I'm not starving. make good choices and avoid garbage - then if you go over, it's not a big deal. sometimes I'm under 1200 - I get busy and don't want to eat at 10pm just to get calories in.
Btw, I started at 255, 2 months ago and have lost 29lbs and feel good. I'm not saying that a person with less to lose should restrict as much, but for me, and a lot of other people, losing the weight fast is more motivating to stick to their plan than being allowed to eat more but only losing .5 lbs a week.
Are you short? This works for most short people, not tall people. It all depends on your RMR. Taller people have a higher RMR so this would be to low for them.
1200 is such a stupid number to get stuck on. What you need to eat for a deficit is relative to your RMR.
To tell everyone eat more is wrong.
To tell everyone to eat less is wrong.
To find the exact amount of calories for you to be in a sustainable calorie deficit is correct. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others. Some people have emotional eating disorders and it comes into play. Even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux and everyone is different.
I was able to handle a pretty deep calorie deficit because I'm very disciplined and eat healthy (good fuel for the body so I can perform well at the gym) and I do not have emotional eating issues. I have a very low RMR so my doctor said I could go lower than 1200.
I'm glad it's working for you sweetheart, but it won't work for bigger people with higher RMR.
Bravo.0 -
My two cents:
First cent: If you're going to post something like this, you should expect bad, negative thoughts from others-so you shouldn't get defensive about it.
Second Cent: 1200 maybe be working for you now, but don't always expect it to. I did that for about 2 months and after that I started getting extremely tired, couldn't finish my runs, couldn't do any strength training. Hopefully you'll know when your body starts telling you to eat more, and that you do actually eat more.0 -
Glad you can stick with it, but some of us prefer to minimize lean mass losses and would rather lose slower to do so.
THIS
Because I am eating more, almost all of my losses have been strictly fat loss and not muscle (according to my monthly bio impedence analysis tests).
You might be feeling fine and able to do 1200 just fine...but what it is doing to your metabolism and loss of muscle mass the main issue.
She blatantly doesn't care!! As long as the scale goes down it's all good!! Completely mad, just to say hey i'm losing 2 lbs a week!!
let me ask you a question. You look very fit in your profile pic btw. anyway, so lets say your neighbor asks you for help losing weight. She's very overweight- say 400lbs. she doesn't really work out and she's in her 50s.
would you tell her to set her sights on losing .5lbs a week and keeping whatever muscle mass she has (which wasn't much, since she wasn't athletic by any means), or would you tell her to lose 2lbs per week for now, until she gets rid of some of the excess fat?0 -
I'm eating around 1100 a day right now, last night I was trying to force myself to eat something, but I was so full from eating all day that I thought I might get sick if I put another thing in my stomach. I feel if your not hungry then don't eat, your body know's what's good for you. There is no point in forcing yourself to eat if your not hungry! Then your just setting yourself up to gain weight.
hahahahaha oh my god people like you are so full of it!! 'I'm just so full I cannot possibly eat another bite!!' How did you get fat in the first place then!!!?? Please don't come back to the forums moaning when you can't shift the last few lb's because your body has had enough of being fed like a small child and given up.
But, but....she can't eat another bite!
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Ok, I have to jump in here. First off, do not assume that your way is the only way and everyone else on here will agree with you.
Do all of you realize that the OP is a 45 year old female?? Of course her caloric needs are less than a 30 year old, especially one who is lifting heavy and has very little excess fat. So please stop telling her that she needs to eat more, she is losing muscle mass, she is losing too fast, etc. What she is eating is healthy. She is getting in all the nutrients she needs. She makes good choices in her foods, so she doesn't have the carb cravings that someone eating donuts for breakfast would have. She is eating enough protein to sustain her muscle mass.
There are HORDES of women in their mid to late 40s and above who are losing safely and steadily at or even below 1200 cals per day. And guess what? They are even keeping the weight off! They never went into starvation mode. They kept their muscle mass by exercising and eating enough protein.
I have no idea who came up with the magic number of 1200 being the minimum that EVERYONE needed to get the proper nutrients. You will not find that on any reputable, scientifically proven website. The only reason this number is such a big deal is because that is the number that the MFP people decided was the minimum amount of calories that it would suggest for someone to eat. This is primarily to discourage eating disorders among young people who are already in a healthy or underweight range.
The goal of losing .5 to 1 pound a week is mainly for people with very little excess fat, who are trying to build muscle. You may want to spend hours a day lifting heavy weights and bulking up your muscles, but not everyone has that same goal.
Someone who is 100 pounds overweight NEEDS to lose more than that. It is perfectly safe for them to lose 2 pounds a week, or even more, as they have plenty of fat stores to use as fuel.
And your BMR is NOT the minimum number of calories to keep you alive if you are in a coma! I am so sick of hearing that. Your BMR is the number of calories to MAINTAIN your current weight if you are sedentary. To lose weight you HAVE to either eat less or move more.
So those of you who want to spend hours in the gym burning 1500 calories a day so you can eat 3000 calories a day in food, and lose a half pound a week, good for you. Go right ahead.
For me personally, I would rather eat less, exercise moderately, and spend my time and energy with my family. You can choose how you want to do it, and the rest of us can choose how we want to do it. Neither side is wrong, if we do what is right for us.
But please stop with all the scare tactics and blanket statements. It is getting SO old.
I couldn't have said it better myself :flowerforyou:
Have you even looked up BMR! What you defined is TDEE. So stop ranting. I am 48 (gasp), 5 ft 4in, and i eat 1400-1700 calories a day. The most I ever work out is 1 hour, and I never burn more than 400 or so in a day. Most women do not have to eat at or below 1200. You would think that would make people happy.0 -
let me ask you a question. You look very fit in your profile pic btw. anyway, so lets say your neighbor asks you for help losing weight. She's very overweight- say 400lbs. she doesn't really work out and she's in her 50s.
would you tell her to set her sights on losing .5lbs a week and keeping whatever muscle mass she has (which wasn't much, since she wasn't athletic by any means), or would you tell her to lose 2lbs per week for now, until she gets rid of some of the excess fat?
At 400 lbs, at 5'5, BMR would be over 2500. Add in activity and this person could easy eat a 1000 calories deficit per day for a 2 lb a week weight loss and not be near 1200 calories.
2lbs a week goal is an appropriate goal with a lot of weight to lose and minimize muscle loss. Once you get under 50 lbs left to lose is when the goal should lower.
Edited to add - the suggestion for .5 lbs a week is for those with under 20 lbs left to lose0 -
Ok, I have to jump in here. First off, do not assume that your way is the only way and everyone else on here will agree with you.
Do all of you realize that the OP is a 45 year old female?? Of course her caloric needs are less than a 30 year old, especially one who is lifting heavy and has very little excess fat. So please stop telling her that she needs to eat more, she is losing muscle mass, she is losing too fast, etc. What she is eating is healthy. She is getting in all the nutrients she needs. She makes good choices in her foods, so she doesn't have the carb cravings that someone eating donuts for breakfast would have. She is eating enough protein to sustain her muscle mass.
There are HORDES of women in their mid to late 40s and above who are losing safely and steadily at or even below 1200 cals per day. And guess what? They are even keeping the weight off! They never went into starvation mode. They kept their muscle mass by exercising and eating enough protein.
I have no idea who came up with the magic number of 1200 being the minimum that EVERYONE needed to get the proper nutrients. You will not find that on any reputable, scientifically proven website. The only reason this number is such a big deal is because that is the number that the MFP people decided was the minimum amount of calories that it would suggest for someone to eat. This is primarily to discourage eating disorders among young people who are already in a healthy or underweight range.
The goal of losing .5 to 1 pound a week is mainly for people with very little excess fat, who are trying to build muscle. You may want to spend hours a day lifting heavy weights and bulking up your muscles, but not everyone has that same goal.
Someone who is 100 pounds overweight NEEDS to lose more than that. It is perfectly safe for them to lose 2 pounds a week, or even more, as they have plenty of fat stores to use as fuel.
And your BMR is NOT the minimum number of calories to keep you alive if you are in a coma! I am so sick of hearing that. Your BMR is the number of calories to MAINTAIN your current weight if you are sedentary. To lose weight you HAVE to either eat less or move more.
So those of you who want to spend hours in the gym burning 1500 calories a day so you can eat 3000 calories a day in food, and lose a half pound a week, good for you. Go right ahead.
For me personally, I would rather eat less, exercise moderately, and spend my time and energy with my family. You can choose how you want to do it, and the rest of us can choose how we want to do it. Neither side is wrong, if we do what is right for us.
But please stop with all the scare tactics and blanket statements. It is getting SO old.
I couldn't have said it better myself :flowerforyou:
Have you even looked up BMR! What you defined is TDEE. So stop ranting. I am 48 (gasp), 5 ft 4in, and i eat 1400-1700 calories a day. The most I ever work out is 1 hour, and I never burn more than 400 or so in a day. Most women do not have to eat at or below 1200. You would think that would make people happy.
It makes me happy!0 -
THIS!Glad you can stick with it, but some of us prefer to minimize lean mass losses and would rather lose slower to do so.
THIS
Because I am eating more, almost all of my losses have been strictly fat loss and not muscle (according to my monthly bio impedence analysis tests).
You might be feeling fine and able to do 1200 just fine...but what it is doing to your metabolism and loss of muscle mass the main issue.
I stick with a 1200 diet plan (as stated in my last message), lift weights daily and feel stronger then ever. As long as people feed their muscles with whey isolate afterwords. It can be done.
Well you certainly won't be building any new muscle at that kind of deficit, protein shake or not.
I'm only 5 ft and I don't have a lot of weight to lose so i'm defiantly not depleting my body of anything. I make sure I eat lean protein with every meal. Like I mentioned before, everyone is different. In my case and many others it can be done. if done PROPERLY, End of.
Didn't say it didn't work for you, or you weren't losing, just that you won't build muscle on a diet of 1200. Sorry if the truth is painful to you!0 -
Please show me one instance where I said my way is the right way.
Then I will show you 5 where I said "this is what works for me, but other people should do what works for them.
If you honestly need someone to pick your op apart and break down all the reasons why they disagree with you, you either a) have a problem with admitting you're wrong even when multiple people tell you so, or b) this is your natural way of communicating with people and you can't understand why what you've said comes off as condescending. Either way, no one is obligated to pick apart your words and explain to you why they disagree. People have already explained in as much detail as they can why they think your post may have been offensive to some and why they disagree. You can take it or leave it, but being defensive isn't helping anything.
lol.. I'm not defensive and I haven't said anything "wrong", since all i've said is what is working for me. You said (or maybe it was another poster- if so, I apologize) that I'm claiming my way is the only right way. I didn't say that. I have nothing to defend and I'm not entertaining your nastiness anymore anyway.
If you find it offensive, that's too bad, but that's your deal. have a good day and good luck with your journey.0 -
Your entire op says that. If you won't admit that, whatever. You claimed you meant it was good for You AFTER people told you your post was wrong or negative. Your op is what you really think, your responses afterwards are backtracking.
Like I said, I am glad it is working for you right now. I hope you succeed. But there is a reason so many people are attacking your post. It isn't because 1200 calories is working for you and easy, either.Please show me one instance where I said my way is the right way.
Then I will show you 5 where I said "this is what works for me, but other people should do what works for them.Your entire op was condescending and telling everyone how easy it is if you eat healthy foods, at 1200 calories a day. You did not say it was "working you you". You said you read about ten posts about how hard it is, and questioned if they were eating junk. Don't backtrack. At least own what you say.
Bottom line, you are wrong. If you want to do it that way, and like the results, go for it. I support you. Just don't tell everyone, when we are all drastically different, that losing weight and doing it your way is not hard or the right way. And that IS what you said. Good luck not gaining it all back, btw.Here's a brief summary of the thread:
Original post:
"hey, I started eating really healthy and it's been easy to maintain my calorie deficit. I have a decent amount to lose and it's been working for me, but I'm not saying I would recommend this to anyone."
Replies:
"I can't believe you're recommending this to everyone"
"You sound very snotty"
"I'm a completely different height, weight, gender, and activity level than you and what you do wouldn't work for me, therefore, you're completely wrong"
"You'll gain it all back, whereas I will be successful for life."
"That works for me too, thanks".
"8oz of yogurt for breakfast?? OMG!!!!!"0 -
So i'm just going to throw it out there. I agree that i can eat 1200 cal a day and lose weight. I lost 75lbs doing this 3 years ago. I did gain some back and recently when i went back to this method i couldn't lose. I went to my DR and dietitian and was advised to eat my TDEE also that i'm not just to eat a yogart for breakfast as I usually do as your body needs a combo of foods within one meal in order to be able to process it better. IE a grain, protein and a dairy. so YES i can eat 1200 a day and feel satisifed i hear what your saying but eventually it does back fire and you will have to gain some back inorder to go into mainatance or lose again. I'm eating 1500-1600 cal a day now and am losing more weight then ever (about 2.3 lbs per week). I thought I was good with 1200 but clearly my body needed more and if I can lose more eating at 1600 then 1200 then clearly that is the way to go and I'm now able to hit my nutrition targets.
...Not difficult by any means but your not getting all your nutrience0 -
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