Anyone successfully lose weight eating 1200 cal or less?

I have. I find that I'm generally pretty satisfied if the calories are from good foods because it takes a lot of them to make 1200 Cal. Of course, before I made this change, I was going all day without eating and feeling like my 2000 Cal meal at mcdonalds or pasta house was ok. Apparently not. Feel much better at 1200 throughout the day.

^This. I find that eating 1200 calories a day makes me prioritize what I'm putting into my mouth. If you're eating mostly whole foods, you can eat 1200 calories a day and never feel hungry.

I see it claimed all the time on MFP that eating 1200 calories will make it nearly impossible to keep the weight off. It's in this thread several times. But I've never seen a source for this and have no reason to believe it's true. My maintenance calories will be around 1600 calories. It'll be 1600 calories whether I lose weight eating 1200 calories a day or 1400 calories a day. So why would I be more likely to gain the weight back?

I've never seen a negative claim about 1200 calories for women that has ever been substantiated in any way.

Yes , I have been doing 1100-1300 cals for 2 yrs and have lost 105 lbs so yes it works, the last 3 mths I have been concentrating on toning up the lose skin but have decided to try to lose another 10 lbs....

For one meal? Yeah, sure.

I'm losing weight on 1200 caloies a day and if it's not enough calories to also keep me healthy then I'll blame 'myfitnesspal' as it was the target daily calories that they set for me!!! Seriously though, I feel fine on that calorie intake, it's the exercising to help me tone up that I have trouble pushing myself to do.

Simple answer is yes, people have lost weight eating 1200 calories.

Much better answer is no, you won't healthfully lose weight loose weight eating that few calories.

This. Plus, you're more likely to gain back all the weight once you start eating your BMR/maintenance level if you lose on a low-calorie diet.

Who says you're not healthy eating 1200 calories? I get everything that I need on that amount. When I hit my goal, I don't plan on eating 1800+ calories to maintain... I might go up to 1400-1500, and I really don't think all of my weight is going to come back on that amount of calories. Different amounts work for different people, and it's perfectly healthy if you're eating a variety of foods.

working for me since I got serious about it in December of 2011, I'd say I'm in the "or less" group plus exercise 3-5 times a week.

I recently went back to 1200 after doing 1500-1600 for 3 months. Eating more just did not work for me. I feel fuller on 1200 calories than I did before because I pay more attention to the types of food I eat. It takes a lot of veggies to fill up 200-300 calories compared to a quick bag of chips or some cookies.

Yup! It worked for me because I do not have emotional eating issue or eating disorders.

This is why stomach staple works, you are just doing what they can't do on their own.

There is no evidence of starvation mode for men over 6% BF or woman over 12% body fat.

Since I am under 12% BF I can't eat that low or I risk starvation mode. Make sense? But when I was obese I could eat that low because I had BF reserves which prevented me from going into starvation mode. That's how it works.

This is not recommended for people with eating disorders or emotional eating problems like binging because then you might yo-yo.

I have kept it off a year so the nonsense that you will gain it back if you eat that low is, well, nonsense. emotional reaction to the starvation mode myth.

Nice comment. You had a brilliant transformation - remember reading about it.

I was on 1200 and barely lost anything, switched to 1500 and started losing 1kg a week. I've switched to 1500 on lite n easy but hvent found using mfp that it's actually only 1200 calories! I'm now just going with the 1200 but eating more fruit/yoghurt/eggs to earn back calories lost from exercise. Will see if it affects weight loss soon enough i spose.

It depends on your height. I'm 5.41/2 and I tried the 1200 and I found it a real struggle so I went back up again.

I have lost weight under and over 1200 and I have stuck or gained at under or over 1200 - my target is 1500

So I concluded that so-called "Starvation Mode" is a myth - whereas on MFP this is a guiding principle and oft repeated mantra.

See what works and use the diary to keep track of intake, stopping those sneaky little Calories creeping under your food radar, and follow your own path, (selectivel) ignoring all those Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms "You don't want to do it like that"s who may get on your case.

Best wishes and good luck

I think it depends on each person. I know when I tried that my weight loss stalled seriously. I only lost a few pounds When I upped my calories to 1500 the weight started falling off and I lost 20 lbs in a couple of months. But I am 5' 8". For someone who is petite that is probably fine.

I also have to say I was working out a lot and I think my body was doing starvation mode at that low calorie intake. Don't know really, but I do know that it took upping my calories to start losing weight again. I have never gained back those 20lbs, even eating an unrestricted diet. But that was over one year ago and because of health issues I stopped following my routine. I am trying to get back into it now and hope to lose the rest.

Yep. I've been netting 1200 a day and it's been working for me.
(but I'm really petite)

This. 5' tall.

Please eat more. Sustain your body don't starve it. Be healthy. 1200 calories a day is not acceptable for organisms as large as humans.

Actually it is. You can get all the necessary macro and micronutrients with 1100 calories per day. There even may be some evidence that if you got your maintenance level down to 1100-1200, you could live for a while longer than other human beings who eat at the average 2000-2500.