How does one survive on 1200 calories per day anyway??

lots of veggies and no processed foods. So easy to do. My husband gripes at me for wasting my time counting calories. Since I mainly eat 80% veggies and 20% fruits and nuts I can't ever seem to break 13whatever MFP assigns me. It is cool. I eat ALL THE TIME. I love it.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

Use the BMR calculator tool on the App tab. This will give you the amount of calories you body burns if all you did was lay in bed all day. You should be eating at least this many calories each day.

Found this from user *psulemon* and it should answer your question.

***Keep in mind that MyFitnessPal is only as smart as the person inputting the data. MFP doesn't know how much you have to lose until you get into a healthy range. MFP doesn't know how much lean body mass you have (nor do most people). And if you have very little to lose and you want to lose 2 lbs a week, then MFP will probably arbitrarily cut you to 1200 calories as that's the least acceptable amount. You should be following the below guidelines.

If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

The other is the fact that a Low Calorie Diet increases the chances of muscle loss. So previously, you could have had maintenance calories of 1900 but after 6 months of a LCD, you now have maintenance calories of 1600. It just means after a long period of LCD and you return to maintenance, you can only add a few calories as opposed to a larger amount. This is why LCD's are so ineffective long term because it creates a situation where you maintenance calories is severely suppressed due to your suppressing your metabolism and killing your lean body mass. I have seen some VLCD that end up causing your body to lose 50% of it's weight from lbm. This is why many of us suggest a moderate deficit (20% less than tdee to include exercise [hopefully that exercise includes heavy weight training]) in order to reduce muscle loss and maintain your metabolic rate.

At 1200 calories yourself, if you are any kind of active, you are not in a situation for just fat loss, but rather probably high in muscle loss too. If you don't believe me, I would suggest tracking your body fat and adding weight training to your exercise regimen. ***

Hello! Here are a few of my lil helpers that get me through the day. 1) when you wake, pee, weigh yourself, then drink a glass of Metamucil or Chia Seeds (from Trader Joes, Whole Foods or health food store) before breakfast. The mucil/seeds will fill up your belly and you will not eat as much. 2) I drink at least 1 gallon of water each day. 3) About 1/2 hour before lunch and dinner, drink the Metamucil or Chia Seed water again. 4) If you can learn to like salads, you can eat an enormous amount of lettuce/spinach/arugula with canned (1/2 can Costco brand) chicken, with apples and a few nuts with SUGAR FREE Waldens Dressing. YUMMY. 5) last but not least, I eat WASA bread or WASA Rosemary Flatbread as a snack or a cup of strawberries with SUGAR FREE Walden Farms Chocolate Sauce to quiet my sugar cravings. Hope this helps. GOOD LUCK!!!!!

1430 is the number for me. You just need to find a number that works for you. I used to think I needed to be under 1,200 calories a day and failed everytime I tried to lose weight because eating under 1,200 is something I cannot do long-term. I've been eating under 1430 calories a day for about a month and have lost 10 pounds and think this is something I can do long-term.

I eat between 1200-1400 cals a day and I am 6'2 with 51lbs to lose. It's really not hard for me. I also eat clean, so find that I have to squeeze in a few snacks to make it to 1200 some days. My BMR is 1960, but I wasn't even losing a half pound a week at 1700 calories, so I had to adjust. You have to find what works for you and do that.

If you eat starches and sugars, you'll be over the limit fast & hungry. I don't have any trouble staying under 1200 calories. (Maybe a bit more depending on my workouts). I'm rarely hungry and I work out a lot. The trick is to eat a lot of low-calorie, high fibre vegetables, some fruit, and with every meal and snack a high-quality protein. Veggies & fruits are carbohydrates, too, and a much better way to get them than grains & starches. A balance of carbs, proteins, and fats with every meal and snack is the key to feeling full and energized longer. BTW peanut butter, cream cheese, nuts are not proteins, they are fats. Nuts are a good fat (monounsaturated), but don't call it protein. You're welcome to send me a friend request and have a look at my food diary.

Log your food ahead of time and use that to help you make better choices. An english muffin with pb instead of a bagel with cream cheese for example. Good luck!

I ate 1200 cals for nearly a year plus my exercise cals.

So going on 1700 a day. at 5`4" and lost 42lbs. Now I am in maintenance at 1570 + exercise cals around 2000 for around 2 or 3 months.

1200 cals is quit e a lot of food and if you exercise you get to eat more...it does work!

I don't find it that hard, I love planning my meals in advance and really thinking about what I want to eat.

I as well want to be satisfied with my meals, I don't like eating things just to make me feel full!

You can check out my diary if you want to.

Today I had an extra serving of cheese and a piece of chocolate for dessert and oh my I enjoyed every bite of that chocolate and still managed to not go over my cal intake

I as well LOVE going out for a walk in this cold weather and walk off my crazy cravings!

Hey, I never manage to reach 1200 anymore since starting a low carb diet, I feel like I am eating big meals but the calorie content is so low! The good thing about low carb is that you can eat a lot of fat, like cheese, bacon etc and it helps weight loss and keeps you feeling full for longer! I have felt a lot healthier on this diet, no more feeling bloated and yucky....
Take a look at my diary if you want.

Chloe x

Very easily.....I eat 1200 calories a day - eating 6 small meals / breakfast/am snack/lunch/pm snack/supper and a late pm snack

I exercise 5-6 times a week and don't eat back my calories

Works for me

^^^THIS! And I still eat whatever I pretty much want and the weight is melting off---PORTION CONTROL, & WATER WATER WATER!

You CAN do it!

Hi there Welcome!

I'm sure you'll get a variety of opinions, but I for one feel that 1200 calories a day is way too little. To lose one pound of weight, you need to burn/reduce 3500 calories. Don't know how tall you are, or how much you weigh...I'm 5'10" and now weigh 220lbs. My goal, is to lose 1/2 pound per week. I run every other day, walk 2 miles every day, and stay under 2000 calories a day.
As you can see from my 'ruler' below, it's working.

Find where you need to be, and then figure a healthy way to get there. TONS of GREAT people here that will help you work through the math

Good luck! And feel free to 'add' me as a friend if you want support, etc.

Tash

Great advice!

I have no problem staying at 1200. My advice, no matter how many calories you are set at, is to log your food before you eat. YOu can see how much it is and avoid that surprise after.

I totally agree with you! I plan my meals at least the night before and generally know dinner plans for the week. I lost 90 pounds previously by doing the same thing and when I got off that philosophy I gained that weight plus 30 pounds back! I'm back here tracking daily, exercising and overall making healthier choices in order to change my philosophy of food.

Find foods that fill you up and are not high calorie... like greek yogurt, high protein lean meats, salads with egg or protein... oatmeal with fruit in the morning... Honestly I eat an average of 1200-1440 calories daily and at times struggle to reach this because I'm just not hungry.

On the days I exercise I am hungry for the calories but no exercise = not being hungry for me! All in all you need to find what works for you and what you can handle in the long run so that you will be able to lose and maintain... my mentality this time is that this IS forever not for the short term goal only! Feel free to friend me if you want to see my tracker.

I would suggest PRElogging (if someone hasn't mentioned it yet).

Regardless of how many calories you go for plan your meals and pre log them. Then you'll know exactly what and when you are eating. No surprises for a while, at least until you learn how to eat better.

I do almost always, along with a lot of my coworkers, sure some days I'm really hungry with munchies, but I find that fiber is a great source of keeping me full...also if you look at my diary it seems like more than what it's really worth which mentally helps me... and I'm getting more use to it.

Water too... I drink 12 cups of water a day (trainer recommended all this for me...) She's helping me get over a plateau I've had for...almost half a year now it seems.