1200 Calories

2»

Replies

  • while were so completely off topic:

    7ad.jpg

    Bahahaha love this

    :flowerforyou:
  • Well for one, you should never eat less than 1200. Maybe by a few calories, but that's the minimal caloric need for your body to survive, your organs to survive, yadayada. It's tempting to eat below 1200, but that is actually a minimum, not a max.

    I think that's bull****. I don't think that organs will start to shut down on a diet under 1200 calories. It's not a magic number. completely ridiculous. Some people will go over 1200 calories a day by eating junk food. That doesn't mean they are better off than a person who eats under 1200 calories of healthy food.

    lol... agreed!


    Sorry 'bull ****', but the American Medical Association doesn't agree with you. It is best to stick to 1200 calories a day, unless you know personally from a Doctor/testing that you can consume a little less. The reason is that your body freaks out a little if you're not getting enough calories and over time breaks down muscle and lowers your metabolic rate significantly, therefore inhibiting your ability to lose weight and be healthy. It can lower your rate by up to 40% and take a year to recover once you're eating healthily again!! See here: http://www.fitsugar.com/Why-1200-Calories-Day-Important-When-Dieting-13080864

    well, i still don't believe it. AMA doesn't know everything. eating over 1200 calories a day when it includes crap can't possibly be better than a lower calorie healthier diet.

    for 80% of women the above statement is not true because 1200 is too low. yes, people should eat healthy, don't get me wrong, see below:

    only 10-20% of people can eat below 1200cals without risking health problems. those people usually are women shorter in stature, older women or people with some kind of illness.

    the lowest BMR recorded in the most comprehensive study sited here: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/5/941.full from the american journal of clinical nutrition listed the lowest BMR recorded as 1027, so that would serve as the hard deck that 1-2% of the population could eat and not risk health problems.


    I think what you are trying to say is its better to eat less but healthy than more with a bad diet. healthy diet will always win over nutritionally devoid crap but:

    not eating enough, even if its a balanced diet you could still run into problems because of nutrient deficiency because you need more protein or vitamins than you can actually get out of the healthy but low amount. definitely a good idea to eat healthy in any case at any intake but:

    it eating healthy doesn't protect you from the risks of not eating enough because
    > you are not getting enough of the things your body needs like iron, vitamin c, healthy fats, protein etc.

    not hating on you at all just supplying information :)

    This.
    And undereating with healthy food does not make the person healthy either. I used to undereat (and only eat healthy foods) and I got very scary health problems from it, and I know many women that had similar issues as me due to lack of calories.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    OP, try incorporating a small serving of healthy fat (nuts, seeds, olive oil, coconut oil, even butter) and a protein at every meal. If you can, eat some form of fruit or vegetable with every meal. The fats will help your body absorb the nutrients better. I'd imagine you would start feeling sluggish soon. I aim for 1200 calories myself, and I definitely feel a difference when I eat the above than when I have too many carbs and not enough of the other stuff.
  • mgobluetx12
    mgobluetx12 Posts: 1,326 Member
    You are one inch shorter than I am so I can understand the 1200 calories. Taller people don't seem to understand that us shorter people need less calories in order to go into a calorie deficit than they do. I also add in that I'm over 50 years old and that typically makes my BMR lower as well. Make sure you check with your doctor and then be prepared for everyone here to give you a hard time about it. My doctor agreed that I am healthy as can be, DXA proved that I didn't lose lean body mass, and my doctor told me to ignore all the people who seem to have a hard time understanding that everyone is different and there is no one size fits all.

    All that matters for weight loss is less calories. Of course you want to eat as healthy as you can, it will make you feel better. You might want to try and find some fruits and vegetables and other protein sources. I personally don't find a need for protein bars or powders, they are expensive and typically harder to digest than just real food like meat, fish, dairy, poultry, legumes, etc.

    Too bad you don't like to work out. Here's why: Your quality of life will improve dramatically if you learn to like it and it will definitely improve your life when you get older (if you care to think ahead).

    Lifting weights is KEY. I recently had my DXA scan done and at 51.5 years of age I have the bone density of a super athletic 30 year old. That is a direct result of lifting for over 30 years. Now if that is not scientific proof that lifting weights keeps you younger I don't know what is! Also I believe it is why most people think I look much younger than I really am.

    Start lifting now, lift heavy and change it up often, find a lot of weight routines with free weights, make it fun, embrace it, make it part of your life. Only 3 days a week is all it would take. Crank up your tunes and learn to love it, because your body will love it and it will make your quality of life better in many ways, especially when you get older like me.

    Because of this I don't have to worry about osteoporosis. If you wait until you are older and your bones start to deteriorate it's a bit too late, you can't get back what you lost, and you can only start a resistance routine that will prevent further damage.

    If you are female you don't have the hormones to get big naturally. I lift heavy and I'm still really tiny. My lean body mass is only 104 lbs and that is fairly heavy for a 5'1" female, and quite a bit of this is due to my having very dense bones from 30 years of lifting, not all muscle, and I'm still quite tiny.

    My muscles really are not that big, but they show a lot of definition because I'm quite lean. If I gained some fat then I would have a softer more toned look (which is OKAY too!). Then if I gained more fat I would look bulky and hefty like I did most of my life until last year. YOU CAN HAVE WHATEVER YOU WANT. Lean and ripped, soft and toned, or hefty, it all depends on how much fat you leave on your body. Calories are the only thing that changes fat. Exercise is for changing or maintaining your lean body mass only. Lifting weights will give you the best bang for your buck for shaping your body. I finally changed my shape by putting lifting first and cardio 2nd. You cannot out exercise too many calories.


    Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

    Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

    The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

    To say eat more is wrong.

    To say eat less is wrong.

    To find the exact calories needed for YOU to be in a healthy sustainable calorie deficit is the right answer. Wait, if you need to adjust by 100 do it, wait, adjust, wait, adjust, wait. The tortoise wins this race.

    All that matters is calories. A healthy balanced diet within a calorie budget for a deficit that is right for YOU is all that matters for weight loss. Don't make it complicated.


    Also people play mental accounting games with calories just like with finances. Make steps to make sure you are making accurate measurements. Packaged foods can have MORE than they say but not less (they get in trouble if less so they would rather error with MORE).

    If you typically intake sodium at a certain rate your body adjusts, but if you make a sudden change then you will see a spike.

    Exercise is for making your lean body mass pretty (especially lifting weights) for when the fat is gone. Losing fat with no muscle is ugly and cardio alone will not make you pretty. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

    It really is about calories. I tell people this all the time and they say "Well if calories are all that matter why do you eat so clean???!!" Well, because it makes me feel better, sleep better, and perform better at my sports.

    Too many changes at once can be hard on some people. I've always eaten healthy so it easy for me to simply eat less. Eating at a calorie deficit is hard on people; even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such. Everyone is different. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others, this is not right or wrong, it just is. Stress in your life affects your hunger hormones; lack of sleep, fatigue, job stress, family stress, financial stress, etc. Add in emotional eating issues and it gets even more complicated. Most people can only handle so much change/stress at once, they try to do too much and fail. Sometimes it might be a better strategy to eat at maintenance and make some small changes first, it really depends on how much stress you are taking in at the moment.

    Enough already with your cutting and pasting of your life story. People are tired of having to scroll through your wall of blabber specially when it doesn't address the OP's question.
    \

    Thank you!! THIS, giant, THIS.
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    Well for one, you should never eat less than 1200. Maybe by a few calories, but that's the minimal caloric need for your body to survive, your organs to survive, yadayada. It's tempting to eat below 1200, but that is actually a minimum, not a max.

    I think that's bull****. I don't think that organs will start to shut down on a diet under 1200 calories. It's not a magic number. completely ridiculous. Some people will go over 1200 calories a day by eating junk food. That doesn't mean they are better off than a person who eats under 1200 calories of healthy food.

    lol... agreed!


    Sorry 'bull ****', but the American Medical Association doesn't agree with you. It is best to stick to 1200 calories a day, unless you know personally from a Doctor/testing that you can consume a little less. The reason is that your body freaks out a little if you're not getting enough calories and over time breaks down muscle and lowers your metabolic rate significantly, therefore inhibiting your ability to lose weight and be healthy. It can lower your rate by up to 40% and take a year to recover once you're eating healthily again!! See here: http://www.fitsugar.com/Why-1200-Calories-Day-Important-When-Dieting-13080864

    well, i still don't believe it. AMA doesn't know everything. eating over 1200 calories a day when it includes crap can't possibly be better than a lower calorie healthier diet.

    for 80% of women the above statement is not true because 1200 is too low. yes, people should eat healthy, don't get me wrong, see below:

    only 10-20% of people can eat below 1200cals without risking health problems. those people usually are women shorter in stature, older women or people with some kind of illness.

    the lowest BMR recorded in the most comprehensive study sited here: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/5/941.full from the american journal of clinical nutrition listed the lowest BMR recorded as 1027, so that would serve as the hard deck that 1-2% of the population could eat and not risk health problems.


    I think what you are trying to say is its better to eat less but healthy than more with a bad diet. healthy diet will always win over nutritionally devoid crap but:

    not eating enough, even if its a balanced diet you could still run into problems because of nutrient deficiency because you need more protein or vitamins than you can actually get out of the healthy but low amount. definitely a good idea to eat healthy in any case at any intake but:

    it eating healthy doesn't protect you from the risks of not eating enough because
    > you are not getting enough of the things your body needs like iron, vitamin c, healthy fats, protein etc.

    not hating on you at all just supplying information :)

    This.
    And undereating with healthy food does not make the person healthy either. I used to undereat (and only eat healthy foods) and I got very scary health problems from it, and I know many women that had similar issues as me due to lack of calories.


    I think the telling part is, the politely provided information is ignored and the argument continued, because its not really about the answer. its just about proving your point, even if its grossly incorrect.

    I gif away the pain.

    tumblr_mcbrhyyFi21ryemwyo1_500.gif
  • Well for one, you should never eat less than 1200. Maybe by a few calories, but that's the minimal caloric need for your body to survive, your organs to survive, yadayada. It's tempting to eat below 1200, but that is actually a minimum, not a max.

    I think that's bull****. I don't think that organs will start to shut down on a diet under 1200 calories. It's not a magic number. completely ridiculous. Some people will go over 1200 calories a day by eating junk food. That doesn't mean they are better off than a person who eats under 1200 calories of healthy food.

    lol... agreed!


    Sorry 'bull ****', but the American Medical Association doesn't agree with you. It is best to stick to 1200 calories a day, unless you know personally from a Doctor/testing that you can consume a little less. The reason is that your body freaks out a little if you're not getting enough calories and over time breaks down muscle and lowers your metabolic rate significantly, therefore inhibiting your ability to lose weight and be healthy. It can lower your rate by up to 40% and take a year to recover once you're eating healthily again!! See here: http://www.fitsugar.com/Why-1200-Calories-Day-Important-When-Dieting-13080864

    well, i still don't believe it. AMA doesn't know everything. eating over 1200 calories a day when it includes crap can't possibly be better than a lower calorie healthier diet.

    for 80% of women the above statement is not true because 1200 is too low. yes, people should eat healthy, don't get me wrong, see below:

    only 10-20% of people can eat below 1200cals without risking health problems. those people usually are women shorter in stature, older women or people with some kind of illness.

    the lowest BMR recorded in the most comprehensive study sited here: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/5/941.full from the american journal of clinical nutrition listed the lowest BMR recorded as 1027, so that would serve as the hard deck that 1-2% of the population could eat and not risk health problems.


    I think what you are trying to say is its better to eat less but healthy than more with a bad diet. healthy diet will always win over nutritionally devoid crap but:

    not eating enough, even if its a balanced diet you could still run into problems because of nutrient deficiency because you need more protein or vitamins than you can actually get out of the healthy but low amount. definitely a good idea to eat healthy in any case at any intake but:

    it eating healthy doesn't protect you from the risks of not eating enough because
    > you are not getting enough of the things your body needs like iron, vitamin c, healthy fats, protein etc.

    not hating on you at all just supplying information :)

    This.
    And undereating with healthy food does not make the person healthy either. I used to undereat (and only eat healthy foods) and I got very scary health problems from it, and I know many women that had similar issues as me due to lack of calories.


    I think the telling part is, the politely provided information is ignored and the argument continued, because its not really about the answer. its just about proving your point, even if its grossly incorrect.

    I gif away the pain.

    tumblr_mcbrhyyFi21ryemwyo1_500.gif


    Sad people are sad.

    :flowerforyou: <--- for your pain
  • You are one inch shorter than I am so I can understand the 1200 calories. Taller people don't seem to understand that us shorter people need less calories in order to go into a calorie deficit than they do. I also add in that I'm over 50 years old and that typically makes my BMR lower as well. Make sure you check with your doctor and then be prepared for everyone here to give you a hard time about it. My doctor agreed that I am healthy as can be, DXA proved that I didn't lose lean body mass, and my doctor told me to ignore all the people who seem to have a hard time understanding that everyone is different and there is no one size fits all.

    All that matters for weight loss is less calories. Of course you want to eat as healthy as you can, it will make you feel better. You might want to try and find some fruits and vegetables and other protein sources. I personally don't find a need for protein bars or powders, they are expensive and typically harder to digest than just real food like meat, fish, dairy, poultry, legumes, etc.

    Too bad you don't like to work out. Here's why: Your quality of life will improve dramatically if you learn to like it and it will definitely improve your life when you get older (if you care to think ahead).

    Lifting weights is KEY. I recently had my DXA scan done and at 51.5 years of age I have the bone density of a super athletic 30 year old. That is a direct result of lifting for over 30 years. Now if that is not scientific proof that lifting weights keeps you younger I don't know what is! Also I believe it is why most people think I look much younger than I really am.

    Start lifting now, lift heavy and change it up often, find a lot of weight routines with free weights, make it fun, embrace it, make it part of your life. Only 3 days a week is all it would take. Crank up your tunes and learn to love it, because your body will love it and it will make your quality of life better in many ways, especially when you get older like me.

    Because of this I don't have to worry about osteoporosis. If you wait until you are older and your bones start to deteriorate it's a bit too late, you can't get back what you lost, and you can only start a resistance routine that will prevent further damage.

    If you are female you don't have the hormones to get big naturally. I lift heavy and I'm still really tiny. My lean body mass is only 104 lbs and that is fairly heavy for a 5'1" female, and quite a bit of this is due to my having very dense bones from 30 years of lifting, not all muscle, and I'm still quite tiny.

    My muscles really are not that big, but they show a lot of definition because I'm quite lean. If I gained some fat then I would have a softer more toned look (which is OKAY too!). Then if I gained more fat I would look bulky and hefty like I did most of my life until last year. YOU CAN HAVE WHATEVER YOU WANT. Lean and ripped, soft and toned, or hefty, it all depends on how much fat you leave on your body. Calories are the only thing that changes fat. Exercise is for changing or maintaining your lean body mass only. Lifting weights will give you the best bang for your buck for shaping your body. I finally changed my shape by putting lifting first and cardio 2nd. You cannot out exercise too many calories.


    Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

    Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

    The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

    Enough already with your cutting and pasting of your life story. People are tired of having to scroll through your wall of blabber specially when it doesn't address the OP's question.

    AMEN. When did cut and paste answers become acceptable to each and every post?
  • slrose
    slrose Posts: 164 Member
    Weighing 120lbs with little muscle won't gain you the results you want.

    You're a fussy eater, that's fine. Just eat more of what you will eat. At 140lbs, you need to eat more.
    I'm not apart for the over 1200 cals or die crowd, but you do need more. You may want to skip the bagel, they're not very
    Productive with nutrient dense produce (not an apple, they're worthless) and kick in some protein.


    what do you mean apples are worthless?????
  • You are one inch shorter than I am so I can understand the 1200 calories. Taller people don't seem to understand that us shorter people need less calories in order to go into a calorie deficit than they do. I also add in that I'm over 50 years old and that typically makes my BMR lower as well. Make sure you check with your doctor and then be prepared for everyone here to give you a hard time about it. My doctor agreed that I am healthy as can be, DXA proved that I didn't lose lean body mass, and my doctor told me to ignore all the people who seem to have a hard time understanding that everyone is different and there is no one size fits all.

    All that matters for weight loss is less calories. Of course you want to eat as healthy as you can, it will make you feel better. You might want to try and find some fruits and vegetables and other protein sources. I personally don't find a need for protein bars or powders, they are expensive and typically harder to digest than just real food like meat, fish, dairy, poultry, legumes, etc.

    Too bad you don't like to work out. Here's why: Your quality of life will improve dramatically if you learn to like it and it will definitely improve your life when you get older (if you care to think ahead).

    Lifting weights is KEY. I recently had my DXA scan done and at 51.5 years of age I have the bone density of a super athletic 30 year old. That is a direct result of lifting for over 30 years. Now if that is not scientific proof that lifting weights keeps you younger I don't know what is! Also I believe it is why most people think I look much younger than I really am.

    Start lifting now, lift heavy and change it up often, find a lot of weight routines with free weights, make it fun, embrace it, make it part of your life. Only 3 days a week is all it would take. Crank up your tunes and learn to love it, because your body will love it and it will make your quality of life better in many ways, especially when you get older like me.

    Because of this I don't have to worry about osteoporosis. If you wait until you are older and your bones start to deteriorate it's a bit too late, you can't get back what you lost, and you can only start a resistance routine that will prevent further damage.

    If you are female you don't have the hormones to get big naturally. I lift heavy and I'm still really tiny. My lean body mass is only 104 lbs and that is fairly heavy for a 5'1" female, and quite a bit of this is due to my having very dense bones from 30 years of lifting, not all muscle, and I'm still quite tiny.

    My muscles really are not that big, but they show a lot of definition because I'm quite lean. If I gained some fat then I would have a softer more toned look (which is OKAY too!). Then if I gained more fat I would look bulky and hefty like I did most of my life until last year. YOU CAN HAVE WHATEVER YOU WANT. Lean and ripped, soft and toned, or hefty, it all depends on how much fat you leave on your body. Calories are the only thing that changes fat. Exercise is for changing or maintaining your lean body mass only. Lifting weights will give you the best bang for your buck for shaping your body. I finally changed my shape by putting lifting first and cardio 2nd. You cannot out exercise too many calories.


    Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

    Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

    The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

    Enough already with your cutting and pasting of your life story. People are tired of having to scroll through your wall of blabber specially when it doesn't address the OP's question.

    AMEN. When did cut and paste answers become acceptable to each and every post?

    I second that amen.

    It isn't, but since we're so off topic, just wanted to say... you're hot.
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
    like a few others said, try and throw in some veggies fruits and good proteins. with the bagel, there can be a lot of unnecessary crap and not much nutrition. you could always get whole wheat or sprouted grain bagel, with low fat cream cheese and add some veggies on it, maybe lox or something too. having a larger breakfast than decreasing your calories a little each meal will help keep you full. as far as the exercise, that can be hard to enjoy the key is to try and find something you like to do or find a buddy to do that with.
    maybe try having egg whites in an omelette with veggies for breakfast, or oatmeal with fruit and turkey bacon. lunch try a salad with chicken, even a wrap with veggies and protein is good and dinner a lean meat, veggies, maybe some grains. best of luck to you!
  • Christine1110
    Christine1110 Posts: 1,786 Member
    I am 5'5" and weight 113 pounds...and eat right around 1200 calories. I don't eat processed foods. I eat alot of food for 1200 calories.
    Feel free to add me and check out my diary.
  • Changing_Charity
    Changing_Charity Posts: 197 Member
    your body will go into starvation mode if you arent getting enough calories. just like a car wont work with out gas. even when you arent exercising, your body is burning calories just being alive and breathing. its not a good idea to eat fewer calories than your body needs to work properly.
  • Changing_Charity
    Changing_Charity Posts: 197 Member
    i eat "bagel thins" and "sandwich thins" they only have 100-110 calories, and a wedge of laughing cow cream cheese is only 35-45 depending on the flavor!
  • Well, I just want to say that your dog is adorable. :smile:

    And you're tiny! (I'm 5"3) so 1200 cals is probably fine for you.
    Only you know what's right for your body, so listen to YOU above anyone else. :)

    I noticed one of your snack times was called "morning tea" and if you put anything other than tea bag + water in your cup, don't forget to add that into your calories, too! I couldn't believe it when I realized that my morning coffee was 167 calories cuz of creamer and milk. :sick:
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
    your body will go into starvation mode if you arent getting enough calories. just like a car wont work with out gas. even when you arent exercising, your body is burning calories just being alive and breathing. its not a good idea to eat fewer calories than your body needs to work properly.

    I'm pretty sure that starvation mode doesn't happen until you are at a very low body fat %. Getting 1200 or just under it like the o.p. is planning to do is not going to cause starvation mode.
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
    Well for one, you should never eat less than 1200. Maybe by a few calories, but that's the minimal caloric need for your body to survive, your organs to survive, yadayada. It's tempting to eat below 1200, but that is actually a minimum, not a max.

    I think that's bull****. I don't think that organs will start to shut down on a diet under 1200 calories. It's not a magic number. completely ridiculous. Some people will go over 1200 calories a day by eating junk food. That doesn't mean they are better off than a person who eats under 1200 calories of healthy food.

    lol... agreed!


    Sorry 'bull ****', but the American Medical Association doesn't agree with you. It is best to stick to 1200 calories a day, unless you know personally from a Doctor/testing that you can consume a little less. The reason is that your body freaks out a little if you're not getting enough calories and over time breaks down muscle and lowers your metabolic rate significantly, therefore inhibiting your ability to lose weight and be healthy. It can lower your rate by up to 40% and take a year to recover once you're eating healthily again!! See here: http://www.fitsugar.com/Why-1200-Calories-Day-Important-When-Dieting-13080864

    well, i still don't believe it. AMA doesn't know everything. eating over 1200 calories a day when it includes crap can't possibly be better than a lower calorie healthier diet.

    for 80% of women the above statement is not true because 1200 is too low. yes, people should eat healthy, don't get me wrong, see below:

    only 10-20% of people can eat below 1200cals without risking health problems. those people usually are women shorter in stature, older women or people with some kind of illness.

    the lowest BMR recorded in the most comprehensive study sited here: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/5/941.full from the american journal of clinical nutrition listed the lowest BMR recorded as 1027, so that would serve as the hard deck that 1-2% of the population could eat and not risk health problems.


    I think what you are trying to say is its better to eat less but healthy than more with a bad diet. healthy diet will always win over nutritionally devoid crap but:

    not eating enough, even if its a balanced diet you could still run into problems because of nutrient deficiency because you need more protein or vitamins than you can actually get out of the healthy but low amount. definitely a good idea to eat healthy in any case at any intake but:

    it eating healthy doesn't protect you from the risks of not eating enough because
    > you are not getting enough of the things your body needs like iron, vitamin c, healthy fats, protein etc.

    not hating on you at all just supplying information :)

    This.
    And undereating with healthy food does not make the person healthy either. I used to undereat (and only eat healthy foods) and I got very scary health problems from it, and I know many women that had similar issues as me due to lack of calories.

    this semi makes sense. this isn't really what i'm disagreeing with. when i looked at the diary of the person who initially was lecturing the o.p. about not eating enough, i saw that her diary consists of tons of calories from brownies and snickers bars, i'm not going to take her advice seriously. that was what i really have issue with. a lot of "eat more police" are eating a crap diet.
  • Well for one, you should never eat less than 1200. Maybe by a few calories, but that's the minimal caloric need for your body to survive, your organs to survive, yadayada. It's tempting to eat below 1200, but that is actually a minimum, not a max.

    I think that's bull****. I don't think that organs will start to shut down on a diet under 1200 calories. It's not a magic number. completely ridiculous. Some people will go over 1200 calories a day by eating junk food. That doesn't mean they are better off than a person who eats under 1200 calories of healthy food.

    Tempting? Since when was undereating tempting?

    The human body requires 1500 calories/day to sustain normal body function either coming from diet or self, regardless of stats. By health means, we can live on a 15% deficit but anything >20% for long periods of time compromise well being. IN the event of such a diet where the deficit is far more than sustainable the body adapts to the low intake by slowing metabolic processes and encouraging fat storage and, if necessary, pulling from somatic tissue for nitrogen recycling to build proteins.

    If you're not working out:
    1) You have zero reason to take in carbohydrates
    2) You're losing out on a plethora of health benefits besides calorie burning.
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
    Well for one, you should never eat less than 1200. Maybe by a few calories, but that's the minimal caloric need for your body to survive, your organs to survive, yadayada. It's tempting to eat below 1200, but that is actually a minimum, not a max.

    I think that's bull****. I don't think that organs will start to shut down on a diet under 1200 calories. It's not a magic number. completely ridiculous. Some people will go over 1200 calories a day by eating junk food. That doesn't mean they are better off than a person who eats under 1200 calories of healthy food.

    Tempting? Since when was undereating tempting?

    The human body requires 1500 calories/day to sustain normal body function either coming from diet or self, regardless of stats. By health means, we can live on a 15% deficit but anything >20% for long periods of time compromise well being. IN the event of such a diet where the deficit is far more than sustainable the body adapts to the low intake by slowing metabolic processes and encouraging fat storage and, if necessary, pulling from somatic tissue for nitrogen recycling to build proteins.

    If you're not working out:
    1) You have zero reason to take in carbohydrates
    2) You're losing out on a plethora of health benefits besides calorie burning.

    Then why does MFP set most women at a 1200 calorie diet? That's greater than 20% below 1500 calories. For me that was just to lose 0.75 pounds a week iirc.
  • Please eat at least 1200 calories. More since you're working out. Make sure you are eating back ALL of your exercise calories! Also, it looks like you're not eating enough protein. Not enough food in general.
  • JacksMom12
    JacksMom12 Posts: 1,044 Member
    Sorry 'bull ****', but the American Medical Association doesn't agree with you. It is best to stick to 1200 calories a day, unless you know personally from a Doctor/testing that you can consume a little less. The reason is that your body freaks out a little if you're not getting enough calories and over time breaks down muscle and lowers your metabolic rate significantly, therefore inhibiting your ability to lose weight and be healthy. It can lower your rate by up to 40% and take a year to recover once you're eating healthily again!! See here: http://www.fitsugar.com/Why-1200-Calories-Day-Important-When-Dieting-13080864

    well, i still don't believe it. AMA doesn't know everything. eating over 1200 calories a day when it includes crap can't possibly be better than a lower calorie healthier diet.


    The AMA may not know everything, but apparently you do. Bravo!
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member

    The AMA may not know everything, but apparently you do. Bravo!

    well i know how to quote for one....
  • JacksMom12
    JacksMom12 Posts: 1,044 Member

    The AMA may not know everything, but apparently you do. Bravo!

    well i know how to quote for one....

    Cool story, bro.