Are 1200 calories a day too few to consume?

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  • Mangoaddict
    Mangoaddict Posts: 1,236 Member
    I agree with most posters, 1200 calories for a woman are bare minimum. That is just almost close to starvation mode. Your body needs enough calories to survive. If you add exercise calories...then it becomes close to 1450 etc. Thats a more reasonable count. And keeps you full and energetic. Good luck!
  • kelli_panzera
    kelli_panzera Posts: 171
    I have my goals set at losing 1 pound a week, and clicked on sedentary. My calories are at 1410. I am not necessarily sedentary, but then when I exercise I have the extra calories to eat from exercise, and i'm not ripping myself off. I personally know 1200 was not enough for my body, and at 1400-1900 (with exercise) I am happily not feeling like im starving and still losing weight. What is your body telling you?
  • Sparksfly
    Sparksfly Posts: 470 Member
    I am honestly so suprised that they don't teach proper nutrition in schools today--portion size, calories, proper exercise routines!

    When I was in high school, when I wanted to lose weight I would eat no breakfast, a soft pretzel with water for lunch, and a light dinner. Even in college I probably wasn't eating close to 1000 calories a day when I wanted to lose weight.

    Now I have a base of 1200 cals a day when I don't exercise, and truly, I will go over by 100 or so cals sometimes if my body is hungry. if I exercise I will probably eat half of my exercise calories back, sometimes more, sometimes less.

    I am around 5'4-5'5 (on a good day) 150 lbs currently.

    If I start to slow down in weight loss, it probably means I have to start increasing the intensity of my workouts or start working different muscles.

    I have been using 1200 calorie diet since I was about 175 lbs last year.
  • sjkkkk
    sjkkkk Posts: 2
    I have been trying to stay below 1200 calories for the past 5 weeks. I've lost 8 lbs, 7 to go... I am thinking that I also am not getting enough calories, many days I barely have 1000. I lost 4 lbs in the first week and it has taken 4 more weeks to lose the other 4. I think I will try upping my calories as well.
  • jrobertson37
    jrobertson37 Posts: 90 Member
    I just upped my cals today as well. Im 5-10lbs from my weight goal (depending on where i want to stop) but I feel like im starving on 1200 cals and i always go over. I noticed when i lost the bulk of my weight I was eating around 1600-1900 cals a day but i was burning over 600 cals a day. Since March 2009 I have lost 50lbs by eating more than 1200 before i even started using this website or counting cals. So go ahead and try it and see how your body adjust. Your body is good at telling you what it needs.
  • maria181
    maria181 Posts: 11
    Yes, this information is very helpful. Thank you!
  • gorgejass
    gorgejass Posts: 1 Member
    I started a diet 2 weeks ago @ 150# with a goal to loose the 10 #I gained over winter ASAP. I lost 5 # in 8 days just by cutting way back & exercising . I started this program 4 days ago & ate the recommended 1200 cal/day x 2 days and gained 2 lb in 2 days, so cut back to 1000 cal/day for the last 2 days and now back to 145#. I do exercise 3x/week and really don't feel starved. I eat healthy foods.

    Is starvation mode really that bad for your body for a short period of time? Am I really wrecking havoc on my metabolism? I suppose the consequences I've read about ; i.e. storing more fat is counter-productive, but it won't cause long lasting effects, I hope? I just wanted to loose the 10# in 6 weeks and that wt gain eating the 1200 cal/day freaked me out.

    I love this website as it is so easy to record everything on my IPHONE. It will help me maintain my goal weight of 140# once I get there by figuring out how much I really need.
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