The 1200 Calorie Myth
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i think you just have to do what works for you. i found i was very hungry on 1200 calories, i immediately stepped it up to 1400-1600 and then i felt like i was actually getting full. my tdee is 1900 so now if i'm trying to cut weight, i eat 1600. it all depends on the person. shorter people do need less, so if you're 4'11 or so and not very active, 1200 could work. but for me i just feel hungry. i am 5'4" 129 lb... i dont' start to gain until i consistently net over 1900.0
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is it just me or is it the people who tell you how to lose weight are over weight themselves or have never been over weight in there lives
Completely agree! The lectures I have had to listen to from people telling me I train too hard, eat too little, like they are experts and they are literally twice my size!!0 -
i think you just have to do what works for you. i found i was very hungry on 1200 calories, i immediately stepped it up to 1400-1600 and then i felt like i was actually getting full. my tdee is 1900 so now if i'm trying to cut weight, i eat 1600. it all depends on the person. shorter people do need less, so if you're 4'11 or so and not very active, 1200 could work. but for me i just feel hungry. i am 5'4" 129 lb... i dont' start to gain until i consistently net over 1900.
I'm 5'0 and I lose at 1600.
I know other girls my height that lose at 2000. We have a whole group for it.0 -
Pandora's box is all I am gonna say :glasses:0
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1200 calorie goal made me kinda weak... After i changed my calorie goal to 1400, i got better results, also the macros too matters... =P
If a person never does any exercises/workouts and is sedentary always, then 1200 calories works for them.
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Pandora's box is all I am gonna say :glasses:
Hmmm, Adrian Mole fan huh?
(Very obscure reference for non-British readers not of a certain age)0 -
I signed up and this site set me up for a 1200 Cal plan, but having read up a bit and also thought about how I feel on that amount, I have changed to 1500. According to the calculations I should still lose weight but I think I'll be more comfortable and less likely to crave and binge
I think fats and carbs are good in moderation, just like everything else really0 -
So calorie needs are the same for a 6' tall man and a 5' tall woman?
And for the record, my mother eats a healthier diet than anyone I know and she managed to become obese. How? She ate TOO MANY CALORIES of healthy food.0 -
what does TDEE stand for0
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wow... what a bunch of BS
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I don't know....I hear brains are low in fat and carbs and high in protein. He may be ok....lol
Actually, brains are very high in fat.
And rather tasty, until you realize, "There's brain in my mouth." Then the gag reflex sets in and it doesn't matter how drunk you are, eating a pig's brain just isn't a good idea anymore.0 -
what does TDEE stand for
Total Daily Energy Expenditure .... The amount of energy it takes to power your body at your nominated activity level (i.e if you are active/sedentary, etc).
BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is less than that, basically this is how much energy you would burn in a coma.
Or listening to Coldplay.
Same thing ...
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Oh good god, here it goes again . . . Please be an educated consumer of health information. Authors like to sell books, the food industry likes to sell food, and just because one doctor (often the Author of the book) says it doesn't make it true (hence the reason for peer reviewed studies) . . . none of these groups or people are evil, they just have their own interests at stake, so keep their agenda in mind when listening to what they have to say, and be particularly skeptical when reading anything that seems to make it too easy.
I don't pretend to be a health expert and this is just my take, but from where I'm sitting, it seems that everyone wants the magic bullet that doesn't require them to change their lifestyle: low fat, low carb, take this pill, even one particular food (i.e., spinach), etc. The problem with these is that you're seriously restricting one macro that your body needs or adding something to your body of no real known origin. Yes, you may lose weight, even a lot of weight, but you are also putting yourself at risk for long-term health effects. Why risk your health if its not really necessary? Sure SOME people do need special diets (diabetics for one), but that's not true for most people. And, yes if one of these is working for you, then go with it - most any doctor will tell you that the health benefits of not being obese are huge. Just don't lose your mind and stop trying to find out why its really working and checking to make sure new studies aren't cropping up saying that you're putting yourself in danger.
On the most basic level, its calories in versus calories out. If you're overweight then start with that. Then, for the sake of your long term health, cut out the sugar, make sure you're eating a balanced diet with lots of fruit and vegetables, sufficient protein and additional whole grains to help get you through your exercise regime, and yes throw in some exercise. Give that a real try before you start trying any of the funky stuff.
Just saying - hate me if you must . . .0 -
I know what I'm going to say is controversial since this site seems to think that 1200 calories is a healthy way to live.
It's not. Put it into any search bar and you will find some kind of scientific statement saying that this kind of diet is the BARE MINIMUM the body can handle in order to survive. Sure, this kind of deficit in calories will cause weight loss. But calories are not a bad thing -- calories are just units to measure energy. The bad thing is fat. The bad thing is excessive carbs. Consequently, they all have a significant amount of energy to them, or calories.
Eating 1200 calories will make you lose weight at a noticeable pace. It is important to remember that eventually, your body will realize it isn't getting enough. The metabolism starts to slow, causing a plateau. The answer is not to work yourself harder or eat even less or the combination of the two. The answer is to eat more and work harder.
It's just a little disturbing how I'm finding a lot of people who are relying on solely what the big number means. You could eat 2000 calories of veggies and proper protein a day and lose weight. Whatever the case, I urge those who think a successful diet is based on your caloric intake to eat a little more and exercise a little more. It's just healthier.
Doctors/Nutritionists, care to weigh in? (no pun intended)0 -
1200 Kcal is not a healthy way to lose fat. As a matter of fact 1500 Kcal is not a healthy way to lose fat.
I mention fat because this is what we want to lose, with 1200Kcal you also lose muscles.0 -
It's all about cals in vs cals out.
Cals in > cals out = gain
Cals in < cals out = loss
Cals in = cals out = maintain
Fats & carbs are not evil. If it weren't for those I wouldn't be able to reach my calorie goals.0 -
I know what I'm going to say is controversial since this site seems to think that 1200 calories is a healthy way to live.
It's not. Put it into any search bar and you will find some kind of scientific statement saying that this kind of diet is the BARE MINIMUM the body can handle in order to survive. Sure, this kind of deficit in calories will cause weight loss. But calories are not a bad thing -- calories are just units to measure energy. The bad thing is fat. The bad thing is excessive carbs. Consequently, they all have a significant amount of energy to them, or calories.
Eating 1200 calories will make you lose weight at a noticeable pace. It is important to remember that eventually, your body will realize it isn't getting enough. The metabolism starts to slow, causing a plateau. The answer is not to work yourself harder or eat even less or the combination of the two. The answer is to eat more and work harder.
It's just a little disturbing how I'm finding a lot of people who are relying on solely what the big number means. You could eat 2000 calories of veggies and proper protein a day and lose weight. Whatever the case, I urge those who think a successful diet is based on your caloric intake to eat a little more and exercise a little more. It's just healthier.
So much wrong in one post, see bolded
Lol. What he said. Can you report posts for being stupid?0 -
I know what I'm going to say is controversial since this site seems to think that 1200 calories is a healthy way to live.
It's not. Put it into any search bar and you will find some kind of scientific statement saying that this kind of diet is the BARE MINIMUM the body can handle in order to survive. Sure, this kind of deficit in calories will cause weight loss. But calories are not a bad thing -- calories are just units to measure energy. The bad thing is fat. The bad thing is excessive carbs. Consequently, they all have a significant amount of energy to them, or calories.
Eating 1200 calories will make you lose weight at a noticeable pace. It is important to remember that eventually, your body will realize it isn't getting enough. The metabolism starts to slow, causing a plateau. The answer is not to work yourself harder or eat even less or the combination of the two. The answer is to eat more and work harder.
It's just a little disturbing how I'm finding a lot of people who are relying on solely what the big number means. You could eat 2000 calories of veggies and proper protein a day and lose weight. Whatever the case, I urge those who think a successful diet is based on your caloric intake to eat a little more and exercise a little more. It's just healthier.
So much wrong in one post, see bolded
I eat 1200-1400 cals 3-4 days a week and 600 cals 2-3 days a week. I pay attention to ALL my numbers: protein, carbs, fats, potassium, sodium, etc...it ALL matters to me. It's amazing that I can get all my nutrition in 1200 calories---it is enough! I exercise everyday. I've done this my whole life and I like it! To each their own!!! I'm so sick of hearing about 'eat more to weigh less'....it does not appeal to me.0 -
sorry OP but this sounds like the same kind of illogical psuedo science that a crazy coworker of mine was trying to get me to understand.
although i do agree that 1200 is much too low for most people. i disagree with the statement that the bad things are excessive carbs and fats. also the idea that you can eat XX amount of calories of proteins and veggies and still lose weight.
my coworker's idea is that you can eat as many calories as you want as long as it' healthy stuff. she didnt seem to understand that consistently eating over your TDEE is what makes people gain weight, no matter how healthy the food i. i think sumo wrestlers are a good example of that. those guys eat a crap load of healthy food but because it's so much of it they can weight
This is exactly what a woman at work was trying to tell me and I had to politely excuse myself from the conversation. I am not one of those people who thinks 1200 cals a day is plenty, I used to be, but now I'm doing well with 1800.
I told my coworker, eat as CLEAN and PROPER as you want to, but I am sorry, if your TDEE is 2300 and you are eating 3000 calories of clean food, YOU WILL GAIN WEIGHT. CALS IN VS. CALS OUT0 -
Our brains are made of mostly fat and cholesterol (about 20% of the weight of our brain is from cholesterol)
From Ignore The Awkward: How The Cholesterol Myths are Kept Alive:
...That saturated fat is harmful to human health runs counter to common sense. Fat is composed of various types of fatty acids and fatty acids are molecular chains of various lengths, mainly composed of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Some fatty acids lack hydrogen atoms and therefore they have one or more double bonds between the carbon atoms. They are named monounsaturated with one double bond and poly unsaturated, if they have more than one. Small amounts of mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids are necesary for normal cell function. We produce them ourselves except for a few of the poly unsaturated ones, whihc we need to get from our food. (My NOTE: what we get in animal foods is plenty and much healthier than the industrially processed ones) Saturated fatty acids are stable moleucles because they are saturated with atoms of hydrgen. One of the main constituents of our cell walls is saturated fat (ME: well look here. Sat fat that isn't being used as energy but in cellular repair and maintenance) We produce saturated fat ourselves to build new cells and the excess is depposited in our fat cells for later use. Saturated fat is the dominat type of fat in milk, the fluid that is able to nourishthe growing baby for a long itme after birth, on its own.
Do you really belive that humas are designed to produce a toxic molecule that will eventually kill us? Could the dominant fat in mother's milk be poisonous to the baby? It is simply a masterpiece of deceit to convince a whole world that too much saturated fat in our food should cause a deadly disease. (heart diease, atherosclerosis)
...Cholesterol [is] one of the most important molecules in our body. It is impossible to build cells walls and produce nerve fibers without cholesterol. We produce other important molecules, for instance the sex and stress hormones, by changing the structure of the cholesterol moleucle a little. With a little help from the sun our skin cells use the same method to produce vitamin D. Cholesterol is also of vital importance for the brain. Wecannot think clearly without it. Not only is cholesterol used by the brain cells and all nerve fibers as an important building material; the chemical processes necessary for the cration of nerve impoulses are also dependent on it presence. It is therefore no surprise that the brain has the highest concentration of cholestero in our boy. The importance of cholesterol is apparent from the fact that the richest source of cholesterol in our food is the egg, because much cholesterol is necessary to produce a healthy, living, warm-blooded creature. Cholesterol is so important that all cells are able to produce it by themselves. In fact, every day we produce three to five times more cholesterol than we eat. If we eat too little in our diet, the production goes up; if we gorge on animal foods, it goes down. This is why it is so difficult to reduce and control blood cholesterol with diet.
(question: what do you think will happen to the brain - and the skin - if we take drugs that stop our bodies from producing that important cholesterol. What do you think it will do to the reproductive system? The fact that infertility is on the rise should be a HUGE WARNING. That is THE most important aspect of evolution. Continuance of the the species.)
My N=1: I maintain my weight not with exercise, not with how much I put in my mouth, but with what I put in my mouth. I maintain my weight and body composition with a high-fat diet and good protein. Carbs are an afterthought for me - if my body needs them it lets me know - just like it lets me know when I need water, when I need protein, when I need sleep, when I need to move.
Last Saturday AM I was 111.2. Went a little crazy this weekend on "functional paleo" (still didn't overeat on calories and the majority of carbs were complex - and I was still eating plenty of fat). Monday AM I was 115. It is now Wednesday and this morning I actually saw 110.4. The body fat % dropped and the body water % went up - probably because the bf% dropped. And no I didn't lose any muscle mass. I get plenty of dietary protein.
Sometimes I make things using coconut sugar (unrefined with nutrition), raw unfiltered honey (need to scoop with a spoon - solid), unsulphured blackstrap molasses (this is where all the nutrients that are removed from table sugar end up) - hence "functional paleo" - although I follow Primal Blueprint more than anything. I dropped 12lbs when I went high-fat (this is what I did to lose my belly. And I had already spent six months following the conventional wisdom diet and dropped 10lbs. That extra 12lbs sent me 12lbs below the lowest weight I've ever seen as an adult. I'll be 42 in a couple of weeks. And it was ALL fat and water. And I backed off the exercise.
Like I said, this is my N=1. What works for me won't work for the next person.
And just becuase someone got obese on "healthy" foods doesn't mean that person overate. What did that healthy food consist of - plenty of low-fat processed foods? Lots of "heart-healthy" whole grains? If the goverment deems it healthy then I know to stay far away from that product. The government doesn't care about our health. They care about their wallets. So does BigAgra and BigPharma.
Healthy food is real, whole food. Food doesn't contain ingredients. Food IS an ingredient. - of course not in this day and age.
Body composition is 80% diet. The other 20% is a combination of exercise and genetics.0 -
My TDEE is 1,700 or so, so I do not lose weight eating 2,000, I maintain and slowly start to gain
My TDEE minus 20% is 1037 calories. Under this I loose weight. Over this I gain. I am never hungry.0 -
Put it into any search bar
Did I happen to mention I'm a French model?
Bonjourno
:laugh: That is one commercial that I actually love !!!! lol :laugh: :drinker:0 -
Truth! I found eating like this would just make me more suseptiable to illness. I do eat as close to 2000 a day(some days it maybe 1800) on a 90% wholefoods diet and am losing weight (finally after 8-9 years of being at a plateau) my tdee is 2600-3000 or more depending on how much I am moving and doing (I work at home with a special needs kid, he is messy, and i have animals and a husband who doesn't understand cleaning) so always moving. It makes sense to me, since so many people have struggles and work so hard all the time.0
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The bad thing is fat.
nope. fat is a good thing0 -
And just becuase someone got obese on "healthy" foods doesn't mean that person overate. What did that healthy food consist of - plenty of low-fat processed foods? Lots of "heart-healthy" whole grains? If the goverment deems it healthy then I know to stay far away from that product. The government doesn't care about our health. They care about their wallets. So does BigAgra and BigPharma.
So if the person didn't overeat, how did they get to be obese, the demoniacal carbs that make people fat in an absence of a surplus in the Taubesian fantasy world?0 -
My TDEE is 1,700 or so, so I do not lose weight eating 2,000, I maintain and slowly start to gain
My TDEE minus 20% is 1037 calories. Under this I loose weight. Over this I gain. I am never hungry.
Then your TDEE is wrong. TDEE is the number where you do not gain or lose. And unless you are a midget, or a small child, or you have a suppressed metabolism, your TDEE is not 1037.0 -
Lets start a new topic and end it with another myth. Starvation mode, i'm sorry but if your eating under 1200 calories a day..regardless of the wives tales you've heard, will unhealthily lose all your weight and muscle.0
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In my mother's case, fruits, vegetables, lean protein mostly. Almost entirely homemade. She never ate things like potato chips or sugary things. She was a binge eater. She binged in healthy food. Too many calories.And just becuase someone got obese on "healthy" foods doesn't mean that person overate. What did that healthy food consist of - plenty of low-fat processed foods? Lots of "heart-healthy" whole grains? If the goverment deems it healthy then I know to stay far away from that product. The government doesn't care about our health. They care about their wallets. So does BigAgra and BigPharma.
I, however, spent most of my youth eating nothing but junk food and I was tiny.0 -
So question: why do smaller people need fewer calories? and am I odd for losing weight and eating 1600-1900 calories (net wise) and being only 5'2"?0
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I don't eat as low as 1200 calories... but, I can't imagine eating as high as 2000. It's just not possible anymore. I literally don't want to eat that much. I work hard and eat as much as I am comfortable with (until I am satisfied)... and then I'm done. No need in stuffing yourself if you aren't hungry.0
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