1200 calories = more likely to have problems?

1200 calories and below is bad for you...I eat about 1500 to 1700 a day and im doing fine

You are a registered dietician are you?

I find it is easy to stay under 1200 calories when you give up sugars and carbs. The cravings stop and you dont feel hungry.

I haven't read the replies, but I have no doubt that you've run into a bunch of people that have jumped on the band wagon and agreed that your statement is absolutely right. I'm here to offer a different perspective.

It's the fact that they're trying to eat only 1,200 calories worth of junk/fast/processed foods instead of healthy diets that are only 1,200 calories. There's a HUGE difference there. 1,200 calories a day of fast food isn't all that much food. Heck, look up "Burger King - Large Double Whopper With Cheese Meal, 1 burger and fry" ...that's 1,530 calories....and that's just the one big burger and a single order of french fries, nothing to drink, no breakfast and no supper and no snacks. That's no fiber....yep, zero, and double plus some of my saturated fat goal. It might be a big burger, but I would be miserable and starving most of the day.

I eat between 1,200 and usually 1,250, sometimes up to 1,300 calories a day. Today was about an average day for me with the exception of the 52 grams of smoked sausage, a processed food. Breakfast: Coffee with whole milk, Extra Thick Oatmeal and cinnamon. Dinner: Catfish Courtbouillon. Supper: Turkey Gumbo, green beans seasoned with smoked sausage and even a 1/4 cup of candied yams. Snack: I eat vanilla yogurt with 2 tbsp of flaxseed almost every day . I also ate a banana, a satsuma (it's a type of orange), a bowl of mustard greens with smidgen of bacon and half a large grapefruit. And to top that off, some vitamins and such that accounted for 65 of my calories. All of this food together was 1,226 calories. I got thirty one grams of fiber, 68 grams of protein and only 10 grams of saturated fat. Not too shabby for only 1,226 calories is it? I graze all day long and I'm never hungry.

Now is this for everyone? No way......but it can be done and done well.

Seriously. Why is this issue still being argued? Eat at the calorie level that is right for you and quit trying to force your opinions on everyone else.

You never see threads that say "2500 calories = more likely to get fat?"

That would be a fun thread. I would post in it. :laugh:

THIS!! I tried eating more to lose weight ... it DID NOT WORK for me and all I did was get depressed and finally give up. 1200 calories works for me and for many people out there losing weight.

But you have had gastric bypass. Aren't people that have it SUPPOSED to eat very little?

I should have clarified that ... I tried the high calorie approach BEFORE I had a gastric byapss. BUT after years out from a gastric bypass, you can still be on the high calorie diet to try to lose weight. As I said though, it just doesn't work for me, bypass or not.

1200 calories may WORK for people, but that doesn't mean it's not difficult and frustrating for a lot of people.
1200 is low. It's hard to get used to. There are a lot of things that won't fit into that diet if you don't want to go hungry all day.

IMO those on 1200 calories a day often look the worst physically and ignore those looking better physically (as in shape) saying eat more. Why do people think that is? Why would people say that if there wasn't something in it?

I don't think it's rocket science to conclude that the more severely you restrict energy (calorie) or nutrient intake the more likely it is that you will run into problems.

All dieting is a form of "starvation" (deliberately providing your body less than it needs to maintain itself.) The greater the restriction the greater the potential problems.

I don't think it's rocket science to conclude that the more severely you restrict energy (calorie) or nutrient intake the more likely it is that you will run into problems.

All dieting is a form of "starvation" (deliberately providing your body less than it needs to maintain itself.) The greater the restriction the greater the potential problems.

You're going to get banned from the forums if you keep using logic.

IMO those on 1200 calories a day often look the worst physically and ignore those looking better physically (as in shape) saying eat more. Why do people think that is? Why would people say that if there wasn't something in it?

so just because a woman eats around 1200 calories and doesnt fit YOUR *ideal* physique they should eat more? How do you really know how much they are really eating? They may be perfectly healthy too(BP,cholesterol, etc).

I'm not talking about my preferred look.

I'm talking about most efficient and best means of fat loss and lbm retention. If they are eating 1200 calories, they are not eating enough unless they are a hobbit or smaller. Simple really.

Why are people getting stuck with 1200 being a good figure in their head? Why use a single figure when everyone is different and has massively different energy expenditures.

It is retarded.

msf74 - exactly.

I wonder the same thing. Since many people are sheep, if MFP told them 1500 instead of 1200, there would be a lot less threads about not losing, less threads about starving, binging, etc. I dont know how MFP sets so many people at 1200 nor why they automatically set macros at the high carb, low protein numbers.

:laugh: