Dr. Recommendations

Your doctor sounds like an idiot. Sorry. That isn't helpful but get a 2nd opinion. I would be skeptical about any MD who recommended 1000 calories a day and working out 5 days a week in addition. Not to mention the working 3 jobs thing you have going on.

Hi, I'm only 5foot. 1200cal is my daily goal + what I earn with exercise. I may or may not eat all of my exercise calories. Depends on the day if I'm hungry or not. I suggest you try searching for the group 'eat more to weigh less.' It's better to be fit and overweight than unfit and thin. Listen to your body. Hope this helps. Cheers Gina

When I began this journey I was 5'2" and 197 pounds. I also ate at 1200 calories a day until I stalled and plateaued for 5 months. Calculated my TDEE and BMR and now I eat 1700 - 1800 calories a day and got off the plateau and am just 4.5 pounds from my goal. I have consistently lost every month since I changed to TDEE method. I suggest you calculate your BMR and TDEE and give your body 4 weeks to adjust and I bet you will feel better and consistently lose weight.

Turns out my BMR was higher than 1200 calories a day (1350) so I damaged my body's ability to function properly eating at 1200 calories. I think your doctor is wrong and would get a second opinion - or just try TDEE and see for yourself.

If I plug in your info to the calculator I used this is what I get (I guessed your age at 27 and your goal weight at 125 - these number would change if those guesses are not accurate, but just as an example):


"Entered information: 27 year old female, 62 inches tall, weighing 165 pounds.

From the information that you entered, you'd like to weigh 125 lbs.


Harris-Benedict Formula


There are a few different methods to calculating yourbasal metabolic rate (BMR). One of the most popular, developed in the early 1900's is called the Harris-Benedict formula. Based on this formula, your current BMR is 1537 calories.


How Many Calories Should I Eat?


Based on your goal weight, the following chart was generated. The chart shows the number of calories that you should eat on a daily basis to reach your goal weight. At Fat 2 Fit Radio we advocate eating like the thin, healthy person that you want to become. The calorie levels you see in the chart are not extreme, but they do create that all important caloric deficit that is required to get you to your goal weight in a safe manner. Once you reach your goal weight, you will continue eating the same number of calories for the rest of your life to maintain that weight. You'll never be on a diet again.

Based on how much activity you do on an average day, the calories in the right column will be the number of calories that you will be able to eat at your goal weight. If you start eating those calories right now (eating like the thinner you), you will eventually become that thinner person. As you get closer to your goal weight, your weight loss will start to slow down. It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less per day (200-300) to speed up your weight loss at this point.



Activity Level

Daily Calories



Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job)

1636



Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)

1874



Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)

2113



Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)

2351



Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)

2590


NOTE: Please remember that this calculation is just a guideline. Your metabolism may be higher or lower based on the amount of lean muscle you have. Use these numbers a a starting point and tweak them up or down based on your weight loss or gain. It may take a couple weeks to get your exact calorie level."

REMEMBER: these numbers are estimates based on my maybe-incorect guesses of your age and goal weight. You can go to fat2fitradio.com's calculators to enter your own info. If you do, start with the Military body fat calculator, then the BMR calculator to get your TDEE results. Based on my guesses above: being sedentary, you should be eating 1600+ to lose weight; lightly active would be 1875ish to lose weight. It guesses your BMR at over 1500, which means your organs cannot function properly at less than that for an extended period of time. Maybe ask your doc about these numbers or just try them out to see how it goes.

Best of luck to you, my new MFP friend!

Your doctor sounds like an idiot. Sorry. That isn't helpful but get a 2nd opinion. I would be skeptical about any MD who recommended 1000 calories a day and working out 5 days a week in addition. Not to mention the working 3 jobs thing you have going on.

agreed.
doctors are not nutritionists......

Your doctor sounds like an idiot. Sorry. That isn't helpful but get a 2nd opinion. I would be skeptical about any MD who recommended 1000 calories a day and working out 5 days a week in addition. Not to mention the working 3 jobs thing you have going on.

agreed.
doctors are not nutritionists......

also agreed.

OP - set yourself at a reasonable caloric deficit and eat to that number, which by the way will not be 1,000 calories gross.

My Drs. Office sells HCG drops............

Nuff said.

I don't like your doctor, and we have never even met!

I disagree with the 1000 calorie recommendation. I could see doing it for a week maybe for a jump start? But not long range.

It's a long range goal, this healthy weight thing. Set your MFP weight loss to 1 lb a week, and then don't eat more than it says. It will work, I promise you.

The only other recommendation I would say is - working out 2 times a week is not enough. Can you fit in 3 or 4 workouts? That would help you, I'm sure of it.

Best of luck! You can do it!

hey if your doctor said so, it must be legit, right?

Your doctor probably means well but just doesn't get how to really accomplish this. You need better advice than what came from some medical school textbook providing generalist advice. One size does not fit all. That's where a personal trainer and nutritionist can really help you. I was able to get both in one person. Sell something if you have to- it is worth the $$. Just make sure you are 100% committed to the progress plan and then maintenance once you hit your goals.

There is more than one way to get to your goals but why not accomplish them as smart and injury free as possible and develop good diet and exercise routines that you can live with for a lifetime.

I agree. What a quack! That is way too few calories to consume per day. I lose weight when I eat 1600-1700 anything under, which I have been guilty of, nothing.

Your body needs fuel. I went to a nutritionist instead. Insightful and highly recommend.

I am 5'2" weighing around 165 now I believe. I just completed my annual physical and my Dr. says that I need to take my nutrition and weight loss serious because I am almost calculating into the obese zone of 30 BMI which triples your risk factor for many issues of concern.

I was doing a good job for a few weeks logging my food (staying within my 1,200 calories) and working out Tuesday and Thursday evenings. I slacked a lot on MFP and even in my workouts when I wasn't having the results I was looking for. My Dr. recommended that I reduce my calories to 1,000 and work out at least 5 times a week if I really want to get serious about my weight loss because the regime I was on would only maintain my weight.

I am working 3 jobs trying to get school loans paid off to purchase a home and expand my family and wanted some helpful suggestions on how to get my workouts in and if eating 1,000 calories would put me into the starvation mode and not be as successful for me as 1,200?

Thanks!

I think you need to eat the MFP suggested calories and work out as much as you can. If you really want to change things, try going lower carb for a while. My weight loss jump started when I cut down to 100-120g per day.

I am 5'2" tall and 195lbs. I AM obese, and I cannot imagine trying to workout more on fewer calories. I am getting 1,400 calories or more a day. My weight loss is slow right now, but I am lifting, so that could be contributing.

You could also ask for a referral to a nutritionist...

I'm 5'2" too - I've been eating 1200 calories (technically 1200 net, but I never eat back all of my exercise calories). I also workout every day. This has worked well for me so far (I've lost over 20 lbs since mid-October) - during that time I completed a full round of INSANITY and I also did distance runs on the insanity rest days because I had a previously scheduled half marathon in November that I had to keep training for.

I think 1000 is too low, I also think you should exercise more. Yes, you're busy, but as someone that works more than full time plus has two toddlers plus has to care for my mother who can't totally do it on her own - if I can find time, anyone can! And, for the record, the time that I "find" starts at 4:20 am when my alarm goes off.

If you were consistently eating 1200 calories a day, at your weight you should be losing weight. I am not sure what you mean by not seeing "the results I was looking for".

Sometimes it takes longer for some people to get started than others, esp if you aren't doing a lot of exercise. I think that sometimes being overly stressed and overly busy can actually interfere with weight loss--you'd think the extra activity would help, but I think the stress and fatigue tends to work against you--and usually leads to an increased calorie intake.

In this case, I would take the spirit of the recommendations (i.e. you are still in an energy balance) and go from there. I don't think reducing your calorie intake would be productive--I think your problem is not the daily goal, it's consistency. I also think that you need to figure out a way to increase your exercise volume -- and pay particular attention to the quality of the exercise as well. Maybe not to 5 days/week, but more than what you are doing now.

See a nutritionist. You are not tall and BMI has been shown not to be as accurate on shorter populations (from a public health perspective).

Make sure your nutritionist measures your waist circumference, which will be a better gauge of your actual health risks. And body fat % is also much more accurate than your weight.

Once you have those numbers, you can figure out what your next steps are.

^^^^THIS!!!! And get a new Doctor! :-) 1000 Cal a day is WAY too low!!