is 1200 calories to little for me???

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hello everybody i am trying my hardest to do this right so i have a question for you. i am male 29 years old and i have a active job. i do auto body work for a living so im constantly on my feet and sweating/moving around. also i go to the gym a few times a week and burn between 300 and 400 calories. i am eating a total of about 1200 calories a day is that to little for me? i dont want my body to go into starvation mode or anything. i do have one night a week where i eat around 1800 calories to to change things up. i just want to make sure im doing things right any input would be apreciated

jason

Replies

  • hooah_mj
    hooah_mj Posts: 1,004 Member
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    I'm really not the one to tell a man anything about anything, but guy, that seems wayyyy too few for you...

    You'll need more than that, I'm certain. Esp. if your burning while working.

    Feed your workouts....my son gets at least 1800 and more when he worksout...
  • BassBoneBabe
    BassBoneBabe Posts: 226 Member
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    How tall are you? That seems awfully low for a man to only be eating 1200 cals. Do you eat your exercise cals? Also, are you set to lose 1 or 2 pounds a week? My husband was at about the same weight as you when he started and set to lose 1 pound a week. MFP had him at like 1950 cals and he has lost a good deal of weight. He is 6'1". Just my opinion though, no actual basis behind it.
  • DJH510
    DJH510 Posts: 114 Member
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    Yeah having an active job like that means you don't have to go as low as 1200 to see quick results. give yourself another 300! 1200 worked fine for me but then im a student who sits around all day barely moving lol.
  • janeknit
    janeknit Posts: 2
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    If you entered you stats into the my fitness pal program correctly it should give you reasonable food and exercise goals. maybe yu set it to loose weight TOO quickly. you don't want to cause harm to your body.
  • dwarfer22
    dwarfer22 Posts: 358 Member
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    Well the minimum for an average woman to survive on- just sitting in a chair and breathing- is 1200. As you are a young, active guy, I would assume your minimum burn would be well into the 2000's plus any excercise you do needs to be eaten back, so maybe closer to 2500-3000 range. I am curious if you used this website to calculate your numbers bcz I have always found them to be fairly accurate. The 1200 is way too low.
  • joybaby
    joybaby Posts: 3
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    Not an expert, but I think 1200 is waaayyy too low for you. Even if you just base it on the kind of work you do, you would seemingly need to add a few hundred calories to that. Did you let the website calculate for you?
  • questionablemethods
    questionablemethods Posts: 2,174 Member
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    Heck, I'm a 5'3" female and I feel like 1200 is too low for ME. I don't know how so many people do it.
  • leannadkins77
    leannadkins77 Posts: 14 Member
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    I have always heard that 1200 is the minimum for women. Men I think was 1600. You might check around but as active as you are I would not go under 1600.
  • 386kustoms
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    the thing is i am not even hungry at all, i am full to the brim at what i eat and it still stays around 1200