1200 calories seems impossible!

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Replies

  • cmerun4
    cmerun4 Posts: 2 Member
    Its not! I"m a busy Mom who works out at least 3-4 times a week and I find that I usually break exactly at 1200 calories though I do try to go at least a little under. Remember, if you work out, you can increase your caloric intake based on how many calories you burned in the work out. To lose weight though, you should try to 'bank" these calories and not burn them up by eating them! hope that makes sense. you are losing weight so something is working for you! Your food choices need to be thoughtful and purposefull instead of just eating "whatever looks good" so to speak. You can do it!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    calorie restriction is stupid and will set you up to fail. eating under 1200 calories is anorexic. i eat unlimited calories yesterday i ate 3500 calories and have been for over a year and my weight stayed the same. my breakfast is 1200 calories lol

    Thanks for being supportive and helpful! :frown:

    Not everyone can eat as much as they want, which is why they're on this website to begin with. I'm so sick of seeing judgey and rude people on these message boards when the people who post need encouragement and support.

    Remember, internet trolls are everywhere.
  • nicleed
    nicleed Posts: 247 Member
    !'m 44 years old, 5'9" and my BMR is around 1450.

    I started here in August needing to lose about 20 pounds, and started on 1200 cals. Soon realised that made me hungry, tired and stabby. So starting upping cals.

    By the end of my journey, I was losing weight on about 1700 cals a day (plus exercise) and was much happier. Been maintaining on about 2000 cals since early December

    Lesson: you don't have to deprive yourself and be starving in order to lose weight
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    Unfortunately, foods that we are made to believe are healthy (i.e. granola) really aren't. It stinks! If you tweak your menu you'll find it's doable. It takes extra time at first to plan out what you're going to eat but you'll catch on! Hang in there!

    What wrong with granola? Why is it unhealthy?
  • 13Jools
    13Jools Posts: 10
    I used to think granola was so healthy too but lots of calories so you can only have a little maybe sprinkled on top of kefir or yogurt. For cereal I like Kashi or Special K with a cup of raw milk.
  • fihealth
    fihealth Posts: 165 Member
    The real secret is exercise! The more you do, the more you burn, the more you can eat while still maintaining a calorie deficit to lose weight! Start playing around with different exercises and classes, get a workout buddy, and watch how much faster you'll lose weight and how many more calories you can consume! Fancy a walk? :)
  • mfoy94
    mfoy94 Posts: 228 Member
    1200 is my calorie goal, you can feel free to add me and check out my food diary to get some ideas. I eat a light breakfast, lunch and dinner around 400 calories, and the rest of the calories I have I use on small snacks throughout the day. Its not impossible but it certainly is a big change.
  • MzDfy
    MzDfy Posts: 14
    That's what I thought at first, but then I soon realized that with working out, I had to increase my calorie intake to 1500 per day. At 1200, I was ALWAYS hungry and cranky. I have since increased my workouts and I think I'm going to have increase my calorie intake again. I am still tracking what I eat, but I am also changing as a person and I'm now craving "clean" foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins.

    I would also make every single calorie count for you! If a food is high in sugar, such as any processed foods, I would just stay away from them. This would also include "diet" foods, such as Splenda, because they make your body crave sugar. Eat an apple or berries.
  • wandie
    wandie Posts: 1
    Maybe 1200 cals isn't for you then. What is your BMR? Height/weight? Did you just "plug in" that you wanted to lose 2lbs a week and it spit out 1200 cals? If so, maybe you need to evaluate your goals again, and shoot for 1lb a week.
    What is BMR?
  • Onaughmae
    Onaughmae Posts: 873 Member
    its very do-able. I rarely go over 1200. (sometimes I do if I exercise a lot that day though). Its all about the choices you make. Low cal fruits and veggies are great fillers. Just be sure you are getting enough protein in your diet. If you find that you arent feeling well or are starving just up your calories a bit at a time and see what cut off point is good for you.
  • thevegangladiator
    thevegangladiator Posts: 33 Member
    im not trolling watch Breaking The Food Seduction - by Dr. Neal Barnard. its free on youtube about an hour long. and what i did was not a diet it was a lifestyle change.
  • IowaJen1979
    IowaJen1979 Posts: 406 Member
    Unfortunately, foods that we are made to believe are healthy (i.e. granola) really aren't. It stinks! If you tweak your menu you'll find it's doable. It takes extra time at first to plan out what you're going to eat but you'll catch on! Hang in there!

    What wrong with granola? Why is it unhealthy?

    I'm sorry! I should choose my words better. Many granolas are loaded with sugar and/or oils to make them taste good - those aren't really healthy.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    Unfortunately, foods that we are made to believe are healthy (i.e. granola) really aren't. It stinks! If you tweak your menu you'll find it's doable. It takes extra time at first to plan out what you're going to eat but you'll catch on! Hang in there!

    What wrong with granola? Why is it unhealthy?

    I'm sorry! I should choose my words better. Many granolas are loaded with sugar and/or oils to make them taste good - those aren't really healthy.

    I will still ask the same question. Sugar isn't bad for you in moderation. Sugar alone won't prevent weight loss considering sugar is a carb. Now, it may not be as beneficial as meat or another product, but I don't any type of granola would prevent weight loss.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    im not trolling watch Breaking The Food Seduction - by Dr. Neal Barnard. its free on youtube about an hour long. and what i did was not a diet it was a lifestyle change.

    Call it whatever you want, all diets or lifestyle changes are built around calories. The equation is simple. If you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. Certain lifestyles make it harder to consume tons of calories like paleo because when eat lots of lean proteins, healthy fats and fruits and veggies, it can become difficult to consume tons of food.
  • nicolamoonbrains
    nicolamoonbrains Posts: 72 Member
    I agree with what a lot of the others have said in that 1200 might be a bit low for you! I don't think its a great idea to just "eat 1200 and then stop", that is not a good mentality and will leave you frustrated which you don't want to associated those feelings with something that should be positive and healthy!

    I would make a target but make it between something and something, such as, between 1200 - 1400 or 1300 - 1500 which just means, once you hit the lower target, start to slow down and just listen to your body from then on. Have emergency snack foods ready to eat when your feel "starving" and have gone over 1200 that will fill you up. Things like tea, whole grain crackers, a mug of soup, hard boiled eggs, veg sticks and dips, rice milk, lemon water, natural yogurt, a banana, grapes, low fat pop corn etc.

    If your totally craving something though, as long as its not junk I say go for it anyway. I am a strong believer of listening to your own body when its calling out for something (unless its maccy d's or a can of coke lol)
  • thevegangladiator
    thevegangladiator Posts: 33 Member
    im not trolling watch Breaking The Food Seduction - by Dr. Neal Barnard. its free on youtube about an hour long. and what i did was not a diet it was a lifestyle change.

    Call it whatever you want, all diets or lifestyle changes are built around calories. The equation is simple. If you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. Certain lifestyles make it harder to consume tons of calories like paleo because when eat lots of lean proteins, healthy fats and fruits and veggies, it can become difficult to consume tons of food.


    that is not true at all "If you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight." cause i lost weight when i made my change with out exercise. i do that opposite of paleo/lowcarbs, i eat unlimited calories unlimited carbs but keep fat/protein low.
    my dad lost over 30lbs with no exercise!, my mom just started about week ago she sad shes never felt better. 2 of my friends that i just started training with lost weight and have really good gains in there workouts.
    My dairy should be open take a look :)
  • wahmx3
    wahmx3 Posts: 633 Member
    Never eat below your BMR, this is the minimum amount your body needs to function.... breath, heart beating, brain function etc. You definitely need to eat more and don't worry about your sugar unless your doc has told you to. I stopped tracking sugar when i saw that it also counts natural sugar in fruit.
    BMR is 1532.9. I'm still kind of confussed what that # means though....
  • peachy0987
    peachy0987 Posts: 30 Member
    1200 calories is my goal as well. It's hard some days. I'm definitely learning that certain foods are just not worth it because they mess up my calories all day and I feel like I'm behind the 8 ball from the get go! I added you as a friend, I thought maybe we could encourage each other. Best of lucky. And btw, you are very pretty regardless of your weight!!
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    I'm fairly new to dieting so maybe I just need time to adjust but no matter how healthy I think I'm eatting, 1200 calories a day seems impossible! This morning I had 1/2 a cup of granola cereal with 1/2 a cup of blueberrries and 1/2 a cup of almond milk and a banana and that was already almost 400 calories!!! And I've already doubled my sugar in take for the day?! Uggg this is going to be harder than I thought!!!

    That is solid carbs with a side of sugar, not really a balanced breakfast. 1200 may be too low for you, if you are going to eat low you should be regimenting your eating to ensure you get all the food groups and nutrients your body needs for health. It's not that a banana is unhealthy but it is actually not that rich in nutrients, and for the carbs in a single banana you could have seven servings (UK size 80-100g) of veggies AND two servings of fruit in the full rainbow of colours (dark green, blue/ purple, red, yellow/ orange), basically your whole day of that food group done. Granola has as many or more calories from added sugars and added fats than it does from the wholegrains.

    Have the recommended nine servings of low sugar fruits and non starchy vegetables concentrating more on veggies than fruit, three servings of reduced fat dairy or a fortified equivalent a day, protein at every meal and snack, oily fish regularly, other healthy fats at each meal and snack, plenty of mineral and fibre rich foods (beans, lentils, nuts seeds), sugary/ refined/ fatty/ processed rubbish no more than 10% of daily calories (includes most granolas). You will likely find you need to get many of your carbs from produce rather than basing meals around starchy carbs and make your proteins work double duty for you - supplying more than just amino acids (oily fish or reduced fat dairy rather than chicken breast).
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    Unfortunately, foods that we are made to believe are healthy (i.e. granola) really aren't. It stinks! If you tweak your menu you'll find it's doable. It takes extra time at first to plan out what you're going to eat but you'll catch on! Hang in there!

    What wrong with granola? Why is it unhealthy?

    I'm sorry! I should choose my words better. Many granolas are loaded with sugar and/or oils to make them taste good - those aren't really healthy.

    I will still ask the same question. Sugar isn't bad for you in moderation. Sugar alone won't prevent weight loss considering sugar is a carb. Now, it may not be as beneficial as meat or another product, but I don't any type of granola would prevent weight loss.

    The person you are responding to and the OP both used the concept of healthy/ unhealthy, you are referring to the separate concept of weight loss so trying to compare apples with oranges. Moderation is absolutely right - 10% of daily calories on sugary/ fatty/ junky stuff is often recommended for health, with the OPs current intake of 1200 that is 120 calories which is a sprinkle of granola not a serving and is not really the foundation of a filling breakfast.
  • mkcmurphy
    mkcmurphy Posts: 438 Member
    Twelve hundred is tough, and I jumped to it as soon as I started. The result was fatigue, irritability and, at one point, the beginnings of light headedness. If I were starting again, I would start at 1/2 lb. per week and then reduce it to 1 lb or 1200 after a few weeks . Once you get used to 1200, it's easier than you'd think.

    One trick I use is that so long as I am less than 100 cal. over, I am fine. This gives me an acceptable margin of error, a measureable daily goal to meet, and forward motion toward my weight goal overall.

    Good luck!
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,333 Member
    1200 calories is the death trap of calorie counting. I did if for a while and it was a challenge and a huge drag. I hated it. I lost then easily regained and lost my will power as well.

    This time..i'm set to lose a pound a week and i get to eat almost 1700 calories a day..and then i add in my exercise calories as well. I have lost two pounds my first week..and I enjoy my life and preparing meals are fun. I had my two low fat lattes and waffles for breakfast yesterday. My yummy low cal sloppy joe and salad for a snack.. and the day went on with satisfying food and I still ate under my calorie allowance.

    I can live like this.. give it a try!

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