difficulties in eating 1200 calories a day
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Try small frequent higher protein meals/snacks. Your body will go into starvation mode and will be counter productive and you won't loose weight. EAt papa, Eat.0
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I dont understand why it is hard to get 1200 calories. And yes it is unhealthy to go under 1200 cals a day. Quit eating light versions of anything. Drink a glass of milk or eat beef instead of chicken. Peanut butter, nuts and other proteins are also a good choice. You should also probably take a multi vitamin and cut down on caffiene because it suppresses your appetite.0
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Try adding a smoothie with peanut butter. I do have the problem of not eating enough but I believe that is also because I do not eat breakfast. If I eat breakfast, I tend to eat more food during the day. Not sure if eating breakfast helps or not but I find it does so I am trying it.
As for not being able to wrap your heads around it, the body goes into starvation mode therefore everything we eat is retained since the body has no clue as to how much food it will get the next time around. Unfortunately, your body becomes conditioned to eat so few calories and now it stores it. My issue is a result of 4 surgeries in 3 years, not a pity party but the reality. The heavy medications, stress and pain made it difficult to eat. I am now working on changing the pattern, not easy but working on it every day.0 -
I am finding it terribly difficult to eat 1200 calories a day because I have zero appetite. I don't want to force myself to eat to hit the calorie goal... Am I putting myself at risk but not hitting the 1200 mark? I also exercise for 60 minutes a day everyday, which gives me nearly half my calories back.
Typical meals eaten (eating less then or suggested servings)
Breakfast:
3/4c Greek yogurt, 1c of cereal, 1/4 cup of pomegranates
Lunch:
spinach salad with grape tomatoes, cucumber, mushrooms, snap peas, etc. sometimes add chicken, light dressing
Dinner:
shrimp and rice. refried bean soft tacos w/2%cheese and light sour cream. pasta with olive oil or butter and veggies
Any suggestions?
Thanks!!!
Vicki
I'm not sure what these 1200 calorie threads are really about.
How the heck did you get overweight if you have issues eating 1200 calories a day?!0 -
A reason why you can't seem to reach your 1200 calories could be because your body is being affected by not eating enough. Your body will suppress you appetite if you have been depriving it for a long enough period of time. Try giving yourself some days off from exercise(our bodies need rest) and add some higher calorie foods like peanut butter, avacado, full fat cheeses/dressings etc. Shrimp are very low in calories, try a higher calorie protein.
Edited...If what you posted is your normal diet then you also aren't getting enough protein period.0 -
For simple swaps, try laying off the "light" stuff. If it's dairy, stripping out the fats also takes out a lot of the enzymes.
As for going from overweight to unable to eat 1200, I have the same problem. I didn't do the transition week so I never really logged what used to be normal. I just dove straight in and spent three weeks trying to build up to my minimum calories. That being said, I know I went over today due to a random craving for Chinese food.
And if you're really having problems with it, make sure you're getting your essential nutrients then go find something calorie-dense to eat. Have a protein bar or something.0 -
OP, please don't take offense, but I see posts like this periodically and I seriously don't get it. Can you help me understand how someone gets 40 lbs overweight without knowing how to eat more? Personally, I'm an expert in eating too much. My problem is learning to eat less.
Again, I'm not trying to be mean, even though I know it may come across that way. I really just have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept here.
It comes from being too careful - you go from eating whatever you want whenever you want, to suddenly watching everything that goes into your mouth. Sometimes we become a little overly careful and avoid any calorie-dense foods. I'm dealing with that myself right now. I fill up on healthy, low-cal stuff and get towards the end of the day and realize I need to eat a handful of walnuts to reach my daily goal!
It's not that this has been a problem all my life - hardly - it's simply a result of drastically changing one's eating/moving habits, and finding the right balance.
Just get your cals from a good source - or use them for a small treat. (I had 4 oz glass of red wine and 2 squares of dove dark chocolate after dinner tonight with my extra!
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My difficulty is in keep it DOWN to 1200 a day while still getting in all the nutrition I need. I still can't get in enough calcium, which I need at my age to prevent bone loss. I've finally figured out how to get enough iron without supplementing with pills. I love Grape Nuts, so I've switched from Smart Ones breakfast quesadillas (LOVE those things!) to Grape Nuts and fat free milk. To kick start after a plateau, I use a meal replacement bar high in iron. Snacks are 1/8 c nuts and a fruit, usually raisins and an orange.
Most times, if I eat breakfast and lunch, and have 2 fruits, I end up with 300 calories left for dinner unless I spend an hour in the gym after work. The Catch 22 of it is, if I work out at the gym, I aggravate my bad hip and I'm in pain the next two days and have trouble walking. This hip replacement isn't coming soon enough!0 -
I'm not sure what these 1200 calorie threads are really about.
How the heck did you get overweight if you have issues eating 1200 calories a day?!
My theory is it's because the foods they ate to get overweight are nothing like the foods they are eating now. I'm beginning to think that, at least for some people, they might be better off first changing the kinds of foods they eat *OR* the quantity of food they eat and *then* working on the other. Perhaps (for some) doing both is what leads to this issue.0 -
peanutbutter and bannana smoothie: 1 tbls of peanut butter, 1 banana and about half a cup of milk or soy etc
And I think you probebly need more than 1200 a day especially if you are working out,0 -
Your appetite is artificially suppressed from eating low calories. Eat more and your appetite will come back in less than a week. There is no added benefit from undereating- take a random sampling of people on here who have successfully lost weight and kept it off. Excluding bariatric patients, I would bet around 5% of people are long term successful who severely restricted calories during their losing phase.
Not being hungry really doesn't mean anything. If hunger were reliable, fat people would never get hungry and underweight people would never be full.0 -
OP, please don't take offense, but I see posts like this periodically and I seriously don't get it. Can you help me understand how someone gets 40 lbs overweight without knowing how to eat more? Personally, I'm an expert in eating too much. My problem is learning to eat less.
Again, I'm not trying to be mean, even though I know it may come across that way. I really just have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept here.
It comes from being too careful - you go from eating whatever you want whenever you want, to suddenly watching everything that goes into your mouth. Sometimes we become a little overly careful and avoid any calorie-dense foods. I'm dealing with that myself right now. I fill up on healthy, low-cal stuff and get towards the end of the day and realize I need to eat a handful of walnuts to reach my daily goal!
It's not that this has been a problem all my life - hardly - it's simply a result of drastically changing one's eating/moving habits, and finding the right balance.
Just get your cals from a good source - or use them for a small treat. (I had 4 oz glass of red wine and 2 squares of dove dark chocolate after dinner tonight with my extra!
Yep, ^this (which wasn't posted when I started my post on a similar observation).
Also, for many who consistently find themselves at the end of the day and they're way off of their target...I consider that more of a planning failure than it is a problem with appetite. You may need to ignore appetite for a while until you get things back on track. (Arguably, for people who are currently overweight, (absent a medical issue to the contrary), they likely ignored appetite to end up there...so why not ignore it when you're working on a long-term solution?)0 -
OP, please don't take offense, but I see posts like this periodically and I seriously don't get it. Can you help me understand how someone gets 40 lbs overweight without knowing how to eat more? Personally, I'm an expert in eating too much. My problem is learning to eat less.
Again, I'm not trying to be mean, even though I know it may come across that way. I really just have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept here.
from someone who went from overeating constantly, to having trouble reaching 1200 calories... here's why.
It's very easy to eat a pint of ice cream, for 1300 calories, with no nutrition and still be hungry, and then have 800 calories worth of pizza, which is carb heavy, and im hungry a little later, so i have a sandwich on thick bread with potato chips... but now i want something sweet and have a chocolate bar. Super easy to eat over maintenance when you eat crap.
Now, switch to healthy low calorie foods, which is what a lot of people do when they decide to lose weight, not just eat less, but eat better... It's pretty hard to eat 3000 calories worth of cottage cheese, berries, vegetables and baked chicken! It took me a while to realize, oh, i can have things with fat and that's ok, im not looking for the lowest fat lowest carb lowest sugar, im just looking to eat healthy foods, and stay within my goals. So now i have avocado in my salad, love nuts for a snack, and don't feel guilty if i buy low fat dairy instead of skim.0 -
OP, please don't take offense, but I see posts like this periodically and I seriously don't get it. Can you help me understand how someone gets 40 lbs overweight without knowing how to eat more? Personally, I'm an expert in eating too much. My problem is learning to eat less.
Again, I'm not trying to be mean, even though I know it may come across that way. I really just have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept here.
It comes from being too careful - you go from eating whatever you want whenever you want, to suddenly watching everything that goes into your mouth. Sometimes we become a little overly careful and avoid any calorie-dense foods. I'm dealing with that myself right now. I fill up on healthy, low-cal stuff and get towards the end of the day and realize I need to eat a handful of walnuts to reach my daily goal!
It's not that this has been a problem all my life - hardly - it's simply a result of drastically changing one's eating/moving habits, and finding the right balance.
Just get your cals from a good source - or use them for a small treat. (I had 4 oz glass of red wine and 2 squares of dove dark chocolate after dinner tonight with my extra!
Ah, that makes sense. Or, actually, it makes no sense at all... Look, I make no claims of being an expert, but there's one thing I do know: Those that "crash diet" have a very low likelihood of reaching their goals, much less staying there for any length of time. And don't fool yourself, even if you're "eating healthy", it's still a crash diet if you go from no exercise and eating whatever you want to exercising like crazy and eating 1200 "clean" cals or less a day. The most sensible way to approach a huge goal like this is to make small slow changes until they stick, then make more small, slow changes. Eventually you'll get to where you want to be, and because you took a slow reasonable approach, you are also retraining yourself for a lifetime of fitness, instead of one filled with crash and binge.
Just my .02. Take it for what it's worth.0 -
It comes from being too careful - you go from eating whatever you want whenever you want, to suddenly watching everything that goes into your mouth. Sometimes we become a little overly careful and avoid any calorie-dense foods. I'm dealing with that myself right now. I fill up on healthy, low-cal stuff and get towards the end of the day and realize I need to eat a handful of walnuts to reach my daily goal!
It's not that this has been a problem all my life - hardly - it's simply a result of drastically changing one's eating/moving habits, and finding the right balance.
Just get your cals from a good source - or use them for a small treat. (I had 4 oz glass of red wine and 2 squares of dove dark chocolate after dinner tonight with my extra!
[/quote]
Yep, ^this (which wasn't posted when I started my post on a similar observation).
Also, for many who consistently find themselves at the end of the day and they're way off of their target...I consider that more of a planning failure than it is a problem with appetite. You may need to ignore appetite for a while until you get things back on track. (Arguably, for people who are currently overweight, (absent a medical issue to the contrary), they likely ignored appetite to end up there...so why not ignore it when you're working on a long-term solution?)
[/quote]
I agree with these thoughts. Try ore-planning your food for a day. It can really help. Since I have been consciously setting about eating more protein, it forces me to choose foods i might not otherwise have eaten. It's like a little challenge or puzzle to piece together. A good looking diary day can be rewarding in itself. Ignore your appetite for a bit (as suggested above) and put that puzzle together. Good luck. Keep reading and learning and seeking answers to questions.0 -
from someone who went from overeating constantly, to having trouble reaching 1200 calories... here's why.
It's very easy to eat a pint of ice cream, for 1300 calories, with no nutrition and still be hungry, and then have 800 calories worth of pizza, which is carb heavy, and im hungry a little later, so i have a sandwich on thick bread with potato chips... but now i want something sweet and have a chocolate bar. Super easy to eat over maintenance when you eat crap.
Now, switch to healthy low calorie foods, which is what a lot of people do when they decide to lose weight, not just eat less, but eat better... It's pretty hard to eat 3000 calories worth of cottage cheese, berries, vegetables and baked chicken! It took me a while to realize, oh, i can have things with fat and that's ok, im not looking for the lowest fat lowest carb lowest sugar, im just looking to eat healthy foods, and stay within my goals. So now i have avocado in my salad, love nuts for a snack, and don't feel guilty if i buy low fat dairy instead of skim.
Well stated.
sooooo....now that we've established that baked chicken and cottage cheese are hard pressed to combine for 2000 cals, why can't we add a tall glass of chocolate milk to one of our meals? That's 400 cals of nutrition right there that's cheap, easy to find, and nobody is too full to drink 16 oz of chocolate milk. How about eating that thick breaded sandwich for dinner? You do still know how to make that delicious sandwich, don't you?
I have days when I have to eat 4000-5000 cals for recovery reasons. THAT is hard to do on clean and lean foods. But 1200? Come on, man. Stop making excuses and drink the milk.0 -
OP, please don't take offense, but I see posts like this periodically and I seriously don't get it. Can you help me understand how someone gets 40 lbs overweight without knowing how to eat more? Personally, I'm an expert in eating too much. My problem is learning to eat less.
Again, I'm not trying to be mean, even though I know it may come across that way. I really just have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept here.
i have the same problem as the o.p. quite often. i was never overweight, but was close to it. the issue is when i eat healthy foods instead of junk it has far fewer calories, so i get full quicker. i could easily go back to junk and gain it all back. there just isn't that many calories in a brussel sprout.0 -
this post underscores the host of problems many of us face. Or shall i say the range and scope of the problems discussed on mfp. All i can say, is something is wrong if you find it hard to eat 1200 calories a day. Sounds like a real food issue problem and looks like you're not alone.0
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I second the chocolate milk suggestion. You can put some punch in it and add a nice protein powder as well. In fact, I'm gonna' go do that right now......0
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