1200 Calories??? Are you kidding me...lol

Normally I almost always watch my calories and 1200 can be alot if you fill it with the right bulk like high fiber foods and such.

But here is what really works for me: answering my body's cravings. If I feel like breaking my diet for a day and indulging in what I am craving, I do it. I have found that over time, I am less likely to overeat if I simply give my body what it is asking for.

So if I feel like sushi I have sushi. If I feel like a burger I have a burger or two. We often overestimate how much food we need when we don't answer our body's requests. In the past I have often found myself binge eating when I ignored what I really craved and settled for the "healthy" option. These days, I find that when I honor what my body is craving I actually order more food than I can eat.

I know this sounds counter intuitive, because in our consumer culture we're so used to being told what we want. I've found that if I take the time to really listen to what my body needs, I am more likely to eat healthy and follow caloric restrictions. And so far it has worked for me very well, better than a straight 1200 calorie diet where I completely cut out foods I love.

I have always struggled with that eating a meal while preparing the meal I am going to eat. I have found that if I chew gum or munch on celery while cooking it helps a lot. And be sure to have a drink handy while cooking.

im
11weeks
preg
and i still only need 1400cals and i feel full and havnt gained during these3 months i think 1200 fine for someone dedicated to loosing as long as your eting good healthy 1200 cal can be filling

you're pregnant and only eating 1400 calories? No. Please talk to your doctors about what the baby inside you needs.

I quit somking August 31, 2012! Congrats to you for putting them down also. I feel 100% better since I did. I will be 45 yrs in exactly 30 days. This site calculated 1200 cal for me too. I tried it and my family, friends and co-workers all suffered because of it!!! I was very grumpy. I tweaked it a little and made my cal daily goal just under 1400 cal/day and i always end up being under. It is much better than the pissy hungry woman I was with fewer cals.

1200 really isn't hard at all. I usually have a hard time getting to the 1200 min that MFP wants me to eat so my body doesn't go into starvation mode. 90 cal snack bars are your friend. I eat the great value strawberry ones and love them. Plus they really fill me up once I eat one.

The sunday before I started my life changing choice of starting MFP and exercising my lunch alone was 1300 calories breakfast was 700 and dinner was 1500 no including the 1000 calories for the thing of popcorn I ate or the 3-20 oz cokes I drank.

I really think its more finding good things that fill you up over just finding things in the calories you can eat. I eat a turkey wrap for lunch at work and I'm stuffed when Im done eating it and its only 180 calories total.

Good luck on your goals and keep a positive outlook on things. It will get easier after some time.

this might be a dumb question... but
Is it better to eat, for example 1500 calories, and then burn off 300 with exercise, to net 1200.. or just eat 1200 with no exercise? Or are they basically the same thing, since you are still netting 1200??

This is why I'm asking... I'm currently eating 1200, no exercise.
I should be eating around 1500.. but if I eat 1500 and then burn 300 with exercise, I will still net 1200.. so is that pointless to do?
I don't want to eat back the exercise calories.

Let me further clarify - if I did exercise, it would strictly be cardio. But if I'm going to have the same result either way, I'd obviously prefer eating 1200 with no exercise.

it's better to eat 1500, burn 300 and then eat back 300 calories like we suggested in your thread, lol.

this might be a dumb question... but
Is it better to eat, for example 1500 calories, and then burn off 300 with exercise, to net 1200.. or just eat 1200 with no exercise? Or are they basically the same thing, since you are still netting 1200??

This is why I'm asking... I'm currently eating 1200, no exercise.
I should be eating around 1500.. but if I eat 1500 and then burn 300 with exercise, I will still net 1200.. so is that pointless to do?
I don't want to eat back the exercise calories.

Let me further clarify - if I did exercise, it would strictly be cardio. But if I'm going to have the same result either way, I'd obviously prefer eating 1200 with no exercise.

it's better to eat 1500, burn 300 and then eat back 300 calories like we suggested in your thread, lol.

Ok, but I don't want to eat them back, I feel like that is pointless, because I worked out to burn calories and then I'm going to eat them. I just can't wrap my head around doing that.
If I'm going to net 1500 either way, either by eating them back or not working out, I'd rather just not work out. I don't see the point.

to build muscle, look good, be strong, be healthy, live long, enjoy life, etc

I’m also eating only 1200 calories. I find that I get the hungriest around 3:00. I don’t get home from work until 5:00 or after so by then I feel like eating everything I can get my hands on. What works for me is blueberries. There is only 15 calories for one serving (¼ cup) and they are great for you. I’ll put two servings in a baggie and keep it with me from 3:00pm until dinner.

this might be a dumb question... but
Is it better to eat, for example 1500 calories, and then burn off 300 with exercise, to net 1200.. or just eat 1200 with no exercise? Or are they basically the same thing, since you are still netting 1200??

This is why I'm asking... I'm currently eating 1200, no exercise.
I should be eating around 1500.. but if I eat 1500 and then burn 300 with exercise, I will still net 1200.. so is that pointless to do?
I don't want to eat back the exercise calories.

Let me further clarify - if I did exercise, it would strictly be cardio. But if I'm going to have the same result either way, I'd obviously prefer eating 1200 with no exercise.

it's better to eat 1500, burn 300 and then eat back 300 calories like we suggested in your thread, lol.

Ok, but I don't want to eat them back, I feel like that is pointless, because I worked out to burn calories and then I'm going to eat them. I just can't wrap my head around doing that.
If I'm going to net 1500 either way, either by eating them back or not working out, I'd rather just not work out. I don't see the point.

to build muscle, look good, be strong, be healthy, live long, enjoy life, etc

Ok, there are plenty of good looking, strong and healthy people who don't work out.

I guess that depends on your definition of strong and healthy.

I’m also eating only 1200 calories. I find that I get the hungriest around 3:00. I don’t get home from work until 5:00 or after so by then I feel like eating everything I can get my hands on. What works for me is blueberries. There is only 15 calories for one serving (¼ cup) and they are great for you. I’ll put two servings in a baggie and keep it with me from 3:00pm until dinner.

I usually get hungry at 3pm too. I've actually started trying to eat something every 2 hrs or so.
So I have my coffee at 8:30, then I have my breakfast around 10:30, lunch around 12:30 or 1. Snack around 3pm, then dinner around 5:30 or 6. Snack again around 8pm. It seems to work best for me.

I quit smoking nearly 2 years ago and without me realizing it i replaced smoking with eating, every time i had a coffee i would normally have a cigarette so instead i would have a cake or biscuits and before i knew it i was 73kgs almost 13kgs overweight and for almost 2 years i'd been blinded by the fact that i was overweight.

It took me to start keeping a food journal before i finally realized how much i was eating, some of it was just out of habit not hunger and its a hard habit to break especially if its a replacement for cigarettes.

I found this site & now im on my way to a healthy lifestyle and weight loss, i did find the 1200 calories hard to stick to at first but it is a lifestyle change you have to make changes to the things you eat and absolutely no junk food, i find that if i exercise i really don't want to eat rubbish as its just undoing the hard work im putting in.

I bought Gillian Michael Master your Metabolism cookbook which i find has loads of great food to eat that keeps you with in your 1200 calorie limit.

this might be a dumb question... but
Is it better to eat, for example 1500 calories, and then burn off 300 with exercise, to net 1200.. or just eat 1200 with no exercise? Or are they basically the same thing, since you are still netting 1200??

This is why I'm asking... I'm currently eating 1200, no exercise.
I should be eating around 1500.. but if I eat 1500 and then burn 300 with exercise, I will still net 1200.. so is that pointless to do?
I don't want to eat back the exercise calories.

Let me further clarify - if I did exercise, it would strictly be cardio. But if I'm going to have the same result either way, I'd obviously prefer eating 1200 with no exercise.

it's better to eat 1500, burn 300 and then eat back 300 calories like we suggested in your thread, lol.

Ok, but I don't want to eat them back, I feel like that is pointless, because I worked out to burn calories and then I'm going to eat them. I just can't wrap my head around doing that.
If I'm going to net 1500 either way, either by eating them back or not working out, I'd rather just not work out. I don't see the point.

to build muscle, look good, be strong, be healthy, live long, enjoy life, etc

Ok, there are plenty of good looking, strong and healthy people who don't work out.

If what you think actually worked then you would have created several post asking about this stuff. I am not trying to be rude but stating facts. Every women i know who is successful is eating 1700-2100 calories a day. If you want to be fit and lean, you need to fuel your body. Its that simple.

If what you think actually worked then you would have created several post asking about this stuff. I am not trying to be rude but stating facts. Every women i know who is successful is eating 1700-2100 calories a day. If you want to be fit and lean, you need to fuel your body. Its that simple.

Ignorance is bliss.

Yes you can stick to your lower eating values instead of eating 1500, then burning 300, because it IS pointless. Cardio does just that, it improves your stamina, cardiovascular performance, conditioning, and helps with your agility, and is a great tool for fat loss, if you find it hard to eat at a significant cut.

It should be noted that a calorie cut without exercise can slow your metabolism slightly, but only by a small amount (8-12%). Adjusting back to maintenance once you reach your goal will take several weeks of slowly upping your calories.

Personally, I think that if you consume enough protein, and make a head nod towards some kind of strength or light resistance training in your regimen, maintaining a cut like that is fine. If you don't care about looking rounded and muscular in places, then don't follow a regimen that will give you size and strength.

Although I would be one of the men in the camp who think that jessica biel's rock hard *kitten* is the stuff that dreams are made of...

+1 for Biel's *kitten*, and +1 for having a badass mfp username.

I have been in a 700+ calorie deficit for months (started at 245 lbs., now at 210) and my lifts have been increasing, losing inches in all of the right places, and I have seen a fair amount of increase in muscle size. Since I started as a total blimp, I had plenty of fat stores to run on while jumping in strength. It also probably helps that almost 60% of my daily calories come from protein.

If what you think actually worked then you would have created several post asking about this stuff. I am not trying to be rude but stating facts. Every women i know who is successful is eating 1700-2100 calories a day. If you want to be fit and lean, you need to fuel your body. Its that simple.

Ignorance is bliss.

Yes you can stick to your lower eating values instead of eating 1500, then burning 300, because it IS pointless. Cardio does just that, it improves your stamina, cardiovascular performance, conditioning, and helps with your agility, and is a great tool for fat loss, if you find it hard to eat at a significant cut.

It should be noted that a calorie cut without exercise can slow your metabolism slightly, but only by a small amount (8-12%). Adjusting back to maintenance once you reach your goal will take several weeks of slowly upping your calories.

Personally, I think that if you consume enough protein, and make a head nod towards some kind of strength or light resistance training in your regimen, maintaining a cut like that is fine. If you don't care about looking rounded and muscular in places, then don't follow a regimen that will give you size and strength.

Although I would be one of the men in the camp who think that jessica biel's rock hard *kitten* is the stuff that dreams are made of...

Even with strength training, if its in conjunction with a lower calorie diet you will lose lean body mass.. only the obese can get away with a lcd. She is no where close to obese. Body needs fuel, if it doesnt have enough glycogen store it will go to the amino acids in muscle to create energy.