A Success story from someone who eats 1200 calories
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First, congrats on your success.
Second, it isn't that people are saying you CAN'T lose weight eating 1200 cals a day, of course you can! What the criticism is that MOST people have a hard time only consuming 1200 cals, especially if they are very overweight or taller. This leads to binge eating or making it harder to stick to the plan, or having less energy to exercise/weight lift. Plus, the question the remains, is what will your body do once you start eating at maintenance? If your Maint cals are in the 1800-2000 range, and you spend a year eating 1200, there is a pretty good chance you'll have a hard time keeping it off long term. THAT is why people are so suspicious of this way of losing weight. It isn't about "Hatin'"......
It sometimes is about "hatin" or just putting others down to make oneself feel better. But your point is valid. Perhaps as the user gets closer to goal she will want to add more calories to be closer to maintenance. Perhaps not. But that has nothing to do with her success at 1200 now. Just because a diet needs tweaking along the way to goal, doesn't make the initial success wrong.0 -
I absolutely agree. I eat more now, but it's all healthy choices, and I eat more frequently. I'm never hungry, and I am constantly around the 1200 mark every day. That's seems tough for a guy, but I do not have a problem with it, and I've lost 9 lbs. so far. My PT wanted me to eat closer to 2700 per day, and I flat out told him no. There's no way I could make that goal unless I was downing gainer shakes, which I refuse to do. I do cardio and strength training, and I am already seeing the results. I believe in listening to your own body. It will tell you if you're starving. LIght-headedness, extreme fatigue from noraml daily activity, or that awful hunger pain means you're not eating enough, or maybe not in close enough intervals. If I'm not suffering from these, then I know I'm good to go.0
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Great job girl!!! I 2 have lost on 1200 calories. Started out at 250 lbs and am now 127 lbs. Lost it all by eating at 1200. It can be done if your body is meant to be there, no it's not the magic number for everyone but some people can't eat more then that to lose. I strongly believe that, I have tried to eat more and ended up gaining. I am having to shock my metabolism right now by going up and down a bit, hoping to jump kick it again to lose more, these last 7 lbs are stubborn.0
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I'm sorry that my post came off as snarky. It appears everyone thought so and that was not my intention. I wish you the best of luck and continued success.0
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So the average human burns between 2k-2600cals per day.
Simply finding TDEE and cutting 20% will give appx 1lb lost per week.
Thats 1600-2k a day.
So why go thru RMR reduction from under eating, giving the body a reason to maintain fat as best it can for energy?
If your average of course!!
My BMR is 1224 - light activity gets me up to 1490 so if i have TDEE at 1490 and take 20% off it takes me to 1202
I then have a deficit of 290 cals per day so it will take me 12 days to loose 1lb eating only 1202 cals per day assuming my activity is light. If i eat 2000 cals per day I would gain 1lb per week or alternatively I could burn off 800 cals per day on top of my light activity in order to get back to my loss of 1lb every 12 days, which would involve running for 1hr 40mins every day.
You wonder why some folks eat less!!? Oh and by the way, I still eat 1200 or over!0 -
congrats! I hope I can keep at it. My doctor years ago told me I needed to be at 1200 calories yikes! My hardest part is when you make stuff from scratch it is hard to figure out calorie counts, so I have to wing it a lot. Hoping the 1200 pays off soon this sucks lol
Create a recipe in MFP with your ingredients. I do it all the time when making something at home from scratch.0 -
I do have some pictures on my profile. they don't make it easy to add them here. make it to complicated.
When I started out at 250 pounds I ate the 1600-1800 calories that most mfp's reccomend but that was what put me at 250 pounds and a size 26W. When I started eating 1200 calories I dropped 30 pounds and went from 250 to 220 last January. its not bye week it took me 2 years eating 1200 calories to get me this far. which people don't seem to understand. I am a very short girl and the athletic type 1200 calories works for me. I am not starving myself. a lot stems of being uneducated. what bugs me is when people don't bother to look at my diary and what I eat and assume I must be starving myself with eating like this. when in reality I have been more of a piggie on my eating. today I ate a turkey burger with tomatoes and dill pickles. breakfast scrambled eggs w/salsa beef susage patty and fruit. also there is a big difference between eating empty calories vs healthy. if your body gets the right nutrients and is full and satisfied feels healthy and energetic then to me its dumb to add more calories on when I am not hungry. I did that before and it got me up to 220 pounds.0 -
congrats! I hope I can keep at it. My doctor years ago told me I needed to be at 1200 calories yikes! My hardest part is when you make stuff from scratch it is hard to figure out calorie counts, so I have to wing it a lot. Hoping the 1200 pays off soon this sucks lol
Did you know there is a recipe calculator on here? It's my best friend! I couook mostly from scratch, so I enter the ingredients and poof! it ives me the calories/CARBS/Fats and protein / serving :happy:0 -
Wow! There is so much unsolicited advice going on around here... why can't people just say "good job" to the OP and move on!
Again to the OP, great job! You have done something that I have yet to do... keep up the good work and I hope that you are successful in meeting your goals!
The OP implied that you can gain on 1600-1800 calories to a size 26... that's part of why. I was there too and I guarantee I wasn't eating 1600-1800 a day, more like twice that and half the exercise I do now.
I am happy for her loss, but wanted to put my two cents in that not everyone gains on a moderately low cal diet.
I'm pretty sure the OP was saying she gains eating 1600-1800, correct me if I am wrong but that is how I had read it. Which is what happens to me. This past weekend I ate at least 2000 calories and ended up gaining 5 lbs over night, which I am sure was mostly the sodium in what I had and water weight, but it I eat over 1400 I gain, if I eat right at 1400 that is my maintenance mode, 1300 I still will not lose anything.0 -
awesome! I'm trying to keep around the 12-1400 cal count too and working a lot off via the Arc Trainer at the gym! Seems to be working so far! Good luck!0
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1200 calories threads never end well.
That's not what this is. This is a success thread in the success section.
I know where this threads resides, but I have noticed that ANY thread that revolves around 1200 calories has controversy.0 -
Congratulations on your great loss and keep up the good work! Everyone should take into consideration how much you weigh and how much you work out. These things play a big part in how many calories you should eat. I eat 1200 a day on average. When I work out sometimes I hit 1400 or so. The more you weigh - the more you can eat and still lose weight because you have more weight to lose. That's my theory anyway
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FTR, I eat over 3000 cals. Just sayin'. There's more than one way to skin a cat. And one of us will still look like this in two years. Can you guess which one?
I kinda agree with this.. I do 1240 cals/ day now.. but as I get closer to my goal weight.. I will add a bit bore because 1200/day I feel is not very realistic for life 0 -
Wow! There is so much unsolicited advice going on around here... why can't people just say "good job" to the OP and move on!
Again to the OP, great job! You have done something that I have yet to do... keep up the good work and I hope that you are successful in meeting your goals!
The OP implied that you can gain on 1600-1800 calories to a size 26... that's part of why. I was there too and I guarantee I wasn't eating 1600-1800 a day, more like twice that and half the exercise I do now.
I am happy for her loss, but wanted to put my two cents in that not everyone gains on a moderately low cal diet.
I didn't read it like that... I read personal pronouns in her OP and in replies...0 -
Since there are many that believe eating 1200 calories works and you look great...... post some pics... let us see your results...
Go look at my profile pics if you want to see long-term results from someone on a base of 1200 calories. Although I'm still waiting on the photographers in my family to send me a really good pic of me at a really horrible weight. But for now the one of me in pigtails looking like Godzilla about to stomp Tokyo is a fair enough example of me at over 220 pounds.
My diary is also open, you can look back and see that during weeks or months where I ate over 1200 I didn't lose any weight.
Oh and I have plenty of muscle. Most is hidden but my thighs are rock solid on the outsides and freaking huge (probably from carrying my fat *kitten* around when I was so huge). I got a free session at my gym with a trainer and the trainer even commented on them. I also have some concealed guns around here somewhere, 10-15 more pounds trimmed off and they should start showing. So I'm not done yet, but I'm close, and I'm not a frail weakling, either.0 -
FTR, I eat over 3000 cals. Just sayin'. There's more than one way to skin a cat. And one of us will still look like this in two years. Can you guess which one?
What is relevant to a (Im guessing middle aged) woman is not relevant to a male body builder.0 -
I'm pretty sure the OP was saying she gains eating 1600-1800, correct me if I am wrong but that is how I had read it. Which is what happens to me. This past weekend I ate at least 2000 calories and ended up gaining 5 lbs over night, which I am sure was mostly the sodium in what I had and water weight, but it I eat over 1400 I gain, if I eat right at 1400 that is my maintenance mode, 1300 I still will not lose anything.
Me too - I gain weight eating over 1400(ish) so I stick to 1200 (often a little less) without any great difficulty.
Yes, if I exercised I could probably get away with upping it slightly but, for me, I feel better at 1200.
A lot of people seem unable to grasp the concept that SOME of us have a very very low calorie requirement - hence many of us got fat eating next to nothing in the first place.
I always say I dieted my way up to 230lbs and it's absolutely true!0 -
I actually took the time to review the OPs diary, which reveals that she is not even eating 1200 calories. It also seems to me her diet is full of processed foods so the claim that she is eating healthy is also debunked.
I am not saying these things because I am wanting to bash the OP, but rather that the way she is going about it is not exactly the best.
If you are new and confused, please find someone that is successful and ask them how they did it.
Good luck, I am out.0 -
i totally agree! its quite often i barely get 1100, all veggies, beans, and 2 apples a day doesnt add up to much! and my blood work is all perfect. plenty of proteins daily.0
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I don't think people hate on 1200 threads, I just think people are naturally band wagon jumpers. They will agree with whatever the crowd mentality is. Sheep. Baaa0
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Wow! There is so much unsolicited advice going on around here... why can't people just say "good job" to the OP and move on!
Again to the OP, great job! You have done something that I have yet to do... keep up the good work and I hope that you are successful in meeting your goals!
The OP implied that you can gain on 1600-1800 calories to a size 26... that's part of why. I was there too and I guarantee I wasn't eating 1600-1800 a day, more like twice that and half the exercise I do now.
I am happy for her loss, but wanted to put my two cents in that not everyone gains on a moderately low cal diet.
No, she said she gained on 1600-1800 calories. She didn't say anything about you. She never implied that everyone was like her.0 -
I'm 5 '1 and after losing my weight from two pregnancies, my goal has been to build muscle. The last time I had the measurements I have now, I weighed 15 pounds less. I always eat my exercise calories back and I net 1400 (exercise usually 400 per day). It would be really hard for me to eat 1200, even considering how low my BMR is due to my small size. I screwed up my metabolism in my twenties eating too little which made it so hard to maintain my weight back then. If you can eat 1200 for the rest of your life and be happy, good for you.0
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YAY! I eat at 1200 calorie plus exercise three times a day without eating back all my calories. Days I exercise I may give myself an additional 150 calories if my body needs it and I"m extra hungry. But most day nothing over 1200. This doesn't make us wrong. My doctor says I'm fine. I'm full and I'm eating clean. I'm glad to see others like me. We get criticized bc I believe ppl with less discipline are upset with themselves. I lose on average 4-5 pounds a week. I will up my calories once I am close to my goal and find a balance that will maintain weight loss with my physician and nutritionist. Keep doing what you're doing bc you are doing.0
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I have a friend who is successfurl with the 1200 baseline. 1400 colories should help most people loose.
The more you exercise, the more the body requires.
I am set at 1900 for gradual loss. I may jump down to 1700 to accelerate the loss.
Some days my workouts demands 1600-1800 to keep from dropping below the starvation line. We are all different. Good Job if you have enough energy. Keep it up as long as you eat enough to fuel your body and stay in calorie burn mode. Some people can exercise and still maintain 1200 without going intos starvaton mode. We all are a little different. Congratulations!!
:happy:0 -
Since there are many that believe eating 1200 calories works and you look great...... post some pics... let us see your results...
If the OP (or anyone else who eats 1200 calories a day) thinks she looks great and has seen some results, who are you to dis them?
Never did I read the OP telling others to do what she does. She's saying it's worked for her. She's lost weight, and she looks good compared to what she thinks she looked like.0 -
FTR, I eat over 3000 cals. Just sayin'. There's more than one way to skin a cat. And one of us will still look like this in two years. Can you guess which one?
2 year's ago I looked like this
Now I look like this
Oh and BTW, this is 2 year's of 1200 calories a day. So I guess we know who is gonna change, but whatever works for you. I won't bash you so please don't be a douche and bash people who feel this way works for them.0 -
i eat around 1500 calories a day and more if i exercise and am losing at about 1-2 pounds a week. i have about 80 pounds to lose so this calorie amount works for me. once i have less to lose, my calorie amount will have to decrease. everyone is different. as long as you have energy and your doctor gives the thumbs up, than you're all good!0
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FTR, I eat over 3000 cals. Just sayin'. There's more than one way to skin a cat. And one of us will still look like this in two years. Can you guess which one?
2 year's ago I looked like this
Now I look like this
Oh and BTW, this is 2 year's of 1200 calories a day. So I guess we know who is gonna change, but whatever works for you. I won't bash you so please don't be a douche and bash people who feel this way works for them.
Where is my like button? Damn you, MFP, where is that button? :drinker:0 -
congrats! I hope I can keep at it. My doctor years ago told me I needed to be at 1200 calories yikes! My hardest part is when you make stuff from scratch it is hard to figure out calorie counts, so I have to wing it a lot. Hoping the 1200 pays off soon this sucks lol
use the recipe builder in MFP to calculate homemade dish calorie counts. It is a life saver!0 -
ps- 2 years ago i went from 247 to 186 in 6 months eating 1800 calories a day and exercising. (gained a lot back when i went from weight loss mode to pregnant!) so it is possible to eat more calories and lose a significant amount of weight. everyone is different!0
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