A Success story from someone who eats 1200 calories
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Congrats to the OP for losing the weight! If 1200 calories is working for you and you don't feel hungry, I fail to see what the problem is.
I'm really tall and work out at least an hour a day, high intensity cardio, so I could not get by on 1200 calories.0 -
look from 1/13/2013 and on thats my eating healthier and lost me 23 pounds. the previous diary was when I was doing processed crap. nice try though
You've lost 23lbs in 16 days???
No bashing from me, I lost a lot of my weight netting around 1200 until I had to up it a bit towards the end to keep losing. Congrats on your loss!!
However, I would seriously be concerned about this rate of loss. I do not believe losing this fast is healthy, you're probably losing too much lean body mass, and if nothing else you're risking a greater chance of loose/floppy/saggy skin hanging off your body.
Best of luck to you, honestly most (and I stress most, not all) are just posting on here to be helpful. :flowerforyou:
edited for typo0 -
1200 calories is not the problem...The problem is when people burn X amount of calories through exercise a day and THEN eat 1200. The net calories is now low. I mean whatever works is what works. It's an individual choice. As you lose more and more weight, it becomes harder to lose. Then you have two options...you either start going lower on your calories or exercise more.
This is just my opinion. I'm not bashing anyone. I don't even know where "1200" number came from but everyone is different. Everyone's body is different.
Congrats on your success
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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'"......
THIS^^^
You're training your body to live off of 1200 cals so once you do go to maintanience, then you will start to gain weight even though your weight should stay the same. Why train your body to lose weight off 1200 cals when you can at 1600 cals. If you know for sure that you can live off 1200 cals for the rest of you life then go for it but I did the 1200 cal thing for 2 years and did get to my goal but could not keep up with it much longer without feeling drained and no matter what kind of exercises I did, I could not tone up the way I wanted. I'm much toner now at a higher weight then I was then and it's because I eat more now while working out.
So you may shrink down but being as tone as you'd like may be a different story.0 -
Fightinggirl-Congrats on your success. I wish you the best on your journey! :flowerforyou:0
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Sorry if someone has already said this. There are so many posts now!
I read this rule of thumb a while back: If you want to weigh 150, eat 1500 cals. If you want to weight 120, eat 1200 cals. This is not meant to be exact. But here's the thing. If you weight 300 pounds, you would not go straight to eating 1200. One, you wouldn't need to in order to lose weight, and two, it would be difficult and discouraging. You could set a goal of 250 lbs. and eat 2500 cals for a while. Then lower your goal and your cals. Hope that makes sense. It makes sense to me.
I only have about 20 pounds to lose. If I were heavier the 20 pounds would come off faster. When you get near to your goal weight you need to lower your cals to make progress.
So it makes no sense to argue for eating a particular number of calories without stating your current weight and goal weight. If I were to eat 1600 cals, I would gain weight for sure.
No0 -
Couldn't this entire thread be summed up as - "Everybody, and every BODY, is different. If your body is totally satisfied at 1200-1400 calories, than don't force feed yourself. If your body is starving at 1200 calories, up your calories. Either way, don't do things that make you miserable because there's always a way to do things that won't make you miserable."
All the math being thrown around in this thread is based on "the average person", which makes a lot of basic assumptions about a lot of variables. In truth, everybody is different. All this being healthy stuff really just depends on learning about your body, understanding what it wants and it needs, and doing that.
As a breakfast-skipper, it is not hard for me to fall within only 1200-1400 (I'll admit I'm usually on the 1400 end of that range) and feel TOTALLY fine all day. I've lost ~50lbs on a cleaned up diet like this (this is way before I joined MFP so it's not reflected in my profile). I now lift on a 1200-1400 calorie diet and am making good gains in all my lifts, with noticeable improvement of muscle size and strength. I rarely eat back my full exercise calories and am able to fuel my lifting without a problem because I regulate my food intake based on whether or not I'm hungry, not based on calorie content. I use MFP as a retroactive tool just to know what my food intake is.
I could be really weird. I could be totally normal. In general, I really wish folks would stop making the assumption that 1200-1400 cals/day could never possibly work for anyone, just because there are people for whom it would be totally miserable and would result in plateaus.
Tl;dr - people need to know their own bodies and stop making the assumption that their own body is exactly like everyone else's body. If you are starving and miserable at 1200, eat more. If you're actually honestly happy at 1200, stay there.
Also - again, congrats to the OP whom I'm sure didn't want their thread hijacked.0 -
Congrats OP! I also eat 1200 and have no problem, i feel great. I have just gone by the guidelines set by MFP. I believe i started around 1700 calories. Now im down to 1200.
To the person saying that its probably just weight and not body fat, i beg to differ. I think my body fat loss shows quite a bit thank you.
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I've only read 2 pages of responses here, so bear with me if I repeat something that was said, but I have two questions:
1. The OP is eating 1200 calories to LOSE weight - so that number is clearly not her calorie goal to MAINTAIN weight loss. Many people are asking her if she is ok with eating 1200 cals for the rest of her life, but wouldn't she be eating more to maintain that weight loss? It is the same as any other number - if you are eating 1500 to lose weight, your number to maintain would be higher than that - that is what all of those calculators are for... am I wrong?
2. In order to lose weight, you need to create a deficit for the week, right? So for example, if you are allowed let's say 1400 calories per day x 7 days = 9800 calories for the week. If you go over one day and eat, let's say 1700 calories, couldn't you just reduce your daily calories to make up those extra 300? That is what I have always done - and I've heard it mentioned many times - if you have a "cheat day" or a 'bad day' where you go over, you can make up for it throughout the week by eating better the remaining days.
So my question is this - if you are on a 1200 calorie/day plan, and you go over by let's say 300 calories on 1 day, can you eat below the 1200 a few times to make up for that extra 300? So for example:
Based on a 1200/calories per day plan:
Saturday - 1500 calories (went over 300)
Sunday - 1100 calories
Monday - 1200 calories
tuesday - 1100 calories
Wednesday - 1200 calories
thursday - 1100 calories
Friday - 1200 calories
OR
are you just 'screwed' that you went over, and you can't do this because it is 'unhealthy'?
I personally know if I go out to eat and go over by a few hundred, there is no way I can eat my usual calories the next day because I am usually feeling stuffed - so I have no problem keeping it under my calorie goal that day to make up for the previous day.
Yes this is what I always get confused by. I hear it very often on the board & never get it. Why would we have to eat 1200 cals for the rest of our lives? We would obviously switch to maintenance like everyone else eventually does. Why would eating at 1500 be any different? Are those ppl going to eat at 1500 for the rest of their lives? Not being snarky, just honestly asking why people say that so often?0 -
Good job OP on the weight loss! I think people are only arguing against the 1200 calories per day because it's really hard to maintain, you will plateau eventually, you may gain some weight back after your journey, will have a lot of muscle loss and possibly look "skinny fat." I think there are good intentions here to advise you to up your calories, but I think you will eventually learn on your own and come to that conclusion yourself. I wish the best of luck to you on your journey!0
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Couldn't this entire thread be summed up as - "Everybody, and every BODY, is different. If your body is totally satisfied at 1200-1400 calories, than don't force feed yourself. If your body is starving at 1200 calories, up your calories. Either way, don't do things that make you miserable because there's always a way to do things that won't make you miserable."
All the math being thrown around in this thread is based on "the average person", which makes a lot of basic assumptions about a lot of variables. In truth, everybody is different. All this being healthy stuff really just depends on learning about your body, understanding what it wants and it needs, and doing that.
As a breakfast-skipper, it is not hard for me to fall within only 1200-1400 (I'll admit I'm usually on the 1400 end of that range) and feel TOTALLY fine all day. I've lost ~50lbs on a cleaned up diet like this (this is way before I joined MFP so it's not reflected in my profile). I now lift on a 1200-1400 calorie diet and am making good gains in all my lifts, with noticeable improvement of muscle size and strength. I rarely eat back my full exercise calories and am able to fuel my lifting without a problem because I regulate my food intake based on whether or not I'm hungry, not based on calorie content. I use MFP as a retroactive tool just to know what my food intake is.
I could be really weird. I could be totally normal. In general, I really wish folks would stop making the assumption that 1200-1400 cals/day could never possibly work for anyone, just because there are people for whom it would be totally miserable and would result in plateaus.
Tl;dr - people need to know their own bodies and stop making the assumption that their own body is exactly like everyone else's body. If you are starving and miserable at 1200, eat more. If you're actually honestly happy at 1200, stay there.
Also - again, congrats to the OP whom I'm sure didn't want their thread hijacked.
No!
You aren't a snowflake!
The difference is if you want to operate with a slower metabolism or not.
OP started a success thread with zero photos showing progress.
My guess is she's weak, has low energy and is skinny fat.
Don't tell people its okay to eat a certain way when you don't know what you're talking about.
Metabolic disease aside.0 -
It depends on your goals, activity level, etc. I did the 1200 calories a day too for a while. I certainly lost the weight and now I look good in clothes, not so much naked
Body fat still too high. I think focusing on the scale too much is our problem. Upped my calories and found that 1800 was the right point for me to lose fat without losing too much weight. At 2100 now because I'm trying to put on muscle.
Not discouraging you OP, but I think at some point (when you've plateaued, or reached goal weight but not happy with how you look, or increase exercise and feel like you're starving, etc.) you're going to up your calories. I'd bet any amount of money on it.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^GOOD POINT!!!0 -
Amen, brother!0
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BUMP0
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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'm guess that you will still look the same in 2 years. I base that only on the fact that you've lost 0 of your 32lb weight loss goal and Fightininggirl has lost 71 lbs so far and losing more and more every week. Definitely feel she will look much different in 2 years. Contrats to you fightininggirl, you are an inspiration.
was the comment posted above deleted???? I don't see it.
I was going to say to OP that I wonder why you thought you were eating 1800 when you weighed near 250. Your TDEE then even if you did no exercise should have been more like 2238. I just think its possible that you didnt' accurately assess what you were eating. I did this- when I was overweight I didn't think I was eating that much. But i must have been.
I don't bash 1200 cals, I just think it's best to include exercise and exercising and eating only 1200 cals seems no bueno to me. I did 1200 + exercise cals for two years. I lost a lot of weight and got down to my lowest weight ever in my life. I had decided any lower would not be healthy. But i still didn't look how I wanted to look- so I have switched to doing more strenght training and eating more. I'm up 10-15 lbs now, a lot stronger, and I am losing again while eating 1700 cals. I hope that by summer I'll be about 16% bf with some delicious abs popping out. That's my goal at least.
Stay strong, eat healthy, and just be open to other options because once you hit that goal, you are likely to create other goals, which is what we pretty much all do once we get addicted to improving our health and fitness!!!
xox0 -
OP - Congratulations on your success!!!
I am 5'2.5", I have hypothyroidism and I am going through menopause (woo hoo), with that said, I have been on a 1200 calorie plan since the first of the year and I am beginning to see some results. I am definitely not starving and feel I make very good/healthy food choices.
The reason I pointed out my height, hypothyroidism and menopause is because like so many people have said, we are all different and what works for 1 person may not work for another. Body type, age, sex, activity and medical conditions all play a factor in each individuals weight loss journey.
I love reading success stories! I love reading opinions and advice as long as it is handled tactfully - just think that a "Success" thread is not the place to "bash" or give unwanted advice, I think it's more for congratulating the person for a job well done and possibly get some ideas/secrets to their success which might help you with your own success.
Again, job well done, can't wait to post my success story!!0 -
Congrats on your success OP.
Unfortunately what I consider the biggest problem with 1200 calorie diets is the inability to successfully transition to maintenance. Weight loss is the easy part. I wish you success and hope to hear back in a success story after you've actually met your goals and been able to successfully maintain it for a while. Good luck to you.0 -
OP - Congratulations on your success!!!
I am 5'2.5", I have hypothyroidism and I am going through menopause (woo hoo), with that said, I have been on a 1200 calorie plan since the first of the year and I am beginning to see some results. I am definitely not starving and feel I make very good/healthy food choices.
A lot of people use hypothyroidism and perimenopause as an excuse to why they can't lose weight. While they will enhance weight gain, my personal experience with both of them has shown that they haven't hindered me from losing it on a diet higher than 1200 a day.
I think the only people who can sustainably eat a 1200 calorie diet for weight loss is someone who is of a very petite height and build (lower TDEE to start with), it makes more sense then. I am not this, so it doesn't work at all.0 -
LOL Dan, RAWR!0
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Congrats on your weight loss. I'm happy for you.
Please come back in a year and tell me how maintenance went for you.0 -
Congrats and No offense to the OP, but the reason I'm against the 1200 cal is because I was on it and ended up screwing myself a bit. Yeah, I lost weight..woohoo. But I also ended up very protein deficient..enough so that I ended up with those nasty side effects. It seems when you are 245lbs and eating like 3000 calories and suddenly dropping down to 1200 cals for a long period of time is not all that great for your body's internal health (of course this is void if it is prescribed and supervised by your doctor).
Plus, my body would revolt now and again and I'd go on huge binges. It definitely didn't put me in a healthy mind set, let alone physically healthy.
And I'm so mad now that I realize the wrong I was doing. If I could go back, I'd tell myself to get educated and do it right..lol. But at least now I'm doing good and eating more and STILL losing..woot!
ETA - When I was eating 1200, I was also very lethargic and could barely get through a 20-30 min workout . Now that I'm eating more (around 1600-1800), I can workout for longer periods of time and at a great intensity.
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Good to hear and congrats on your loss! Eating more, for me, has always meant weighing more. Plus, I am very comfortable with what I eat to get to 1200/day. Healthy meals, healthy snacks. If I force myself to eat more-- why would I do that???
There must be individual variations at work. Like, older women? Come on! We are not going to lose weight by eating more. Sorry. The weight packs on and eating more is not going to take it off.
This is so true, when i read people telling older ones to increase calories, i know that is bad, bad advice. It would lead to us gaining for sure.
Besides, if people eliminate extra fat and sugar ........1200 calories is a lot of food!0 -
This is my second day eating at 1200 calories per day. Before I was eating 1430 calories per day. All I know is that I am so hungry right now! I pray my body will get used to this.
Major congrats on your weight loss! That is so awesome!0 -
My starting weight was 240 pounds. I have lost a total of 112 pounds. I eat around 1600-2000 calories.
To each their own. I just wish more people would get educated before posting responses in this thread!0 -
Congrats and No offense to the OP, but the reason I'm against the 1200 cal is because I was on it and ended up screwing myself a bit. Yeah, I lost weight..woohoo. But I also ended up very protein deficient..enough so that I ended up with those nasty side effects. It seems when you are 245lbs and eating like 3000 calories and suddenly dropping down to 1200 cals for a long period of time is not all that great for your body's internal health (of course this is void if it is prescribed and supervised by your doctor).
Plus, my body would revolt now and again and I'd go on huge binges. It definitely didn't put me in a healthy mind set, let alone physically healthy.
And I'm so mad now that I realize the wrong I was doing. If I could go back, I'd tell myself to get educated and do it right..lol. But at least now I'm doing good and eating more and STILL losing..woot!
ETA - When I was eating 1200, I was also very lethargic and could barely get through a 20-30 min workout . Now that I'm eating more (around 1600-1800), I can workout for longer periods of time and at a great intensity.
I hope you mean for you 1200 calories was no good.
I eat 1200 calories a day, I do about an hour of walking/jogging, insanity, and a few other workouts on my own each day. I run circles around everyone I work with at work, my boss has told me (I'm a waitress) to stop running because when I get in my zone I run and don't realize it. My metabolism is higher then it's ever been before. So for me, 1200 is right.0 -
Congrats and No offense to the OP, but the reason I'm against the 1200 cal is because I was on it and ended up screwing myself a bit. Yeah, I lost weight..woohoo. But I also ended up very protein deficient..enough so that I ended up with those nasty side effects. It seems when you are 245lbs and eating like 3000 calories and suddenly dropping down to 1200 cals for a long period of time is not all that great for your body's internal health (of course this is void if it is prescribed and supervised by your doctor).
Plus, my body would revolt now and again and I'd go on huge binges. It definitely didn't put me in a healthy mind set, let alone physically healthy.
And I'm so mad now that I realize the wrong I was doing. If I could go back, I'd tell myself to get educated and do it right..lol. But at least now I'm doing good and eating more and STILL losing..woot!
ETA - When I was eating 1200, I was also very lethargic and could barely get through a 20-30 min workout . Now that I'm eating more (around 1600-1800), I can workout for longer periods of time and at a great intensity.
I hope you mean for you 1200 calories was no good.
I eat 1200 calories a day, I do about an hour of walking/jogging, insanity, and a few other workouts on my own each day. I run circles around everyone I work with at work, my boss has told me (I'm a waitress) to stop running because when I get in my zone I run and don't realize it. My metabolism is higher then it's ever been before. So for me, 1200 is right.
Yes I meant me, which is why I continually used the phrasing that indicated that this was "about me"..such as "When I was eating 1200." If I was saying for everyone, I would have used said, "People shouldn't do this" or "This happens to everyone."0 -
I plateau after eating a certain number of calories for a while. I started at 1800 calories a day per my physicians recommendation. I was loosing great for about the first 10 to 15 pounds but then I reached a point where I was staying the same weight week after week. I lowered my calories to 1500 and started loosing again. The calculations here on MFP suggest that I should be eating about 1780. For now, I feel good eating at or around 1500 but don't stress if the numbers exceed that some. I try not to add back my exercise calories either. Like most things, you have to figure out what works for you and turn that into a weight loss plan for you.0
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the thing is with my binge eating counselor I was eating a lot less calories than the 1200 calories. she reccomended these calories for me. I didn't pick it up out of the drop of a hat. It is working great I wanted to share my success.0
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Congrats on your loss!
Can you detail how much body fat vs lean muscle lost since you started?
Do you have progress photos?
Can we see your progress thru this journey?
I'm asking because most women "want" weight loss but really "need" fat loss.
So eating 1200 calories will help you lose "weight" but the end result can sometimes leave one lighter but not really with less fat.
Do you catch my drift?
If you do calculations on body fat and you are at goal weight but with 25% or higher BF, you probably should evaluate what your end goal should be and work to fix it now.
Congrats on your weight loss.
Absolutely. Sure 1200 you can lose weight. I did it. Then I hit a brick wall. Eat 2000, losing fat, gaining muscle now. I don't care what the scale says either, measurements are the key.
I'd rather eat, lose and look great naked than starve, lose, and have a bunch of belly flab. Just sayin'.0 -
I lost over 40 pounds eating 1200 calories a day.
When you make healthy choices, sometimes it's hard to even get to 1200.. healthy food can be very low calorie and filling.
Ditto!! I'm down 66 lbs in 9 months! When you eat low cal healthy foods its hard to eat 1200 calories a day.0
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