1200, and why it won't work

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Replies

  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    Click on "my home" then "goals" and at the bottom "change goals" and then choose "custom" to set up your own goals.
  • iamaviking007
    iamaviking007 Posts: 23 Member
    Click on "my home" then "goals" and at the bottom "change goals" and then choose "custom" to set up your own goals.


    THANKS MUCH!! :)
  • Ampedette
    Ampedette Posts: 35 Member
    Bump
  • volume77
    volume77 Posts: 670 Member
    will u be my personal trainer????????????????
  • symonspatrick
    symonspatrick Posts: 213 Member
    It sounds like your intentions are good but I believe morbid obesity is not something to play around with. Having someone only losing one pound per week when they have 150 pounds of fat to lose would be a three year time frame. There is a chance they could be dead by then. I would agree with you more if it were someone with a smaller amount to lose with less health risks involved. And your comment about over weight people not having self control, well it sounds a little condesending. I would venture to guess that you have never been 150 pounds over weight yourself but I could be wrong. Just like lower calorie diets are not always the right thing so also higher calorie diets are not always the right thing.
  • mamasmaltz3
    mamasmaltz3 Posts: 1,111 Member
    Bump to save for later
  • amy_wills
    amy_wills Posts: 37 Member
    This is such a great post!!! I love how you broke it down for everyone and used a real life example. I am a big proponent on eating more than 1200 calories a day! Women just dont get it...when trying to lose weight they starve themselves and that JUST WONT WORK. Im going to read your post again because I find it very inspiring and informative.

    thanks again!
  • Chipmunk222
    Chipmunk222 Posts: 240 Member
    bump for later :)
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,783 Member
    Quite an interesting post, especially from someone here on MFP for 3 months with no weight loss progress posted or daily food log.
  • Brianna716
    Brianna716 Posts: 303 Member
    I wonder why it's working for me then... I guess we're not all the same after all!

    I'm 5'3" and I only had 28 pounds to lose... MFP started me off on 1,260/day and when I reached 140 pounds it put me on 1,200 a day. I'm not eating 400 calorie "snacks". My plate full of food is 445 calories! That's for 4 oz pork, 3/4 cup mashed potatoes + 2 TBSP sour cream and 1/2 cup corn.
  • PhoenixIsis
    PhoenixIsis Posts: 31
    Good post!
  • Bus2012
    Bus2012 Posts: 13 Member
    Interesting read but too many pages to get through right now. Bedtime reading!
  • laceymcmath
    laceymcmath Posts: 44
    Thank you for the info, I have managed to lose practically nothing eating 1200 calories for months, am now eating more, will see what happens!

    I have the same problem. I lost 8 lbs to start with but have totally stalled out and can't seem to lose any more (I've been there for about a month). I've upped it to 1400... I guess we'll see what happens. I'm nervous. =P
  • bikinibeliever
    bikinibeliever Posts: 832 Member
    bumping for a friend...good info!
  • cindylmanly
    cindylmanly Posts: 25 Member
    Well herein possibly lies my problem. I really don't have much left to lose. Abt 5 lbs. but I am stalled. I am set at 1200 and rarely meet that calorie goal. I exercise hard 6 days a week. Cardio and strength. I do not eat back my calories burned so I am way under when you subtract out my exercise. Should I bump up my calories? Or just eat back my calories burned? Or both? I am 49, 5'5". Current weight is 129 ish. Goal 124. I am almost there....
  • TheNewBlake
    TheNewBlake Posts: 25 Member
    Wow that blew my mind!
    i always knew 1200 calories was to low but you just made me realize i need to up my calories kuzz im eating like a small breakfast 300 cal and small lunch of 300 and a big dinner of like 800 - 1000
    ive tried the 1200 calorie thing in highschool and 3 days later I fell off the wagon
    i dont really count my calories as much i just eat what i think is a decent meal and sort out the calories at the end of the day..
  • z_kickingkilos
    z_kickingkilos Posts: 15
    wow, thats amazing. But I do no weights like Monica and all I do is the treadmill :
    (
  • suzieduh
    suzieduh Posts: 196 Member
    great post, love it
  • z_kickingkilos
    z_kickingkilos Posts: 15
    I'm eating upto 1400 cals...but as I don't work out like 'crazy' i doubt if I can up my cals!
  • MsPudding
    MsPudding Posts: 562 Member
    I love the post and here's why....

    I'm in my 40s, I'm short and I'm 257 pounds. I'm also not a complete idiot so before embarking on my latest round of weight loss initiatives I went to the doctor and had full blood works done so I started out with the knowledge that my hormone levels are normal, my thyroid is fine and I have absolutely normal blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol.

    I then plugged my numbers into MFP and did the old 'sedentary lifestyle' and '2lbs a week weightloss' and got the old magical '1200 calories' answer. However, I was deceiving myself in two very important ways:

    1. Actually my lifestyle is not sedentary. Yes, I have a desk job (and that's why I clicked the button) but I then remember I also have a dog and do 1-1.5hrs a day walking with him.
    2. Losing 2lb a week would be wonderful, but in fact it's completely unrealistic that I'll lose that much week in, week out.

    The fact is that, for ME at my weight, 1200 a day is a starvation diet. I've been maintaining weight at 257 for about a year and I've been eating up nearer the 3000 calories a day mark - a 1800 calorie drop a day is just too much of a shock to the body *and* to the pscyhe. At it is, my TDEE is 2561 so I'm working on the basis of deducting 20% off that.

    What I don't like about the 1200 plan for people like me who are obese with no particular health issues, is that it's just not sustainable. Studies tell us that over 90% of dieters put back on all the weight they've lost within 5 years and I've been part of that statistic myself having previously gone for the 'go as low as you can to lose the maximum amount of weight' approach. I did Lighter Life for 4 months and lost a total of 58lbs on 500 calories A DAY. Yes, everyone said how amazing I had done. Yes I was blown away by shrinking body BUT it was not sustainable...my incredible shrinking body was pretty much consuming itself and within a few short months of stopping Lighter Life I was well on my way to gaining ALL the weight lost, even though I was eating healthily and supposedly at a maintenance level of calories.

    I'm new to the boards, but looking around I sometimes think there's an almost perverse one-upmanship that goes on around how few calories people can eat and how much exercise they can do. Me? I'd rather cut back a little (I'm doing 5:2 intermittent fasting because of the wider health benefits that studies are showing) and lose slow and steady but have a reasonable chance of both keeping on the wagon and keeping the weight loss off.
  • cc7315
    cc7315 Posts: 72 Member
    bump for later
  • blahblahblahstinkyfeetblah
    blahblahblahstinkyfeetblah Posts: 17
    Bump
  • danimalkeys
    danimalkeys Posts: 982 Member
    I lost 50lbs in 6 months doing a major caloric deficit diet. I wasn't counting calories at the time but had easily cut my food intake in half and was exercising 5 days a week. I found the MFP app for my tablet to start tracking calories and it said I should be on 1700/day. 3 months and I have lost nothing, even with eating back my workout calories. My metabolism had slowed because I was eating too little. I figured out all the important numbers, TDEE etc and found I should be taking in like 3200 a day just to maintain. So I bumped up my intake to 2700. I feel better, and I'm down 2lbs in just a week.

    I think if you are a young woman who weighs 130lbs then 1200 a day is fine- your requirements are less than a larger person. I also think an obese person (I was 280 when I started) will definitely lose weight on 1200, but it's not going to be a good weight loss. You will lose a lot of muscle mass along with the fat. If you are obese and have been doing 1200 for 3 months and are losing, that's how it will work. At some point you'll plateau and you'll struggle to figure out why, and most likely it'll be because your metabolism has slowed down to the point where your body has regulated itself to subsist on 1200 calories and maintain the weight you have. It might take 6 months, it might take a year, but at some point, you'll plateau.

    As far as the comment someone made about taking 3 years to lose 150lbs, how long did it take to put that on? I bet more than 3 years, it was a lifestyle that gets you to be obese, it its a lifestyle change to take it off.
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member

    I'm new to the boards, but looking around I sometimes think there's an almost perverse one-upmanship that goes on around how few calories people can eat and how much exercise they can do. Me? I'd rather cut back a little (I'm doing 5:2 intermittent fasting because of the wider health benefits that studies are showing) and lose slow and steady but have a reasonable chance of both keeping on the wagon and keeping the weight loss off.

    I encounter one-upmanship in all the posts in which women boast about how many calories they're eating and act as if strength training is miraculous, instead of good, basic exercise. If I regularly consumed 2000-plus calories and used direct weight resistance on the wrong parts of my body I'd be obese and have a humongous butt and hips.

    For some reason, the message is not getting through that weight loss success is specific to the individual.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    Just checking in to note that 1200 is still working fine for me. Thanks, bye!
  • FattieBabs
    FattieBabs Posts: 542 Member
    I am one of those people, obese, who finds it very difficult to stick to 1200 a day. I have tried this in the past and failed horribly. I have set my cals around 1600 and am exercising, weights and interval three times a week. The scales are going down slowly but I am losing inches and feeling so much better. My knees no longer creak when I climb stairs and I actually look forward to going to the gym. I am averaging a 1 pound a week loss. Sometimes the scale moves, sometimes not but over a month all good!

    To the Op. should I up my cal intake and do more exercise or keep going as I am? I have lost 18 pounds to date but have another 5 stone to go so this will take time. i found your post very intermesting and it has got me thinking... i never want to eat at 1200 ever again. It made me feel terrible and i got ratty with everyone!I
  • FattieBabs
    FattieBabs Posts: 542 Member
    I am one of those people, obese, who finds it very difficult to stick to 1200 a day. I have tried this in the past and failed horribly. I have set my cals around 1600 and am exercising, weights and interval three times a week. The scales are going down slowly but I am losing inches and feeling so much better. My knees no longer creak when I climb stairs and I actually look forward to going to the gym. I am averaging a 1 pound a week loss. Sometimes the scale moves, sometimes not but over a month all good!

    To the Op. should I up my cal intake and do more exercise or keep going as I am? I have lost 18 pounds to date but have another 5 stone to go so this will take time. i found your post very intermesting and it has got me thinking... i never want to eat at 1200 ever again. It made me feel terrible and i got ratty with everyone!I
  • mestacy010
    mestacy010 Posts: 577 Member
    Bump
  • peckish_pomegranate
    peckish_pomegranate Posts: 242 Member
    Why would you bump this? 1200 is good for some people and not for others. I think we're covered that.
  • MsPudding
    MsPudding Posts: 562 Member
    For some reason, the message is not getting through that weight loss success is specific to the individual.
    Yup, it absolutely is individual. Everyone's going to have a different maintenance calorie intake and it's not even a case that 'one size fits all' with exercise either. The latest research is showing that different people respond to different exercise and it should therefore be tailored.

    What I don't get is the defensiveness some people seem to have about what they're doing. Personally, I don't give a flying shyte what diet/exercise plan anyone else is doing, I only care about what *i'm* doing and if what I'm doing doesn't work, then I'll start looking round for answers.

    The one thing I *do* know from around 30 years of yo-yoing weight and every diet under the sun is that it's way easier to get it off than keep it off. I always looked for a quick fix - the 100lb shed in 6-8 months answer. It's only now in my mid-40s that I realise that I've spent a lifetime being fat so 3, 4 or even 5 years getting it off and changing my lifestyle rather than crash dieting is the answer for me. I'm sick of the 'diet merry-go-round' - this time around I made sure it was something that represented a lifestyle change rather than another diet.

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