Still think your 1200 or less diet is a good idea?

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  • michelleokelly5
    michelleokelly5 Posts: 20 Member
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    I dont know why anybody chooses to eat 1200 calories a day to lose weight.. I love food way too much!! Plus, losing weight should be a lifestyle change... I would not succeed only eating the bare minimum of calories because I would feel far too deprived. Ill stick to at least eating my BMR every day..... I am a happier, much nicer person when I am not hungry ;-)
  • KBSwinger
    KBSwinger Posts: 160 Member
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    I think my PBJ alone is 1200 LOL
  • calibriintx
    calibriintx Posts: 1,741 Member
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  • Tanyaka
    Tanyaka Posts: 13 Member
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    Eh. I lost 20 kilos based on 1200 restriction and one work out a day. With a rest/relaxed calorie day each week.
    If you're eating the right foods you can fit a lot in!!!! I

    I admit I did put weight back on.. but that was years later and due to a completely different lifestyle change, not just "normal eating"

    It is important to make sure you're fueling yourself properly.. but I don't think anyone should be looking down at anyone!!! Some days I struggle to HIT 1200!! Just purely coz of the food combinations over the day.. and I'm not hungry at all. I put in extra snacks to bulk up my calories and just can't face eating them. Other days I'm over easily and need to exercise to earn it.
  • CristinaL1983
    CristinaL1983 Posts: 1,119 Member
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    At the risk of pissing off some of my friends here...
    Why is it so hard to believe that people eat at 1200 calories and are resistant to change this?

    Most people came to MFP because they needed a tool to get started. That tool set them at 1200 calories a day. I started off there as well. Over time I made excellent friends who were very tolerant with me during the learning process. There were times where I went back and forth until I finally found a balance between what MFP set for me and my TDEE.

    However, telling someone they are wrong and what they are doing is wrong over and over again rarely works. Especially when it is oozing with sarcasm and even disdain at times. People come here and wonder 'hey why should I listen to you? The website that we are all members of and therefore supporting is telling me I should do the exact opposite of what you, a complete stranger is telling me'. I lucked out and found friends that were successful and those are the people I ended up following.
    I totally understand the resistance to change because the choir singing the praises of the 'roadmap' approach are not only going against what this whole website is built on, but some of us are doing it with an unnecessary amount of hostility.

    I have no desire to get into a debate with someone on a post where the entire purpose seems to point to some people who have been unsuccessful at following a certain plan and mock others who follow the same plan while completely ignoring the numerous posts by people who have not found success following the TDEE-10/20% method. I did, however, want to say that I appreciate you having posted this.

    My reasons for following the 1200 outlined by MFP are completely different than the ones you discussed (and I have been doing it for longer than I've been on MFP) but I appreciate you having pointed out the things that you did.
  • pumpkinspice84
    pumpkinspice84 Posts: 160 Member
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    I am 5'0 and eat more than 1200 and losing just fine. I would be very crabby if I ate 1200 or less all the time everyday. I wouldn't last. :tongue:
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
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    I did 1200 NET last year and it worked fine for me. I ate my exercise cals though, hence the emphasis on net cals.
  • zhvah18
    zhvah18 Posts: 158 Member
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    That list of threads is scary long...
    Being that I'm 5 feet nothing tall and down 32 pounds, why yes, I DO think it's a good idea!! Keep up the good work though, scout.

    I'm 5'1" and have averaged 1500 - 1600 calories for the past year and a half and have lost 57 lbs. JS
  • ghhosstt
    ghhosstt Posts: 112
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    At the risk of pissing off some of my friends here...
    Why is it so hard to believe that people eat at 1200 calories and are resistant to change this?

    Most people came to MFP because they needed a tool to get started. That tool set them at 1200 calories a day. I started off there as well. Over time I made excellent friends who were very tolerant with me during the learning process. There were times where I went back and forth until I finally found a balance between what MFP set for me and my TDEE.

    However, telling someone they are wrong and what they are doing is wrong over and over again rarely works. Especially when it is oozing with sarcasm and even disdain at times. People come here and wonder 'hey why should I listen to you? The website that we are all members of and therefore supporting is telling me I should do the exact opposite of what you, a complete stranger is telling me'. I lucked out and found friends that were successful and those are the people I ended up following.
    I totally understand the resistance to change because the choir singing the praises of the 'roadmap' approach are not only going against what this whole website is built on, but some of us are doing it with an unnecessary amount of hostility.

    I really like this post. There are people on here who ask for help who may be a little ignorant, and though the majority of replies are usually helpful, I see so many posts from people making smug/smarmy comments who would prefer to think they're clever. No one needs to be coddled, but cynicism's cheap.
  • riveraphx
    riveraphx Posts: 380 Member
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    love it thanks! i have lost 50+ plus lbs ten different times eating 1200 calories or less and gained it ALL back and more every time!

    I learned the hard way to eat more and take things slower. I finally know what it feels like to be starting a lifestyle.
  • Pepper2185
    Pepper2185 Posts: 994 Member
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    Excellent post, Taso!
  • hmadrone
    hmadrone Posts: 129 Member
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    I think this discussion tends to generate more heat than light.

    I'm 5'8". At MFP's suggestion, I was eating 1480+exercise calories and stuck at a plateau for 6 weeks. When I dropped my calories to 1260+exercise calories, I started losing weight again. I can easily believe that a petite woman might need a base of 1200 calories or less to see results. I have an MFP friend who had her RMR tested and discovered that it's about 950 calories a day. She wasn't losing weight going by the numbers, and so she had to cut her calories substantially to get results.

    I lost 84 pounds (I'm up 14 from my low water mark) by eating a strict TDEE-20% diet, with no allowance for exercise calories. That ended up being 1400-1700 calories a day over a period of about 3 years. It worked just fine.

    People tend to undercount dietary calories and overestimate burn calories. Some of the people who look like they're consuming 1200 calories might actually be consuming substantially more.

    Weight loss is really not rocket science. It's just effort over time. There are lots of ways to do it, and you need to choose the ones that work best for you.

    Do what works. If what others suggest doesn't work, try something different.
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
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    It's all well and good.. but it's hard to eat that much sometimes. Even with exercise. I'm not hungry.. i'm not suffering.. i'm not torturing myself. I'm simply trying to eat when hungry and not eat when not hungry.

    I think that's a bigger problem.. me eating 1200 calories a day was a goal.. because I was eating less before I joined here. But I'll get all the rude answers too. For me.. it's still a struggle.. although getting easier.. My goal is higher now and I still miss 1200 half the time..

    Lets not even get into net calories.. which half the time put me down to negative or close to it.. talk about getting jumped on. People's struggles are their own.. and unless you know their journey you should encourage them in their path and if their path really is a bad one, gently nudge them in the right direction.
  • honkytonks85
    honkytonks85 Posts: 669 Member
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    Not quite sure a bunch of anecdotes from MFP users counts as evidence that a 1200 calorie a day diet doesn't work?
  • annascrapper
    annascrapper Posts: 132 Member
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    Need to read this later. Thanks
  • idiocracy
    idiocracy Posts: 275 Member
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    ...so...if BMR is 1400 calories and I burn 300 with exercise, then I should eat 1700 calories that day and still lose weight?
  • RainHoward
    RainHoward Posts: 1,599 Member
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    Not quite sure a bunch of anecdotes from MFP users counts as evidence that a 1200 calorie a day diet doesn't work?

    how dare you say such blasphemy.
  • Cat_Lifts
    Cat_Lifts Posts: 174 Member
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    And for those of us who do consume 1200+...

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  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    Being that I'm 5 feet nothing tall and down 32 pounds, why yes, I DO think it's a good idea!! Keep up the good work though, scout.
    I'm 4' 10 1/2" and have also lost 30 something lb. But I've done it eating more than 1200. There's no reason to torture yourself just because you're short.

    ^This. I'm 5'1" and I eat more than 1200 cals.
  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
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    with so much time on your hands, You could also do a search and find lots and lots of success stories of people eating 1200 cals and losing heaps of weight.


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