Still think your 1200 or less diet is a good idea?
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Just wanted to add my little story to this :laugh:
I'm 26, 5'9.5 and pretty active and I started out on 1200 cals to lose... back then I actually remember searching the internet for "How to lose 20lbs in 30 days!" so of course I started off by saying I wanted to lose 2lbs/week!
I was absolutely starving for the first week or two, but then it got easier and I felt a lot more satisfied on that amount. I was dropping weight ridiculously fast: over 7lbs in the first week alone, and I only had around 40lbs to lose! I kept on losing around 1-2lbs a week so it was pretty addictive. I never hit the plateau and I think if I'd have carried on I'd have reached my goal scale weight a long time ago now...
BUT! After a couple of months of being on MFP and doing a lot of research I wondered if I was losing weight too fast? This may have been in my head but I noticed the skin between my thighs was becoming very 'loose' and wrinkly looking, and it made me wonder. When I thought about it too... since being on 1200cals I'd get home from work and need a couple of hours sleep (6 hours at a desk job), I'd start my workout on the elliptical machine and my legs would feel exhausted from the start and I was like a zombie 99% of the time.
So I upped my calories to 1650 and ate back any exercise cals, I didn't lose or gain for a couple of months but then the scale started to go down again... VERY slowly but I'm able to have awesome work outs, I've started lifting heavy and I don't feel tired all the time. My focus now has changed to losing body fat NOT just weight, as one of my goals is to look good in a bikini.
I worry though because I see other girls my height and weight or heavier, who look a lot firmer and slimmer than I do. I wonder if I lost a lot of LBM when I cut my calories so drastically and now even when I get to my goal weight I'm not going to be happy as my body fat % is pretty high... I'm even considering eating above maintenance to build muscle and then trying to lose the fat after. I really wish I'd have worked out the right calories for *me* when I first started here and not just tried to lose it as quickly as possible...
Sorry that was long, not little :laugh:
TLDR: Make sure you know the right number for you and your goals - 1200 helped me lose weight very quickly but that loss more than likely included LBM, not just fat. I'm near my goal weight now and still at a high body fat % :sad:
I wished more people would realise that they are losing LBMwhen dropping weight so quickly and on low cals. I rather weigh more, so I can eat more and look slim. Just did my first bulk and I would suggest to go for it.
Lifting when eating above TDEE is so much fun too. I am 5'7" at 155 lbs btw and I eat 2600 to maintain. So you can up your cals quite a bit I guess.0 -
When I first signed up here, it asked my weight height etc and asked my goal weight and how much I wanted to lose each week. It gave me a dropdown with several choices. One of them (1 lb a week) said "recommended" beside it.
But there was absolutely nothing beyond that, nothing like, "recommended because if you choose 2 lb a week with not much to lose, it's not going to work well and you're also likely to be hungry all the time, feel like crap and maybe even get weak and dizzy and not lose extra and may hit a plateau anyway and have nowhere to go from there."
IOW, it practically dares you to set your goal to 2 lbs a week, because who (without having done tons of research first, and what percentage of people have when they are first signing up for a site like this) is going to choose only 1 pound a week when you can "just as easily" choose 2?
The point being, I suspect the vast majority of these threads (and all the people who suffer the same fate but just give up and never post threads) wouldn't need to exist if the signup process had more of a warning about (a reason/explanation for) going against the recommended weekly goal.
That's very true, but you don't even need to changed the "recommended" weight loss. For me it "recommends" 1 pound a week weight loss which gives me 1200 calories a day. I don't need to reset it for 2 pounds a week to get the 1200.
Also, 1 pound a week SOUNDS very conservative. The advice used to be that a sensible and healthy rate of weight loss was 2 pounds a week. I started off aiming for 1 pound a week and thought I was doing the sensible thing, so I completely understand why people are eating at 1200 net. Dropping down to 1/2 a pound a week seems like being unnecessarily conservative. (Edit: I HAVE dropped down, but can understand why for many people it seems an odd thing to do. And I also have to accept that my weight loss is VERY slow!).0 -
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.
Yep one size doesn't fit all!! For short people it is different. As long as it isn't an eating disorder please live and let live!!0 -
I wished more people would realise that they are losing LBMwhen dropping weight so quickly and on low cals. I rather weigh more, so I can eat more and look slim. Just did my first bulk and I would suggest to go for it.
Lifting when eating above TDEE is so much fun too. I am 5'7" at 155 lbs btw and I eat 2600 to maintain. So you can up your cals quite a bit I guess.
Wow I'd have a lot of fun eating that much food lol! I'm going to do it to be honest because I'm at the point now of not caring what the scale says, I'm more interested in how I feel and look!0 -
bump!0
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that **** made me laugh my *kitten* off!!!!!!!!0 -
I wished more people would realise that they are losing LBMwhen dropping weight so quickly and on low cals. I rather weigh more, so I can eat more and look slim. Just did my first bulk and I would suggest to go for it.
Lifting when eating above TDEE is so much fun too. I am 5'7" at 155 lbs btw and I eat 2600 to maintain. So you can up your cals quite a bit I guess.
^^^^ this, so much this
I'm 5'1" and 1850 cals/day made me lose weight when I thought it was maintenance....0 -
I EAT 15,000 CAL A WEEK (OVER 2,000 A DAY AVERAGE) AND STILL LOSE CLOSE TO 1KG/2LB A WEEK. *kitten*!0 -
This is subjective, 1200 calories may work for some people but not for others. I am pretty sure genetics, gender, race, lifestyle (ie a brickie may use more calories during the day than an office worker) overall health etc would determine the calories needed for an individual persons weight loss.
My bf is white Australian male, 6"2 and very healthy and is naturally athletic. He can consume twice the amount of calories I could, and still loose weight (if he wanted to.)
I am 5"4 female Asian and obviously dont eat the same portion sizes as him, and therefore consume less calories.
Apologies for being captain obvious, but I am pretty sure this is just common sense. And if people are relying on a tool such as MFP to increase/accelerate weight loss, then perhaps more constructive advice for them would be to see a GP/nutrionist/personal trainer etc for specific advice and dont rely on internet forums.0 -
This thread is so long and I didn't manage to read it all, so I truly apologise if what I'm about to ask is covered somewhere herein.
WHAT?! I had no idea what TDEE was, so I googled it. I, naturally, did all my relevant calculations and got a TDEE of 2137. Now, does this mean to maintain I should be eating this? I've been restricting cal intake to 1680. This isn't considered too low, is it? How do you know how active you're considered? Is that not subjective? I'm seriously so confused with mind blown right now I'm not sure what I'm doing is going to continue to be effective. As a matter of fact, I've been very cross because my actual weight loss has stagnated. Now, I've been trying not to worry about numbers on a scale because mainly I just want to be less jiggly, but if the way I'm eating is counterproductive, I'd really like to sort it out. Also, I have no idea what macros are.
Again, very sorry if this is so newbie of me, but any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Claudia
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You must've been bored.0
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This thread is so long and I didn't manage to read it all, so I truly apologise if what I'm about to ask is covered somewhere herein.
WHAT?! I had no idea what TDEE was, so I googled it. I, naturally, did all my relevant calculations and got a TDEE of 2137. Now, does this mean to maintain I should be eating this? I've been restricting cal intake to 1680. This isn't considered too low, is it? How do you know how active you're considered? Is that not subjective? I'm seriously so confused with mind blown right now I'm not sure what I'm doing is going to continue to be effective. As a matter of fact, I've been very cross because my actual weight loss has stagnated. Now, I've been trying not to worry about numbers on a scale because mainly I just want to be less jiggly, but if the way I'm eating is counterproductive, I'd really like to sort it out. Also, I have no idea what macros are.
Again, very sorry if this is so newbie of me, but any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Claudia
x
Yes TDEE is maintenance calories. What's recommended for most people is TDEE -20%. However if you only have a few lbs to lose, TDEE-10% is safer (because there's more risk of losing lean body mass along with the fat the leaner you are)
There's a thread called "in place of a road map" that explains all of this and answers many of your questions above, just do a search for it (sorry I don't have a link to it). There's a group that you can join for people who are using this method (with great success, I'll add) where you can get help, support and ask whatever questions you want. I totally recommend that.0 -
Link to the newest roadmap..
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-20130 -
This thread is so long and I didn't manage to read it all, so I truly apologise if what I'm about to ask is covered somewhere herein.
WHAT?! I had no idea what TDEE was, so I googled it. I, naturally, did all my relevant calculations and got a TDEE of 2137. Now, does this mean to maintain I should be eating this? I've been restricting cal intake to 1680. This isn't considered too low, is it? How do you know how active you're considered? Is that not subjective? I'm seriously so confused with mind blown right now I'm not sure what I'm doing is going to continue to be effective. As a matter of fact, I've been very cross because my actual weight loss has stagnated. Now, I've been trying not to worry about numbers on a scale because mainly I just want to be less jiggly, but if the way I'm eating is counterproductive, I'd really like to sort it out. Also, I have no idea what macros are.
Again, very sorry if this is so newbie of me, but any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Claudia
x
Yes TDEE is maintenance calories. What's recommended for most people is TDEE -20%. However if you only have a few lbs to lose, TDEE-10% is safer (because there's more risk of losing lean body mass along with the fat the leaner you are)
There's a thread called "in place of a road map" that explains all of this and answers many of your questions above, just do a search for it (sorry I don't have a link to it). There's a group that you can join for people who are using this method (with great success, I'll add) where you can get help, support and ask whatever questions you want. I totally recommend that.
Thank you! And you too, mockchoc! Much appreciated!0 -
This is subjective, 1200 calories may work for some people but not for others. I am pretty sure genetics, gender, race, lifestyle (ie a brickie may use more calories during the day than an office worker) overall health etc would determine the calories needed for an individual persons weight loss.
1200 calories is too low for the vast majority of people, you'd have to be extremely petite and totally inactive before you would have to eat that low to lose weight. I'm only 5'1" and I'm currently losing on 1850 cals/day. Most people who eat 1200 calories a day would be able to still lose on a higher number of calories,
You're right about the above factors, although race only makes a difference in as much as it affects your lean body mass for height (aka frame size). The Katch McArdle formula (which is a way of calculating how many calories your body needs) takes frame size into account so there would be no additional need to take race into account. the other factors you list do matter, and are taken into account.
The TDEE - 20% method (or TDEE - 10% if you only have a few lbs to lose) takes into account all the factors that affect how many calories you burn each day, and gives you an individualised estimate for how many calories you burn each day. You subtract ten or twenty percent from this (depending on how much you need to lose) to get how many calories you need to eat to lose weight without compromising your health. It is an estimate, the caculator may be a little bit out, but you can adjust your calories up or down a little based on your actual results.
The problem with the number 1200 is that it's given as a catch all number that's suitable for everyone, when in reality it's not the right number for the vast majority of people. Losing weight too quickly has a lot of bad consequences, like loss of lean body mass, decreased bone density (and higher risk of osteoporosis), slowing of the metabolism, lack of energy, moodiness, a slowdown and then stalling of weight loss as the body adapts to what it thinks is a food shortage (aka adaptive thermogenesis).... the vast majority of people can still lose weight at higher numbers than 1200 cals/day without suffering from all those problems, and also it's easier to maintain the goal weight at the end of it. Also, the few people for whom 1200 calories is the right number, firstly if they do the TDEE -20% method, that method will tell them to eat 1200 calories a day (so switching to this method won't tell them to eat more than they should), and they also won't get those negative effects from eating at that number. But you're talking about extremely petite, inactive people, maybe also quite old (as metabolism slows as you age).0 -
I LOVE THIS THREAD! Eat the food and lift the weights, everyone. :flowerforyou:
:flowerforyou: 0 -
Eat the diet my doctor gave me (1200 calorie exchange cycling higher on weekends) or listen to folks on the interweb who've never met me, have no idea my medical history, and seem to enjoy attacking people for their choices...
Yeah, I think I'll stick with the docs advice... thanks though!0 -
You are awesome!0
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I don't understand why doctors are giving weight loss advice? A general practitioner is not a nutritionist or fitness professional...
Maybe it's just in the UK where they don't do that? My doctor told me I was overweight and to move more and eat a bit less. He said if I had any further questions or problems they could arrange for me to MEET with a nutritionist and that there is a scheme to get patients in touch with personal trainers to help them lose weight in a healthy manner.
If my doctor told me to eat 1200 calories, I'd tell him to jog on. I've not eaten under 1600 for a LONG time, I'm on about 2200 a day now.0 -
Eat the diet my doctor gave me (1200 calorie exchange cycling higher on weekends) or listen to folks on the interweb who've never met me, have no idea my medical history, and seem to enjoy attacking people for their choices...
Yeah, I think I'll stick with the docs advice... thanks though!
Doctors don't know everything---now if your "doctor" is a registered dietitian with a firm grasp on nutrition, weight loss, and caloric needs of various individuals AND he has reason to believe that 1200 is appropriate for you (rather than assigning you the cliche 1200 calories that 99% of diets these days are) then I could see you following his advice. Otherwise, yeah I would actually follow the advice of "folks on the inter web who've never met [you]."0
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