success stories from 1200 calorie dieters wanted

I'll go:

I lost 21 pounds between end of November - January 3rd eating only 1200 -1400 calories and NOT eating exercise calories back. Yes, that is a lot of weight lost in a few weeks and this is why: I was doing Insanity, so in reality I was netting ~800-1000 calories a day. I thought I ate my exercise calories back, but I looked at the food journal I had before MFP, and nope, I wasn't. My TDEE at lightly active is ~2400. Insanity is definitely not lightly active.

I also ate "clean" 90/10. Tons of fruits, vegetables, chicken breasts, fish. My "cheat" meal was once a week (meal not day), and even then I rearranged my food so I could fit in a burger and fries and still remain within 1400 the most.

I've repeated this process many times over the course of 3 years. Each time I did, I reached a range of weight where I just stalled. And of course got frustrated and gave up then put all the weight back on. I couldn't figure out for the life of me why I couldn't keep losing weight. I'm a perfectionist so I weighed everything and tracked every calorie. So from January 3rd - last week I did the same thing every week (plus I added lifting weights along with Insanity, then switched to TurboFire + lifting) and lost nothing, there were some weeks I gained. And no, I didn't "gain muscle". Not even in my wildest dreams. I wasn't even losing inches.

Then I joined MFP, read the forums, figured out my TDEE, subtracted 20% and I feel so much better.

I'm eating 1900 now and I feel great. I jumped on the scale last week and lost 2 pounds. I'm not going to step on the scale again until April 1st and I'll report back how it has been. Hopefully I won't be made out to be a fool :laugh:

If 1200 works for you, great. Seriously, it worked for me for a while. But I really want to have an active lifestyle and I want to not just lose weight, but also change my body and put on muscle, keep some of my curves, etc. I know loose skin may be a problem but by filling it in with muscle, it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Eventually I'll be eating more than 1900, but that's okay. It's what I want. Plus I like going out with my friends and stuff, and do you know how hard it is to stick to 1200 that way? Studying already keeps me indoors a lot, I didn't want my dieting to cause me to lose the friends I had left.

Oh and I'm 23, 5'7 and my highest recorded weight is 218.

:drinker:

My BMR is between 1500-1800 without working out. If I sit on my butt all day and do nothing (same as sitting at a desk all day) it would be around 1200-1300. When I do workout....usually my burn can range anywhere from 600-1100 calories....I follow my

This is the bit that lead me to believe otherwise - your BMR would not change no matter what exercise or otherwise you do.

BMR is the calories you burn in a coma - you burn slightly more sleeping at night.

Basal Metabolic Rate.

I disagree, an athletic person would burn more calories doing nothing than someone with a sedentary lifestyle.

Over time you can increase your BMR through exercise, but the change is not quick enough that BMR would ever need to be described by a range.

Most definitions I've seen of BMR are "at rest", not in a coma. When it's medically measured it's typically done in the morning after one wakes and fasts. People in a coma don't fast, nor are they awake.

I would like to disagree here please, if that is ok? in order to agree with the comment about the athlete.

I have a BMR range. My BMR is based on my activity level which is Active. I work out 7-10 hours a week, am a pedestrian who walks AT LEAST 5 miles a day commuting everywhere and all my hobbies and fun distractions are all action based. My BMR is set to Lightly active, I am also almost 6 feet tall and have a very very healthy BMI, so my BMR is not all of this stuff - no - of course not - most of that is TDEE.

however, I have like 22%bf (maybe less now), and of my 160 pounds frame, 125-127 of that is lean body mass. I have a ridiculous amount of muscle, big heavy constantly recovering muscle that I work out consistently 4 times a week doing very strenuous weight routines. plus I run 10+ miles each weekend.

My BMR is higher because of my body comp I think. I may be wrong. But I know that I do not have an identical BMR as every other almost 6 ft tall 160 pound girl. I just dont. It doesnt work like that.

I think you are not wrong, except in thinking that your post disagrees with mine.

My post said nothing about BMR varying from person to person. It said a person's BMR does not vary from day to day.

My BMR is between 1500-1800 without working out. If I sit on my butt all day and do nothing (same as sitting at a desk all day) it would be around 1200-1300. When I do workout....usually my burn can range anywhere from 600-1100 calories....I follow my

This is the bit that lead me to believe otherwise - your BMR would not change no matter what exercise or otherwise you do.

BMR is the calories you burn in a coma - you burn slightly more sleeping at night.

Basal Metabolic Rate.

I disagree, an athletic person would burn more calories doing nothing than someone with a sedentary lifestyle.

We aren't disputing that. BMR is diff for everyone.

My BMR is between 1500-1800 without working out. If I sit on my butt all day and do nothing (same as sitting at a desk all day) it would be around 1200-1300. When I do workout....usually my burn can range anywhere from 600-1100 calories....I follow my

This is the bit that lead me to believe otherwise - your BMR would not change no matter what exercise or otherwise you do.

BMR is the calories you burn in a coma - you burn slightly more sleeping at night.

Basal Metabolic Rate.

@ Steve
Ok I get it. You thought I was saying my BMR changed with what I do. No no no.....I was speaking of the activity setting of the calculator! LOL!

oh... I always forget this... My lifestyle is mostly sedentary. However, I do eat back my exercise calories, because my body needs the extra energy that I exerted. I have been loosing at least 2 lbs per week, but sometimes up to 4 pounds per week (if I put in more exercise time). I'm planning on toning and strengthening when I get closer to my end weight. Right now I'm working on the weight, then I will deal with the toning.

But pretty please, with sugar on top, don't go into a thread from a much younger, much more active person who's struggling to lose weight and suggest that "1200 is just fine" because it's fine for you. Please at least state your stats to that person, so they have some kind of perspective.

Lorina, I have never done this, nor have I really ever seen anyone else do this. I will defend a person's right to eat at a calorie level that is right for them, and is working for them. Whatever that level is. I would never tell you that you are eating too much, because what you are doing is working for YOU.

Thank you for the compliments. :flowerforyou:

But I have seen women do that. There's been a number of times I've seen, "My TDEE-20% is 1000 calories," and you go into the profile to see that they're something like 101 pounds and 60-some years old. Well, sure someone older and tiny is going to have a lower calorie requirement, but they also shouldn't be eating at a 20% cut at 101 pounds.

I totally agree with you that advice should be customized to the individuals needs. However, recent changes to this site in the name of "privacy" have made that more difficult. (Can't search posts from users with private profiles.) Personally, I think it would be a great thing if we could have some basic stats, like starting weight,current weight, goal weight, age, height, etc. as part of the side bar under our avatar and username. Lots of people used to have that kind of info in their sig line, but then some also had three screen-scrolls worth of animated gifs and tickers, and it got nutty.

I like helping people avoid mistakes I've made. Maybe sometimes I'm too vague, and if that's the case, I should be more specific. I think that's a trap a lot of us fall into when we've been here a while. We see the same things and post the same things so many times that we tend to gloss over a lot. I think if someone finds what I have to say interesting, they'll click my profile and see everything laid out that they could ever possibly want to know.

Personally, no, I didn't have much weight to lose. But my whole family had battled obesity, with varying degrees of success. I'm lucky not only in that I nipped my weight gain in the bud, but I also was able to see, through my family, what's worked and what hasn't. The ones who did extreme diets to lose always gained it back. The ones who accept regular exercise and moderation in diet as part of their life have more or less kept it off. There might be some fluctuation, but within the normal range. And two of us have come to enjoy regular exercise and can't live without it. I never, ever thought that would be me. :laugh: I was the girl who almost didn't graduate high school because I skipped so much gym class! For me, of all people, to not only exercise regularly but ENJOY it is a miracle of miracles.

I know not everyone can do what I can do. But everyone can strive to do just a little bit more than they were doing. It's worth it.

I, too, don't always understand the criticism associated with 1,200 calorie/day diets. I think it makes sense for many women, especially those who are on the short side, like me. At the beginning of my weight loss journey, I ate roughly 1200 calories a day for several months and more recently since this past January had bumped it up to around 1300. I decided to bring it back down to 1200 today due to experiencing a plateau for a couple of months. I still eat around 1200-1300 every day but the ultimate # depends on many factors. I listen to my body. If I am hungry and my body is telling me it needs nourishment, I will eat. If I am satisfied after having 1200 calories that day, I stop. Similarly, if I exercise a lot that day and burn more calories, I will eat more. I think 1200 works for some people and if you recognize it does not work for you, then by all means bump up the calories. It all varies person to person. I don't think it is fair for some people to react wildly to those who choose to follow a 1200 calorie diet.

I have lost 98 pounds since January 2012 and I feel that I have done it in a very healthy way. Feel free to add me!

175lbs


150lbs

Have lost another 15lbs since on 1200 cals a day plus exercise cals am now working on weights to tone up and do not want to get to a lower weight

if anyone can work out the photo links lol!

Good job and you look great, but I would prefer more muscle definition. Not sure you can get that at 1200 calories.
Thoughts?

This is quite possibly the rudest comment I have ever read (not the first sentence-the second). Perhaps YOU would prefer to see more muscle definition, perhaps others would too. More muscle definition aligns with YOUR goals. This person posted pics of their success as defined by them and their goals. Just because they don't necessarily align with your goals doesn't make their success invalid. I know she said she's started working with weights to tone. It just makes me angry that someone has put pics of what they consider success and have someone respond with - eh, that's not what I consider success.

Not even addressing the whole notion that people "doing" 1200 must post pics or there's no value or credibility in their success.

We all have different goals, we all are in different places towards reaching those goals. I started out morbidly obese looking fairly similar to the Michelen Man. I now look like my profile pic. I am not "done", but I'm no longer morbidly obese and run 25-30 miles a week. That's success to me and I don't care if that's how you define success. I net 1200 (actually a little under that).

This thread makes me sad.

been working fine for me. i was 246 pounds just this past september.

Have you noticed lose skin? Do you care?

I'm on 1200 calories and have lost 17lbs so far after 3 months. My goal is for weight loss and muscle tone. I'm also 5'2" and maybe a medium frame. The amount of calories someone requires a day is dependent on their activity level and overall body makeup. When I started on MFP I was completely sedentary so my calorie requirements were already low to just sustain my current weight. I never read any of the posts knocking the 1200 calorie plan because calorie count is a very personal thing. Mine life and abilities are different from yours and anyone elses. This site is here to motivate and support those that are trying to hit a health goal. Strings attacking an individual plan does not accomplish that at all.