When is 1200 calories appropriate? (hint: almost never)

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bump... i must read this later

I personally have been really happy with the members posting threads about why 1200 is often too low and to check out the TDEE-20% way. I don't feel they're judgmental, to me it's like they're saying "hey everyone, you can eat more and still lose weight! Isn't that great?!" And for me that led to a big fat YAY!

I started out attempting 1200 and working out vigorously. But I was always hungry, always thinking of food, always tired, and progressively felt weaker. I think I would've totally fallen off the bandwagon had I not discovered these forums. Once I figured out my TDEE and saw I could eat up to 2350 calories and still lose weight, I was frickin ecstatic. I've been consistently losing 1-2lbs per week, I can eat a lot of food, and I'm no longer cranky, tired, and weak.

If you're *truly* happy with 1200, clearly these threads aren't for you. But I was really unhappy and had no idea what I was doing and threads like this are what saved me from giving up entirely. So, thank you OP. For every one person doing 1200 that you piss off with posts like this, at least there's another that you helped.

I TOTALLY agree! I was very weak and exhausted some days..I feel much stronger eating more cals..my BMR is 1600..I am set at 1700( manually) Thankyou OP and all others explaining this to us because i think i would have given up..I definately wouldn t have had the strength to exercise 30 DS everyday

Yup, I am one of those idiots who is at 1200 calories and does not eat more than 100 calories over that. I have a thyroid disorder and in order for me to lose I can't eat much above 1200. On top of that I'm pushing 65. Now I have lost 90 pounds in a little over a year, so I beg to differ. And don't tell me to try that because I did and guess what? I gained...so I am doing what works for me.

Gained what?
Extra 250 calories daily if it led to fat gain would be 1 lb in 2 weeks.

Anything more than that or if fast gain, and you gained water weight, same water weight you dropped when first starting a diet. And what you will gain back the minute you go to maintenance.
Or you finally ate enough for your exercise level and body had a chance to store some more glucose for energy, which stores with water too.

And lost 90 lbs of what?
Hoping you at least did some good resistance training and ate enough protein, perhaps you managed to not lose as much muscle mass as normally happens on a deficit without doing those things.

Because indeed, the major reason why metabolism goes down as you get older is not because the body all of a sudden got more efficient doing the functions of life, but rather people on average stop using their muscles as much and lose them.
There are older people that have the metabolism's of 20 year olds. Not talking total daily burn because of high activity, but BMR because they have great Lean Body Mass they have retained or built up.
At some point of course, body stops doing some of those basic functions and BMR does go down little by little, but you can slow that drop down.

Great job with loss none-the-less.

All these messages confuse me - i've had my calories at anything from 1200 to 1690 - When I went down to 1270, I finally started losing weight, it seems to be what works best for me, so will stick to it for a while at least.

If you eat 90% of your calories from fruits/veggies/nuts/beans...you know real whole foods than you are getting enough nutrition to stay at 1200. I eat a mostly vegan diet and it is damn near impossible to get more than 1200 calories unless i want to eat bread or processed garbage. I do just fine :-D

Haha, I get into a lot of "fights" over my eating habits. I have been accused of having an eating disorder. NO I just refuse to eat processed garbage and suffering :-) I think there is more to nutrition than getting a certain number of calories. All calories are NOT created equal. I ate 4 cups of spinach for dinner, sauteed with garlic and that had very little calories, tons of nutrients and I was full. Im not starving to death...I only get 5-10% of my calories from protein and guess what??? I feel better then I ever have in my life. When I was eating 100 grams of protein a day I felt like crap and my muscle recovery was horrible. Now I barely get sore and I can go so much harder.

For about the thousandth time I've responded to a similar topic, I say "why are you (OP) so concerned with what everyone else is doing that you feel the need to give unsolicited advice"??? I'm not sure what your educational background is. For all I know you've been a nutritionist for 30 years.

But if you know how to eat, and nobody's asking you for advice, why do you care? I see people post on here "why am I not losing any weight", and they open the door for all sorts of dietary and exercise advice. Cool.

I started out on MFP at 1240 calories a day. I'm 5'4", sedentary and 43 years old. This was sanctioned by both my MD and a nutritionist I consulted to make sure I was making the best of those calories (macros). I'm at goal weight seven months later (I only had 40 pounds to lose). I did not do that by eating 1240 calories a day of garbage. But you'd be amazed how much protein and nutritional food you can eat for that amount. I was/am never hungry.

When weight loss stalled around month five, I tried increasing calories, and I tried varying my caloric intake. I tried different things until I found what worked FOR ME. That doesn't mean it will work for someone else.

What works for one does not work for all. So perhaps quit giving generalized unsolicited advice when you don't know someone's particular situation and just focus on what works for you.

Ok I eat 1200 calories per day! Which is more than what I got on the biggest loser diet 1050! I feel fine on 1200 it's all in what you choose to eat for those 1200 calories. You can actually eat alot of food for 1200 calories if you choose the right types.:)

I am 4'10 and 105 pounds, but physically active and 1600 calories / day is getting results!

Boo to the 1200 calorie diet. I would binge after several 1200 calorie days in a row.

It worked for the first few months but I kept hitting a wall during exercise and holding back fitness gains.

wow im new here, and im totally shocked, I think to good weight loss is a positive attitude and no mater what the topic is I see a lot of negative here, I have struggled with my weight for the past 4 years and I tried just bout everything and nothing worked, but now I have mfp that helps a lot, and a wicked support group here at home and that seems to have made all the difference, nocked out all the junk foods and turned to more fruit and vegies which I use to hate but now love as well as working out on my elliptical every day, as for how many calories I think that really depends on the person, what there body type is how active they are and whether they have a high or low metabolism, so to be healthy I think its about what your eating and doing rather then just the calories, good work to every one and keep it going and stay happy!!

I have to disagree.

I'm 26, 5'2, 138lbs. I did 1200cal or less for 6mo on weight watchers to lose 30lbs over 6 months in 2008. I've maintained 138lbs for 5 years STILL doing 1200cal most days. I'm a bit more lenient on weekends but if I feel myself gain any weight, I cut back for the next week to make sure I maintain. 1200 cal is perfect for me because I work 9-5 in IT then come home and do grad school work. I've found nothing wrong, dangerous, or unhealthy about eating 1200cal a day.

Math.

I have to disagree.

I'm 26, 5'2, 138lbs. I did 1200cal or less for 6mo on weight watchers to lose 30lbs over 6 months in 2008. I've maintained 138lbs for 5 years STILL doing 1200cal most days. I'm a bit more lenient on weekends but if I feel myself gain any weight, I cut back for the next week to make sure I maintain. 1200 cal is perfect for me because I work 9-5 in IT then come home and do grad school work. I've found nothing wrong, dangerous, or unhealthy about eating 1200cal a day.

Math.

From what I've read, it's not just math, metabolic function is complex. But at 5' 2", if I want to lose weight I need to be at 1200 or less if I'm not working out. As you said, there is nothing dangerous or unhealthy about a 1200 calorie max. The issue is whether it is sustainable for a particular individual.

Bump...I need to read through all of this!!

Looking to share food logs with other petite ladies. I'm 5'2 trying to manage a 1200 calorie goal. Currently think its not enough cal. Trying to keep under 1600 and workout everyday. Also started blogging healthy recipe ideas at www.petitehealth.com