any 1200 calorie success stories?

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  • lyndabraczynski
    lyndabraczynski Posts: 53
    I think there is a big difference between male and female metabloism....Being a female in my later 40's I have to stay at around 1200 calories and work out to lose anything at all...I am envious of those of you who can eat more and still lose but it doesn't work that way for me...I havr quite a few friends who are regulars 5-6 dyas a week at the gym who say the same thing they of course are also women in their forties and fifties.
  • bostonwolf
    bostonwolf Posts: 3,038 Member
    Hi, I keep reading so many negative comments about sticking to 1200 calories. This is the amount I was planning to eat but am now confused! Anyone have any positive stories please?

    I'll say this. Do what works for you, but if you start working out and feel really tired make sure you realize that this is probably related to your calorie intake and that you need to increase it.

    Working out should leave you feeling a bit tired but energized, not so tired that once you get home you can't move for an hour.
  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,526 Member
    You can eat that much, but I seem to be losing more weight by eating more, including treats. I don't know if it's just my body. I'm doing the 30 day shred too which has helped a lot. Find out your TDEE and eat 20% less. It's working for me! Sometimes, I eat more than it, and I lose inches or weight. Weird, huh? :smile:

    Basically, TDEE -20% is pretty close to 1200 plus exercise for me. (About 20 cals for me). I guess that's why netting 1200 , while making sure to log and eat back exercise worked for me.
  • Tonyswoman
    Tonyswoman Posts: 8 Member
    I have a hard time on most days to get to 1200 on a healthy living diet; I am way too full and overeat, basically feeling ill..

    Give me crap to eat and I'm good to go! :)
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    Ya know, if I calculate my TDEE and subtract 20% of it, as recommended by so many people, I come up with a number slightly under 1200 calories a day. So it's no big surprise that 1200 worked for me.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    I have a hard time on most days to get to 1200 on a healthy living diet; I am way too full and overeat, basically feeling ill..

    Give me crap to eat and I'm good to go! :)

    Eat real PB and don't toss out the egg yolks.
  • Tonyswoman
    Tonyswoman Posts: 8 Member
    I have a hard time on most days to get to 1200 on a healthy living diet; I am way too full and overeat, basically feeling ill..

    Give me crap to eat and I'm good to go! :)

    Eat real PB and don't toss out the egg yolks.

    I will probably be doing this! I think it'll help a little :)
  • khall86790
    khall86790 Posts: 1,100 Member
    I lost at least 10lbs at 1200 calories. The only reason I have upped mine is because I hit a plateau and I upped my exercise so I figured I'd see if upping would make any difference and by upping it to 1300 cals I began losing again. This happens sometimes.
    HOWEVER. I was still successful at 1200 calories for at least 2.5 months, so there is no reason why you can't stick at 1200 cals if it works for you.
    It's different for everyone.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    Some days I do only 900 net calories, some days upwards of 2400 net calories. I tend to feel best around 1600-1800 myself, but I still lose weight at the upper end of the calories too. I lose more weight faster at the lower end but still felt hungry many of the days.

    Do whatever works for you.
  • CJ_Holmes
    CJ_Holmes Posts: 759 Member
    Depends on how you define "success." Plenty of people lose weight on 1200 calories, but I would probably listen to people who have successfully kept it off for a long period of time and who are content and happy with their fitness and food intake.
  • jtorthare
    jtorthare Posts: 1
    I have been at 1200 calories for awhile now. You actually adjust to the 1200 calories, but remember that exercise will enable you to eat a few more calories. I am certainly not losing as much weight at such a rapid pace as the first 50 pounds. Try the 1200 and see how you feel. I don't know if knowing that I am only supposed to eat 1200 calories is linked to the lack of motivation at this point or not. The issue isn't the calories for me at this point; it is maintaining motivation. I suddenly want to eat everything in sight with no regard to calories.
  • mamaomefo
    mamaomefo Posts: 418 Member
    @da1128, go girl...in 100% agreement! It's all in what those 1200 calories are equal to! Works for me ????
  • ukheather
    ukheather Posts: 66 Member
    I am on 1200 calories and losing weight. Happy to stay at 1200
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    So I went back through my diary and even though I did quite well on 1200 for quite some time I realized that when I was much more overweight I went by MFP's sedentary setting (which was higher than 1200 and steadily decreased as my weight decreased) and mostly ate exercise calories back.

    So in addition to the cautionary advice that people who are younger and people who are active in daily life (students walking around campus, people who work on their feet, or take the stairs or walk at lunch, and hang out with friends walking around stores and whatnot) should probably eat more, those who are very overweight should probably set their calories at the lowest to MFP's sedentary setting and also probably eat at least some exercise calories back.

    Because one good thing, maybe the only good thing, about being very overweight is you need more calories than someone who is closer to a normal weight. Well that and wearing an all natural built in fat suit while exercising means you will burn more, too.
  • HRLaurie614
    HRLaurie614 Posts: 260 Member
    I'm just under 5'1". When I first started here, I weighed 114 and my BMR was 1209. I was roughly the same level as i went down a few lbs. I weighed myself this morning...108.6. I redid my numbers and one site had my BMR at 1202 another at 1199....one one calc at 1150, I believe. I just aim to net 1200. I do sometimes have a hard time, but that's my goal. I eat back some, but not all of my exercise cal. Looking to lose .5-1lb a week and I only have about 4 more lbs to go, so it's a bit slow.
  • Dolci07
    Dolci07 Posts: 37 Member
    I am netting 1200 a day right now, but in no way could I keep this up long term. I do it every once and awhile to give me motivation when the weight is coming off slowly. I lose weight very quickly when I do it this way, it is just really hard for me to cut back that. much.
  • HSingMomto7Kids
    HSingMomto7Kids Posts: 345 Member
    I did 1200 calories before getting pregnant and that's how i lost weight. Depends on everyones body weight.
  • dewsmom78
    dewsmom78 Posts: 498 Member
    I am 34, 5'2, 134lbs and have been eating my TDEE - 20% (which is about 1500 calories per day), for over a month and have not lost a pound. I am also doing JM Body Revolution 4 times per week and running the other 2 days, with 1 rest day a week. According to everything I've read, I should be losing about 1lb a week. Nope, it's not happening.

    I am deciding to drop my calories down to 1200 and see if that will finally get me to lose a few pounds. When I was at my pre-baby weight last year of 125lbs, I maintained my weight very easily at 1200 calories per day with little exercise.

    I totally agree that 1200 works for a lot of people. Everyone's metabolism is different. I tried to follow the advice of eating above BRM or 20% below TDEE. It's not working for me. Time to try something different.
  • VeinsAndBones
    VeinsAndBones Posts: 550 Member
    XD Well unless you plan on eating 1200 a day every day for the rest of your life, good luck!! (That is of course your not 3'0 and completely sedentary)
  • Siege_Tank
    Siege_Tank Posts: 781 Member
    The question I have is: if you CAN eat more than 1200 calories/day and still lose weight, why wouldn't you?

    Because the difference is in how long it takes to lose the weight.

    I *can* lose a pound a month, but why would anyone settle for that??
  • bwnorton
    bwnorton Posts: 100 Member
    My entire program has been based around the 1200 calorie a day diet. I've had no stall outs. I suffeer no lack of energy. And, I'm not starving all the time.

    Here's my take on all this. We really don't know what our BMR is, unless we sign up for an indirect calorimetry test at a pulmonology lab. Even then, we really don't know how many calories your walk or hrm is over-estimating based on your age. So, it's one guess followed by another.

    I use a scale to weigh my food. And, I take into consideration that I do cardio 5 times a week. If I go over my calories, I don't lose as fast. So far, it's been a steady 1-2 pounds a week.

    I'm 49 and sit at a desk all day. When I looked at my calorie burn, it was slightly better than being comatose.

    Personally, I let the measuring tape, scale, dumbbells and bicycle be my guide. My waist is down to 33 on the tape measure, and I'm able to ride 15 miles in an hour on my favorite bike trail.

    In a few weeks, I am on maintenance. So, I'll have to make sure I stop losing weight and work on keeping the weight off.
  • sb4480
    sb4480 Posts: 199 Member
    Yep, 1200 and occasionally less than 1200 calories works just fine for me. I get plenty to eat and I'm definitely not hungry or starving myself. Now, I wouldn't suggest eating two 600 calorie muffins and calling it a day, but you can eat fruit, veggies, cheese, eggs, grains, or really, anything you like in moderate portions. Granted, some people need more than 1200 calories and I think a lot of it depends on your genetic makeup, your physical activity, etc., but others do just fine and are very well satisfied with their 1200 caloric intake.

    I don't skip meals and I eat my fair share of snacks. I just happen to 'like' a lot of the low cal foods. For example, I am perfectly content eating an entire can of green beans with half a pat of real butter and a dash of salt & pepper which comes to about 83 calories total. Add in a delicious Morningstar Farms Veggie Sausage Patty on top of half of a homemade, lightly buttered biscuit, and for dessert, a container of Activia 60 calorie yogurt and a juicy Cuties clementine and that entire meal is roughly 354 calories.

    A grilled cheese sandwich, using Aunt Millie's Light Wholegrain Bread @ 35 calories a slice and a slice of Kraft Cheese @ 45 calories, an entire pat of real butter, spread thinly on each slice of bread, and *GASP* half a can of Baby Coke, and you're looking at 171 calories of delicious. Accompany the sandwich with a bowl of veggie or tomato soup and you have a filling, satisfying meal.

    My snacks include string cheese, apples, bananas, yogurt, nuts, hard boiled eggs, popsicles, fudgesicles, fresh fruit in season, yummy protein bars...lots of tasty things. In short, I can munch all day, depriving myself of nothing, and still stay within that 1200 calorie range.

    So, to all the 1200 calorie naysayers, I say "Come on over and spend the day with me! I guarantee you will not go home hungry and you will be shocked by the amount of food there is in 1200 calories!"

    Great post to show how much one can eat at 1200 cals/day. I bet you'd see even better results if you replaced the canned and processed (canned green beans and Kraft cheese?) with fresh/frozen and "whole" versions.
  • squatsandlipgloss
    squatsandlipgloss Posts: 595 Member
    I've eaten 1,200 calories for about 3 months and lost approx. 25 lbs doing it. Surely it works, but then I stalled, upped it to 1,500 and lost more.

    It works, but it is nice knowing that you can eat more and still lose ;)
  • jlfoster0427
    jlfoster0427 Posts: 86
    Everyones body is a little different. I couldn't really lose anything at 1200 calories. I was just miserable and putting on pounds here and there. I was only trying to lose a about 20 lbs and im sure if that had anything to do with it or not. I bumped it up to about 1450 and have been losing a half pound or more a week just like I wanted. Im not nearly as hungry, miserable and sleepy. I have heard some people lose at 1200 calories just fine. You just have to give it a try and if you don't see any difference try upping it a bit and try that. Its a bit of a guessing game at first sadly. Good Luck
  • Diamond05
    Diamond05 Posts: 475 Member
    Bump to read.
  • Liz_Mfp
    Liz_Mfp Posts: 172 Member
    At 5'4 and a normal weight, the average woman's BMR is 1200,
  • Divamomma
    Divamomma Posts: 66 Member
    Hi When I got pregnant with my 1st baby I was 195lbs by the end of pregnancy I was 225lbs I wanted a healthier life style I started going to the gym 1 hr 3-5 days a week with him in stroller while I worked out I was eating healthier lost 9lbs in 2 months but I was still flustered I got stuck at 180lbs so I called my doctor who recommend 1200 calories a day & I Got On Mfp These wonderful people on here help me get started & encouraged me on my journey I really started watching what I was eating I started sept 12 2011 by mach I was down to 167 lbs 33lbs lost then I found out I was pregnant again with our daughter- so it was a wonderful gift all around I was at a much healthier weight for 2nd pregnancy & I ate Healthier this time around Now I'm Back Hope This Helps & encourages you feel free to add me if you like :)
  • gogojodee
    gogojodee Posts: 1,243 Member
    I'm on in the making! I've always eaten 1200 - joined last year, had a litany of personal and work issues stopped logging in gained about 10 lbs and have lost about 8 since rejoining again almost a month and a half ago. I'm being serious this time and my diary is open. I'm 5'2" and 146 as of this am, 23 lb total loss since March '12. :)
  • egrusy
    egrusy Posts: 196 Member
    I'm 5'6" and started at 143, lost about a pound a week on 1200. Everyone's different of course; find what works for YOU :smile:
  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,526 Member
    I have a hard time on most days to get to 1200 on a healthy living diet; I am way too full and overeat, basically feeling ill..

    Give me crap to eat and I'm good to go! :)

    So true!
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