STOP with the 1200 calorie posts ~ rant

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  • bearwith
    bearwith Posts: 525 Member
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    You need to do what works for you, we are all different.

    Although 1200 cals a day is hard, sometimes it is a good place to be when you kickstart a plateau.

    I do think that at some stage you need to hit a more realistic cal level otherwise how are you going to get on with the rest of your life and eat healthily when you hit goal?

    Good luck
  • WinnerVictorious
    WinnerVictorious Posts: 4,735 Member
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    I was once on the 1200 calorie train. Lost and gained the same 10 pounds over the course of 3 years (Ate 1200 for a few weeks, became depressed, grumpy and miserable, binge and eat everything in sight for the next few weeks. Rinse, repeat).

    I found MFP, followed IPOARM and found out that my BMR is actually ~1700. Bumped up my calories to ~1900 and have lost 23 pounds total, the most I have ever lost since actively trying to lose weight. I'm at a weight I haven't seen in about...4-5 years. All because I ate more.

    I don't even feel like I'm on a diet. I eat ice cream regularly. I stopped eating whole wheat bread (I hate the texture). I barely do any cardio, and I'm doing a pretty basic beginner weight lifting routine with some dumbbells at home until I can muster up enough courage to venture into the weight room at my school's gym.

    Pretty much, I found success when I stopped listening to conventional weight loss rules.

    But of course, the 1200 calorie myth will always remain. The diet industry thrives on failure.

    people like you are why people like me (and many others) keep trying to drive home the point that 1200 calories is almost always lower than necessary and often counter-productive. there are some hardcore 1200 calorie eaters who take personal offense to anybody, anywhere who says anything that challenges their fervent belief that 1200 calories is both correct and appropriate for them. i honestly don't care about those people. they can go live on bean sprouts and be miserable for the rest of their lives as far as i am concerned. i do care about people like you and i'm really glad that you found the right guidance to get you past that mindset. :flowerforyou:

    if somebody understands the math and has run the calculations and has not set too aggressive a weight loss goal for themselves and still comes up with a 1200 calorie number, i say more power to them. i'd just advise them to make sure they are getting their proper nutrition (macros and micros) in the process. for some people, this may be the right way to lose their extra weight. however, at maintenance, they should be eating more than 1200. fortunately this group is relatively small.

    for everybody else on 1200 who is struggling, i would strongly urge them to stop and take measure of where they are and what they are trying to accomplish. re-calculate their calorie goals and macros and relax their goals if too aggressive. even if this sounds counter intuitive, i'd tell them to stick with it because it's the easier path to their goal and isn't that the point anyway?
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
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    I am sure this post will be effective. We won't be seeing any more of those 1200 calorie posts from now on, phew!
  • WinnerVictorious
    WinnerVictorious Posts: 4,735 Member
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    Anyone in a first world country should have no problem eating at least 1200 calories.
    If you are a vegan and don't eat a ton of nuts and oils and you are even lightly active, you can very easily be full all day long, eat huge quantities of food, and not hit 1200 net calories a day. Please inform yourself.

    ...but then aren't you missing your fats and protein requirements?

    being full on vegetables is not the same as getting adequate nutrition. i'm not trying to bicker with you, just pointing out that satiety is only one part of the equation.
  • peachfigs
    peachfigs Posts: 831 Member
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    Anyone in a first world country should have no problem eating at least 1200 calories.
    If you are a vegan and don't eat a ton of nuts and oils and you are even lightly active, you can very easily be full all day long, eat huge quantities of food, and not hit 1200 net calories a day. Please inform yourself.

    ...but then aren't you missing your fats and protein requirements?

    being full on vegetables is not the same as getting adequate nutrition. i'm not trying to bicker with you, just pointing out that satiety is only one part of the equation.

    No. The post you were responding to was not about receiving adequate nutrition as a vegan, that is a totally different thread in itself. It was about how it is not always easy to net 1,200 calories if you are eating a vegan diet. :smile:
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
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    So OP dont read the threads and dont worry yourself about what others are eating. Then there would be no need to rant.

    yes, this! who are you police the message boards? click on the posts you are interested in, skip the ones you are not! problem solved!!!
  • aimforhealthy
    aimforhealthy Posts: 449 Member
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    Anyone in a first world country should have no problem eating at least 1200 calories.
    If you are a vegan and don't eat a ton of nuts and oils and you are even lightly active, you can very easily be full all day long, eat huge quantities of food, and not hit 1200 net calories a day. Please inform yourself.

    ...but then aren't you missing your fats and protein requirements?

    being full on vegetables is not the same as getting adequate nutrition. i'm not trying to bicker with you, just pointing out that satiety is only one part of the equation.
    You're absolutely right and I was going to go back and edit the post and say that's not a good thing and wasn't advocating eating that way. I'm saying that if you aren't a person using a tracking tool and just eat vegan meals all the time, it's very possible to be sated and eat a wide variety of things and not hit 1200 calories a day.

    I have a very good friend who is rail thin and a vegan and very active, and she never tracked her food because she figured she was eating tons and happy with the way she ate, looked and felt. Out of curiosity and after a sudden bout of anemia fatigue, she started using MFP to track her daily eating and was shocked to find she was eating almost no fats, getting almost no iron and was regularly only eating about 800-1000 calories a day despite even including dessert on a daily basis. This is not something that naturally occurs to people who aren't steeped in nutrition education.

    I was just saying that it's not only crazy or anorexic people who "struggle to eat 1200 calories" as the OC suggested.
    No. The post you were responding to was not about receiving adequate nutrition as a vegan, that is a totally different thread in itself. It was about how it is not always easy to net 1,200 calories if you are eating a vegan diet.
    Yes, this, thank you.
  • fitacct
    fitacct Posts: 238 Member
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    Not all 1200 posts are equal. Petite, short, women who are not doing heavy lifting and need to lose some weight legitimately women land there. I work out, I eat back wo cals, but some weeks, some months, just go slow. Weight loss is not linear. I appreciated those telling me that. I appreciate those encouraging some body weight exercising and encouraging me to cross- train. I appreciated gentle guidance to not over-do cardio.

    You're absolutely right. I'm 5'4" and wasn't as active when I first signed onto MFP as I am now. MFP's recommendation back then was 1200 calories for my height/weight/age/activity level. I rarely ate back my exercise calories and lost about a pound a week until I hit my goal weight. I am now on maintenance (have been for over a year), have a MFP-recommended calorie goal of 1490, eat back some or most of my exercise calories and exercise almost daily and all is going well.
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
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    Not all 1200 posts are equal. Petite, short, women who are not doing heavy lifting and need to lose some weight legitimately women land there. I work out, I eat back wo cals, but some weeks, some months, just go slow. Weight loss is not linear. I appreciated those telling me that. I appreciate those encouraging some body weight exercising and encouraging me to cross- train. I appreciated gentle guidance to not over-do cardio.

    You're absolutely right. I'm 5'4" and wasn't as active when I first signed onto MFP as I am now. MFP's recommendation back then was 1200 calories for my height/weight/age/activity level. I rarely ate back my exercise calories and lost about a pound a week until I hit my goal weight. I am now on maintenance (have been for over a year), have a MFP-recommended calorie goal of 1490, eat back some or most of my exercise calories and exercise almost daily and all is going well.

    that is so awesome! congrats to you!!!
  • rosemaryhon
    rosemaryhon Posts: 507 Member
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    I'm new around here, just joined MFP about 2 weeks ago. I read the message boards regularly and yes, I've noticed a bunch re: 1200 calories/help! ;)

    I figure maybe they're newbies and don't realize the question has been asked again and again. Older posts don't show up on the first page (for me anyway) and newcomers may not be familiar with how to search further.

    And honestly I'm grateful for those 1200 calorie threads, I've learned soo much reading them! Originally MFP calculated me at 1200 calories and I went with it. Reading threads I've been educated and I'm slowly increasing my calories due to the good information I've gathered reading those (I realize now repeated) questions. If that info was lost in older threads I'm afraid I'd be writing a "1200 calorie/help!" post myself ;)

    Just my $.02.
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
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    im sick of posts about "my boyfriend thinks im fat," or, "good news, i can finally see my penis..." but who am i to police the message boards and tell them to shut up? just mind your own... why stress over something your not even interested in, simply pass the post...
  • rosemaryhon
    rosemaryhon Posts: 507 Member
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    So OP dont read the threads and dont worry yourself about what others are eating. Then there would be no need to rant.

    yes, this! who are you police the message boards? click on the posts you are interested in, skip the ones you are not! problem solved!!!


    This ^ makes sense to me. I find usually a thread title will give a clue what the content is ~ I simply skip those that don't interest/pertain to me.
  • sexymuffintop
    sexymuffintop Posts: 636
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    Not all 1200 posts are equal. Petite, short, women who are not doing heavy lifting and need to lose some weight legitimately women land there. I work out, I eat back wo cals, but some weeks, some months, just go slow. Weight loss is not linear. I appreciated those telling me that. I appreciate those encouraging some body weight exercising and encouraging me to cross- train. I appreciated gentle guidance to not over-do cardio.

    You're absolutely right. I'm 5'4" and wasn't as active when I first signed onto MFP as I am now. MFP's recommendation back then was 1200 calories for my height/weight/age/activity level. I rarely ate back my exercise calories and lost about a pound a week until I hit my goal weight. I am now on maintenance (have been for over a year), have a MFP-recommended calorie goal of 1490, eat back some or most of my exercise calories and exercise almost daily and all is going well.

    How strange. I'm also 5ft 4 and according to my fitbit on an average day with hardly any cardio I could maintain on about 1000 more calories than you do. Funny old world isn't it?
  • peachfigs
    peachfigs Posts: 831 Member
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    How strange. I'm also 5ft 4 and according to my fitbit on an average day with hardly any cardio I could maintain on about 1000 more calories than you do. Funny old world isn't it?

    Hehehe, Sexymuffintop, I think it's funny that we're both back on this thread again... :laugh:
  • Jonette01
    Jonette01 Posts: 38 Member
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    i find this sort of thing quite judgemental. The sie doesn't explain itself well when you first log in and many people don't GET this at first, myself included. A message board should be a place where you can seek information and just because some of you hang out here constantly and have seen queries before doesn't make them less relevant.

    Exactly! I had no idea that the "1200" rule was flexible because whenever I went over on calories MFP would make all my numbers red...which signifies something bad to me. On the opposite end, if I went under 1200, MFP gave me a superficial warning. So I figured hovering near 1200 was better than increasing calories....even though I was working out like crazy. What helped was that I realized I could actually eat back WO calories and still be near 1200, which felt better and I started to notice weight loss, with muscle definition. I focus less on calories, and more on eating clean & balanced, completely eliminating sodas and high fructose corn syrup, and resistance/weight training. Because of this, my weight is stable, my sexy curves are defined, and I'm not starving in the meantime.

    I'm glad people do posts the dreaded "1200" rule because then the responses educate newbies.
  • Nicola06041985
    Nicola06041985 Posts: 13
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    My biggest pet peeve are the people who say "I'm having so much trouble eating 1200 calories! It's just too much!" I want to slap them.

    my pet peeve is arrogant people like you!
  • innerninja3035
    innerninja3035 Posts: 10 Member
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    I was once on the 1200 calorie train. Lost and gained the same 10 pounds over the course of 3 years (Ate 1200 for a few weeks, became depressed, grumpy and miserable, binge and eat everything in sight for the next few weeks. Rinse, repeat).

    I found MFP, followed IPOARM and found out that my BMR is actually ~1700. Bumped up my calories to ~1900 and have lost 23 pounds total, the most I have ever lost since actively trying to lose weight. I'm at a weight I haven't seen in about...4-5 years. All because I ate more.

    I don't even feel like I'm on a diet. I eat ice cream regularly. I stopped eating whole wheat bread (I hate the texture). I barely do any cardio, and I'm doing a pretty basic beginner weight lifting routine with some dumbbells at home until I can muster up enough courage to venture into the weight room at my school's gym.

    Pretty much, I found success when I stopped listening to conventional weight loss rules.

    But of course, the 1200 calorie myth will always remain. The diet industry thrives on failure.

    Thank you for sharing this! Very interesting and well articulated.

    The first part sounds like me exactly, and now I am going to try up my calories according to TDEE.

    I have a feeling this is going to change my life.
  • innerninja3035
    innerninja3035 Posts: 10 Member
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    But MFP has given me 1200 based on my current weight and losing 1 lb a week.

    Also, Weight Watchers, which is pretty healthy and supports a conservative rate of weight loss, is also about 1200 for my weight and height.

    Wouldn't a net 1200 calories be adequate and healthy, especially if I also eat exercise calories?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy

    Thank you for this!
  • irishblonde2011
    irishblonde2011 Posts: 618 Member
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    Are you sure I'm not a special snowflake?:laugh:
  • workingoutforpeanutbutter
    workingoutforpeanutbutter Posts: 32
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    Are you sure I'm not a special snowflake?:laugh:

    You're the exception! haha :flowerforyou:

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