1200 calories a day?

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kdg0189
kdg0189 Posts: 26 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
When I signed up I put down that I wanted to lose about 2 pounds a week. So MFP calculated that I should eat 1200 calories a day. I saw some people mention about eating more than what it says. I know I don't want to go into starvation mode and end up losing nothing or gaining weight. Right now I weigh about 225 pounds and am looking to lose about 100 pounds overall. So is 1200 calories a day reasonable or should I be eating more than that?

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  • lcchrt
    lcchrt Posts: 234 Member
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    Honestly to lose weight I'd say for you to eat about1900 cals when working out! I'm not a nutritionist though... 1200 is absolutely way too low.
  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
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    You will not go into starvation mode on 1200 calories a day. Search for one of the many threads here in which that is explained. It's not a lot of food for many people, but it's not even classified as a very low calorie diet. Depending on your build and activity level, you may find 1200 calories too difficult to sustain, and should eat more, but you will lose more slowly, which of course is your choice. Two pounds a week requires an aggressive diet.

    As with any plan you should strive to construct a healthy, nutritionally balanced diet.
  • khall86790
    khall86790 Posts: 1,100 Member
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    http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

    Work out how many calories your body needs per day via this calculator, then remove 20% and that's the amount you should eat to lose approx 1lb per week. Anymore than 1lb per week is not healthy and will mean you need to eat 1200 cals per day which is not good for your body or your mind! Don't do it!
  • MayaSPapaya
    MayaSPapaya Posts: 735 Member
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    I was on 1200 for quite a while, never felt hungry, and lost 25 pounds. However, I started feeling really hungry in between meals, and at the end of the day, and I starting having issues going to the bathroom. And I started to plateau. So I upped to 1500...I've literally only been doing it since Friday, and I already feel a lot better. 1200 might work for a while, but eventually it's probably going to stop.
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
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    While you -could- go with 1200 calories, it usually is unsustainable because you will be hungry all the time. Try calculating your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) first and eat roughly 30-35% less than that. You can get away with eating a larger deficit than most since you have a lot of fat mass, and thus stored energy. However, if you are not so concerned with losing as much as possible, as fast as possible, a 20-25% deficit will be a LOT easier to maintain and you will learn how to eat sustainably and make it a lifestyle change rather than a temporary diet.

    I also recommend adding in resistance training in the form of weight lifting and a bit of light cardio. Resistance training has several benefits. It helps to preserve lean muscle mass, since your body realizes you need your muscles, so burns more fat instead of muscle. The preserved muscle mass also keeps your metabolism higher, since it requires fuel (calories) to maintain. It helps to reshape your body in a positive way. And it gives you increased strength.

    Hope that helps.
  • grampajimmy
    grampajimmy Posts: 18
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    I have just cut my intake from 1600 to 1300 calories a day. I am trying to "break thru" a plateau I am currently stuck on. I am ,at present 288 lbs down from 315 lbs. I have 98 to go. And yes, I am hungry most of the time. But I don't know what else to do. I've been stuck for about 3 weeks now.
  • rgrange
    rgrange Posts: 236 Member
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    I did it when I lost a bunch of weight but honestly I wouldn't recommend it. I was hungry all the time and generally felt awful.
  • theCarlton
    theCarlton Posts: 1,344 Member
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    You have a long way to go. I really recommend that you treat this like something that you will be doing longterm. 1200 calories isn't sustainable. It's miserable. My advice is to go here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ fill it out. Set your MFP goals to the number in "Daily calories based on goal in step 6" when you're done filling it out. Exercise daily, and take the middle of the road here. You'll be able to stick to your goals and create something that makes this a little easier. 1200 is just... Even when I first started out, I could not do this to myself.
  • Odyssey912
    Odyssey912 Posts: 3
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    Mine is 1300 for my weight right now and I don't feel hungry. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. I actually feel like I'm eating alot more than before I started my diet because I'm making healthier sustaining choices. Grab the veges instead of chips, etc. You find the low cal snacks and you can eat to your hearts content while getting the good stuff your body needs. I'm not a doctor and I'm just saying what is working for me. I also go to gym 5 days a week and burn anywhere between 600 and 900 calories per workout which ADDS back into your daily calorie intake. So on any given day I am actually consuming average of 2000 calories. Trial and error. If you are still hungry on your calorie goal then take another look at what you are eating. You might not be eating enough to "sustain" hunger and are getting more "empty" calories than you should be.
  • jezebeldandy
    jezebeldandy Posts: 3 Member
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    i've got a setting of 1200 calories a day but have been having a bit more than that recently as i've been travelling for work. typically i eat around 1800-1900 a day and ride 6 miles two and from work and attend the gym, and yes sometimes i get hungry. i would suggest that if you are getting hungry you need to look at the quality of the food in your calories, plan ahead as much as you can, cut out processed crap and go as "paleo" as you can (if you eat a lot of vegetables and lean meats they will fill you up but it's really difficult to overeat) also high protein foods are great, my favourites are some almond or peanut butter on apple slices, or try a whey protein shake with almond milk. :smile:
  • YourLotusFlower11
    YourLotusFlower11 Posts: 90 Member
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    I am 203 lbs and I eat between 1500-1600 and I am losing weight .. Don't make it harder than it needs to be after all it has to be sustainable.
  • Trilby16
    Trilby16 Posts: 707 Member
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    At your age and weight, you may lose pounds very quickly at 1200 cals. per day. You could certainly start at a high amount and adjust it down as you lose.
  • LeahT84
    LeahT84 Posts: 202 Member
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    I have been eating at 1200-1300 a day for 11 weeks and have lost 35 pounds. I am upping mine a bit because I'm starting to plateau, but I never felt like I was starving. If you choose the right low calorie foods, you can still eat a fairly decent amount to stay within your calorie goal.
  • DietitianAprilDawn
    DietitianAprilDawn Posts: 14
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    My recommendation is to try to lose 1 lb a week; that will give you a little more to work with and exercise 30 minutes most days to help accelerate weight loss. Recalculate it for 1 lb and it should give you a higher lcalorie evel. They recommended my calories to be at 1200 as well, but that is way to low for me to maintain or i'll be hungry and crash the meal plan. Make it a lifestyle change...something that you can achieve. Also, eating small healthy snacks (1 small fruit and 1 tbsp. peanut butter, raw veggies with low fat dip, or string cheese and a serving of crackers) between meals helps your metabolism, while keeping you from becoming hungry.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    You could probably eat more than 1200 calories a day, but it really is up to you to decide.

    If you want a comparison here is what the last 7 days looked like for me:

    33bis1u.jpg
    This averages out to being 1836 or so calories a day total intake. I weighed 218lbs on March 13th and am 200.6lbs today.

    So if you happen to be more active than me, you might want to eat more than 1200.

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