not always reaching my 1200 calories

melissab
melissab Posts: 17
edited October 8 in Food and Nutrition
sometimes I find it hard to reach the 1200 calorie goal, what will happen if this keeps happening everyday?

Replies

  • mdup777
    mdup777 Posts: 33 Member
    Make sure you eat two snacks along with your 3 meals and you should reach your 1,200 calories. I keep track of my carbs since I'm a diabetic and my blood sugar has been good. Of course, walking everyday helps too. I usually get extra calories because of my walking, but I try to stick to the 1,200.
  • sskera00_01
    sskera00_01 Posts: 28
    Its not healthy to eat less than 1200 calories a day. My dietician said that is the reason most people fail at weight loss. Your body goes into starvation mode and you no longer lose weight. Add a few halthy snacks that have good fats in them to up your calorie intake. Like Almonds or cashews or yogurt. GOOD LUCK!
  • pz5wjj
    pz5wjj Posts: 95 Member
    Are you sure you're counting your measurements right too? That may be part of the problem.

    I eat 3 small meals plus 3 snacks and am surprised at generally how un-hungry I am! There's a lot of food in 1200 calories if you eat the right stuff! hahaha
  • tanyn
    tanyn Posts: 1
    its my first day on this and i can't believe how little 1200 cals is. i counted my cals today and went over quite a bit =( how are you getting 3 meals AND 3 snacks and staying at 1200 cals??? what kind of meals do you suggests?
  • kjllose
    kjllose Posts: 948 Member
    I use apples alot for my snacks but they have alot of carbs. I also use plum tomatos for snacks. I use yogurt for breakfast and usually have salad and cottage cheese for lunch but I will have to find other things to eat because that will get boring soon. I use celery for snack with a little pnut butter. Hope this helps.
  • cltimes2
    cltimes2 Posts: 47
    Hey, don't forget that adding exercise lets you add in calories per day! That's a great way to balance out what you're doing and creating the muscle that lets you burn more calories just because they are there!

    As for the getting the amount of food you want w/in the calorie count, you gotta add in the veggies and fruit! Lessen the carb and fat counts. Using protein lets you feel fuller longer w/o hiking up the calorie counts as long as they are the lean proteins (chicken, pork, vegetable).
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    Good snacks.....

    Edamame - high protein, good fats.

    Whole wheat pita - you can make little mini pizzas with fat free mozzarella and your favorite veggies, then just broil for a few minutes to warm it up ( don't "stuff" the pita for "pita-pizza" - put the stuff on the outside.)

    Stir fry with pork, or chicken, you can make several portions and put in containers for quick-preparation.

    String cheese and whole wheat crackers

    1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt with some fruit and a tablespoon or two of granola

    Any veggies with whole wheat pita and smoked turkey (half pita is 110 calories)
    ______________
    Stick with whole grains, and fruit and veggies - only fat-free or low-fat dairy products, and think of meat as a condiment, not the main meal. To keep variety, I usually only use half (or less if it's dairy) portions of whatever the recommended portion size is, then I have calories left to have as snacks. Think 6-meals-a-day.

    You can do it!
  • Skinnier_Me
    Skinnier_Me Posts: 341 Member
    I'm starting to have a bit of a hard time reaching my 1200 mark.

    I do eat breakfast, lunch & dinner and occasionally have a snack.

    I'm just not hungry enough to eat more in order to reach 1200 calories.
  • izzyrut
    izzyrut Posts: 25
    I eat lots of fruit and veges all low in carbs, and i dont feel hungry at the end of the day nor during the day, i often dont reach the 1200 mark.
  • charley078
    charley078 Posts: 48 Member
    I also have that same problem, my regular week day schedule is:I make a smoothie & take it to work with me for breakfast, for lunch I either have a chicken wrap with brown deli mustard w/ horseradish, lettuce, lemon or limejuice, fresh cracked pepper, a seving(14 chips) of Pringles Low Fat Sour Cream & onion chips, and a few baby pickles (all for under 200 cal.) or I have Progresso Light Chicken Veg.soup (1 cup- 60 cal.or whole can 120 cal.), and i usually have a spicy V-8 juice (35 cal.) and a serving of apples(40 cal.), then I go to the gym, burn about 300- 350 cal., do some strength training, take steam, then I can usually have ALMOST anything I want for dinner along with a smart ones dessert or 200 cal. serving of Ben & Jerrys......
  • lilbitmeme
    lilbitmeme Posts: 89 Member
    I also have the same issue and what I have found is not losing weight. It's hard to get there even when I workout. I am just not hungry enough.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    lilbitmeme wrote: »
    I also have the same issue and what I have found is not losing weight. It's hard to get there even when I workout. I am just not hungry enough.

    If you are struggle to get adequate nutrition, I would recommend looking at this thread


    Also, I am impressed you bumped a 9 year old thread. :)
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    lilbitmeme wrote: »
    I also have the same issue and what I have found is not losing weight. It's hard to get there even when I workout. I am just not hungry enough.

    if you're not losing weight AND feel like you're struggling to hit 1200 calories, you're probably eating more than you think.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Sometimes when we reduce calories (I have been guilty of this in the past) we look for the highest volume, lowest calorie food......without considering nutrition at all.

    A huge plate of greens may be filling, but it does little to support existing lean muscle mass. Just make sure you are not short changing your nutrition for the sake of feeling full.

    Are you meeting PROTEIN goals, are you meeting FAT goals? These macros are so important nutritionally.

    OP asked what would happen if under eating became a regular thing. You can move the number on the scale quicker, but that "speed" is at the expense of existing lean muscle mass. To lose a larger % of fat.....eat more. 1200 (before exercise) is MFP's lowest default minimum.
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