1200 Calories (NOT about hitting this #/starvation mode)

*BUMP!!! Great post! I agree with you totally!

You are absolutely right! In fact, some people shouldn't even drop down to 1200. I read a long article about how anytime you eat below your BMI (Basal Metabolic Rate--what is needed to maintain your current weight if you lay in bed and SLEEP 24 hours per day), your body can think it is in starvation mode and lower your metabolism. They claim that if your BMI is 1400 (which, because I am overweight, mine is), and you eat 1200, you can lower your metabolism and cause a plateau. There are any number of people on THIS website who have reported that they broke a plateau by eating a bit more and tricking their body into thinking they aren't starving anymore.

Seriously people! Why on earth are you depriving your body of the fuel it needs to give you energy to work out and live a good life. It is not necessary! In fact, it is counterproductive!

Thanks for posting this!!!

ditto:happy: with all of the above

I think I already know the answer, but as I look at the forums each day, I continually see responses/questions/concerns about the 1200 calorie mark for women. We've all seen people who wonder why they have to eat 1200 calories, but there is a shocking amount of people who include in their responses "I am at the 1200 calorie mark since I am a woman and.....(fill in the blank here)".

My question is--why are SOOOOO many women automatically setting their marks to 1200?? We know how MFP works, it sets up your deficit automatically based on the information entered. Here is my example: My last weight entered into MFP was 143.6. I am 5'5" and have a sendentary job. In order to lose 1 pound per week, I need to eat 1250 calories a day. Now because of that 1200 minimum, I know that even if I upped my loss to 2 pounds I wouldn't be given a number under 1200, but that isn't really the point. The point is, I am ALREADY at a healthy weight. The weight I wish to still lose is my personal choice. And because I am fueling a smaller (than before) body, and I sit at a desk all day, I need fewer calories--BUT STILL MORE THAN 1200!!!! And as an additional point, I find it really tough to stay at 1250, so I make sure to exercise so I can eat.

Basically, I worry that all those who have spent years overeating are now going to a 1200 calorie diet in an effort to lose as quickly as possible. There are hundreds of threads discussing the proper fueling of your body to lose weight. And the bigger you are, the more you have to lose, the more calories you will get at the beginning (bigger=more fuel). I really hope all of us on here continue the lifestyle, continue the journey and all end as healthy individuals. And while I know many will "fall" off, I hope it won't be because of setting up such a restrictive diet in contrast to ones former eating patterns.

There is nothing wrong with eating 1200 calories per day, MFP sets it that way for a lot of people, it is not the person who is putting the figure there.

Personally, I am losing weight on 1200 and have no intention of upping that figure as there is no need.

It really does depend on what you eat, protein fills me up so I make sure I include protein in both breakfast, lunch and dinner otherwise I would get hungry. As it turns out, I am rarely hungry unless it is getting close to a mealtime and that, I consider, is healthy.

I have enjoyed every single minute of this weight loss plan and I have been on a few :laugh: . This time though, there is one hell of a difference, this time it is a life-style change and the only difference between this precise minute and when I have shed my excess weight is that I will be maintaining and will be eating exactly the same food as I do now, except there will be more of it.

This site has been an absolute life-saver for me, I cannot praise it enough.

(Plus all the people here are diamonds, all the different opinions and ideas make it one hell of a lively place :laugh: )

Sooooo, now I CONFUSED.....I have been eating the 1200 calories that MFP recommends and am SLOWLY losing weight. I just calculated my BMR, right here on MFP, and it comes up 1,602.....so should I be eating 1.602 calories plus my exercise calories? Will that make the weight come off faster because I'm really in starvation mode now and just don't know it????

As someone totally new to counting calories I am just getting more and more confused. I started with the 1200 according to MFP. Then I did another calculator on another site that gave me 1000. Then there is talk about not eating enough calories.
I am only trying to lose about 7 pounds. I lost 3 in the first 2 weeks, probably bloat, and I am drinking alot more water. But now I haven't even lost an ounce in over a week.
How do I know how many to eat?

Sooooo, now I CONFUSED.....I have been eating the 1200 calories that MFP recommends and am SLOWLY losing weight. I just calculated my BMR, right here on MFP, and it comes up 1,602.....so should I be eating 1.602 calories plus my exercise calories? Will that make the weight come off faster because I'm really in starvation mode now and just don't know it????

Do you have less than 5% body fat? If you don't then you are not in true starvation mode!

You are losing weight on the calories you are eating, what is the point of upping them? No you are not in starvation mode at all. Just continue to do what you are doing, it is working a treat, why spoil it by changing it??

I was a member of another site - wont say the name but she's a very famous trainer on TV and just had her own show in addition to the other show she had with another trainer Back to my point - all of the women on her plan were at 1200 calories. I entered different info to see if Id get different results...nope. The suggestion was always 1200 calories.

My doctor [GP] for me recommended 1800 calories. My bariatric doctor recommends the same, but with his plan Im not counting calories. MFP recommends 1860 so it's pretty close.

I think 1200 seems to be pretty standard advice from a lot of sources. I dont know why. I know I couldnt survive on that. Id be so angry all the time and Id have migraines that would last for days.

My goal is 1200 cal per day and I don't even it nearly that, but I am still losing weight and that may come from exercising and drinking lots of water. I also watch what I eat. I am a very busy person and sometimes I just have a tendency of not eating as much as I should. I've lost over 30 pounds in 4 months. Get a vitiamin to help boost your metabolism also this will help.

Do you have less than 5% body fat? If you don't then you are not in true starvation mode!

You are losing weight on the calories you are eating, what is the point of upping them? No you are not in starvation mode at all. Just continue to do what you are doing, it is working a treat, why spoil it by changing it??

thanks, I guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing....slow but steady wins the race (or in this case the skinny body back :laugh: )

Absolutely, you are doing great! :flowerforyou:

I think this all makes sense but unfortunately my doctor does not so has put me on LESS calories i.e. 1000 with no exercise calories!!!!

Which is fine as you are under doctors control. Which I have read that if you drop your calories to 800-1500 a day you should only do so under medical advice.

Wanted to add. I see alot of "I am on 1200 a day AND losing weight" of course you will lose you will continue to lose too. BUT what happens when you reach your goal weight are you going to carry on at 1200??? From my understanding if you eat so low cals then when you go back to so called normal cal intake you are going to gain weight you lost and then some. My cal goal each day is 1520... I reach that and do go over which is made up from exercise calories. I feel this is something I can stick with for LIFE!! I am losing a pound + a week as well.

Of course you don't carry on, if you did you would continue to lose weight.

It all depends what the "so-called calorie intake" includes. Personally, I will be eating exactly the same foods as I do now except more of them. This is because the foods I am currently eating are my new life-changer, no chocolate, no cakes, sweets or crap. No, I do not miss any of them in the slightest, I feel tons better. Normal calorie intake varies from person to person and it is finding that and keeping to it that will include the most work and dedication in my opinion.

On another note, if you say about gaining weight and then some, that goes for ANYBODY that has lost weight and then goes onto the maintenance in that case, but as we all know, thousands keep their weight off. As you rightly state, it is indeed, a life-changer, not a "diet to lose weight and then go back to eating what I used to".

The reason why people who have lost weight and then gain it all back is absolutely nothing to do with the amount of calories it took to lose the weight in the first place, it is to do with what the person eats afterwards - it usually involves returning back to their old eating ways that got them overweight in the first place.

A massive education is needed regarding losing weight and then maintaining it and for a start, all fad diets and any "get slim quick" scheme should be the first things that are warned against. Unfortunately, those exact same ideas are the ones backed by celebrities that put their names to the products in return for cash.

It is a dog eat dog world out there, I, for one, do not intend to feed their coffers and will continue to lose the weight with common sense and will do the same with maintenance.

I am losing weight on 1200 calories per day, I rarely eat any of my exercise calories, I exercise four times per week and am not losing muscle but fat. My inches are decreasing, my dress size is almost on the next one down, I feel fit, healthy, alert mentally and full of enthusiasm for life and long may it stay that way. When I eventually have lost all my weight, I will be eating all my exercise calories, weighing and measuring myself once per week to keep tabs on what is happening. I will always log what I eat and drink, but most importantly I will never revert back to my terrible eating habits that I possessed before this weight loss journey. My dietary intake in those days were for a fool and I am no longer that person

I wear a Bodybugg, so I'm fortunate to know, within 10% accuracy, what my caloric expenditure is each day. Because of that, I don't use MFP the way most people do (I set my own calorie intake and do not log my exercise calories)...I determine my own deficit each day based on how many calories I've burned.

On average, I burn between 2700-3000 calories/day. If I ate 1200, I truly would pass out onto the ground. Okay, maybe not, but I certainly wouldn't be fueling my body for the work I ask it to do. I do, however, maintain a 500-900 calorie deficit, sometimes eating to my full calorie expenditure on days when my calorie burn is lower (zig zagging calories to keep my body 'guessing.')

I'm also 5'9", and right around 20% body fat. I still have weight to lose, but I am able to eat 2000 calories/day and still hit my 1+ lb/week loss. When I first joined MFP, it told me eat right around 1550 calories. Tried it...way too low...I kept crashing in my workouts.

How do you burn that many calories per day?

I wear a Bodybugg, so I'm fortunate to know, within 10% accuracy, what my caloric expenditure is each day. Because of that, I don't use MFP the way most people do (I set my own calorie intake and do not log my exercise calories)...I determine my own deficit each day based on how many calories I've burned.

On average, I burn between 2700-3000 calories/day. If I ate 1200, I truly would pass out onto the ground. Okay, maybe not, but I certainly wouldn't be fueling my body for the work I ask it to do. I do, however, maintain a 500-900 calorie deficit, sometimes eating to my full calorie expenditure on days when my calorie burn is lower (zig zagging calories to keep my body 'guessing.')

I'm also 5'9", and right around 20% body fat. I still have weight to lose, but I am able to eat 2000 calories/day and still hit my 1+ lb/week loss. When I first joined MFP, it told me eat right around 1550 calories. Tried it...way too low...I kept crashing in my workouts.

How do you burn that many calories per day?

Clover...in general, it's lifestyle. I'm simply one of those people who stays fairly active. During most of the year (not summers), I'm a school teacher, and by being on my feet all day and helping the kiddos, I burn a lot there. However, it's summer, and my typical 'burns' come from a daily dog walk of about 75 minutes (I get right around 500 calories there), and a daily 45ish minute workout (I'm doing a hybrid of ChaLean Extreme and Turbo Fire).

Yesterday, my burn was 3195 calories. My dog walk was short (45 minutes), I did a 45 minute Turbo Fire workout, pulled weeds for about 15 minutes, ran the vacuum, but other than that, didn't do much.

I'm finding that the current fitness rotation I'm doing has increased my daily burn rate by about 200 calories/day as well. There is a so-called 'afterburn' effect from HIIT training...I suppose that could be it. I strength train 3 days/week and try to carry as much lean muscle mass as I can (which will increase your metabolic burn rate).

A year ago I was doing P90X doubles (I added an extra cardio workout in 3 mornings/week), and would get similar 3000+ burns on those doubles days as well. I'm also 5'9" and 170 lbs....interestingly, I'm a good 2 sizes smaller (pants size) than I was 5 years ago when I got married and weighed 165 lbs.