Results with 1200 Calories

UUURRRGG here we go...'you're starving at 1200'. What a load of cr**. I have tons of energy, I'm losing weight, my periods haven't stopped, I've not suddenly gained weight and you know what, I enjoy not eating f*** loads of food.

I'll see you at the finish line (I'll be there before you)!

I actually didn't say you were going to lose your period, and you obviously have a bad relationship with food if you thinking eating what your body NEEDS to simply maintain it's functioning level is "loads of food." Also it is starving yourself, the average body needs at least 1700 calories to function every day, anything less than that is starving it.

Do you expect your car to run without gas? Do you use your cell phone without charging it? Stop thinking of your body as a number on a scale, and start thinking of it as a machine that needs energy to function. The bottom line is losing weight at 1200 calories is not healthy because a) you aren't feeding it properly b) it's not ideal to live on 1200 calories for the rest of your life. The damage it does to your metabolism, and yes the potential harm it can do if your body goes into starvation mode and starts to consume it's own muscle. (Also your period doesn't need to stop for your body to be doing this, I was anorexic and my period never stopped not even when I was 115lbs so that's a mute point.) Also talking about muscle and starvation, guess what's a muscle in your body? YOUR HEART

Oh my goodness, this! I love this person so much.

Me too!

I am looking for success stories from ladies who have stuck at 1200. Please share!!!

I eat about 1200/calories a day and you can look at my (open) diary to see I'm clearly not starving . I'm truly not hungry nor do I feel deprived.

But it might be important to note I'm post-menopause (so not a spring chicken LOL) and my activity level is fairly low (eg, my exercise for today was a 15 minute dog walk). I'm losing about 1 lb a week consistently.

I consider 1200 may have been too low for me as a younger woman or one who is working out much more.

Good luck!

I have lost over 50 pounds on eating 1200 or less per day. I eat what I want ( being a tad cautious with the really fatty stuff) and when I am full I stop eating. If I want a snack, I have one. I walk around 5-8 miles a week ( mostly just the weekend) and I don't eat my cals back.
Sure I hear you need to eat more, you will go into starvation mode and blah blah blah, but the way I eat now is something I can, and will stick to for the rest of my life.... I have been doing this since jan and I feel GREAT!

Several doctors know what amounts I am eating and have viewed my diary, the ONLY thing I was told about it was to watch my calcium and vitD because I had surgical menopause and since I am so young, and on no hormones, they don't want to see osteoporosis set in.

I am almost at goal weight, so I will have to increase cals a bit for maintenance, but other than that... So far a success!

I've been on a net of 1300 calories for about a month now, and I've lost 9 pounds. (I was eating super unhealthy before, so that certainly explains such a weight change). I just stepped on my scale for the first time in weeks, and I was super excited.

All I can say is that whilst I FULLY AGREE that 1,200 should be far too low, there are many, many days when I struggle to go over that.
Especially after exercising.
I'm simply not hungry enough to eat back my exercise calories and don't feel I should force myself to eat when my body is telling me it's fully 'fuelled'. To me that seems a little counter-productive, so I usually just have something small but calorific, although this also seems a little dumb on a 'diet'

Meaning no snark or disrespect, but...How did you come to be overweight if you struggle to get over 1200 calories a day?

This wasnt me.... but i took medicine that caused me to become overweight. I didnt struggle with weight loss my entire life. I have only been overweight for about 10 years, after suffering with 2 massive strokes and becoming bed-ridden for 2 years after them & being on medications that caused weight gain. It wasnt from an obsession from food... but, this was my issue. Not sure of the posters problem. I just know that i also struggled with eating over 1200, and my doctor worked with me and Im now eating right at 1300, but it took me almost a year to get there... and NO, i do not have an eating disorder.. i just gained when i ate at 1200 because i have never eaten that much food... ever.

I started eating a dangerously low amount (around 700-900) calories for a few months and went from 127 pounds to around 115. I lost my period for 3 months as well. But now I've upped my intake to 1,100-1,200 calories on basically every day except cheat days and I'm maintaining a weight of around 112-114 pounds. So personally, with exercise, I'm maintaining my weight by eating around that amount daily. Anyways, if it doesn't affect you negatively, I wouldn't recommend eating so little, based on personal experience.

BUMP

The mind boggles.
Why would anyone CHOOSE to eat 1200 or less, when you can eat almost twice that and have better results (less saggy skin, not being skinny-fat at the finish line etc).
Surely 'more food' sounds good to anyone?!?!

No, 'more food' doesn't really sound good *to me*. . I'm actually willing to go over 1200/day, but I honestly am not hungry and choose not to force feed myself. I'm truly satisfied when I complete my daily diary, if I'm not, I eat more.

I read another poster say the same as I have, she too is an older woman. I consider perhaps 1200 is satisfying & sufficient due to our age & lower activity level. So it's not that I CHOOSE to eat 1200 or less, just that this amount suits me.

My point being not everyone WANTS to eat almost twice that ~ I'd feel uncomfortably over-full if I did.

This is a horrible thread as far as success stories are concerned. :brokenheart:

I'm 5'1" with a small build and 1200-1350 is definitely enough for me as long as I'm eating back my exercise calories. I have my activity level set to "active" and MFP still only gives me 1200. But like I said, this is because I am built extremely small. 10 pounds look like 20 on me. I once went from 110 to 100 lbs. and everywhere I went, people would say "hey, you look great!" or "wow you've lost so much weight, good for you". The negative side of that is that at 110, many people think that I weigh MUCH more. My build is just very, very tiny. :embarassed:

So I wouldn't suggest 1200 for anyone above, say, 5'3". But the most important thing with this amount of calories is that you MUST, must, must eat very nutritiously - plenty of vegetables, quality protein sources, complex carbs, fresh fruit, healthy fats, etc. If someone spends their 1200 calories on junk, they will eventually get sick, burn out, lose lean muscle, or any of the other things that happen when your body isn't being fueled properly. And I would also suggest eating back exercise calories and not going beneath 1100 no matter what. Good luck to everyone!

Almost 5'2, 100 pounds and maintained while totally sedentary for 6+ months. Moved to 2500, still no exercise for 6 months and gained 1 pound per month. Injured now so flat on my back in bed, trying to stay under 2000. I have never dieted for weight loss, so my hormones are fine, might make a difference?

Thank you so much for your response, it really put things in to perspective.

bump

Can I show you my success with over 1900 calories?

Gtfo. That's so irrelevant.

SerenaFisher put it better but...

While not a lady, I will say 1200 cals worked for a bit then a massive slow down and a few plateaus, my problem was I was having trouble actually eating more. I tended to break through plateaus when I ate closer to 1600-1800 calories albeit "dirty" calories oddly the closer i'm getting to my goal I'm finding I'm much hungrier where 1200 calories clean or dirty aren't nearly enough.

I started mid January on MFP. I have lost 28 lbs since then (I had lost more before tracking on a different site). I have not lost any lean body mass and have been making strength gains in the gym. I recently got a BodyMediaFit and have been focusing more on maintaining constant deficit than constant calories which means I'm not necessarily always at 1200 though my calories are generally in that neighborhood.

As far as success, I went from being just under obese to being in the "acceptable" range according to BMI. My bodyfat has decreased and lean body mass has been maintained. I'm not at my goal yet but I'm getting there. I also noticed that my hair and nails have been growing faster and nicer (I think because I'm more careful with my macros now than I used to be).

I have incorporated a high protein diet with my usual strength training so far, so good. As I get closer to my goal I will decrease my deficit each week until I hit my maintenance calories.

Edit to add: As far as longer term successes, I gained my weight in spurts with each ankle surgery (2) and with a pregnancy. It kind of just piled on over the course of several years. I gained a chunk with my first surgery (never learned portion control and the sudden switch from very active to sedentary was a difference of about 1200+ calories. Boom, gain of about a pound of fat every 3 days.) Got slightly more active again and maintained the weight I gained. Then pregnancy, same issue (rough last 3 months of my pregnancy because I was waiting for an ankle surgery that couldn't be done until I gave birth). Overall, I was about 90 pounds higher than my current goal. I decided to drop the fat (after birth and second ankle surgery). I did weight watchers and followed the "core" program. I lost 50 lbs in 6 months eating 1200 calories (and breastfeeding/pretty active). At my initial goal, I took a diet break that ended up lasting about 5+ years. Most of that time, I maintained the weight. The last year (and what pushed me into actually getting to goal) I moved halfway across the country and ended up eating fast food a lot, changing careers, etc... and gained back 10-15 lbs. That landed me here (eventually, after some weight loss on my own and a bunch of trial and error with different calorie levels over the course of about half of last year.)

I have never yo-yo'd and don't plan on it. Maintaining an acceptable threshold is important to me and now that I have learned portion control, I have fixed the issue that initially caused weight gain.

Also, my TDEE has increased (with a related increase in base level activity) since I started losing weight. I know because my weight is pretty solidly linear (trend wise) and I can pretty easily calculate TDEE using my records of everything.