Do I really have to eat only 1200? :/

just aim for a pound a week with 1450 calories plus exercise calories

Also, depending on how much you want to lose will determine the deficit you want to eat at. The closer you are to your goal, the smaller deficit you want. I think the general rule is, if you have less than 20 or 30 lbs to lose, keep the deficit at 10-15% instead of 20%.

Remember that a lb of fat is equal to 3500 cals. Eat 3500 cals less per week and that's a pound a week. Eat even less than that.....well you get the idea!

Edit: Nevermind 5 lbs is to your small goal.

don't try and lose epic amounts in a small time. you will end up going catabolic and lose muscle (muscle helps keep you lean and healthy!!! keep / build muscle!!!)

i know this kinda goes against the purpose of having a calorie counter, but if you continually make small healthy changes over long periods you will lose fat and retain a healthy physique.

if you drop weight too fast you will eat away your muscle and then not only will you still be fat, but you will be "skinny fat"... meaning you will have no tone and still carry fat in unwanted areas because your body likes to retain fat (coz it thinks your starving, so it drops your metabolism and feeds your vital organs by cannibalizing your muscle, and leaves fat for reserve as fat doesnt need energy to preserve it!).

Ive done weight loss management (for myself) many times and have found that it is still quite possible to lose weight by simply eating clean and not pig out (without counting calories).
- lots of veges (green veges are great, increases your alkalinity which helps for breaking down fat cells)
- carbs (complex carbs) early in the day for fuel, extremely little at night (carbs at night can produce insulin response which turns carbs to fat)
- reduce red meats from diet, increase white meats (reduction of calories from fat)
- exercise!! make sure you lift weights at least twice a week (bare minimum), in my opinion weights is more important than cardio for both men and women, cardio is also important just dont over do it (15-30mins a day or minimum 3 days/week)
- junk food is ok, just in moderation, accentuation on the moderation!!! if you eat junk food, make sure you feel guilty and work extra hard at the gym the next day :bigsmile:

Calculate your TDEE on this site: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Subtract 20%, be consistent with exercise and eat that amount. Right now, mine is set at 1950 and I'm losing.

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yup yup

this is what you need to do.

Very few people need to eat 1200. Most need to eat way above that;.

I lost my first 25 netting a 1000 calorie deficit. I didn't go into starvation mode. I did eat back exercise calories. After that I had to move to a 500 cal net deficit because I was cranky.

1200 net is fine as long as you are exercising and eating it back, and are fat enough to handle it. If you have low energy or your behaviour changes for the worse, eat more.


I know you are impatient to reach your goal, but you have to get over it. That's just part of the challenge. Accept it, and move forward.

Your mission should be to constantly improve how you measure your calories, and keep looking for the foods and meal timings that leave you satisfied and energised without pushing you into the red. Don't accept things like "probably". Weigh, measure, and keep researching caloric values. Are you using raw weight figures to measure cooked meat? Picking the entry with the lowest cals per ounce? Are you assuming certain things are too small to count? Fix it.

This post exemplifies ignorance of ghrelin and leptin, the hormones that regulate hunger. If you are restricting your calories too much, chances are you won't feel it. Listen to the previous posters who discussed TDEE.

MFP says to lose 7.4 pounds in a month

want more food ? reduce your aspiration to 1 or 0.5 lbs per week. Simples.

If you love to eat, learn to love exercise - that's what I had to do because there is NO WAY I can do 1200 a day.

RE: Pcastagner's 1000 calorie deficit

according to your photos you dropped a considerable amount of weight/fat, well done!

i wouldn't recommend your way as it is risky, i been there, i done it, and although i dropped in excess of 20lbs i did lose muscle and ended up looking like a smaller version of my fat self and ended up putting the fat back on very quick as my metabolism dropped considerably.

but, your results does go to show that each individual is different! Genetics plays the biggest role of all!!!!!
what works for you may not work for others, i think 'trial and error' approaches can be good (therefore you can determine what works best for you), but long term small losses are best.

Clean eating and changes in lifestyle FTW.

Please note I only did the 1000 cal deficit when I was much much fatter. I also do not recommend this if you have less than 30 lbs to lose. My "before" pic is actually not me at my heaviest (I avoided cameras at that point).

The reason I went to a 500 cal deficit was that I was losing ground on my lifts.

So actually I will agree with you! 500 cals would have been better. However, I also have to say that while eating 1000 under I was totally new to lifting and putting on muscle! I then lost some muscle on a 500 deficit later.

I do have to point out that my body did give signals to eat more, I increased cals, and continued to progress. I am now running a surplus to gain.