1200 Calories

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  • Ariana_75
    Ariana_75 Posts: 224
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    My 2 cents:

    > Break up your meals into 6 'small ones' throughout the day and have a lean source of protein at every meal (egg whites, chicken breasts, fish, lean meats etc)
    > Get about 1 gram of protein /lb of body weight.. this will help you gain muscle mass which helps burn fat
    > Eat complex carbs in the morning and post workout (the exact amount varies from person to person so you just have to play around with your macros and adjust them as you go)
    > Eat healthy fats (avocados, almonds etc)
    > Don't stop working out! Lift heavy weights you won't get bulky. More muscle = Higher fat burning
    > Don't over do the cardio. Incorporate plyometrics and HIIT into your routine instead of long boring steady state cardio
    > Change your workouts. There are tons of programs you can follow on bodybuilding.com
    > Drink at least a gallon of water a day and get at least 8 hours of sleep
  • darlilama
    darlilama Posts: 794 Member
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    I think it's awesome that you've decided to add exercise into your lifestyle. Yes, you can lose weight without exercising, but unless you have an already active lifestyle, adding exercise will definitely improve your overall health. Forming good habits now will make a huge difference as you get older.

    First, you need to figure out about how much exercise you're adding. Consistency makes it a bit easier, but, at least have an idea.

    Second, based on that activity level - being VERY honest with yourself, determine your caloric needs. Someone else gave you a link, or you can google "TDEE Calculators" to get a calculator and more info.

    Third, set up your MFP goals to meet what the calculator gave you using the "custom" option.

    Lastly, log faithfully and accurately. If you have a Heart Rate Monitor, you can more accurately determine the number of calories you are actually burning. It varies by person and even by day. Typically the generic MFP entries are higher than most people report they burn using a HRM.

    Good luck!!
  • Ariana_75
    Ariana_75 Posts: 224
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    Check out Layne Norton, PhD 's website www.biolayne.com where he talks about low cal diets and exercise and the damage this can cause to your metabolism. It is mainly directed to competitors but it has great information regarding your concerns.
  • crazebeck
    crazebeck Posts: 70 Member
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    Seems like I sent the wrong message across. I'm looking for advice.. not sarcasm. Cut me a break. Eating on 1200 calories USED to work for me when I was not exercising. Now that I am, I'm not really moving on the scale nor am I feeling a difference in my clothing. I'm not quite sure how much to increase my caloric intake, I know nothing about this stuff. All I wanted was help from someone more experienced than me..

    Eat back at least 1/2 of your exercise calories earned, you dont have to eat them all back. Stick with it. Are you measuring yourself? The scale isnt always the best way to track your success. If you havent already begun measuring yourself, do it once a week or month. You may be losing inches but not noticing it. It happens to me all the time.

    Hang in there. Remember to mix up your workout, drink plenty of water, and eat! :)
  • cgroat
    cgroat Posts: 1
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    Wow! I'm just starting with myfitnesspal and am frankly appalled by many of the responses you've received to your very good and probably physiologically complicated question. I've found that most helpful to me in terms of weight loss over time is flexibility. When something that worked for a while stops working, I "play" with what I'm doing until I get back to having some success. I get the sense that you're very sincere about your weight loss goals and working hard at it. As I'd guess you know, exercise builds muscle and that weighs more, so you're probably still losing fat. While I agree with others that 1200 calories is on the low end, if you want to stick with that, do so for a while, continue to exercise and drink plenty of water. If you're willing to experiment, add 100-200 calories per day and see what happens. I've experienced most success when I think, and act in terms of eating for health instead of just focusing on weight loss alone. Good luck!
  • MrsSWW
    MrsSWW Posts: 1,590 Member
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    Figure out your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) and take a moderate cut from that (10-20%). There are a lot of online calculators for this but I usually use: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    ^^^ DO THIS! I'm maintaining at the minute (would like to say still losing, but I've got a bit side tracked the last few weeks with holidays and such). I weigh 146.6lb, am 5'2", and Lord knows what my average intake is, maybe around 2,300-2,400?

    Weigh everything, log religiously even when you go well over your target, do exercise that you enjoy. 1200 is not enough in the vast majority of cases. When I started MFP I fell into the same trap, but you really don't need to - eat a bit more, but eat healthy food 80-90% of the time and log it all, continue to exercise but for your health rather than the scales. :flowerforyou:
  • MsEndomorph
    MsEndomorph Posts: 604 Member
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    Lots of changes at once can be frustrating. If things aren't going well, what do you blame it on? What do you change?
    Is it your calories? Is it your new workout plan? Is it just your body's weight loss slowing down naturally?

    Your diary is kind of...everywhere...so I'm not 100% sure what's going on. You were on 1200 calories, but then you read here that it was too low, so you upped it? And no you're working out (good for you!) but you aren't eating back your exercise calories? Or you are?

    Did you happen to figure out your TDEE/BMR by any chance?
  • jharb2
    jharb2 Posts: 208 Member
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    you don't say if you are eating your excercise calories back - 1200 if the minimum net you should be eating so therefore you need to eat what you excercise to at least maintain the 1200 - if you don't you are below the 1200 and will therefore stop losing because it is not enough!!!.
  • leaellenj
    leaellenj Posts: 38
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    I agree with every single person who has said to eat more.

    1200 calories is not enough for most people.

    Be patient and kind with yourself too. And try to guage all the nonscale victories you have.
  • Melissa22G
    Melissa22G Posts: 847 Member
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    Not interested in your previous responses. The one I commented on was, in my opinion, unnecessary and unhelpful in any way. There could be all sorts of reasons why someone may have joined a long time ago and not used the programme until now and it would seem to me, by their response, that they were actually trying to help the OP. Your sarcasm wasn't warranted, or very fair.

    Stacie,

    While the forums are a wide array of information that's beneficial to all users- there are creatures called "trolls" on the forums. The purposely create trouble out of boredom, or God knows what they feel like at the time. It is usually with someone that creates a profile and has 1 or 2 posts then deactivates their account after being satisfied with their mischief.
  • frenchfacey
    frenchfacey Posts: 237 Member
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    OMG YOU ONLY EAT 1200 CALORIES


    grab your pitchforks ladies! lets get her!!
  • Melissa22G
    Melissa22G Posts: 847 Member
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    OMG YOU ONLY EAT 1200 CALORIES


    grab your pitchforks ladies! lets get her!!

    At 1200 calories, she'd be a snack.
  • Bearbrat
    Bearbrat Posts: 230
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    Seems like I sent the wrong message across. I'm looking for advice.. not sarcasm. Cut me a break. Eating on 1200 calories USED to work for me when I was not exercising. Now that I am, I'm not really moving on the scale nor am I feeling a difference in my clothing. I'm not quite sure how much to increase my caloric intake, I know nothing about this stuff. All I wanted was help from someone more experienced than me..
    Wow, really sorry you're getting really rude responses. It seems some people didn't actually read and or understand your OP, what I see is 1.) you need to start logging everything, you have some days where you aren't logging consistently. If you don't have a food scale, get one. 2.) If you added exercise and didn't increase the calories you consume you need to do that. 1200 is the minimum and if you're exercising on top of that you need to eat those calories back. Be a little more flexible with the amount of calories you consume, don't be afraid you're going to gain a bunch of weight back. If you're in a deficit you'll lose. 3500 calories=one pound, so you'd have to be eating that amount to gain. It might come off a little slower, but you'll lose. Good luck and ignore the sarcastic/snotty responses. Not all of the people here are like that :flowerforyou:
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    OP, before this entire thread goes AWOL with butthurt...

    this is what you need:
    L9ldZqJ.png
    those.

    get those. Use them accurately. log everything.
    rest, get plenty of water. log everything.

    go back and update your intake/goals on here. go from there.

    give it 4 - 6 weeks. If there's no change, adjust from there. 4 to 6 solid weeks of accurate logging.

    No fads, no "cleanses" no detox diets, no programs or products. Just count what you eat.
  • msweetamy
    msweetamy Posts: 8 Member
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    You added exercise - good for you. Muscle weighs more than fat. You are gaining muscle while losing fat. You're probably not seeing results on your clothing because you're gaining muscle UNDER the fat. The scale is stuck for now because you're replacing the fat you're burning with muscle.
    Just give it some time and you'll start losing again - and maybe even faster because exercise also ups your metabolism.
    When I added exercise, I actually GAINED weight for a few weeks, then I started seeing my body and the scale dropping.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    You added exercise - good for you. Muscle weighs more than fat. You are gaining muscle while losing fat. You're probably not seeing results on your clothing because you're gaining muscle UNDER the fat. The scale is stuck for now because you're replacing the fat you're burning with muscle.
    Just give it some time and you'll start losing again - and maybe even faster because exercise also ups your metabolism.
    When I added exercise, I actually GAINED weight for a few weeks, then I started seeing my body and the scale dropping.

    OP isn't gaining muscle at that low of an intake. Any gains at that point are going to be water retention from working out in order to repair muscle.

    ETA: adding unicorns and flowers to ease the burn of knowledge so I don't insult any more dark knights of the forum...
    unicorn.jpg
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    acb1e2f15e63e496990c6290b9251390
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
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    You added exercise - good for you. Muscle weighs more than fat. You are gaining muscle while losing fat. You're probably not seeing results on your clothing because you're gaining muscle UNDER the fat. The scale is stuck for now because you're replacing the fat you're burning with muscle.
    Just give it some time and you'll start losing again - and maybe even faster because exercise also ups your metabolism.
    When I added exercise, I actually GAINED weight for a few weeks, then I started seeing my body and the scale dropping.

    Not at 1200 calories she isn't.
  • BluejayNY
    BluejayNY Posts: 301 Member
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    I just don't believe the whole eating too few calories thing. When I eat too little my weight drops.
  • ash8184
    ash8184 Posts: 701 Member
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    I have been in this situation. As soon as I started eating more than 1200, I gained quite a bit, really quickly.

    What I would recommend trying is adding strength training in to your routine if you don't already. That will help your metabolism and then you'll be able to eat more. Also, stop weighing yourself and start measuring inches. It's possible that you're gaining some muscle and losing some fat.

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