1200 Calories

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  • jennibear22
    jennibear22 Posts: 95 Member
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    This happened to me too. On 1200 and no exercise I lost. The I started working out most days, but not eating more to compensate and I stopped losing for a few weeks. I started to eat more to ensure that when I worked out my net cals were still always above 1100. Since then the weight has started to come off again at a steady rate. This may work for you - it may not. You have to try different things to see what suits your body best. Keep at it though. x
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 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.

    Yep, you can lose weight eating too little (look at anorexics). You can also have all kinds of awesome side effects like your metabolism slowing (since you're losing a lot of muscle), hair falling out, exhaustion, crankiness, heart damage, etc. Why not just eat a healthy amount of calories, still lose weight, and not have to deal with all the nasty possibilities from undereating?
  • yelliezx
    yelliezx Posts: 633 Member
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    Do you overeat a lot on weekends? Is that why you don't log? I only ask because that is something that I used to do quite a bit and I was only lying to myself. Now I log on weekends, no matter how terrible it may be. I still lose pretty much every Friday.
  • maybeazure
    maybeazure Posts: 301 Member
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    People on here will *always* tell you that 1200 calories are not enough, and you should eat more. However, I'm not sure that's the problem. On most of the recent days that you logged you did eat more than 1200, and several days you didn't log at all. My guess is that you are eating more calories than you think you are, which is really easy to do. Weigh and measure everything for a week or two. Log everything. Then evaluate.
  • Mommybug2
    Mommybug2 Posts: 149 Member
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    What has been working for me is ensuring that everything is always moving. If I burn 300 calories everyday via exercise and eat 1200 calories a day then my body will determine this is normal and adjust accordingly then I will plateau. I aim for 1250 and then eat back SOME of my exercise calories. I almost always give myself one "cheat day". I do the same thing with my workouts. I aim for Cardio 5 days and Strength Training 2 days, on strength days I go 30 minutes Cardio and other days I go 60. I try to vary the workout using difference resistance/speed/activity.

    Don't put too much fear into what one day of eating will do to your diet. Calories are a funny thing. We can never hope to measure intake and outtake exactly but you will find your rhythm. I had a HUGE fear of "cheat days" and missing workouts. I was sure that I would gain 5lbs as soon as I did. Funny thing though - once I added the "cheat day" my weight loss actually sped up. And the few times that I have only worked out 3 days a week - I still had the same 1-2 lb loss!

    That said I agree you have to log everything that goes in your mouth. It is sad how fast calories can add up. Before I got serious about losing this weight I would think "I worked out today I can splurge on this" but what I didn't realize is that all it took was two weak moments of that and I had totally eaten back everything I worked off :(

    As others have suggested it is all trial and error - then you find something that works and a few months later maybe that doesn't work so it is back to the drawing board.
  • amandzor
    amandzor Posts: 386 Member
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    Have you considered it may not just the number of calories you're eating, but also the quality?

    What you've logged is full of carbs, dairy, and breaded meat.

    Consider adding some fruits and vegetables to your daily intake. You may see a change not only in energy, but also a shift in weight.
  • 43932452
    43932452 Posts: 7,246 Member
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    Idk what all others said but skimming over your most current
    entry, I believe cutting your carbs to maybe 130g and pushing
    your protein up a tad might help. Carbs can be stored as unwanted
    weight. I've been more successful as have others have by
    eating that way .. it's up to you but it is worth a try if you're stuck. :)
  • sabified
    sabified Posts: 1,051 Member
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    I didn't read through to see if anyone managed to cut through the snark, but basically you need to be at 1200 NET total. Meaning your food calories minus your exercise calories should equal 1200. If you're not exercising at all, then eating 1200 works. If you're exercising then you need to eat back how much ever you burn off, so that you have had 1200 calories in total for the day.

    Changing how much carbs/protein/fat you eat in the day would also make a difference (as I see others are suggesting), but I would say become comfortable with how much to eat (and getting your daily nutrients) before you start working on changing those ratios.

    Try to ignore the snark, and keep reading different posts/articles on how to eat healthy. Good luck!
  • mebepiglet123
    mebepiglet123 Posts: 327 Member
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    Apart from al, the snarky comments I hope you got some good information out of all of that....
    Once you get to goal you will thank yourself that you exercised. I'm not at goal but have been before, once without exercise. Once with cardio and weight training, believe me your body looks better with cardio and weights. Just look at some of the success stories on here. Don't be in a hurry it will come, log, track everything even bad days, and yes heart rate monitors are great.
  • kaseyAnne425
    kaseyAnne425 Posts: 230
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    Thank you to everyone who gave me legitimate responses and tips; didn't think a simple question would start so much unnecessary drama! :laugh:
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,639 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..

    Do you eat all of your exercise calories back?

    If so, be careful you are not overestimating your exercise calories x
  • kaseyAnne425
    kaseyAnne425 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..

    Do you eat all of your exercise calories back?

    If so, be careful you are not overestimating your exercise calories x

    I just started incorporating exercise, so not really. I would like to invest in a HRM at some point to ensure accuracy, but I try to eat a little less than my exercise calories allow for that reason. When I do cardio, I log exactly what the machines at the gym say when I get off of them! :)
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,639 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..

    Do you eat all of your exercise calories back?

    If so, be careful you are not overestimating your exercise calories x

    I just started incorporating exercise, so not really. I would like to invest in a HRM at some point to ensure accuracy, but I try to eat a little less than my exercise calories allow for that reason. When I do cardio, I log exactly what the machines at the gym say when I get off of them! :)

    Yes, be careful with that, some of the machines will not give you an accurate reading.

    example, I have burned 750 calories on the treadmill and yet my HRM shows me as burning just 495 - bit of a difference there lol.

    I guess the machines are just going by average info for an average sized person. Somebody did say once, that the treadmill at gyms, the calorie burns displayed on them are aimed for 180lb males.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    yes you are. 1200 is okay if you don't workout. But when you work out you're burning at least 200 calories. Your body needs fuel! I would increase to 1400 for a month and see what happens. Else you will go into starvation mode and plateau.

    wow this is just dead wrong...

    you have to eat nothing for 72 hours to go into starvation mode....shaking head...

    If 1200 works for you then do it ...lots of people eat 1200 and work out AND have success...do what works for your body.
  • kaseyAnne425
    kaseyAnne425 Posts: 230
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    yes you are. 1200 is okay if you don't workout. But when you work out you're burning at least 200 calories. Your body needs fuel! I would increase to 1400 for a month and see what happens. Else you will go into starvation mode and plateau.

    wow this is just dead wrong...

    you have to eat nothing for 72 hours to go into starvation mode....shaking head...

    If 1200 works for you then do it ...lots of people eat 1200 and work out AND have success...do what works for your body.

    MFP even tells me if I'm eating under 1200 and complete my diary that I will send my body into starvation mode. I don't pay much attention as like you said, I do what works best, but I will make sure that my Net consumption is at LEAST 1200. I think I'll be in a safe range there.
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,639 Member
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    yes you are. 1200 is okay if you don't workout. But when you work out you're burning at least 200 calories. Your body needs fuel! I would increase to 1400 for a month and see what happens. Else you will go into starvation mode and plateau.

    How do you know you are burning at least 200 calories? It all depends on what you do and for how long.

    No you will not go into starvation mode and plateau.
  • NVH2013
    NVH2013 Posts: 3
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    Hello!! Firstly, just wanted to say - Don't worry, take a deep breath, re-evaluate, look at your strategy and take inventory of what has worked for you!

    Don't listen to sarcastic or negative people, the world is flooded with them - and it is always their own issues that they are consumed with and projecting that negativity onto others.

    You know your body better than anyone else and what works for one doesn't always work for another. Having said that, there are some standard rules you can employ that generally work.

    I would make sure that if you are working out, perhaps get a heart rate monitor to see how many calories you are burning. Then, if 1200 cals is too little, I'd add in more protein-based snacks and meals and up your calories, protein will also help with muscle repair. You should also look at protein shakes and some supplements. Good nutritional supplements to meet the "gaps" in your diet can be purchased online - a good one is bodybuilding.com in the US but they do ship to AUS and I find their prices cheaper.

    Good luck with it all. Don't stress! You are doing well. Stay positive and just experiment with your calories a little bit and you will find the answer.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    yes you are. 1200 is okay if you don't workout. But when you work out you're burning at least 200 calories. Your body needs fuel! I would increase to 1400 for a month and see what happens. Else you will go into starvation mode and plateau.

    wow this is just dead wrong...

    you have to eat nothing for 72 hours to go into starvation mode....shaking head...

    If 1200 works for you then do it ...lots of people eat 1200 and work out AND have success...do what works for your body.

    MFP even tells me if I'm eating under 1200 and complete my diary that I will send my body into starvation mode. I don't pay much attention as like you said, I do what works best, but I will make sure that my Net consumption is at LEAST 1200. I think I'll be in a safe range there.

    netting 1200 would be a good idea..

    people confuse metabolic slowdown with starvation mode, they are not the same..

    metabolic slowdown happens when you under eat ..IE 900 calories a day for prolonged period of time..

    Starvation mode = eating nothing for 72 hours or a sustained period of time where your body starts to turn on itself for energy.
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 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

    you.. i like you

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