1200 calorie - can this be made up of any foods to lose ??

hanstowe
hanstowe Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,

I'm really enjoying the Calorie counting , but just wondering about food groups?

I pretty much just have toast every morning, saladas for lunch and tiny teddies and crunchie muesli bars every day for snacks
With a healthy meal of meat and veg or pita and salad?? Is this too high in carbs will this slow weight loss down , I still excersise daily ...

Any feedback woul be great...

Thanks

Replies

  • T1DAnna
    T1DAnna Posts: 7
    Really, the food groups for your diet are just whatever works. Lower in carb works for me because I am a type 1 diabetic. Less carbs means more stable blood sugars. I would suggest experimenting and finding what works for you.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    First, 1200 is too little for most people. Make sure you use the 'lose 1 lb a week' setting, that your activity level is accurate, and that you eat back at least some of your exercise calories. Undereating won't help your weight loss and might make it harder to stick to it.

    Second, toast for breakfast seems like a recipe for disaster for me. I'd be starving. Eat more proteins to fill you up. Muesli bars are too many calories for the nutrients you get out of them too. Try some greek yogurt with fruit instead.

    Carbs are not a problem, but they won't fill you up as much as protein and fiber.
  • jjkarnitz
    jjkarnitz Posts: 55
    First, 1200 is too little for most people. Make sure you use the 'lose 1 lb a week' setting, that your activity level is accurate, and that you eat back at least some of your exercise calories. Undereating won't help your weight loss and might make it harder to stick to it.

    Second, toast for breakfast seems like a recipe for disaster for me. I'd be starving. Eat more proteins to fill you up. Muesli bars are too many calories for the nutrients you get out of them too. Try some greek yogurt with fruit instead.

    Carbs are not a problem, but they won't fill you up as much as protein and fiber.
    This is great advice- especially the last line.

    If you can keep it to 1200 you should lose weight, in terms of mathematics. But if you eat mostly carbs you may have a harder time sticking to your daily calories- at least that has been my experience. It's counterproductive to do 1200 calories per day but quit after a month, right? If you can incorporate more lean proteins and healthy fats into your diet you will be a happier person and much more likely to do this long-term. On the mobile MFP app you can see what percentage of fat, protein, and carbs you've had for the day. On days I feel super hungry I look at it, and it's nearly always when my carb percentage is way too high.

    I tried doing 1200 cals per day for a while and I failed almost every day. Do some research and find out what you really need- 1200 is the absolute lowest and probably not sustainable for very long.

    I could never eat just toast for breakfast. :) I would be ravenous an hour later. If you eat carbs by themselves they are used up more quickly, but if you eat carbs with some fat or protein, they take longer to be digested and thus keep you fuller longer. Fiber helps with the full feeling too, although I've found that I also need some fat or protein to make it stick with me.
  • hanstowe
    hanstowe Posts: 5
    Thanks so much to all of you, il pop egg on toast the next few days,
    The 1200 is the calorie count however I usually burn around 250 a day on my excersise bike,
    Hence I'm eating around 1500 calories...

    I've lost 700 gms in 10 days, I aim to lose 500 gms a week if I can.

    Thanks again
  • hanstowe
    hanstowe Posts: 5
    Thanks so much, your advice was great, im new to this and I'm just always in a rush and grab on the go food like saladas or sakatas , I like the forme vanilla yogurt but other than that yes I'm eating majority carb snacks and lots of water ..
    if you have a handy food list of low calorie ideas I'd be so greatful..

    Thanks again
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
    1200 is the minimum that the MFP calculator will suggest because if you eat reasonably balanced meals (spread across food groups) you can pretty easily get enough nutrients. I ate at that level for the first 6 months, lost about 50 pounds, and have been eating more to lose very slowly and make maintenance easier to adjust to more recently. I had lots of days where the mix of foods was not optimal and my rate of loss was pretty steady. You want the mix of foods to be as close to optimal as you can reasonably get it, but the answer to your question is that you will lose the weight based on calories consumed versus burned even if they aren't the best choices all the time.

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