Another "Should I eat 1200 Calories" Posts... but should I?

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itsmandible
itsmandible Posts: 88 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I know there's been things said that it's not right for everyone, and I also know trying to lose more than a pound a week can be difficult when you're in the last 10 pounds, which I am. I eat 1350 calories right now, which is supposed to have me losing 1.1 pounds a week (my tdee is 1920), plus eating back whatever I exercise. I'm 5'4, 19 going to be 20, and weigh like 170 right now after having a weekend of bad eating lol. I want to accelerate my weight loss, I feel bored and unmotivated and want some sort of challenge, would dropping my calories 1200 be bad for me or fine? I mean, I am only 150 away...

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  • RoyBeck
    RoyBeck Posts: 947 Member
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    If your TDEE is 1920 and your eating 1350 your eating TDEE-30 which is too aggressive. If your almost at goal weight I'd eat TDEE-10 so I'd actually increase your calories to 1728.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    If you're bored with your current routine and looking for a challenge, you might want to set some fitness goals or enter a race of some kind instead of restricting your calories further. Look for something to work toward and ways to measure your success beyond the number on the scale.
  • itsmandible
    itsmandible Posts: 88 Member
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    If you're bored with your current routine and looking for a challenge, you might want to set some fitness goals or enter a race of some kind instead of restricting your calories further. Look for something to work toward and ways to measure your success beyond the number on the scale.

    Thanks for the suggestion! I just signed on to burn 3500 calories a week throughout the month of August while working out 60 miles... I'm hoping this will kickstart me again!
  • itsmandible
    itsmandible Posts: 88 Member
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    If your TDEE is 1920 and your eating 1350 your eating TDEE-30 which is too aggressive. If your almost at goal weight I'd eat TDEE-10 so I'd actually increase your calories to 1728.

    Blah, I was afraid someone was going to tell me this! Wouldn't that only lose me maybe 2 pounds a month though?
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,583 Member
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    If your TDEE is 1920 and your eating 1350 your eating TDEE-30 which is too aggressive. If your almost at goal weight I'd eat TDEE-10 so I'd actually increase your calories to 1728.

    Blah, I was afraid someone was going to tell me this! Wouldn't that only lose me maybe 2 pounds a month though?
    You have 8 lbs to go. Welcome to the home stretch.

    The increase is good advice, why would you be afraid of someone giving you the advice to be able to eat more..
  • smwooley
    smwooley Posts: 133 Member
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    If your TDEE is 1920 and your eating 1350 your eating TDEE-30 which is too aggressive. If your almost at goal weight I'd eat TDEE-10 so I'd actually increase your calories to 1728.

    ^^This. You said you want to lose the weight fast, but wouldn't you rather lose it permanently? If you slow down your metabolism, you're just going to gain it back again. Also, with TDEE, you're not supposed to eat back your exercise calories. They're figured in.
  • pwnderosa
    pwnderosa Posts: 280 Member
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    I'm on my last 10 lbs and eating 1600 + exercise calories, I'm 5'3". This puts me according to MFP at LESS than 0.5 lb a week but you know, that doesn't matter that much, it's just a number!

    The loss is slow but eating this much transitions me slowly to maintenance and I feel confident about being able to keep it off. Inches are dropping like crazy too. It's hard not to focus so much on the scale, but now is the time where patience and consistency matter the most. Good luck!
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    If your TDEE is 1920 and your eating 1350 your eating TDEE-30 which is too aggressive. If your almost at goal weight I'd eat TDEE-10 so I'd actually increase your calories to 1728.

    Blah, I was afraid someone was going to tell me this! Wouldn't that only lose me maybe 2 pounds a month though?

    Our bodies can only metabolize so much fat at any given time. Unfortunately, as you get closer to goal that amount gets lower. Play around with your calories and see where you start losing again, but your body won't lose the weight any faster if you restrict your calories even further. It just can't.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    You should expect to lose half a pound a week. That's just the way it is.
  • itsmandible
    itsmandible Posts: 88 Member
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    If your TDEE is 1920 and your eating 1350 your eating TDEE-30 which is too aggressive. If your almost at goal weight I'd eat TDEE-10 so I'd actually increase your calories to 1728.

    Blah, I was afraid someone was going to tell me this! Wouldn't that only lose me maybe 2 pounds a month though?

    First. If you want to accelerate weight loss...stop having bad weekends of eating. That's just not the way to do it. Get serious about this and don't go nuts on the weekend just because you "did well" during the week.

    If you are calculating your TDEE which factors activity level then stop eating back your exercise calories. Your intake is higher because of the TDEE formula, don't negate that. Also, there is no accurate way to actually figure out how many calories you burned. It's all guestimates. If you only lose 2 lbs a month that's 24lbs in a year. If you lose 3 lbs a month that's 36 lbs. Stop dwelling on the small numbers, they add up. As you reach your goal weight loss slows down so have more realistic goals.

    Thanks! I don't eat poorly every weekend, though. I was just on vacation this past weekend and decided not to stress too much about meeting my calories.

    Maybe I used the incorrect term, but MFP lists my daily calorie need to maintain my weight as 1920, with my active level at the lightest for daily activities it can be. I thought this was the same number as a TDEE, but maybe I named it incorrectly.
  • itsmandible
    itsmandible Posts: 88 Member
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    If your TDEE is 1920 and your eating 1350 your eating TDEE-30 which is too aggressive. If your almost at goal weight I'd eat TDEE-10 so I'd actually increase your calories to 1728.

    Blah, I was afraid someone was going to tell me this! Wouldn't that only lose me maybe 2 pounds a month though?
    You have 8 lbs to go. Welcome to the home stretch.

    The increase is good advice, why would you be afraid of someone giving you the advice to be able to eat more..

    I guess it's just because eating more = losing less, and that doesn't seem to compute with my brain after living in a 500 or more calorie defecit for a while! But you're right, that really should be the last thing I'm worried about!
  • GingerBroad
    GingerBroad Posts: 45 Member
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    I will say everyone is different based on how much you need to lose, your activity rate, what you eat ect.
    MFP is a great guide, but its not exactly customized to YOU. The best thing you can do for yourself if you really want to figure out what you need to eat for YOU, you should find out your RMR (resting metabolic rate). RMR is what your body burns by existing. NOt only will you find out what calorie amount you need to survice, but you can chat with someone about making a plan for you with your workout. This (and talks with a dr. are pretty much to only way to know for sure. Outside of trial and error).

    This is a blog post a friend of mine did recently http://www.hungrymeetshealthy.com/2013/06/resting-metabolic-rate-testing-experience.html

    I haven't done it (i wasted a lot of time with trial and error) This girl is super active and i was surprised at how low her RMR was! Just some blog for thought! :)
  • itsmandible
    itsmandible Posts: 88 Member
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    Thank you all for the thoughts. I definitely see that 1200 calories won't do me any good. Now that it's down to the last few pounds, I think I'm just getting very anxious and anticipatory to hit that goal, which is why I wanted to try to drop my calories down. It's hard to wrap my mind around taking them up (that's never been a solution the past, you know?!), but I will definitely be following your good advice. I've seen it said to others before, I just have to take some time to wrap my head around it.
  • itsmandible
    itsmandible Posts: 88 Member
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    I will say everyone is different based on how much you need to lose, your activity rate, what you eat ect.
    MFP is a great guide, but its not exactly customized to YOU. The best thing you can do for yourself if you really want to figure out what you need to eat for YOU, you should find out your RMR (resting metabolic rate). RMR is what your body burns by existing. NOt only will you find out what calorie amount you need to survice, but you can chat with someone about making a plan for you with your workout. This (and talks with a dr. are pretty much to only way to know for sure. Outside of trial and error).

    This is a blog post a friend of mine did recently http://www.hungrymeetshealthy.com/2013/06/resting-metabolic-rate-testing-experience.html

    I haven't done it (i wasted a lot of time with trial and error) This girl is super active and i was surprised at how low her RMR was! Just some blog for thought! :)

    Interesting, I'll look into it!
  • itsmandible
    itsmandible Posts: 88 Member
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    I'm on my last 10 lbs and eating 1600 + exercise calories, I'm 5'3". This puts me according to MFP at LESS than 0.5 lb a week but you know, that doesn't matter that much, it's just a number!

    The loss is slow but eating this much transitions me slowly to maintenance and I feel confident about being able to keep it off. Inches are dropping like crazy too. It's hard not to focus so much on the scale, but now is the time where patience and consistency matter the most. Good luck!

    Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragment! It's so nice to hear from someone who's amidst it too!!
  • tilishamichelle
    tilishamichelle Posts: 34 Member
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    Well said on the 2lbs a month versus 3lbs a month. In the grand scheme of things that's 25-35lbs in a year and that is alot! LOL I had to put that to prospective for myself as well.
  • itsmandible
    itsmandible Posts: 88 Member
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    Well said on the 2lbs a month versus 3lbs a month. In the grand scheme of things that's 25-35lbs in a year and that is alot! LOL I had to put that to prospective for myself as well.

    Amen!

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