how can i eat more then 1200 calories and lose weight?

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Hi I have had sucess eating 1200 calories and losing weight. I found that 1200 calories isnt enough food for me especially when I exercise 6 days a week. I was just wondering what other people on here are doing so they can get more calories and still lose weight.

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  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    You can start by figuring your BMR and TDEE to get an idea of how much your body is already burning in a day: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ It's very likely that you won't have to do anything extra to be able to eat more than 1200 calories a day and still lose.
  • Happymelz
    Happymelz Posts: 536 Member
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    You can start by figuring your BMR and TDEE to get an idea of how much your body is already burning in a day: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ It's very likely that you won't have to do anything extra to be able to eat more than 1200 calories a day and still lose.

    This!
  • mish24canada
    mish24canada Posts: 152 Member
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    what is considered strenuous exercise? I do cardo for about 40 mins a day. I just started using weights. Is that considered strenous?
  • MrsH2132012
    MrsH2132012 Posts: 67 Member
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    what is considered strenuous exercise? I do cardo for about 40 mins a day. I just started using weights. Is that considered strenous?

    Scooby is my go to!!

    I'd say moderate :)
  • QuilterInVA
    QuilterInVA Posts: 672 Member
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    Moderate at best. You need to do what the others advised as far as eating more. What kind of cardio do you do?
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Hi I have had sucess eating 1200 calories and losing weight. I found that 1200 calories isnt enough food for me especially when I exercise 6 days a week. I was just wondering what other people on here are doing so they can get more calories and still lose weight.

    MFP calculates a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise ....... so if you want to use MFP as designed, you log your exercise and MFP adds more calories to your initial 1200.

    Example: I get 1200 calories ..... then do 1/2 hour of low impact aerobics ..... MFP gives me 220 additional calories ..... so I get to eat 1420 calories and still lose weight.

    By eating my exercise calories back, I am NETTING 1200 calories. Eating exercise calories may slow weight loss some .....but (too) fast weight loss results in muscle loss (along with fat).

    By the way 1200 is the lowest number that MFP will give you, and 1200 is a rather small number. Lots of people can still lose weight by netting much more.
  • MrsH2132012
    MrsH2132012 Posts: 67 Member
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    You can start by figuring your BMR and TDEE to get an idea of how much your body is already burning in a day: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ It's very likely that you won't have to do anything extra to be able to eat more than 1200 calories a day and still lose.

    Keep in mind OP that when you do increase calorie intake your body will react...don't freak out if you feel a bit bloated or heavy it's just your body adjusting. Give it 4 weeks and increase slow (maybe 200-300+ a week) You should be eating closer to 2000 and still lsoing

    I am eating 200 cals under my TDEE and losing inches while gaining muscle (my goal :bigsmile: )
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
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    what is considered strenuous exercise? I do cardo for about 40 mins a day. I just started using weights. Is that considered strenous?

    Scooby is my go to!!

    I'd say moderate :)

    I'd also say moderate too.

    I think of strenuous as when I'm doing heavy barn chores like moving hay bales all morning or cleaning stalls all day (pushing the wheelbarrow, not the picking out the poop), or watering where I'm lugging around two full 5-gallon water buckets at a time.
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
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    If you are at a base of 1200 calories and you are exercising, you should be eating back some of those calories...

    The more you exercise, the more you can eat.