Haters gonna hate. tired of the "1200 is not enough" speech

OP: I have not read the entire thread so I am sorry if I am repeating anything here.

I think for a majority of the people who are trying to lose weight 1200 is not enough. That being said, you are right... everybody is different and if the math works out for you individually or an expert advised you to eat 1200 healthily then that is fine. The problem is many people eat 1200 as a blanket and it may not work for them.. that is when it's not enough.

For me 1200 is not enough. I have a small frame, I'm only 5'3" but have a TDEE of 2544 or so but I workout twice a day and have nearly 50 pounds to lose. Now if I were fit and didn't do any exercise at all I'd have a TDEE of 1503 but still have a BMR of 1252 so I would want to at least eat over 1252 maybe by 100 cal or so, so like 1352.

The point I am trying to make with my example is that even at 5'3" 125 pounds without any exercise I would want to eat more than 1200 calories, so the people who fit into the healthy 1200 calorie max goal is likely smaller than those who actually eat 1200 but need to eat more... although I have no hard data to base that on so take my opinion with a grain of salt... it's just an observation based on the people I have met on here and in real life.

Withdrawn...due to being ashamed of inferior gif.

you're wasting your breath.

sadly, insisting that 1200 calories is "perfect" for them has become a point of pride with so many of the ladies who eat 1200 calories, that they cannot and will not ever admit they are wrong or seek a more fulfilling and more effective way to lose/maintain weight.

i know that for a small percentage of women, 1200 calories (without any exercise!) is an accurate calculation. however, for the large majority it is not.

whenever i post on one of these threads, i do so only for the lurkers out there who are confused. they've read Cosmo which tells them that 1200 is ok, and they have a rail thin friend who insists that 1200 is ok, so they think 1200 must be ok... i want them to know that there is a better way than to embrace the silly yo-yo dieting program that inevitably follows from 1200 calorie diets.

Well, take me for one lurker who after reading your type of post, did take it to heart and researched and researched.

I was eating 1000-1200 calories and have upped them now into the 1900-2100 range. Yes, I did gain the 5 pounds of glycogen/water weight. No, I wasn't happy about it but knowing after eating at this level for awhile, I could cut back to 1700 and loose instead of 1200 quickly made me happy again.

I was one who did not need to be at 1200. I really appreciated all the logical, non-judgmental posts. And, even the heated ones. All the hoopla over "1200" caused me to research. I learned so much and thanks to all who took the time to post.

In light of this thread, yes, knee jerk reactions without reading or following completely aren't helpful to the OP. Considering how easy even family members often don't fully attend to conversations, Internet strangers doing likewise doesn't surprise me.

That's great!

Usually when there's a debate, the intended audience is the lurkers. I lurked for a long time and I'm very grateful for all the debates I read.

I did the same thing with a thread like this about 6 weeks ago. I was eating at 1000 cals a day (my goal was set at 1200), but after reading a thread like this one, I spent several days reading everything I could find and in the end upped my cals to 1650, I usually come in at around 15-1600, and I'm still losing! In the beginning I would have sworn that I couldn't lose on more then 1000 cals a day because that is how I have done it every time I have dieted in the past. Now I'm using the principles of the DASH diet, with eating 25% below my TDEE, and I feel great (as opposed to hungry and tired as I was before), and am losing steadily every week.

So these types of threads do help us lurkers If even 1 person reads this and is prompted to do their own research to find out what is best for them and their situation, then it is well worth it seeing the subject/debate repeated.

Oh and by the way, injuries can keep you flat out in bed ,
I have lost muscle but not weight even though I've been eating 2000 plus daily. Some members here have a hard time gaining.
If Alan Aragon can't put weight on me i'm certain you can't. Sorry for dropping names, sometimes it's needed

Then eat even more. You are not outside the laws of thermodynamics.

Oh I did, 2500+ daily, gained 1 pound per month after 6 months of eating as much as I could. Lost those 6 pounds in 2 weeks from not tracking. Science is not fact.

Might be that I never dieted and created an excess of fat cells. Who knows?

Lolwut?

You might want to look up the root of the word "science". You might learn just how hilarious that statement was.

Hahaha!
Science leaves ample space for variation.
I am an outlier according to the tests I've had, or you can call me snowflake, freak, whatever you'd prefer.

Oh and by the way, injuries can keep you flat out in bed ,
I have lost muscle but not weight even though I've been eating 2000 plus daily. Some members here have a hard time gaining.
If Alan Aragon can't put weight on me i'm certain you can't. Sorry for dropping names, sometimes it's needed

Then eat even more. You are not outside the laws of thermodynamics.

Oh I did, 2500+ daily, gained 1 pound per month after 6 months of eating as much as I could. Lost those 6 pounds in 2 weeks from not tracking. Science is not fact.

Might be that I never dieted and created an excess of fat cells. Who knows?

Lolwut?

You might want to look up the root of the word "science". You might learn just how hilarious that statement was.

Hahaha!
Science leaves ample space for variation.
I am an outlier according to the tests I've had, or you can call me snowflake, freak, whatever you'd prefer.

Hey, me too! Here's to outliers! :drinker:

Oh and by the way, injuries can keep you flat out in bed ,
I have lost muscle but not weight even though I've been eating 2000 plus daily. Some members here have a hard time gaining.
If Alan Aragon can't put weight on me i'm certain you can't. Sorry for dropping names, sometimes it's needed

Then eat even more. You are not outside the laws of thermodynamics.

Oh I did, 2500+ daily, gained 1 pound per month after 6 months of eating as much as I could. Lost those 6 pounds in 2 weeks from not tracking. Science is not fact.

Might be that I never dieted and created an excess of fat cells. Who knows?

We get it. You're awesome. You've never been fat. Why do you feel the need to tell the MFP community this at EVERY CHANCE YOU GET when the pretense for saying it is always so thin and transparent.

Valid question is valid.

Well you are not alone Camilla. I have done 1200 cals a day since January 5th 2013, MFP allocated me more but because I don't do hardly any exercise due to a back injury I stuck to 1200 cals, I have lost EVERY WEEK since January slowly and surely, I have now lost just over 41lbs, I never put my cals up, some days I only ate maybe 1100 of those cals as just not hungry. So for me, it's plenty of intake, I am healthier than I have ever been, I have lost weight more consistently than some people doing higher cals and my metabolism is working at normal rate. I have lost on average 1.2lbs per week which is by no means a rapid loss. I hope to reach my goal weight by Christmas and am sticking to what has worked for me 1200 cals. Feel free to add me (or anyone), I log daily, I weigh my foods and am very committed.

Oh and by the way, injuries can keep you flat out in bed ,
I have lost muscle but not weight even though I've been eating 2000 plus daily. Some members here have a hard time gaining.
If Alan Aragon can't put weight on me i'm certain you can't. Sorry for dropping names, sometimes it's needed

Then eat even more. You are not outside the laws of thermodynamics.

Oh I did, 2500+ daily, gained 1 pound per month after 6 months of eating as much as I could. Lost those 6 pounds in 2 weeks from not tracking. Science is not fact.

Might be that I never dieted and created an excess of fat cells. Who knows?

We get it. You're awesome. You've never been fat. Why do you feel the need to tell the MFP community this at EVERY CHANCE YOU GET when the pretense for saying it is always so thin and transparent.

This is MYFITNESS PAL. I just might be trying to tell you all that one diet or form of exercise does not fit all. Think for yourselves and do your own research.

...says the spokesperson for the MFP 1%.

Oh and by the way, injuries can keep you flat out in bed ,
I have lost muscle but not weight even though I've been eating 2000 plus daily. Some members here have a hard time gaining.
If Alan Aragon can't put weight on me i'm certain you can't. Sorry for dropping names, sometimes it's needed

Then eat even more. You are not outside the laws of thermodynamics.

Oh I did, 2500+ daily, gained 1 pound per month after 6 months of eating as much as I could. Lost those 6 pounds in 2 weeks from not tracking. Science is not fact.

Might be that I never dieted and created an excess of fat cells. Who knows?

Lolwut?

You might want to look up the root of the word "science". You might learn just how hilarious that statement was.

Hahaha!
Science leaves ample space for variation.
I am an outlier according to the tests I've had, or you can call me snowflake, freak, whatever you'd prefer.

You just told us you gained weight when you ate over maintenance?

Oh and by the way, injuries can keep you flat out in bed ,
I have lost muscle but not weight even though I've been eating 2000 plus daily. Some members here have a hard time gaining.
If Alan Aragon can't put weight on me i'm certain you can't. Sorry for dropping names, sometimes it's needed

Then eat even more. You are not outside the laws of thermodynamics.

Oh I did, 2500+ daily, gained 1 pound per month after 6 months of eating as much as I could. Lost those 6 pounds in 2 weeks from not tracking. Science is not fact.

Might be that I never dieted and created an excess of fat cells. Who knows?

Lolwut?

You might want to look up the root of the word "science". You might learn just how hilarious that statement was.

Hahaha!
Science leaves ample space for variation.
I am an outlier according to the tests I've had, or you can call me snowflake, freak, whatever you'd prefer.

You just told us you gained weight when you ate over maintenance?

Well, maintenance on a 100 pound girl is not usually 2500+ per day when you're not doing anything. My RMR is 970, RMR averages out to almost 1100. Eating over 2500 meant eat all day, do nothing else.

I think if 2000+ is working, then good for you & if 1200-1400 is working, then good for you. Everyone's body works differently & our exercise levels are all different. I hope we all lose weight & feel great.

This ^^^^

I feel the exact same way.

Oh and by the way, injuries can keep you flat out in bed ,
I have lost muscle but not weight even though I've been eating 2000 plus daily. Some members here have a hard time gaining.
If Alan Aragon can't put weight on me i'm certain you can't. Sorry for dropping names, sometimes it's needed

Then eat even more. You are not outside the laws of thermodynamics.

Oh I did, 2500+ daily, gained 1 pound per month after 6 months of eating as much as I could. Lost those 6 pounds in 2 weeks from not tracking. Science is not fact.

Might be that I never dieted and created an excess of fat cells. Who knows?

We get it. You're awesome. You've never been fat. Why do you feel the need to tell the MFP community this at EVERY CHANCE YOU GET when the pretense for saying it is always so thin and transparent.

This is MYFITNESS PAL. I just might be trying to tell you all that one diet or form of exercise does not fit all. Think for yourselves and do your own research.

If only that was the real reason but that is decidedly not why you post.

Oh and by the way, injuries can keep you flat out in bed ,
I have lost muscle but not weight even though I've been eating 2000 plus daily. Some members here have a hard time gaining.
If Alan Aragon can't put weight on me i'm certain you can't. Sorry for dropping names, sometimes it's needed

Then eat even more. You are not outside the laws of thermodynamics.

Oh I did, 2500+ daily, gained 1 pound per month after 6 months of eating as much as I could. Lost those 6 pounds in 2 weeks from not tracking. Science is not fact.

Might be that I never dieted and created an excess of fat cells. Who knows?

We get it. You're awesome. You've never been fat. Why do you feel the need to tell the MFP community this at EVERY CHANCE YOU GET when the pretense for saying it is always so thin and transparent.

This is MYFITNESS PAL. I just might be trying to tell you all that one diet or form of exercise does not fit all. Think for yourselves and do your own research.

If only that was the real reason but that is decidedly not why you post.

Why do I post?

Oh and by the way, injuries can keep you flat out in bed ,
I have lost muscle but not weight even though I've been eating 2000 plus daily. Some members here have a hard time gaining.
If Alan Aragon can't put weight on me i'm certain you can't. Sorry for dropping names, sometimes it's needed

Then eat even more. You are not outside the laws of thermodynamics.

Oh I did, 2500+ daily, gained 1 pound per month after 6 months of eating as much as I could. Lost those 6 pounds in 2 weeks from not tracking. Science is not fact.

Might be that I never dieted and created an excess of fat cells. Who knows?

We get it. You're awesome. You've never been fat. Why do you feel the need to tell the MFP community this at EVERY CHANCE YOU GET when the pretense for saying it is always so thin and transparent.

Valid question is valid.

OH! I know the answer to this!!!

Because she's always been thin!!!!


Asked and answered in the question.

sooooo... that means I know nothing about nutrition and exercise?

Since you use yourself as a prime example and you, yourself, say you're an outliner and only provide anecdotal evidence based on your <1% representation of the general population. I would say that as applied to the other 99%, that is an accurate statement. You typcially only seem to post to garner some sort of enjoyment out of pointing out the fact that you have never been overweight and cannot seem to gain weight because you're a special snowflake (your term for yourself).