1200 calorie attack plans?

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RSS963
RSS963 Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 5'8 an I'm suppose to get 1200 calories a day. My questions are, What's worked for you?
Low Carb? Three meals of 400cal? Snacks all day long? Lots of Fruit? No fruit? All reduced fat everything? Coconut oil?
I would love to see some of your diaries in the 1200 calorie range to get a better idea of what I should be eating.
Feel free to add me, the more motivators the better!
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Replies

  • ThickMcRunFast
    ThickMcRunFast Posts: 22,511 Member
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    I'm 5'9...what worked for me was upping my calories to 1800.

    Seriously. You don't look like you have that much weight to lose. I suggest finding your TDEE and eating that -20% if you have over 20lbs to lose. It seems from your picture that you have less, so I would maybe shoot for -10% or -5%. 1200 calories is pretty low for anyone, let alone someone as tall as you.
  • nerakma
    nerakma Posts: 77 Member
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    My calorie goal came out to 1200 too ... but I am only 5'2". Seems very low for such a tall lady. Take the OP's advice about calculating a more realistic one.

    Sorry, no words of wisdom on how to stick to a calorie goal - I find it too easy to cut calories :embarassed:
  • notnikkisixx
    notnikkisixx Posts: 375 Member
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    I agree, up your calories! I did 1200 for a long time and it just isn't sustainable. I initially lost weight and then bottomed out. Since upping my calories to 1400-1600 I've started seeing results again.

    And for the record, I'm 5'4"
  • avskk
    avskk Posts: 1,789 Member
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    If I don't have snacks or booze (which is rare) I tend to end up around 1000-1200 calories naturally. It's not all that hard.

    Light English muffin with an egg, turkey bacon, and a little cheese for breakfast -- or a smoothie -- or a dry-fried egg, half an English muffin with Greek yogurt cream cheese, and fruit -- or cottage cheese, fruit, and honey.

    Sandwich on a bagel thin for lunch (51g deli meat, 1oz cheese), salad of 100g raw spinach, 100g cherry tomatoes, 100g baby carrots, 100g pepper strips -- or a can of tuna mixed with 25g avocado, 10g light mayo, mustard, relish, and 29g diced pickled beets, all on a bed of spinach -- or half a bagel thin with PB2, 30g deli meat rolled up, raw broccoli, carrots, and pepper slices, plus two tablespoons of hummus.

    Turkey burger with 1oz cheddar cheese, pile of green beans, dry-sauteed cherry tomato halves for dinner -- or 4oz baked salmon, lemon-nutmeg quinoa, and a steamed artichoke with light mayo and lemon juice -- or a stir-fry of chicken breast, broccoli/cauliflower, rice or hokkien noodles, low-sodium soy sauce, and Tsang's Bangkok peanut sauce -- or satueéd scallops, herbed couscous, and beet greens.

    Any combination of the above would get me between 700 and 900 calories for the day, leaving me 500 to 300 for snacks if I were doing 1200 calories/day (I'm actually aiming for 1550 before activity calories). Snacks could be a low-fat Greek yogurt, a moderate amount of popcorn, pieces of fruit, more veggies with maybe some light dressing, a frozen fruit bar...
  • monicapeterson54
    monicapeterson54 Posts: 34 Member
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    I'm 5'8 and on a 1200 calorie plan as well. It's not easy. I eat a lot of protein, drink a lot of water, and eat a TON of vegetables!
  • tanners63
    tanners63 Posts: 20 Member
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    What is TDEE? I am very new to this whole thing.
  • ThickMcRunFast
    ThickMcRunFast Posts: 22,511 Member
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    What is TDEE? I am very new to this whole thing.

    Total Daily Energy Expenditure...how much you burn in a day including exercise and all your metabolic functions. To lose weight, you should eat between your BMR (basal metabolic rate - how much you burn if you were laying in bed all day), and your TDEE. The closer you get to your goal weight, the smaller the deficit should be. If you want to maintain, eat exactly your TDEE. There are a few online calculators that can help.

    If you follow TDEE-20%, don't eat back exercise calories. If you follow MFP, eat them back (your deficit is already built into the MFP numbers, so not eating them back is creating a larger, perhaps unhealthy deficit)
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    I'm 5'9...what worked for me was upping my calories to 1800.

    Seriously. You don't look like you have that much weight to lose. I suggest finding your TDEE and eating that -20% if you have over 20lbs to lose. It seems from your picture that you have less, so I would maybe shoot for -10% or -5%. 1200 calories is pretty low for anyone, let alone someone as tall as you.

    This... Below is more validation for it. At the most your account should be at 1/2 lb per week and you should aim to eat 50-80% of your exercise calories.


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/506349-women-who-eat-more-than-1800-calories-a-day
  • hileeery
    hileeery Posts: 13
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    I'm 5'4 and i've been doing the 1200 kcal diet for almost 2 months. I don't really pay attention to divide 1200kcal equally during the day, sometimes i eat more for breakfast, sometimes for dinner or lunch! It depends!
    I lost almost 6kg in the first month, now i'm going slow! I'm also considering to go from 1200kcal to 1300/1400. I've read a lots of times here that if you adjust the calories, it will be better!
    I work out 4-5 days for week, i walk very fast and i really notice the difference looking at my body! I also do a lots of squats, crunches and some more exercises! Haha
    I learn day by day! It's fun! I suggest you to go check out Blogilates.com if you don't know it yet!!
    I hope I helped! Check out my diary if you want to!:)))
  • RSS963
    RSS963 Posts: 7
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    Thank you guys for all the helpful information! I've found that most of the time I eat more like 1400-1500, but my pedometer adds the extra calorie burn in and I never eat all of those back. My BMR is 1443 and my TDEE is 1984.
    I wondered why 1200 seemed so impossible. All of those online calculators suggested to lose, burn 200-300 cal and cut 200-300 out of the diet, which put me at that 1200 mark. To compensate, I was eating a little more and running a little more and sometimes letting myself get too hungry and THEN eating EVERYTHING! :smile:

    Thanks again!
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
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    With 2 lbs to lose (if you ticker is accurate) a very small deficit would be better. Consider changing your weekly loss goal to .5 lbs a week and eating back a portion from exercise.
  • helenrosemay
    helenrosemay Posts: 375 Member
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    I'm 5'5" and started off on 1200 calories. I lost a lot of weight, but noticed I was still hungry, especially when I included exercise in my day. I've now gone up to 1400, some days I'm under, but at least I'm not under 1200 when I go under. I've only started upping my calories this week, so I'll see if I still lose weight.
  • MzManiak
    MzManiak Posts: 1,361 Member
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    I'm 5'9...what worked for me was upping my calories to 1800.

    Seriously. You don't look like you have that much weight to lose. I suggest finding your TDEE and eating that -20% if you have over 20lbs to lose. It seems from your picture that you have less, so I would maybe shoot for -10% or -5%. 1200 calories is pretty low for anyone, let alone someone as tall as you.

    QFT

    I'm only 5'1"... I maintain at 1750 if I don't exercise more than a few times per week.
  • abickford82
    abickford82 Posts: 207
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    Are you working out? I did the 1,200 calorie thing in 2011 and yes, it works and it'll work fast...but if you're trying to live an active lifestyle you need to eat more. In the past week, I haven't been hungry much but still have gotten between 1300 to 1700 (with exercise) but normally I eat around 2000 calories and still lose weight (working out 2 hours a day).

    When it all comes down to it though, it's all trial an error. I've been at this weight loss thing for almost 5 years, and it's taken me a long time to see what works for my body.
  • unapologetically_crystal
    unapologetically_crystal Posts: 278 Member
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    i would say up your calories. find one of those websites that can tell you how much you should really be consuming. i personally upped my calories from 1200 because i started wanting to binge. i wasnt satisfied. i would lose my willpower. i knew something wasnt right. so i upped my calories and continued to lose weight. where before i was losing then gaining.. then having to lose it back.. and then gained again. vicious cycle. my poor body was hungry.
  • ajaxe432
    ajaxe432 Posts: 608 Member
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    I would configure your BMR than TDEE on top of that. Then take a 15-20 percent deficit:) A 1200 calorie diet is not recommended.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    My calorie goal came out to 1200 too ... but I am only 5'2". Seems very low for such a tall lady. Take the OP's advice about calculating a more realistic one.

    Sorry, no words of wisdom on how to stick to a calorie goal - I find it too easy to cut calories :embarassed:

    I'm 5'1" and lose at around 1850 cals/day

    how active you are makes a lot more difference than how tall you are.,... and I just lift weights and don't do cardio (apart from walking/running up stairs here and there) and 1500 cals/day is way too low for me.

    I agree with everyone who's suggesting raising your calorie goal. It's not about how quickly you can lose the weight.... it's about being able to stick to it for life (if you go back to your old eating habits, you will get fat again, guaranteed) so if you're finding it really difficult to stick to 1200 calories a day, my advice is to reset your goals for slower weight loss, exercise and eat back your exercise calories, then you get to eat a lot more, and it's a lot easier to stick to in the long term... which is what counts. 95% of diets fail in the long term, because people regain the weight... the usual reason why is they dieted in ways that were too restrictive, and they couldn't sustain it for life.
  • ClementineGeorg
    ClementineGeorg Posts: 505 Member
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    I'm 5'9...what worked for me was upping my calories to 1800.

    Seriously. You don't look like you have that much weight to lose. I suggest finding your TDEE and eating that -20% if you have over 20lbs to lose. It seems from your picture that you have less, so I would maybe shoot for -10% or -5%. 1200 calories is pretty low for anyone, let alone someone as tall as you.

    Heck, I'm 5'7 and I'm losing at 1800 calories. I know that aiming a great weekly loss, like 2-3 lbs a week. But if your not morbidly obesse, loosing at a smaller constant rate, like 1 lbs per week is more advisable, even health wise. Also, you are less likely to binge or get back to bad habbits when the `1200 calories` lifestyle ends.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
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    Thank you guys for all the helpful information! I've found that most of the time I eat more like 1400-1500, but my pedometer adds the extra calorie burn in and I never eat all of those back. My BMR is 1443 and my TDEE is 1984.
    I wondered why 1200 seemed so impossible. All of those online calculators suggested to lose, burn 200-300 cal and cut 200-300 out of the diet, which put me at that 1200 mark. To compensate, I was eating a little more and running a little more and sometimes letting myself get too hungry and THEN eating EVERYTHING! :smile:

    The suggestion to cut 200-300 calories means to cut them off your TDEE, NOT your BMR!

    If you're maintaining yoru weight, but you want to lose weight, then common advice is to create a caloric deficit, often of 500 calories a day (because that works out to about a pound a week). It can be done through burning more calories or eating fewer calories, or any combination of the two. So, assuming you are maintaining your current weight, you cut 250 calories out of your reagular diet, you add an activity that burns an extra 250 calories, and there you are.

    The problem is that most people don't actually know how many calories they burn day to day. That's what the calculators are for. And for doing the "eat 250 less" calculations, you need to find calculators that tell you how much you have currently been averaging to weigh as much as you weigh now. That number is your TDEE. (BMR is how much your body would need to maintain your weight if you were in bed comatose; as soon as you wake up, get up, and start moving around, you burn extra calories on top of that BMR).

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