How do you lose the weight?

Personally I don't think its wise to go too low - you'll feel deprived and there's a risk your body will go into 'starvation' mode, where your metabolism slows right down and actually tries to hold onto fat, thinking that there's a famine!!

You need to change your eating habits for life, and under 1200 just isn't a sustainable way to live. Go steady, and the weight will come off, and stay off.

Only if your under the care of a doctor. If not then don't as long as your at a deficit you will lose the weight. I have lost 61 lbs. since last September and the lowest I have eaten was 1220 and that wasn't for long I felt it was to low. I eat 1500 and I still lose. I'm 5'1 and 39 years old.

It all depends on how big you are and what you eat now. Log a typical day eating e way you normally would and then cut back from that. If you find you were eating 3000 calories a day cutting back to 2000 would help you lose 2 lb a week. Just don't cut back so far you can't control your hunger and have lots of water and veggies on hand to fill the void. Btw I'm 6'2" 220lbs and eat about 1400-1650 calories a day for a 2lb per week loss. Also keep in mind the more you lose the lower your calorie goals should be. Try to control your weight loss so you don't get loose baggy skin. That's more depressing than the weight. It's also the reason you want to limit your loss.

I began my journey Sept. 1, 2012 and have lost 79 lbs so far. I average about a pound a week now - it was faster at first. I have between 12 and 22 lbs to go to my goal. I began by working with a dietitian since I am type II diabetic. I am also 56 with many years of struggling to lose weight.

My dietitian said I should start with approx. 1200 calories, but for me it was more important to try to "clean up" my eating. She also wanted me to eat a certain balance of carbs, protein, and fat. I eat fruit and veggies at almost every meal - fresh if possible. The thing that has given me success is to be sure everything I eat within the 1200 calories has impact. I don't do juice because it doesn't have the fiber to make me feel like I've eaten. I don't do sugar sweets (like cake, cookies, ice cream) because you only get a little filler and no nutritional value for the calories you invest. I know.... all calories are the same, but they sure don't feel the same to my body. I won't waste my calories on foods that won't be filling or healthy.

No, it's not okay. When you hit a plateau, and you will, where the hell do you go if you're already eating under 1200? Watch Layne Norton, PhD explain this. http://youtu.be/QHHzie6XRGk

the thing is you could fast for 3 weeks and have nothing but water and lose weight guaranteed, but it's not actually sustainable and sustainability is what MFP tries to promote.

Chances are you can eat very little for some period of time and you will lose, but if you are trying to lose weight in order to be healthier, fitter and thinner and to stay that way, then a life style change where you lose the weight slowly by reducing your cal intake and raising your cals out with exercise might be more useful in the long run ... just my opinion though :-)

Good old fashioned hard work with a regular exercise program and try to stick to a clean eating program with as much back to basic food as you can! Lots of fruits and veggies!

I lost all mine with keto. Best thing I ever did for myself. It's not for everyone, but it suits me just fine.

I REALLY want to lose the weight this time!! If you eat less than 1200 calories a day is that okay?

Oh lawd. Get ready for WW3! Haha, anytime you mention eating under 1200 a day, people are going to swarm. I think you need to be realistic in what you eat and your exercise regiment to lose weight long term. For me, that meant not giving up pizza, etc but just limiting it. I lost 30 pounds over the course of a year, but I stopped exercising (I got lazy), so I gained back 75% of what I lost. This time, I did something different. I lost 16lbs in two months from eating around 1000 calories a day. I also started doing weight training. It's what I had to do to break out of my endless never-losing cycle. I don't feel starved or weak or like I've done harm to my body. The way I see it, if you overeat for years, you aren't going to hurt yourself by under eating a few weeks to get the weight loss going. But I promise, I will be in the minority on here about that.

:laugh: When I read one of the early poster's comment about starvation mode, I rolled my eyes, because I know that the starvation mode debate is coming. *seeks shelter*

Follow "in place of a roadmap" by "helloitsdan"......use the search tool to find on MFP

IPORM:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet


Yes ^^^ This