1200 calorie

Well, more than 1200 calories a day. There are very few people who should be doing a 1200 calorie a day diet. If you do intend to do that you have to pay a lot of attention to getting lots of nutrition into those calories.

I would aim for a window instead of 1200, like 1200-1500 cals a day, for starters. It's hard to stay at 1200, and like many will say, there is really no need for it for most.

Breakfast:
Egg Whites + Veggie Scramble
Piece of Fruit

Snack:
Piece of Fruit + Lean Protein ( I usually just have 1/2 scoop of whey or almond milk)

Lunch:
4 oz lean meat
2-3 cups of veggies
1/3-1/2 cup of brown rice/sweet potato/quinoa

Snack:
Veggies and a healthy fat
OR
Protein Shake

Dinner:
4-6 oz lean meat
2-3 cups of veggies
Tbsp of olive oil or 1/4 avocado (or some other healthy fat)

This usually adds up to somewhere between 1350-1500 for me. Good luck!

You can eat anything you want, as long as you are not too hungry and it fits into your macros as much as possible.
Please calculate TDEE and then subtract 15-20% to create a deficit and eat at that.

Breakfast: Greek Yogurt parfait with granola
Snack: Grapes or Oranges with Egg Whites or cheese
Lunch: Lean Cuisine and raw veggies
Snack: Apple and almonds or PB
Dinner: 4oz Chicken 4oz of carbs 8oz of steamed veggies

Its do able just have to check labels and limit sauces and dips.

You can eat anything you want, as long as you are not too hungry and it fits into your macros as much as possible.
Please calculate TDEE and then subtract 15-20% to create a deficit and eat at that.

Here's a good calculator for that: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Just be honest with your activity level. And note this includes your exercise, so you wouldn't eat those calories back. I like it because it takes away the whole stress of worrying if the numbers on the treadmill are actually correct. (Which they're usually not - I've yet to see one that asks for body fat %, which is a HUGE factor in your calorie burns.)

Re: body fat% ..... my guess is that machines that ask for your gender are guesstimating your body fat percent using that. But, yeah .... still way off.

fruit, salad, lean protein
my tdee - 20% is 1300 but I set my goal to 1200 in case any calories sneak in while I am not looking!
So far I am losing.

Interesting.

MFP tells me I should be eating 1200 cal, I do my best to excercise for another 300.
The Scooby's workshop link tells me I should be eating 1800 cal.

I don't have a lot of weight to lose, just that last 10 pounds. I run 35-40 minutes 3 times a week and do weight training 3 days a week which makes up my 300-350 cal exercise each day. Another couple hundred calories a day would be awesome but it's hard to say what the right thing to do is.

That is helpful thanks, I didn't realize I had my goals set at 1.5 pounds a week. Just dropping it down to 1 pound gave me an extra 160 cal/day.

I've just started calorie counting for the first time in my life and I'm aiming to get under 1200 per day for a few week at least to kick start some real weight loss, then reassess my intake from there. I start the day with a coffee with half a sugar and milk (coffee is a hunger suppressant), then I am eating a small late (9:30am-10am) breakfast of a 34g sachet of unflavoured oats and two dessertspoons of trailmix with full fat milk and honey (400 calories). I bought the sachets rather than the regular packet because I know exactly how much are in them and I can't slip up. I am replacing lunch with an apple eaten around 2-3pm then an orange at 4pm or so. That all leaves me with around 650 calories for dinner and it's pretty easy to come in under 650 calories with a dinner of a piece of meat or fish with vegetables (skipping rice, pasta or potatoes for the moment) or a yummy vegetarian soup with red lentils or other "filler". So I find that although I am getting a little hungry between 12pm and dinner, at least I know I don't really have to be too careful with my food intake at dinner and that gives me something to which to look forward. Hope this helps.

Exercising helps stay within the 1200 calorie goal. MFP calculates your exercise calories into your goal.

Well I have determined that 1200 calories is not good for me. I've been sticking to it and eating about half my exercise calories.

Last night I was ready to eat my own leg and a sobbing, weepy mess on the couch when hubby was 45 minutes late for work because I was ready to go on a run but I was soooo hungry.

I ate a little bit, went on that run.

Weighed myself this morning and I have lost 4 pounds in 3 days. That's just not healthy, weight that comes off that fast, doesn't stay off. So I'm going to try bumping up to 1600/day plus half of exercise calories and see how that goes. I only have 9 pounds left to go (and then maybe another 5 to fine tune, we'll see) and I want it to stay off. I've lost this 15 pounds every Fall for 4 years in a row now and put it right back on.

I'm new to fitness pal and am trying to stick to 1200-1500 calories a day. Leaning toward 1200 and 100 carbs a day for a month. I need to get my A1c numbers down or it's shots for me. I'm not losing anything and in fact, I gained a couple of pounds. I've been walking every day, 8000-10000 steps. I know I should add more exercise but don't have the time. Any ideas on what can help me lose weight?

I'm drinking a Carnation Instant drink for breakfast, 2 T of peanut butter for a snack in the mid morning and a Smart ones, lean cuisine or similar for lunch 250-300 calories and No MORE than 39 carbs per meal, then for dinner 3-4 oz of protein typically chicken, and veggies and a cup of milk. My evening "snack" is a sugar free popsicle and sometimes some almonds. that's it.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Further information is required if you want any assistance.

What is your BMR? How heavy are you (and how much weight do you have to lose)? Have you exercised at all before starting to walk recently?

Small banana for breakfast, an Amy's Light and Lean for lunch, dinner is proteins and carbs and "whatever" as long as I weigh and/or measure. To be frank, I rarely hit an honest 1200. It's a rare day when I'm not 100+ over, but a MUCH rarer day when I'm 200+ over. It's a guideline and it helps me to have a guideline

I eat 1200 calories (roughly) for dinner.

If I had to eat 1200 calories a day, I would be in a constant bad mood.

Even at my size, I *can* do 1200 in a day and not be in a bad mood, craving things, etc. etc. etc. I have roughly 80 lbs of fat that will allow me to sustain a 2200kcal per day deficit if I want to (really could go 2500 without sacrificing any LBM, but I err on the side of caution). I don't hit that every day, but some days I do. Don't believe the hype - you can eat at a large deficit if you have enough body fat. It's perfectly healthy. How much of a deficit you can safely support depends on your fat mass and how well you structure your macros.

6'6" man, 290 lbs, roughly 30%BF
I target 2000 kcal/day with 200g of protein.
I find my *measured* TDEE at about 3200kcal on a normal day. up to 4500+ if I really push it. On those days I'll eat about 2200-2300 kcal
I've lost 30 lbs of fat in the past 7 weeks, with no LBM loss and only the expected reduction in BMR.

The online TDEE calculators are inherently inaccurate. Basing your diet plan on that inaccurate number will probably work, but it won't be the most effective way unless you just happen to be one of the lucky few for whom the estimate is close to reality, and you have the same activity level every day. Your actual daily TDEE (and therefore your caloric needs) will change based on how active you are that day.

My point is that TDEE-20% is fine for an easy method to slowly lose weight. But, if you are willing to do some real research, you can probably sustain a much larger deficit. On the flip side, for those with very little weight to lose, TDEE-20% will cause LBM loss.

Figure out how much fat mass you have, try to hit a net daily deficit of a little less than 31kcal per lb of fat mass, and be sure you get at least .65g of protein per lb of LBM. Add in some weight training and you're set up nicely for really efficient and healthy fat loss. After that it's up to you to stay on top of your intake, your exercise, and sticking with the plan.