Min Cals for men?

Could you? Sure, absolutely, no one is gonna stop you.

Now should you? Uhhh... bit trickier. Are you obese? I did 1200 when I was below morbid obese but stil obese, and it worked fine for me. With less to lose, it seems sort of pointless, being way more likley to cost you LBM for no real gain, since you have less body fat to spend on calorie deficits. Plus, getting enough protein can be a bit rough.

Like I said, I did it, hell, I did less then 1200 to get out of morbid, and I'm doing 1500 now, so I'm not about to ***** you out for doing it, if you'd like. But do note that it's probably sub optimal, you'll prolly feel a bit hungry, and also (less importantly) that you're gonna get yelled at by other posters. Expect to see the phrase "ruined metabolism" and "starvation" tossed around.

One last note, the standard min is 1800/day, I think.

Your personal minimum is what MFP says you should be eating to lose two pounds per week.

Why not go for a cool 1,000?

cuz ur a troll

Not a troll. You just seem determined to eat as little as possible and promote it to other people.

I agree....I've watched the posts recently from the OP (some of which have been pulled by MFP staff) and they clearly promote an unhealthy mind set :-(

OK do you guys really think 1200 is unhealthy? Im at 1500 cals now and its going slow slow slow... Ive run 40-50 miles a week on 1200 calories and was in perfect health. The reason Im doing 1500 now is that I had weird psych effects and mood swings which I attribute to a lack of fat which probably lead to a massive deficiency in testosterone and other hormone production. But compared to when I was doing 1200 cals Im losing weight at maybe half the rate - though I do feel much healthier, both physically and mentally.

seek help.

I don't think eating 1200 calories a day is healthy at all for a guy unless you're on a supervised diet with your doctor or something. Secondly, why would you want to restrict your calories so much?

I think a healthier and more sustainable approach would be to calculate your TDEE, subtract 20% from that, and eat at that level for a week or two. Weigh yourself, check your progress, if you're losing around 1-2 lbs a week then you're in good shape, if not, adjust accordingly until you get there.

Not only is that healthier for you, but you'll feel much better as well and will still get to enjoy eating. You'll still get to your goal over time, and most likely without sacrificing as much muscle mass as your current approach.

I'm losing around 1 lb a week currently eating 2300 calories a day, no way I could handle 1200 calories a day, I'd be starving all day long.

The issue for me with is that 1200 is FAST - I've lost 14 lbs in 1.5 weeks using 1200 cal diet with no carbs plus walking. Sure a lot is water but 14 lbs is very noticeable. I started running and eating 1500 cals and I lost about 7 lbs since 10/15 .... Kinda slow after you've lost 25lbs in a month and a half before on 1200 cals plus running.

It's fast but also unhealthy. 14 lbs in 1.5 weeks is insane weight loss. Out of that 14 lbs probably only 2-4 lbs of that was actual fat, most of it probably being water weight, and the rest being muscle mass which is bad.

If you've been on this site for a while and have read up on weight loss and other health related topics then you know that losing much more than 2-3 lbs a week is simply unhealthy and not recommended. The approach you're taking is not healthy.

I've lost 14 lbs but it's been over about 12 weeks. It's slower, but it's almost all been fat as my lifts have all gone up since a couple months ago and my pants are looser while my shirts are tighter in my chest/shoulder/arm areas. If you slow the weight loss down, you should lose mostly fat which is what you really want to lose. You want to keep as much muscle as possible when losing weight.

The other issue with losing so fast is you can't get very many nutrients in your body when you're only taking in 1200 calories a day, or even 1500 for that matter. How much protein can you take in with only 1500 calories? What about vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, etc? Those are also important for your body.

Do what you think is best, but its common knowledge that losing weight that fast is unhealthy and not recommended. Good luck to you.

The issue for me with is that 1200 is FAST - I've lost 14 lbs in 1.5 weeks using 1200 cal diet with no carbs plus walking. Sure a lot is water but 14 lbs is very noticeable. I started running and eating 1500 cals and I lost about 7 lbs since 10/15 .... Kinda slow after you've lost 25lbs in a month and a half before on 1200 cals plus running.

It's fast but also unhealthy. 14 lbs in 1.5 weeks is insane weight loss. Out of that 14 lbs probably only 2-4 lbs of that was actual fat, most of it probably being water weight, and the rest being muscle mass which is bad.

If you've been on this site for a while and have read up on weight loss and other health related topics then you know that losing much more than 2-3 lbs a week is simply unhealthy and not recommended. The approach you're taking is not healthy.

I've lost 14 lbs but it's been over about 12 weeks. It's slower, but it's almost all been fat as my lifts have all gone up since a couple months ago and my pants are looser while my shirts are tighter in my chest/shoulder/arm areas. If you slow the weight loss down, you should lose mostly fat which is what you really want to lose. You want to keep as much muscle as possible when losing weight.

The other issue with losing so fast is you can't get very many nutrients in your body when you're only taking in 1200 calories a day, or even 1500 for that matter. How much protein can you take in with only 1500 calories? What about vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, etc? Those are also important for your body.

Do what you think is best, but its common knowledge that losing weight that fast is unhealthy and not recommended. Good luck to you.

quoting again to drill it home.

I bet you'd feel even better at 1800 calories a day and probably still lose 2.5-3 lbs a week at that level. Could fit in more nutrients that way as well.

Good luck!

Hello .. I started at 5'7" and weighed over 200 lbs. Before I used to try to lose eating 1000-1200 and not eating back my exercise. I lost 25 got "weak" and gained it all back.

Now I am down 20 lbs by eating over 2000 per day. I eat back most of my exercise calories and I am constantly setting personal bests in cardiovascular activities.

1800.

Thank you MFP:

You will perform better with more carbs and weight lifting... Trust me... I play a doctor on TV and can run 2 miles in sub 14min at 190lbs 5'10, with a 265-275 Bench Press, 335 Squat, 365 Deadlift; which is NOT IMPRESSIVE... I ran a Marathon in June as well, and climbed Mailbox Peak 5 days after. Basically, it's about being a badass, not about dieting yourself into Mr. Twig and Ms. Pencil. What's your height and weight? If your 5'10 and below 200 I'll tell you to climb steep *kitten* mountains, go for journeys, destroy your legs through stairs, sprints, prowlers, hill sprints and marathons, and lift heavy, and eat like a man. Time to put some octane in that fuel son.