1200 Calorie's per day... forever?
Hello!
Since I have started with MFP, I have lost a bit of weight. I am 5'3 and from what it looks like online, I am supposed to be eating 1600 + calories a day. From watching what I eat and controlling my portions, there is no way that I could ever go back to more than 1200 calories. I eat the right food and take tons of vitamins and am full and satisfied with the meals and periodic snacks I eat. Is this bad?? Should I shove food in my face to get the calories I should eat or am I fine staying around 1200 calories forever?
Thanks!
Shelby
Since I have started with MFP, I have lost a bit of weight. I am 5'3 and from what it looks like online, I am supposed to be eating 1600 + calories a day. From watching what I eat and controlling my portions, there is no way that I could ever go back to more than 1200 calories. I eat the right food and take tons of vitamins and am full and satisfied with the meals and periodic snacks I eat. Is this bad?? Should I shove food in my face to get the calories I should eat or am I fine staying around 1200 calories forever?
Thanks!
Shelby
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Replies
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1200 is usually too low for anyone. Depends on your basal metabolic rate. But, each person is different. My goal here started at 1720 cal and I've bumped it up a couple of times because my appetite was raging from 1/2 marathon training. I've transitioned to weight training again and bumped up slightly more.
Also depends on your goals for total health and fitness.0 -
This forum is "Goal: Gaining Weight". If you want to gain weight, you aren't fine staying at 1200 calories forever. That's a very bad plan for gaining weight.0
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Hello!
Since I have started with MFP, I have lost a bit of weight. I am 5'3 and from what it looks like online, I am supposed to be eating 1600 + calories a day. From watching what I eat and controlling my portions, there is no way that I could ever go back to more than 1200 calories. I eat the right food and take tons of vitamins and am full and satisfied with the meals and periodic snacks I eat. Is this bad?? Should I shove food in my face to get the calories I should eat or am I fine staying around 1200 calories forever?
Thanks!
Shelby
Eat whatever calories you want as long as you are eating enough. But 1200 calories forever? Good luck trying to keep that up. That number is for weight loss only, not maintenance.
Oh, and FYI, you posted in the Gaining Weight forum.0 -
Get a FitBit or a pedometer to sync with MyFitnessPal . It's a great way to give you perspective on how to eat more without gaining. I was sticking with 1200 calories a day and ALWAYS falling off the wagon and going WAY OVER due to faulty estimating. Or I was always starving. Now I'm able to make better choices and moving more, which is keeping my weight on a steady decline.0
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You already know that isn't healthy.
If you can possibly eat more than 1200 (I have a very hard time believing that) up it by 50 calories every couple of days until you are at a TRUE maintenance calorie level....probably closer to 2000 calories per day depending on your activity level0 -
You cannot remain on 1200 forever, because once you have reached your goal, you will, continue to lose weight. This is why once you reach your goal, you increased your food intake in order to maintain your goal weight.Hello!
Since I have started with MFP, I have lost a bit of weight. I am 5'3 and from what it looks like online, I am supposed to be eating 1600 + calories a day. From watching what I eat and controlling my portions, there is no way that I could ever go back to more than 1200 calories. I eat the right food and take tons of vitamins and am full and satisfied with the meals and periodic snacks I eat. Is this bad?? Should I shove food in my face to get the calories I should eat or am I fine staying around 1200 calories forever?
Thanks!
Shelby0 -
try and stay under 1200 on a diet of bacon and ice cream... Your elitist food choices most likely limit what you think you can eat... Nobody in the world can eat 1200 calories of lettuce.
When is the last time you ate pizza? Do you know what pizza is?0 -
I definitely wouldn't call 1600 calories a day "shoving food in my face." It's really not that much. A couple big spoons of peanut butter and you'll hit it.0
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Hello!
Since I have started with MFP, I have lost a bit of weight. I am 5'3 and from what it looks like online, I am supposed to be eating 1600 + calories a day. From watching what I eat and controlling my portions, there is no way that I could ever go back to more than 1200 calories. I eat the right food and take tons of vitamins and am full and satisfied with the meals and periodic snacks I eat. Is this bad?? Should I shove food in my face to get the calories I should eat or am I fine staying around 1200 calories forever?
Thanks!
Shelby
Let's see...
User handle has the appearance of a first and last name? Check
Hot button topic which has been discussed recently (and to death)? Check
Very recent account? Check
Initial post? Check
Wrong sub-forum? Check
Troll?0 -
Just in case you're not a troll...
You don't have to eat more to increase your calories. Just eat differently. Bangers & mash and lasagne are both about the same amount of food so both as filling as each other, but one is usually a few hundred calories more than the other. When I went on a diet, I didn't eat any less than before, I just ate differently. Drinks can add tonnes of calories, a glass of orange juice alone is 200 cals, and that won't fill you up any more than water.
Don't eat more, eat differently.0 -
My guess is you are eating way too low in fats and fat is important for your hormones so eat more avocado, whole eggs, full fat dairy, nut butters, nuts and seeds healthy oils like extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil.0
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Er....noooo. You'd just lose weight up until the point that 1200 calories eventually becomes your TDEE. For someone like me, at nearly 5'7", I'd have to be like...50 pounds or something.0
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My BMR is lower than 1200 calories a day. My work is very sedentary, and that's why I exercise almost every day. If you're small, and sedentary, yes, you might have a TDEE of around 1200 calories. But you probably don't have to be sedentary.0
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I feel your pain! I'm 5'1 (small, I know) and I eat around the same amount- plus the fact that I burn off most of it working out too! I have a super slow metabolism as well, I always have. But, eating 1,200 calories a day, I'm perfectly satisfied and full. I'm not trying to really lose or gain any weight, I just want to be healthy and fit, you know? I'm comfortable where I am and it sounds like you are too. I'm no doctor, so I don't know your specific calorie needs or if you're under-eating. But DON'T stuff your face, that just always ends bad! Binging isn't the answer! I get what you're saying though, even though its not much, I'm also full on this amount of food. I wish you the best of luck in finding the perfect diet!!!0
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I hope you are aware that a lower total energy expenditure comes with an increased risk of fat gain as you age. So why would you want to intentionally sustain a deficit chronically until your TEE adapts which would require you to eat significantly less to maintain weight? You may not even be consuming 1200 calories at the present, either, considering most people underestimate caloric intake which implies an underestimation of their actual TDEE as well.0
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Just in case you're not a troll...
You don't have to eat more to increase your calories. Just eat differently. Bangers & mash and lasagne are both about the same amount of food so both as filling as each other, but one is usually a few hundred calories more than the other. When I went on a diet, I didn't eat any less than before, I just ate differently. Drinks can add tonnes of calories, a glass of orange juice alone is 200 cals, and that won't fill you up any more than water.
Don't eat more, eat differently.
Excuse my ignorance... but what exactly are "Bangers and mash???"0 -
British dish, mashed potatoes and sausage...sounds way better the way they say it :-)0
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I LOVE the fact that you learn so much culturally on this site. Made me giggle that someone doesn't know what bangers and mash is. It's like me as a Brit learning so much about thanksgiving. Better than learning about if from 'Everybody loves Raymond' ????Just in case you're not a troll...
You don't have to eat more to increase your calories. Just eat differently. Bangers & mash and lasagne are both about the same amount of food so both as filling as each other, but one is usually a few hundred calories more than the other. When I went on a diet, I didn't eat any less than before, I just ate differently. Drinks can add tonnes of calories, a glass of orange juice alone is 200 cals, and that won't fill you up any more than water.
Don't eat more, eat differently.
Excuse my ignorance... but what exactly are "Bangers and mash???"0 -
I LOVE the fact that you learn so much culturally on this site. Made me giggle that someone doesn't know what bangers and mash is. It's like me as a Brit learning so much about thanksgiving. Better than learning about if from 'Everybody loves Raymond' ????Just in case you're not a troll...
You don't have to eat more to increase your calories. Just eat differently. Bangers & mash and lasagne are both about the same amount of food so both as filling as each other, but one is usually a few hundred calories more than the other. When I went on a diet, I didn't eat any less than before, I just ate differently. Drinks can add tonnes of calories, a glass of orange juice alone is 200 cals, and that won't fill you up any more than water.
Don't eat more, eat differently.
Excuse my ignorance... but what exactly are "Bangers and mash???"
The best post was the day somebody posted a topic called something like 'starting a diet and no more *kitten*!' and *kitten* of course means cigarettes, but some of the non-brits were up in arms before '*kitten*' got defined lol0 -
Actually, I feel like I am in the same boat as you! I am scared about being hungry forever.
(the people who say 1200 is too little for 'anybody' should go and punch in some short people stats into MFP - even MFP tells us shorties to eat 1200, and I spoke to a famous author of fitness books once, and he said short people should aim at around 1200, because the guidelines everyone else is reading is for people who are, on average, taller than us, and that he found that the majority of the short ladies in his program did not lose weight on more than 1200 net)
My daily goal is around 1100 - 1200 net, so if I exercise 300 cals, I will eat 1400 - 1500. But if I go over this, I either gain weight or at least certainly don't lose. I have lost 10 lbs at around 1100 net, and yesterday I was over about 100 cals, and gained half a pound back. And you know what? I am HUNGRY! The only way I can get through the day is I have to wait as late in the morning as I can stand it to eat my little banana and maybe a handful of nuts, then I have enough calories left over for a supper that will make my belly full enough so I can sleep. I love working out because on those days I can eat more. But I am worried because if I gain weight at 1200 -1300 cals net, that means if I want to keep my weight off, I will have to be hungry for the rest of my life. Or exercise more, so I can eat more, but I have a 3 year old little boy and I am working and going to school, I don't think I will ever be a 2 hours of exercise kind of girl - I'd rather be hungry and spend that time with my kid. Anyone else feel trapped? Had me a burger yesterday because I have been dying for 'real food' all this week, but then I had to have hardly anything for supper. tired of being hungry. I can't help thinking that my work would be more productive if I had a full tummy. But I can't fit in the exercise to give me more calories so I can eat more. What do we do?0 -
(the people who say 1200 is too little for 'anybody' should go and punch in some short people stats into MFP - even MFP tells us shorties to eat 1200, and I spoke to a famous author of fitness books once, and he said short people should aim at around 1200, because the guidelines everyone else is reading is for people who are, on average, taller than us, and that he found that the majority of the short ladies in his program did not lose weight on more than 1200 net)
Two people who plug the same weight in will get similar guidelines. As short people, we have less total lean body mass than a taller person, and weigh less when we're at our ideal weights. So yeah, when you're small, you don't burn as many calories. (It's physics, b-tches!)0 -
Actually, I feel like I am in the same boat as you! I am scared about being hungry forever.
....
My daily goal is around 1100 - 1200 net, so if I exercise 300 cals, I will eat 1400 - 1500. But if I go over this, I either gain weight or at least certainly don't lose. I have lost 10 lbs at around 1100 net, and yesterday I was over about 100 cals, and gained half a pound back. And you know what? I am HUNGRY! The only way I can get through the day is I have to wait as late in the morning as I can stand it to eat my little banana and maybe a handful of nuts, then I have enough calories left over for a supper that will make my belly full enough so I can sleep. I love working out because on those days I can eat more. But I am worried because if I gain weight at 1200 -1300 cals net, that means if I want to keep my weight off, I will have to be hungry for the rest of my life. Or exercise more, so I can eat more, but I have a 3 year old little boy and I am working and going to school, I don't think I will ever be a 2 hours of exercise kind of girl - I'd rather be hungry and spend that time with my kid. Anyone else feel trapped? Had me a burger yesterday because I have been dying for 'real food' all this week, but then I had to have hardly anything for supper. tired of being hungry. I can't help thinking that my work would be more productive if I had a full tummy. But I can't fit in the exercise to give me more calories so I can eat more. What do we do?
I am 5'1" and 100 lbs and maintaining currently at 1500 NET. I don't starve. In fact, I'm actually concerned that I'm not eating enough because my strength gains are a little slower than I like. My measurements have actually either stayed the same or gone down after I started strength training in maintenance(I've actually been reading this forum because I'm contemplating a slow bulk). My maximum cardio/circuit training/kickboxing workouts average 45 minutes--definitely not 2 hours (I work full time and have a 12 year old son). The weight you gained over the weekend is probably not fat gain. Your 1/4 lbs gain probably has more to do with the fact that ate a quarter pounder the day after you ate 500 calories total, and not going over 100 calories for the day.
TL;DR: , You're not resigned to 1100 calories a day forever even if you're short. Eat up!0 -
Hello!
Since I have started with MFP, I have lost a bit of weight. I am 5'3 and from what it looks like online, I am supposed to be eating 1600 + calories a day. From watching what I eat and controlling my portions, there is no way that I could ever go back to more than 1200 calories. I eat the right food and take tons of vitamins and am full and satisfied with the meals and periodic snacks I eat. Is this bad?? Should I shove food in my face to get the calories I should eat or am I fine staying around 1200 calories forever?
Thanks!
Shelby
Let's see...
User handle has the appearance of a first and last name? Check
Hot button topic which has been discussed recently (and to death)? Check
Very recent account? Check
Initial post? Check
Wrong sub-forum? Check
Troll?
:drinker: Astute!0 -
I too have this problem! SInce I stopped eating donuts and chocolate all day and started eating protein and veggies I have found myself too full to eat. People on here gave me the suggestions of putting olive oil or butter on my food, as well as drinking calories from things like V8 (not the fruity kind). It has been helping a lot! Although, I would also suggest working out because after I workout for an hour I have absolutely no issues netting my 1200 calories.
I would also like to add I am 5'2", 160 lbs, and put into MFP .5lbs a week weight loss.....and it put me at 1260 calories a day.0 -
My guess is you are eating way too low in fats and fat is important for your hormones so eat more avocado, whole eggs, full fat dairy, nut butters, nuts and seeds healthy oils like extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil.
Yep - this! Really easy to up calories with a tablespoon of peanut butter here, a handful of nuts there.0 -
I definitely wouldn't call 1600 calories a day "shoving food in my face."
funny, because i was thinking the same thing0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHHzie6XRGk
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