Anyone having a hard time reaching 1200 cal?

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  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
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    Nuts. Seeds. Avocado. Chocolate. Cheese. Olive oil. "Junk food"
    All these things can add a good boost of calories without making you feel bloated.

    Wait. None of that is "junk food".

    What are you saying?

    Exactly. None of those items would be considered junk food. Except for avocado, which I don't care for, I eat all those other things pretty much every day. Lots of good nutrition there.
  • SunnyDee712
    SunnyDee712 Posts: 28 Member
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    Peanut butter is my go-to! If I have calories left over at the end of the day and I'm still hungry, I grab that jar! Yummy!!! :love:
  • RebeccaC2410
    RebeccaC2410 Posts: 14 Member
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    Im new to dieting..Why is it bad if you don't eat your 1200?
  • NoMeat101
    NoMeat101 Posts: 20
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    I'm in your position too.

    I'm gluten free & vegetarian, and a simple, but picky eater. I don't like nuts or seeds, can't stand the texture of them. Gluten free crackers & stuff is too expensive and I'd probably eat a whole box of crackers in one go.. My food diary only began yesterday, on a splurge day, and I was still 189 calories under. But well over in my sugar, but I knew that... maple syrup... mmm!

    I'm definitely almost always eating not enough. But to me I feel like it is enough, I feel very full to the point I don't want to move off the couch, but an hour or so I'm hungry again and eat something else, but never enough. I'm going to have to try something, I'm thinking of getting some Nutella & dipping baby carrots into it or something.


    In saying all that - my weight has significantly decreased on the scales since I went gluten free, probably from eating less calories. BUT - I've noticed no physical change which is what I'm now exercising & eating a bit cleaner to work towards. I've kind of plateaued though with my weight on the scales from eating better..
  • tamaron4
    tamaron4 Posts: 2 Member
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    Try eating a piece of toast with 1 tsp peanut butter or even a single hard boiled egg. Another option is one of the single serve cups of blue bell ice cream as a snack or treat.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
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    Im new to dieting..Why is it bad if you don't eat your 1200?

    Undereating is bad because you're not providing enough energy to your body for it to maintain it's vital functions. It can lead to eating disorders, skeletal muscle loss through catabolism, cracked fingernails, hair loss, fatigue, organ shutdown, and a myriad of other symptoms.
  • olehcat
    olehcat Posts: 92 Member
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    I seriously don't get this. I can't do 1200 because I can't be compliant. I love to eat.

    I had quite a few calories to play with today because I exercised for almost 2 hours today. It was just no problem for me. I'm done for today and very satisfied.

    If you have a few hundred calories to eat, try a drink that isn't water, try peanut butter or almond butter, try something that isn't necessarily healthy (small percentage of non-healthy food isn't going to kill you), try something dense like nuts or avocado. Drizzle olive oil on your salad.
  • atlantisak
    atlantisak Posts: 31
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    I suspect you're not logging every single thing you eat, including the butter/oil you cook your foods in, any dressings, drinks, etc. All of it can add up.

    Like other posters are saying, if you have difficulty reaching 1200 calories a day, then you wouldn't be in the position where you need to lose weight in the first place. I have a hard time believing anyone who overeats to the point of being overweight/obese would suddenly have no appetite and no desire to binge.

    If indeed you do have this issue, well, you're lucky. I would seriously reassess your diary, though, and pay much more attention to every single thing you are consuming. Be honest with yourself. If you aren't completely sure about how much of something you've consumed, it's better to overestimate than underestimate.

    Well, we do get older, we change, our preferences and mental states change. I had a huge growth spurt when I was around 10ish that made me 20 inches taller...I was stuffing my face to compensate and never did. I did cut back on things but my boyfriend (now ex) ate really terribly and I did the same. Didn't really think to pay attention to calories...they were never brought up to me in my life as something to pay attention to. My ex put me through prolonged extreme stress before we separated ways...and I just stopped eating one day. It was hard to get more than fluids, a cup of shrimp and a few cups of broccoli in me most days. I didn't feel hunger at all. That lasted for about 6-8 months. Got into a better situation...ate a bit better but still not a lot, got back into another extreme stress situation and stopped eating again. I lost a total of about 65lbs as a result. I've been trying to recover since then but it's been hard. Until I joined MFP, I thought I was eating well. In logging my calories, I found I was consistently having a hard time meeting the goal they gave me (about 1,270cals) a day. I have no appetite. I don't like candies, sugars, sweet things, carbs, fatty foods, etc. My stomach physically hurts when trying to eat something heavy or calorie dense so I haven't felt good the last two days. Yesterday and today I revised my goal to 1,800 minimum calories to see if that can change my weight loss and eating.

    So, not everyone is the same. Life happens to change us.

    Also, no...I don't think I'd consider myself lucky. Uncomfortable, miserable, sore, tired. I've done a LOT of sleeping yesterday and today.

    And yes, I log EVERY bit of oil, butter, sugar, etc.
  • atlantisak
    atlantisak Posts: 31
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    Im new to dieting..Why is it bad if you don't eat your 1200?

    Undereating is bad because you're not providing enough energy to your body for it to maintain it's vital functions. It can lead to eating disorders, skeletal muscle loss through catabolism, cracked fingernails, hair loss, fatigue, organ shutdown, and a myriad of other symptoms.

    That's what I've been hearing over and over (right along people advocating eating 1,200 calories too...not sure which to believe). But my previous post explains my situation with not eating enough. Yes, not eating enough over a long period of time can really screw your body up, bring on an eating disorder, change your appearance (not just by weight loss), and yes, organ shut-down. I'm thankful that none of these things have affected me (the ED was a result of stress, not dieting) but I've seen a huge number of people who have struggled and hurt themselves through not eating enough because of long-term calorie restriction. Not sure the 'magic' number where it gets bad calorie wise or time wise, but it scares me to have seen the possibilities out there.
  • chelseascounter
    chelseascounter Posts: 1,283 Member
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    Nope. Macadamia nuts, really high in cals. Or I'll make scrambled eggs with olive oil.
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
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    No matter how hard I try, by the end of the day, I have 200-400 calories left! I usually burn around 300 calories in exercise. After dinner, I'm just never hungry. I'm never hungry through out the day.

    Does anyone else have this problem?

    No I never have this problem. I eat at least 1400 and usually more. How did you gain weight???
  • Sarahnade42x
    Sarahnade42x Posts: 308 Member
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    I don't understand all the posts here acting like it's insane you have trouble reaching 1200. I've been through the exact same thing, and I'm sure lots of others on MFP have too. Sometimes after 900 I'm just not hungry anymore and it feels like a waste to eat 300 unwanted calories at 10pm just to say I hit the number. Anyways, what I did is increase the amount I eat at breakfast to about 400-500 cals and just go through the rest of my day like normal (after I started strength training my appetite went up, too).
  • callie006
    callie006 Posts: 151 Member
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    When I start watching what I eat, I often have trouble eating enough for the first two weeks or so. I'm so paranoid about going over that I bypass calories all day, and by the time ti gets to night, I just am not that hungry. I joke that I'm good at eating either 1000 calories or over 2500 but not so much hitting the middle of that range. For me it passes, and I generally have no trouble going over 1200 (and then some) calories on average over the course of a week.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
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    I don't understand all the posts here acting like it's insane you have trouble reaching 1200. I've been through the exact same thing, and I'm sure lots of others on MFP have too. Sometimes after 900 I'm just not hungry anymore and it feels like a waste to eat 300 unwanted calories at 10pm just to say I hit the number. Anyways, what I did is increase the amount I eat at breakfast to about 400-500 cals and just go through the rest of my day like normal (after I started strength training my appetite went up, too).


    Allow me to break it down for you. The majority of MFP users join MFP because they are overweight and want to lose weight. In order to become overweight, you would have had to eat above your TDEE for a fairly long period of time depending on the actual surplus. So since the OP wants to lose weight, we know that she must have been consuming much more than 1200 calories per day for an extended period. Suddenly being unable to consume 1200 calories, a pithy amount if I am being totally honest, is very very odd. As I said earlier, it is usually the result of someone trying to eat nothing but "healthy" foods which are usually very low calorie compared to their actual mass.

    And 1200 calories is considered low enough as it is. Eating several hundred calories below that for an extended period is definitely not recommended.
  • Supertact
    Supertact Posts: 466 Member
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    Allow me to break it down for you. The majority of MFP users join MFP because they are overweight and want to lose weight. In order to become overweight, you would have had to eat above your TDEE for a fairly long period of time depending on the actual surplus. So since the OP wants to lose weight, we know that she must have been consuming much more than 1200 calories per day for an extended period. Suddenly being unable to consume 1200 calories, a pithy amount if I am being totally honest, is very very odd. As I said earlier, it is usually the result of someone trying to eat nothing but "healthy" foods which are usually very low calorie compared to their actual mass.

    And 1200 calories is considered low enough as it is. Eating several hundred calories below that for an extended period is definitely not recommended.

    Let me throw in my 2 cents. When I started dieting I chose to do a paleo diet.
    At first I was struggling to hit 1,200 because I was eating lots of healthy foods with low calories.
    I was very full but knew this wasn't enough calories. So I added things like avocado, almonds, flax seed, tuna.
    Higher calorie stuff.

    The reason why it's hard to eat enough calories eating paleo or vegetarian is because most things like veggies and chicken breast are filling but low calories.
  • comalua1
    comalua1 Posts: 80
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    all the doubters need to just keep it to themselves.

    i have trouble, too... it's usually around the 250 mark, but i just don't want to eat anything else. when that happens, i grab a glass of wine before bed lol... not filling, and definitely adds on the calories.

    i didn't gain 25 pounds by eating too much. i gained it by eating too much *for my lifestyle*. i used to be a runner, even completed a marathon in 4:11:44 back in the day, but then I stopped...

    last january i went on unemployment after having worked at a sit down job for two years. here came the weight.

    1200 calories is a LOT for me.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
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    all the doubters need to just keep it to themselves.

    i have trouble, too... it's usually around the 250 mark, but i just don't want to eat anything else. when that happens, i grab a glass of wine before bed lol... not filling, and definitely adds on the calories.

    i didn't gain 25 pounds by eating too much. i gained it by eating too much *for my lifestyle*. i used to be a runner, even completed a marathon in 4:11:44 back in the day, but then I stopped...

    last january i went on unemployment after having worked at a sit down job for two years. here came the weight.

    1200 calories is a LOT for me.

    Who is doubting what? :huh:
  • comalua1
    comalua1 Posts: 80
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    The OP has logged for 4 days. She's probably excited to start her "diet". We all know what will happen after a couple weeks and a major holiday.

    completely inappropriate.
  • comalua1
    comalua1 Posts: 80
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    all the doubters need to just keep it to themselves.

    i have trouble, too... it's usually around the 250 mark, but i just don't want to eat anything else. when that happens, i grab a glass of wine before bed lol... not filling, and definitely adds on the calories.

    i didn't gain 25 pounds by eating too much. i gained it by eating too much *for my lifestyle*. i used to be a runner, even completed a marathon in 4:11:44 back in the day, but then I stopped...

    last january i went on unemployment after having worked at a sit down job for two years. here came the weight.

    1200 calories is a LOT for me.

    Who is doubting what? :huh:

    it just seems like a lot of people are claiming that the OP is not tracking everything. even if she misses a glass of milk or something, there *are* those of us who have trouble fitting in all the calories, particularly if we're new to it, like I am. I don't know what "costs" how many calories, etc, so it's kind of play it by ear.

    i eventually intend to plan out a menu for a few days or even a week, but right now i'm eating low calorie foods and it's very difficult for me to make 1200 calories.
  • obsidianwings
    obsidianwings Posts: 1,237 Member
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    all the doubters need to just keep it to themselves.

    i have trouble, too... it's usually around the 250 mark, but i just don't want to eat anything else. when that happens, i grab a glass of wine before bed lol... not filling, and definitely adds on the calories.

    i didn't gain 25 pounds by eating too much. i gained it by eating too much *for my lifestyle*. i used to be a runner, even completed a marathon in 4:11:44 back in the day, but then I stopped...

    last january i went on unemployment after having worked at a sit down job for two years. here came the weight.

    1200 calories is a LOT for me.

    Who is doubting what? :huh:

    it just seems like a lot of people are claiming that the OP is not tracking everything. even if she misses a glass of milk or something, there *are* those of us who have trouble fitting in all the calories, particularly if we're new to it, like I am. I don't know what "costs" how many calories, etc, so it's kind of play it by ear.

    i eventually intend to plan out a menu for a few days or even a week, but right now i'm eating low calorie foods and it's very difficult for me to make 1200 calories.
    So stop eating such low calorie foods then :/ thats kind of the point everyone is getting at.

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