1200 Is Not For Everyone?

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asianmonkie
asianmonkie Posts: 264
in Health and Weight Loss
I've consulted a lot of non-professionals about this and I'm hoping that maybe they're right.

I am 5 feet 1 inch and 131 pounds. I have been told that people my size should actually be eating LESS THAN 1200 calories a day. Specifically, I was told that 1050 calories a day is my minimum for losing weight without going into starvation mode. What's your take?
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  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    Sounds about right for your height and weight.

    I know when i first started losing weight (at 5'3 and 130 pounds) i MAINTAINED at 1600 a day. That means i needed 1100 cals to lose 1 pound per week.

    Good luck!
  • redheaddee
    redheaddee Posts: 2,005 Member
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    I've consulted a lot of non-professionals about this and I'm hoping that maybe they're right.

    I am 5 feet 1 inch and 131 pounds. I have been told that people my size should actually be eating LESS THAN 1200 calories a day. Specifically, I was told that 1050 calories a day is my minimum for losing weight without going into starvation mode. What's your take?

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    This calorie calculator calculates the optimal calorie intake and macro-nutrient values to lose fat or gain muscle. It also generates a perfect customized meal for you with proper portion size to help you achieve your goal. The calculator is based on the Harris-Benedict equation.


    1319 is what I got for your age, sedentary job, and 20% deficit for weight loss.
  • asianmonkie
    asianmonkie Posts: 264
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    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    This calorie calculator calculates the optimal calorie intake and macro-nutrient values to lose fat or gain muscle. It also generates a perfect customized meal for you with proper portion size to help you achieve your goal. The calculator is based on the Harris-Benedict equation.


    1319 is what I got for your age, sedentary job, and 20% deficit for weight loss.
    That seems really high especially because I'm not losing much weight as is on a 1200 calorie diet.
  • fruttibiscotti
    fruttibiscotti Posts: 987 Member
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    I think there are other variables you need to consider apart from gender and height, like build of your body, type of job (active or sedentary), workout type and duration, medical issues, etc.
  • Lynn_babcock
    Lynn_babcock Posts: 220 Member
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    1200 just seems to be their golden number. My husband, who is 6' tall, has the same minimum.. 1200 calories. Personally I think his should be a higher minimum if 1200 is my minimum to get adequate nutrition. So at 5'.. my thought is that you would require less calories than my husband who is a foot taller than you. Just my opinion.
  • mammamaurer
    mammamaurer Posts: 418 Member
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    I've consulted a lot of non-professionals about this and I'm hoping that maybe they're right.

    I am 5 feet 1 inch and 131 pounds. I have been told that people my size should actually be eating LESS THAN 1200 calories a day. Specifically, I was told that 1050 calories a day is my minimum for losing weight without going into starvation mode. What's your take?

    depends on your goals and activity, if your "laying" around the house all day then yeah, sure, but if your actualy oh i dont know doing some physical activity then no you need more.... unless your doctor says other wise
  • Joji_Bean
    Joji_Bean Posts: 18 Member
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    You might not be loosing much weight at 1200 cals per day because your body has already gone into starvation mode. Try 1300 cals per day and watch your fat and carb intake--I've always been told that no woman ought to be eating under 1200 cals per day if she is trying to loose weight in a healthy and sustainable way. No one can last long eating only 1000 cals per day!
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
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    Or you aren't losing at 1200 because you aren't weighing and measuring your food, and are actually eating more than 1200 calories.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    I'm 5'2, 128 pounds and eat around 1900 calories a day, see ticker below. JS
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
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    Or you aren't losing at 1200 because you aren't weighing and measuring your food, and are actually eating more than 1200 calories.

    This.


    I'm 5'3" and 142 pounds and lose a pound a week at 1800 calories. So. Something to consider.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    1200 just seems to be their golden number. My husband, who is 6' tall, has the same minimum.. 1200 calories. Personally I think his should be a higher minimum if 1200 is my minimum to get adequate nutrition. So at 5'.. my thought is that you would require less calories than my husband who is a foot taller than you. Just my opinion.
    He SHOULDN'T have a minimum of 1200 calories for men. That's like asking to screw up your test levels. =/

    The way MFP works is it will NEVER recommend someone eat less than 1200 calories. Why? Because there was a study that came out where physician recommended for the average WOMAN to not eat less than 1200 calories to combat nutritional deficiencies.

    Average woman being 5'6 and 160 pounds.

    They recommended the average MAN not eat less than 1400 calories (although i can't remember off the top of my head what they consider "average" for male).

    The reason it is selecting 1200 calories is probably because you are selecting "lose 2 pounds per week" when that is not an actually feasible goal. For example, for a man OR a woman.... let's just say they maintain at 2,000 calories per day. As you know the calculation MFP uses is -500 calories per 1 pound loss per week. So when you select "lose 2 pounds per week" it tries to subtract 1000 calories from your maintenance to come up with your goal.

    If it is defaulting to 1,200 that usually means you're weight loss goal of "2 lb per week" is BELOW 1200. So let's say you maintain at 2,000. You select lose 2 pounds per week. That would be 1,000 calories- BUT WAIT MFP cannot recommend ANYONE eat below 1,200! So it defaults to 1,200. So in reality you have 2 pounds per week, but it's suggesting 200 calories more. So you're expected weight loss is around 1.75 pounds.

    It's important to select the proper amount of pounds per week to lose based on your current weight. If you only have 10-20 to lose you shouldn't be expecting such aggressive results. 2 pounds per week is probably safe for someone in the obese or morbidly obese category.

    As for OP who is short... as you can see this is the way MFP is set up. It's based on an average. It will NEVER suggest less than 1,200 even if that is what is actually needed to lose 1 pound or 1.5 pounds per week.
  • asianmonkie
    asianmonkie Posts: 264
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    I have a desk job but my excises are like so:

    An hour walk on my lunch break
    5k run four days a week
    Lift weights twice a week (not very vigorous) for 15 minutes

    I do take into account that I may be building muscles hence the lack of weight loss but I was hoping that by decreasing my caloric intake, I could lose weight faster, but safely. All of your responses were really helpful, thank you.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    Or you aren't losing at 1200 because you aren't weighing and measuring your food, and are actually eating more than 1200 calories.

    +1
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    I have a desk job but my excises are like so:

    An hour walk on my lunch break
    5k run four days a week
    Lift weights twice a week (not very vigorous) for 15 minutes

    I do take into account that I may be building muscles hence the lack of weight loss but I was hoping that by decreasing my caloric intake, I could lose weight faster, but safely. All of your responses were really helpful, thank you.

    I'm sure you are not building muscle.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
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    I have a desk job but my excises are like so:

    An hour walk on my lunch break
    5k run four days a week
    Lift weights twice a week (not very vigorous) for 15 minutes

    I do take into account that I may be building muscles hence the lack of weight loss but I was hoping that by decreasing my caloric intake, I could lose weight faster, but safely. All of your responses were really helpful, thank you.

    I'm afraid that isn't the case.
  • amosmoses88
    amosmoses88 Posts: 163 Member
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    I weight more than you but I am 5'1" and weigh ....*sigh* 227lbs. BUT, I started this last year weighing in at 246lbs! So I lose 31lbs last year and like you, I started out at 1200 cals. I got ill with eating so little. I personally think 1200 is too low and really, everyone IS different, but the point is, your body is going to go in starvation mode if you don't up your cals. Trust me, do your TDEE and eat at that level. You'll see the weight to start to fall off and if you're exercising, don't be afraid to see that scale go UP because you're GAINING MUSCLE WEIGHT. But yeah, me personally I wouldn't do 1200. 1200 is just...way too low in my opinion.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    You aren't building muscle if you are actually eating 1200 or less calories per day.

    You need to eat more food, or you need to measure your food you are currently eating.

    FWIW, I lose more weight on 1900 calories than I do on 1500 calories.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
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    It's not at all true that you should be eating less than 1200 calories a day. I say this as a fellow petite person. Even while pretty sedentary, I easily lose weight at 1200 calories. If you are short and on the lighter side, your weight loss will probably be a little slower just because of TDEE. But it's hard to get your nutrients met at less than 1200 calories. Plus, it's an unhappy way to live, and with no medical reason to to take it off as fast as possible, consider your quality of life.

    A 5'0 100 lb person has a BMR of around 1216 calories. That's without any type of real movement, exercise or otherwise. That means even just laying in bed, 1200 is a (teeny) deficit. Getting out of bed and living a normal day makes 1200 calories a reasonable weight loss deficit.
  • asianmonkie
    asianmonkie Posts: 264
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    Thank you everyone for your responses. I will leave my calories at 1200 then and try to be patient. God knows that's the hardest thing for me to do. =)
  • pmur
    pmur Posts: 223 Member
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    I'm 5'3 and at 130 lbs ate 1300-1400 and still lost weight. I was on a standstill for a few months then I started actually measuring my food and now I know my measuring was the culprit. These days my goal is to hit 1400 a day no matter what MFP says. I'm losing well if I measure everything.

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