1200 Calorie

245

Replies

  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    Why do people have to be so hard on someone they know nothing about? You don't know anything to be doing that to her.. how rude! people come here for support. My god look at my diary you all will probably go into cardiac arrest!
    I had people come at me with their daggers when I first started here too.. Don't mind them any attention. Listen to the ones that actually want to help you and ask the questions, and truly care.. The other ones that say eat more without saying anything, they are what I call TROLLS.

    Btw. I am a lap band patient and am under a dr's care, and ordered to keep it 6-800 calories...

    Whoa. Hangry much?

    People are asking her for specifics, so settle down. There is a reason you are on such a low calorie diet - there may or may not be a reason for hers.

    ETA: Pffft. Ragequit. Saw that one coming a mile away.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    I know 1200 kcal is really unpopular here and honestly I can't do it. I've tried and I'm starving. But that is where MFP has set my net calories. I'm 5'2" 114 lbs. GW: 110. I set it for 1/2 lb. loss per weak bc I know anything more than that at my size is not reasonable. I exercise frequently so I eat 1400-1500 per day and one cheat meal per week.

    Anyone know why MFP set my calories so low? I'm still hungry most days.

    I don't know your age, but it is likely because you are small and light. Use one of the BMR/TDEE calculators and see if you can't come up with a more workable amount. :smile:
  • TX_Rhon
    TX_Rhon Posts: 1,549 Member
    you will be waiting a very long time, I see a thread say something and leave, because I don't care about the drama... have a great time!

    Just Wow! :noway:

    It's funny how people jump to conclusions when others on here try to give helpful information. Just because it's a differing opinion, doesn't make it mean. But you are entitled to your opinion :flowerforyou:

    Personally, I am glad I listened to the "mean" people who suggested I eat more. It made a difference for the better. So thank you Mean People!! :heart:
  • sarahseczkowski
    sarahseczkowski Posts: 2 Member
    I've just started using MFP and the calories (according too MFP) 1200 as well before exercise. I'm inly a few days in but I am finding vegetable omelettes, salads with lean protein, beans and pulses are great. Seafood like prawns and calamari are good as long as you grill them.

    Good luck
  • sullengirl78
    sullengirl78 Posts: 36 Member
    Why do people have to be so hard on someone they know nothing about? You don't know anything to be doing that to her.. how rude! people come here for support. My god look at my diary you all will probably go into cardiac arrest!
    I had people come at me with their daggers when I first started here too.. Don't mind them any attention. Listen to the ones that actually want to help you and ask the questions, and truly care.. The other ones that say eat more without saying anything, they are what I call TROLLS.

    Btw. I am a lap band patient and am under a dr's care, and ordered to keep it 6-800 calories...

    Whoa. Hangry much?

    People are asking her for specifics, so settle down. There is a reason you are on such a low calorie diet - there may or may not be a reason for hers.

    ETA: Pffft. Ragequit. Saw that one coming a mile away.

    16lmkxl.jpg
  • turtleball
    turtleball Posts: 217 Member
    Why do people have to be so hard on someone they know nothing about? You don't know anything to be doing that to her.. how rude! people come here for support. My god look at my diary you all will probably go into cardiac arrest!
    I had people come at me with their daggers when I first started here too.. Don't mind them any attention. Listen to the ones that actually want to help you and ask the questions, and truly care.. The other ones that say eat more without saying anything, they are what I call TROLLS.

    Btw. I am a lap band patient and am under a dr's care, and ordered to keep it 6-800 calories...


    I agree with you
    ----

    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=100 calorie pack

    ^ 100 calorie snack pack, I love the little ones with chocolates on them

    another one- lindt dark chocolate squares
    its dark chocolate so its less calories

    some other foods you can eat, chicken (baked or boiled), all kinds of veggies and fruits, lean ground beef, seafood.

    almost anything.

    oh and I found this recipe book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0470080590/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=IBANACD8VCWY&coliid=I3JSN8PNKZ0CO4
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,331 Member
    I love eating grilled chicken, dried apricots and drinking orange juice too. That much pretty much fills me up for the whole day. I usually end up going a bit over the 1200 mark.

    Regardless of whether the original poster should be eating more, you definitely should. 1500 calories a day is generally consider the minimum for a male to get the nutritional components needed to stay healthy. If you have to lose as much as your ticker states, at 1200 you are likely eating way under your BMR which will result in a great loss of lean body mass. I have several male friends here who did 1200 a day, and not one of them was happy with the long term results. Increase the calories and start lifting weights to preserve your muscle.
  • lyoill
    lyoill Posts: 59
    I had a friend who was doing well with eating well and loosing weight. She then started working out at a gym for 3 hours a day. She was studying as a mature age student in her early 40s She started out at 130kg and got to 90 still above a heathy weight she is 170cm Her dietitian told her that she wasn't eating enough for the amount of excersie that she was doing and that is why her weight loss had stalled, instead of going oh ok I will work out less she opted to eat more! uni finished and so did the excersie as with children at home she could no longer work out for 3 hours a day, she didn't cut back on the food as she was used to eating a lot, yes a huge weight gain:(

    My point is yes as a shorter women in your 40s you have less calories especially if you have not a lot to loose. A lot of you eat a lot more but you are powering on at the gym, running and exercise is (at the moment, for some of you) a big part of your lives. I garden and walk at the moment. I don't want to excersie like made so I can eat more, I have better things to do that stimulate me more. If I up my excerise then I will eat more but at 164cm 68 kg and 41 it's all my body needs. We eat a lot of vegetables lean meat and a small amount of bread and rice. We are all different of course but 1200 is just fine for many. It's an opinion of quiet a few that we all eat too much food anyway;) compare what you eat to what your grandparent ate, are some of us not simply spending our lives at the gym so we can eat more?

    just a thought

    Lilly
  • spoiledpuppies
    spoiledpuppies Posts: 675 Member
    I've been pleasantly amazed by the wonderful low-calorie meals that can make a very satisfying 1200 calorie day. I very often add an entire steam bag of veggies to any given meal. It adds 100 calories, but with a whole lot of volume. Really, everything I make gets a whole lot of veggies for additional volume. I also found a great yogurt (or actually Icelandic skyr) from Siggi's Dairy. It naturally has much less sugar than others--so, of course it's not as sweet, but I actually like that. I like to mix it with cereal, and I use super-plain puffed rice or wheat just for the low-cal volume of that.
  • lladykaro
    lladykaro Posts: 6 Member
    I'm doing the 1200 calorie as well. I'm 44 and do yoga almost every day. i don't feel this amount of calories is bad if you're trying to lose 2 lbs a week. You will go through some hunger pains, but that's expected when you're trying to lose weight. Drink lots of water and chew gum.
  • bolttsm
    bolttsm Posts: 10
    Eat more food. :flowerforyou:

    +1

    +9000

    I started doing vegetarian dinners. Making sure I place a lot more veggies in my diet is such a wonderful!!! I think creating colorful food makes eating healthy fun!!!!
  • mahanaibu
    mahanaibu Posts: 505 Member
    Been awhile since I looked at the boards. Now I remember why.

    Such EXPERTS we have here.

    The OP asked a question. Seems like the appropriate thing to do is either answer the question or go play diet expert somewhere else.

    To the OP: SO many things you can have, as long as you budget it. Some things you'll want to have small tastes of instead of big bowls of, but really the whole world is out there for you to be able to eat, pretty much. Helps to eat healthy, make tasty veggies. Soup can make relatively few calories seem like a lot of food. So while there are many foods I love on my diet--a word that I do not think of as dirty, because what diet really means is a regular way of eating--such as ahi and berries and Greek yogurt.--my best advice would be to make and store several large containers of good homemade stock. Chicken and turkey are my personal favorites. Then you can come up with all kinds of things to put in them--Asian soups, tortillaless tortilla soup, kale-sausage-sweet potato soup--that are very nutritious and filling.
  • MrsMRG
    MrsMRG Posts: 9 Member
    Thanks for this link. It was really helpful!
  • spiffychick85
    spiffychick85 Posts: 311 Member
    I have no problem adhering to a 1200 calorie diet...Im 5'2 and aim to lose 2lbs a week...almonds are great...I love huge home made salads...just make sure you portion out your dressings...grilled chicken and a steamed side do wonders...now if I work out I do try to eat back some or all of my exercise calories...this type of diet has always worked for me and I do not feel overly hungry..in case you are thinking "if this diet has worked so well for you...why are you still trying to lose weight" its because Im losing baby weight lol and once again its coming off as to be expected...good luck!

    I also wanted to add that I eat almost anything I want...I just portion it out first...you don't have to stick with just diet foods.


    you may also want to search the internet for dinners under 800 calories or however many calories you have left at the end of the day...this has led me to try many new recipes that keep food interesting and within my range
  • twhaley1990
    twhaley1990 Posts: 140 Member
    Typically this is how I structure my day:

    Breakfast - Coffee with an egg white omelet or whole grain cereal or oatmeal, banana in the cereal if I'm super hungry
    Lunch - soup or salad, cautious with portion sizes, especially with salad toppings
    Dinner - 4-6 oz of protein and a veggie, grain, or small salad side
    Dessert - anything 150 cals or under
    Snacks - one of the following: one serving of nuts at most per day, chips & salsa, popcorn. I eat as much fruit as I want, usually two pieces

    If you measure everything (after about a month you should be able to eyeball) by serving size, you should be fine. My biggest advice is keeping dinner 500 cals or under. Pinterest has helped me wonders with recipes
  • MrsJS5
    MrsJS5 Posts: 41 Member
    I wanted to add something to my previous reply... Although I am eating around 1200 right now, I just started lifting heavier weights last week and I will probably need to increase my calories to have the energy I need. I think a lot of the people encouraging the OP to eat more are coming from the point of view that you need to eat to have the energy to do your weights and cardio to lose fat and gain muscle mass. If you find that on 1200 calories a day you aren't hungry but all you have energy to do is curl up on the sofa and watch TV, you aren't eating enough to have energy to get up and be active. That's not maintainable in the long run and so you are more likely to gain your weight back.

    I agree with the soup idea too! Put a carb in the soup like brown rice or barley and blend a little of the soup too - studies show that blending soup and leaving some of it chunky leaves you filling fuller longer. It takes the stomach longer to empty (like trying to run pulp through a strainer).
  • VoodooAborisha
    VoodooAborisha Posts: 147 Member
    Why do people always tell people doing 1200 calories to "eat more food" before they ask them their height?

    The MFP website puts shorties like me at 1200, in case people didn't know that; and scooby puts people of my height and lower at LESS than 1200.
  • erin8389
    erin8389 Posts: 16 Member
    Im eating max 1200 calories too and my favorite snack is a table spoon of peanut butter and carrot sticks its about 90 calories depending on the peanut butter you choose.
  • Taterpoof
    Taterpoof Posts: 416 Member
    Why do people always tell people doing 1200 calories to "eat more food" before they ask them their height?

    The MFP website puts shorties like me at 1200, in case people didn't know that; and scooby puts people of my height and lower at LESS than 1200.

    I'm 5'2'' and lose on 1800-2000 so being short does not mean you have to restrict so much. It puts people at 1200 because everyone always sets their goals to lose 2lbs a week and put that they are sedentary.
  • missing75
    missing75 Posts: 26 Member
    Hello! I've been eating 1200 calories for 64 days and I've lost 12kg so far. In the last 20 days I' m adding some exercise (leslie sansone dvds) so I can eat a little more.

    Not to starve, eating so few calories, my method is this: I eat 200 calories for breakfast (cappuccino and mini croissant) very low caloric foods at lunch\dinner but lots of them. As an example : 500gr sald+400gr tomatoes (only salt and balsamic vinegar for dressing) and 200gr of boiled chicken breast or 300gr of light soup with light mozzarella etc.... It's not that caloric but you've got a lot to eat. For my pms snacks I do have some good stuff (40 gr camambert cheese or 50gr salami etc...) to get some sort of reward...

    I hope this can help!

    PS: I'm 5'9 and now I'm 200 pounds (I was 225)
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Before jumping on the eat more food bandwagon, I see you're 46 and female. How tall are you, and if you don't mind, what's your weight? Or, conversely, calculate your TDEE/BMR at one of the online sites and then folks will suggest foods. if you use iifym.com they'll tell you how much of each macro to eat based on what you tell them (standard, low carb etc...) and from there we can better advise you.

    Please do know your BMR. You may find you have better long term success if you eat above it. Given your age, it's possible your BMR is less than 1200.

    Also, how much do you want to lose, and how aggressively did you tell MFP you want to lose it?

    Sorry, just felt given the "eat more" posts, it would be best to have more info about you.

    signed: 48 5'6", 136 and bmr is 1333. :smile:

    Your posts are so sensible and helpful.
    Thanks. So are yours!:flowerforyou:
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Before jumping on the eat more food bandwagon, I see you're 46 and female. How tall are you, and if you don't mind, what's your weight? Or, conversely, calculate your TDEE/BMR at one of the online sites and then folks will suggest foods. if you use iifym.com they'll tell you how much of each macro to eat based on what you tell them (standard, low carb etc...) and from there we can better advise you.

    Please do know your BMR. You may find you have better long term success if you eat above it. Given your age, it's possible your BMR is less than 1200.

    Also, how much do you want to lose, and how aggressively did you tell MFP you want to lose it?

    Sorry, just felt given the "eat more" posts, it would be best to have more info about you.

    signed: 48 5'6", 136 and bmr is 1333. :smile:

    Which means you should at least be eating 1,333. MOAR THAN 1,200.
    AND I DO. DUH.
  • susanrechter
    susanrechter Posts: 386 Member
    go to scooby's workshop and calculate your numbers. It's like the man says, "do the math."
    It will give you an estimate of your intake calories based on YOUR data.:smile:
  • lonestargyrl
    lonestargyrl Posts: 10 Member
    You have to do what is right for you. I am following the 3-1-2-1 diet written by Dolvett Quince. He is one of the Biggest Loser trainers. It is 1200 calories a day for women. So if you buy the book or the Kindle version you will find many food choices and meal ideas. He requires you to give up refined foods and added sugars. You have 1 protein 1 carb, and 1 fiber at each meal. There is a list of choices. You can cheat 2 days a week - within reason, staying within 1500 calories for a woman. On cheat days you have a larger extended food list to choose from. I am not promoting his book, I just thought if you were looking for a 1200 calorie food plan and needed food choices you could find some here. I think you could also just Google and find plenty.
    Good luck to all of us!!!!
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
    You will go through some hunger pains, but that's expected when you're trying to lose weight. Drink lots of water and chew gum.
    I disagree. Hunger pains (pangs?) are not expected when you are trying to lose weight. MENTALLY you may want to eat more, but actual hunger pains? Means you probably aren't eating enough. (Ok, I'll admit that in the first couple of weeks, as your belly is getting used to less food you may feel that hunger, but once you get used to it...nope, shouldn't feel actual hunger if you are eating enough)
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member

    I'm 5'2'' and lose on 1800-2000 so being short does not mean you have to restrict so much. It puts people at 1200 because everyone always sets their goals to lose 2lbs a week and put that they are sedentary.

    In all seriousness, a lot of the short women who are not very overweight will be given 1200 no matter what they put in. When I first joined, the only way I got a # over 1200 was on the highest activity level setting, to lose .5 lbs a week, and I still only got 1330.
  • otter090812
    otter090812 Posts: 380 Member
    Sorry if it's on here somewhere else, but can someone explain to me why MFP sets calorie targets lower than some of the other methods you guys have included links to? I have set to lose 2lb a week, but have also set that I have a pretty active lifestyle (job to be precise), and it's come up with 1340. I know it's not 1200, but it's not far off. Having seen higher numbers on the other links, I'm worried I might do myself some damage. SW 215 CW 195 GW 157 Height 1.69m Age 38. Thanks!
  • Amielou55
    Amielou55 Posts: 4 Member
    single serving sugar free jell-o about 10 calories, nice "sweet" treat!
  • BeanyFrog13
    BeanyFrog13 Posts: 161 Member
    I tried to do the 1200 cals one as well it made me feel ill, lightheaded and horrid, so I've upped it to 1350 but having just looked at that scooby site it's put me at (this is losing at 20% calorie reduction with a moderate level of exercise, I've got quite a physical job, I walk everywhere and I'm aiming to work out 3/4 times a week) 1954 cals a day :D I'm liking this site! :D

    My measurements are 5'4", 180lbs and 31 in a couple of weeks :)
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    Sorry if it's on here somewhere else, but can someone explain to me why MFP sets calorie targets lower than some of the other methods you guys have included links to? I have set to lose 2lb a week, but have also set that I have a pretty active lifestyle (job to be precise), and it's come up with 1340. I know it's not 1200, but it's not far off. Having seen higher numbers on the other links, I'm worried I might do myself some damage. SW 215 CW 195 GW 157 Height 1.69m Age 38. Thanks!

    Different sites use different formulas for calculations like BMR. Also, if you aim to lose 2 lbs a week, that's an automatic calorie deduction of about 1000 calories per day. So if your TDEE is 2300 calories, trying to lose 2 lbs a week means that you're down to 1300. Sites that use 10-20% TDEE base it off your body's total needs but amount lost per week will vary from person to person. (TDEE 2300 - 20% = 2300-460 calories = 1840 calories, which is more like 1 lb a week.)
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