Dr. says...

The doctor told you that 1200 calories won't work but didn't give you any other advice on what might?

Regular doctors have about 7 total hours of nutrition and weight loss education. Please request to be sent to a registered dietitian.


1200 net calories (eat your exercise calories) Is considered "safe" by many health institutions.

Since you have 59lbs to lose, you could probably still easily eat more than that and lose weight. If 1200 calories becomes too difficult and you feel like you might quit, adjust your goals to lose 1lb per week instead of 2lbs.

Regular doctors have about 7 total hours of nutrition and weight loss education. Please request to be sent to a registered dietitian.


1200 net calories (eat your exercise calories) Is considered "safe" by many health institutions.

Since you have 59lbs to lose, you could probably still easily eat more than that and lose weight. If 1200 calories becomes too difficult and you feel like you might quit, adjust your goals to lose 1lb per week instead of 2lbs.

This is great advice

Option 1: Listen to a doctor.

Option 2: Listen to strangers on the internet.

Hmmmmmmm.......

1200 calories is not healthy and it won't work i'm 32, 5'3", & 199 lbs. i have an over all goal of 150 lbs. I would like to lose 40 or close to it by june. is that possible? dr. seems to think not please help me i'm a mother and a wife and i'm miserable and need to do something productive.

HMM.. my doctor suggested the 1200 calorie for losing the rest of my weight! She also suggested joining MFP! She lost over 50 lbs doing both and walking everyday!

Are those net of exercise, or the total amount of calories you are taking in before considering exercise?

If before exercise, it sounds really low.

Your body is unique. An internet calculator is just a guideline and can be way off. It is just a reference point.

My recommended process for those starting out is as follows: If you are currently not losing /gaining weight, track your existing calories for a couple of weeks and see what number you are actually taking in. Don't target or change anything, just track your everyday diet and weigh yourself daily. Take an average of the calories you consumed at the end of the period. If your weight stayed constant, you have your Maintenance Calorie number.

You then drop that by say 15% and increase your activity level. You'll start losing pounds and you are not randomly shocking your body into some ridiculous deficit number spit out by some Interbebz calculator. The added calories will give you the energy you need as you adjust to a new workour routine and gives you a buffer to drop calories a bit further in the future vs a one shot out of the box approach.

So, for example, if your doctor thinks that the 1400 calories represents a 600 calorie drop from what you may be consuming a day, he/she may be thinking that 30% drop too much (and this is before even netting out your exercise calories) and thus his "likely won't work" comment.

Just my two cents.

Option 1: Listen to a doctor.

Option 2: Listen to strangers on the internet.

Hmmmmmmm.......

Personally, I'd listen to to the people on these forums who have successfully lost, continue to lose, and maintained their weight. They have more personal, real world, experience.

Reducing calories in below calories used works. The whole "below 1200 calorie diet" debate will light the boards up here. Remove the 1200 calorie number from the discussion. Using the logging and suggested calories on MFP works. Learn about the calculators and set your target number of calories. Find the right number for you to lose at a satisfying, but realistic rate.

My story:
I set my counts very low (1201 ;-)). I was morbidly obese and had a lot to lose. The weight fell off and I was able start some basic exercise. I knew I could not maintain that pace. I started to feel my energy drop and my weight loss slow. As I ramp up my workouts I simply don't have the fat stores anymore to convert quickly into energy. I am ramping up my calories and my workouts and trusting in the calculations now. It will be slower loss, but more realistic. My goal as I have it now will still have me as overweight, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there!

another thing i've been told both ways....eat the calories i've burned and not to eat them...i usually don't but i try to make sure that i have eaten the calories i'm suppose to. make sense? or is that a no no too lol

In my opinion, there is no 'calories you're supposed to eat'. I mean, don't go into very low calorie territory but other than that, find a calorie level that works for YOU, not for a forum or by some formula. You want to balance satiety, compliance and weight loss. If you feel like you're comfortable with your satiety levels and your rate of loss at 1500-1700, don't worry about "supposed to".