1200 Cal Diet and Need Running Buddies

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  • girlschmoopie
    girlschmoopie Posts: 140 Member
    Agreeing with others that raising your calories will not hinder you. I run 3-4 times a week, for a distance 3-5mi for all except one that is a long run on the weekend. (I strength train on the alternate days so I'm don't lose what muscle I have.) I have been eating 1500-1700cal every day, and over 2000 on the weekends for my long run day, and I've been losing 1-2# a week.

    As my weekly milage gets higher, I raise my overall calories. My two half-marathons are May and June, but I have several other shorter races scheduled within the training.
  • mreeves261
    mreeves261 Posts: 728 Member
    I am relatively new to running, since June 2013, and have run 2 races so far (10K and 5K.) I eat at 1500 + calories burned. (Yes my ticker says 0 lost. I reset it along with my goals for the year.) I find I am generally hungry on days I run. I am also learning it is more what I am eating/not eating than the # of calories.

    At the moment you may be fine with 1200, however, if you are truly training for a marathon or honestly even a 10K you are going to learn quickly you don't have enough fuel in the tank. There is a balance that needs to be met between eating to lose weight and eating to train properly. I am having difficulty finding that balance myself so I ordered a book on nutrition. I just need to get a better understanding of what I need to do in order to do what I want to do.

    I might suggest taking a look at the 2 links below. Just to give yourself an idea of what you will be in for long term.

    Feel free to add me, I can at least sympathize with the running pains.

    http://running.competitor.com/2013/08/nutrition/losing-weight-the-right-way-during-marathon-training_1421

    http://www.active.com/running/articles/how-to-lose-weight-while-training-for-a-marathon?page=1
  • delphaine
    delphaine Posts: 8 Member
    Most people need more than 1200 a day if they are sedentary, unless you are under 5 feet tall and already light. If you are running you need way more calories than that or you will lose muscle mass. You will feel constantly tired and sluggish, be starving all the time, and end up get injured or giving up. Never, ever eat below your BMR.

    I also run and I eat anywhere from 1800 to 2700 calories a day depending on how far I run or what kind of workout I am doing, and I have been steadily losing weight. If you are eating 1200 a day, then running 4 miles, you are forcing yourself to live on 800 calories that day. Even if you eat back your running calories, after a couple of months at 1200, your body will go into starvation mode and you will plateau, in both your diet and your running. You will lose muscle mass, and it will kill your metabolism. I know, because it happened to me on the old WW plan. They had me at 1200 a day and I felt horrible. I eventually gained all the weight back, and now it is 10 times harder to lose because I lost so much muscle mass. A pound of muscle burns about twice as many calories at rest as a pound of fat. So when you have a very restricted diet, your body starts unloading the high maintenance muscle, not the low maintenance fat.

    Here is a quick BMR calculator:

    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

    You should eat 1.2 times your BMR if you are sedentary, more if you active. There is a chart on the site. Good luck!

    I looked up the link and it does have very useful information. Based on what you have said and some others, I definitely don't want to lose muscle mass and so I won't feel bad eating a little over the calorie count. I for one certainly don't mind a little extra food, it is a bummer that the weight loss will slow down a bit though with more food intake, but all in all it sounds like runners get into shape not matter what.
  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
    Most people need more than 1200 a day if they are sedentary, unless you are under 5 feet tall and already light. If you are running you need way more calories than that or you will lose muscle mass. You will feel constantly tired and sluggish, be starving all the time, and end up get injured or giving up. Never, ever eat below your BMR.

    I also run and I eat anywhere from 1800 to 2700 calories a day depending on how far I run or what kind of workout I am doing, and I have been steadily losing weight. If you are eating 1200 a day, then running 4 miles, you are forcing yourself to live on 800 calories that day. Even if you eat back your running calories, after a couple of months at 1200, your body will go into starvation mode and you will plateau, in both your diet and your running. You will lose muscle mass, and it will kill your metabolism. I know, because it happened to me on the old WW plan. They had me at 1200 a day and I felt horrible. I eventually gained all the weight back, and now it is 10 times harder to lose because I lost so much muscle mass. A pound of muscle burns about twice as many calories at rest as a pound of fat. So when you have a very restricted diet, your body starts unloading the high maintenance muscle, not the low maintenance fat.

    Here is a quick BMR calculator:

    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

    You should eat 1.2 times your BMR if you are sedentary, more if you active. There is a chart on the site. Good luck!

    I looked up the link and it does have very useful information. Based on what you have said and some others, I definitely don't want to lose muscle mass and so I won't feel bad eating a little over the calorie count. I for one certainly don't mind a little extra food, it is a bummer that the weight loss will slow down a bit though with more food intake, but all in all it sounds like runners get into shape not matter what.

    I dropped more weight when I was running than when I was on a low calorie diet. It is worth it. You should not feel guilty, food is fuel and there is nothing wrong with revving up your engine. I love to eat, that is why I exercise. You will have to go 3500 calories over you TDEE to gain fat. If you think about that, that is alot. So if your TDEE is 2000, you would have to eat 5500 calories to gain a pound. If you don't do that, you will not gain. If you are eating your TDEE, you are not gaining fat. Now you may retain water when you run because your muscles need water to repair from running.

    There is nothing wrong with eating if you are active. It will not slow your weight loss. I would toss the scale and grab a tape measure and know that you are not gaining fat unless you go over your TDEE.

    Good luck, you will feel great.

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