Females trying to lose weight...READ THIS

dare2love81
Posts: 928 Member
No seriously....READ THIS:
http://sophieologie.me/2013/09/26/1200-calories/
Here's just a snippet:
http://sophieologie.me/2013/09/26/1200-calories/
Here's just a snippet:
I don’t know why “1200″ managed to be the magic number of calories women should consume if they want to lose weight.
I don’t even know how I know of this number. Only that I know it, and my friends know it, and my mom knows it. Somehow, somewhere along the road, I was taught that if I want to have a flat stomach and tight tushy, I need to limit my calories to 1200 a day and do cardio. I don’t know how it got in to all of our collective brains, but somehow it did (if any ladies remember how or when they first heard the 1200-calorie rule-of-thumb for losing weight, please let me know via comment box).
What I do know is that 1200 is the general number of calories health professionals say women cannot drop below without suffering negative health consequences.
Interesting, isn’t it? 1200 calories. The line between health and what they call “starvation mode”. 1200 calories. The dangerous tightrope that many women are trying to walk, because they think this is how thinness is achieved.
“Starvation mode”
means your body realizes it is not getting enough food – calories-, thinks that you are starving, and slows down your metabolism to a crawl to conserve energy. Because it thinks you are starving, when you do feed yourself, your body will try to store more of your calories as fat, because those are your long-term energy deposits.
A long term calorie deficit can mess with your blood sugar levels, reduce bone mass, cause weakness, fatigue, cold intolerance, irregular menstrual periods, dizziness, constipation and swelling of the hands and feet (source). If a woman decides to get thin by maintaining a steep calorie deficit (1200 calories is very steep) and pairs it with long sessions of steady-state cardio, it results it thyroid issues. “Too little T3 (hypothyroidism), and the body accumulates body fat with ease, almost regardless of physical activity level. Women inadvertently put themselves into a hypothyroid condition when they perform so much steady-state cardio” (source).
Women: If you are trying to go about your business during the day, on only 1200 calories, and perform cardio to burn those dreaded calories, you really are not going to succeed. You will most likely pass out.
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Replies
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That was awesome! Thanks for sharing! Now, if only I could heed her advice...0
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I wish I had known this years ago...would've saved me loads of wasted time at the gym, not to mention countless hours of being hungry when I didn't need to be. If I dropped my calories to 1,200 nowadays, I'd end up chewing off an arm!0
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Great read!! Thanks for sharing it. I will never forget that "soda pop is the devils piss" lol0
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This needs a bump0
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I have eaten 1200 calories for the past year, and I have done cardio four days a week for the past six months.
I dunno, I think it's working for me.0 -
I have eaten 1200 calories for the past year, and I have done cardio four days a week for the past six months.
I dunno, I think it's working for me.
Wow really...?? Cause I just took a quick random peek at your Diary and went as far back as June last year and I saw quite a few entries that was way over 1200 calories..... even a few way over 2000 cals.... so yeah, thats weird. Just sayin.0 -
I completely agree. Unless you are short, inactive, very overweight, and at LEAST 35, I do not think that 1200 is a suitable number. I think many women are using calculations that are wrong for them. And personally, I think those that are doing "just fine" on 1200 calories a day have sloppy logging habits, underestimate portions or overestimate exercise. Which I guess is okay, just imprecise.0
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I love this!!! "applauds" :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: Ladies, don't just read the snippet, read the WHOLE article, 'cuz it rocks!!!! When you're done, go lift something heavy! Lol. Honestly, since I've started lifting, I have made amazing improvements in my body. It has taken some time, other than the nube gains, but it's been totally worth it!!! Don't know where to start? Try the book New Rules of Lifting for Women.
:happy:
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Counting calories is hard - does it really work for people? And 1200/day for extended time with a30-40 minuteccardio workout seems like burnout central0
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VANESSA HUDGENS MY IDOL
But yep great article!0 -
i hate that they generalize calories for everyone. there are so many more factors that effect calorie intake. like for someone like me, 1200 calories is more than enough because i'm short and generally inactive.0
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the full article is great. but i don't know MFP sets my daily calorie goal for 1200. and now i'm confuse! lol0
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I think it's subjective - I've realised (by calorie counting out of pure curiousity) that quite often if I completely cut out snacking and just eat three meals a day my calorie intake does end up around or below 1200 calories...0
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the full article is great. but i don't know MFP sets my daily calorie goal for 1200. and now i'm confuse! lol
Hi there,
Depending on how much you need to lose (and you dont need to lose much) you set your weight loss goal at 0.5lb per week and you eat back at least 70% of your workout calories...then you wont have just 1200 given by MFP.
Good luck!! :flowerforyou:0 -
BUMP.
THIS IS EXCELLENT.0 -
And personally, I think those that are doing "just fine" on 1200 calories a day have sloppy logging habits, underestimate portions or overestimate exercise.
Guess my food scale was lying to me for the first year of my diet, then. Or Tesco was lying to me with the calories on the things I was eating. And I certainly wasn't overestimating exercise - for a lot of it I wasn't doing any exercise!
I'm currently on 1300 a day as I'm so close to my goal, and that's still working fine for me. My TDEE is only 1500, so both 1200 and 1300 are hardly huge, unmanageable deficits! And when MFP recommends 1200 it does that with the assumption you eat back your exercise calories. I know the article isn't talking specifically about MFP, but still.0 -
That's an awesome article! Thanks for sharing :flowerforyou:0
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Great article! I'm trying to cut again after having my third and last child. I initially put my calories low and all it did was make me want to give up. I knew better because even when I was at my "goal weight" before having the baby I wasn't happy because I didn't have the muscle definition I wanted. This was a great reminder for me to focus on strength and less on numbers at this point. Thanks!0
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This is a brilliant article, and I completely agree on the way she describes womens weight loss advertisements. Women are lead to believe that health is just about being slim and limiting calories - it drives me mad.0
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And personally, I think those that are doing "just fine" on 1200 calories a day have sloppy logging habits, underestimate portions or overestimate exercise.
Guess my food scale was lying to me for the first year of my diet, then. Or Tesco was lying to me with the calories on the things I was eating. And I certainly wasn't overestimating exercise - for a lot of it I wasn't doing any exercise!
I'm currently on 1300 a day as I'm so close to my goal, and that's still working fine for me. My TDEE is only 1500, so both 1200 and 1300 are hardly huge, unmanageable deficits! And when MFP recommends 1200 it does that with the assumption you eat back your exercise calories. I know the article isn't talking specifically about MFP, but still.
I agree that those who say they are on 1200 are typically not really. Even those who say they measure weight everything...quick add calories, counting cookies in stead of weighing them, secret bites, nibbles etc. 1200 calories is not enough food to fuel an adult who actually lives a life and by that I mean just living...going to work, chatting with friends even if you just play video games...it's not enough
As for the TDEE of 1500, i check scooby and at 90lbs, sedendary and 5ft TDEE is still above 1500 it's almost 1600...you would have to be about 4ft 6 and 80lbs to have a TDEE of 1515. my sister who is a tiny woman (5ft 3 and wears a size 2) has a TDEE of 2300...friggen higher than mine...tell me she will be fine on 1200...
And I check your diary there are a lot of days you don't just eat 1300 but more and there are a lot of entries without scale weight that are pretty consistent day after day.0
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