1200 Calorie Diet Does it work and how long?

Mollique
Mollique Posts: 62
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello I have been on a 1200 calorie diet since January. During the first few weeks I did the diet and worked out regularly about 5 days a week weight lifting and cardio. During this time, I was stuck between weighing 186-183, I could never get down any further. It snowed pretty bad so I wasn't able to go to the gym for about a week. During this time I stuck to my 1200 limit and did 30 squats a night. Suddenly my weight dropped to 188. I became somewhat confused as to why I lost so much with little to no exercise only a the calorie diet. Was I going to hard in the gym and gained too much muscle? Does this calorie diet really work this well with little to no exercise and if it does, does anyone have any experience or success with it? Thank you for viewing.
«13

Replies

  • Deniheart
    Deniheart Posts: 3
    Hi - not sure if it works or not but I believe it does. I'm the same as your started the 1200cal in Jan right away lost a few pounds but then was stuck even though I was exercising almost every day....Then I started to move with the weight loss again around 2 pounds a week...
    A friend told me it's your body adjusting and you may not be losing pounds but inches and building muscle which weighs more...so I'm still plugging and I hope you are too...Keep it up! - Deni
  • fushigi1988
    fushigi1988 Posts: 519 Member
    Doesn't work for me, my BMR is already 1800. I am currently losing weight on 2500 calories average, I get 10000 steps a day, and lift weights 2-3x a week.
  • MissJazzie14
    MissJazzie14 Posts: 60 Member
    If your weight loss is slowing down, its probably because your body is in starvation mode. You probably need to eat more calories and have your net calories be 1200. For example, if you eat 1800 calories a day but burn 600 calories at the gym that leave your net calories at 1200.
  • PrairieSlims
    PrairieSlims Posts: 42 Member
    I am loosing each week but believe I was loosing inches when it didn't show I was loosing pounds. It all comes together. I think that is why it is important to measure ourselves as well so you can tell if you are loosing inches.
  • kk_140
    kk_140 Posts: 518 Member
    I am eating 1200 calories a day and haven't worked out a single day. So far I'm 5 weeks in and have lost 15 pounnds. So far so good.
  • Mollique
    Mollique Posts: 62
    Thank You Deni!
  • SeaTurtleJenni
    SeaTurtleJenni Posts: 58 Member
    I have a BMR of 1360, ate 1200 calories for 20 weeks and lost 10 pounds without any exercise. I gained it back when I quit caffeine, so now I'm back on MFP, but this time I am exercising along with my 1200 calories. It works for me, but I have a low BMR to begin with.
  • Mollique
    Mollique Posts: 62
    ok I don't really understand but thank you!
  • Mollique
    Mollique Posts: 62
    ok I eat almost all of my calories but I do not want to eat back what I lost. I think this is best for maintaining. Thank you soo much for replying!
  • Mollique
    Mollique Posts: 62
    Yeah I do too! I measure myself each night! If I gain pounds, I loose inches and if I gain inches, I loose pounds, It's quit funny actually. I don't know it's weird hahaha.
  • Mollique
    Mollique Posts: 62
    That is wonderful!!!!!
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    First off, forget about starvation mode. It doesn't apply unless you have been eating an extremely low calorie diet for months and have almost zero body fat.

    I question the fact that you were not losing on 1200 a day (for one). Do you have a food scale? Do you measure your liquids out in cups?

    How are you calculating your calorie burns when working out, and are you eating those calories back?

    Some fluid retention in the muscles when you work out is very normal, and can mask fat loss.

    If you really are in a calorie deficit, you cannot gain more than maybe 1 or 2 noobie muscle lbs. Muscle gaining requires a calorie surplus.

    How did you decide on 1200 calories?

    ETA: Please use the 'quote' function so we can tell who you are answering in your posts. Thanks!
  • kwantlen2051
    kwantlen2051 Posts: 455 Member
    I agree with most posts, calorie counting and moderate exercise should work. Check measurements regularly. I use to exercise a lot and then eat some of calories back. Didn't lose much. Now I limit myself to a few pounds over my BMR which ends up at around 1250 and with just moderate exercise and I am losing more. Of course im only 5'2". I'm eating slightly above BMR and slightly lower than TDEE.

    We don't need to eat as much as we were led to believe.
  • Mollique
    Mollique Posts: 62
    ohh ok thanks for the reply!
  • Mollique
    Mollique Posts: 62
    First off, forget about starvation mode. It doesn't apply unless you have been eating an extremely low calorie diet for months and have almost zero body fat.

    I question the fact that you were not losing on 1200 a day (for one). Do you have a food scale? Do you measure your liquids out in cups?

    How are you calculating your calorie burns when working out, and are you eating those calories back?

    Some fluid retention in the muscles when you work out is very normal, and can mask fat loss.

    If you really are in a calorie deficit, you cannot gain more than maybe 1 or 2 noobie muscle lbs. Muscle gaining requires a calorie surplus.

    How did you decide on 1200 calories?

    ETA: Please use the 'quote' function so we can tell who you are answering in your posts. Thanks!

    Hi sorry guys and thanks for the advice on the quote function. You pointed out some great things! First off I am not educated on calculating body fat, exercise, or liquids. I do have a scale and I do measure myself in certain areas. I used my fitness pal to generate how many calories I should eat. I also calculate my calorie burn from exercising with my fitness pal (although I feel like it may be wrong) for example burning 800 calories from 60 minutes of eliptical. I really do not feel like i'm starving specially after being used to the diet. Mainly because I eat a lot of the right food such as fruits and vegetables. Thank you so much for replying!
  • Mollique
    Mollique Posts: 62
    I agree with most posts, calorie counting and moderate exercise should work. Check measurements regularly. I use to exercise a lot and then eat some of calories back. Didn't lose much. Now I limit myself to a few pounds over my BMR which ends up at around 1250 and with just moderate exercise and I am losing more. Of course im only 5'2". I'm eating slightly above BMR and slightly lower than TDEE.

    We don't need to eat as much as we were led to believe.

    ok thank you for replying!
  • lizzyclatworthy
    lizzyclatworthy Posts: 296 Member
    1200 worked for me for months but it felt like my yoyo starvation diets of years gone by. Now I am on more calories and happy.
  • Mollique
    Mollique Posts: 62
    1200 worked for me for months but it felt like my yoyo starvation diets of years gone by. Now I am on more calories and happy.


    ok that's great!
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    First off, forget about starvation mode. It doesn't apply unless you have been eating an extremely low calorie diet for months and have almost zero body fat.

    I question the fact that you were not losing on 1200 a day (for one). Do you have a food scale? Do you measure your liquids out in cups?

    How are you calculating your calorie burns when working out, and are you eating those calories back?

    Some fluid retention in the muscles when you work out is very normal, and can mask fat loss.

    If you really are in a calorie deficit, you cannot gain more than maybe 1 or 2 noobie muscle lbs. Muscle gaining requires a calorie surplus.

    How did you decide on 1200 calories?

    ETA: Please use the 'quote' function so we can tell who you are answering in your posts. Thanks!

    Hi sorry guys and thanks for the advice on the quote function. You pointed out some great things! First off I am not educated on calculating body fat, exercise, or liquids. I do have a scale and I do measure myself in certain areas. I used my fitness pal to generate how many calories I should eat. I also calculate my calorie burn from exercising with my fitness pal (although I feel like it may be wrong) for example burning 800 calories from 60 minutes of eliptical. I really do not feel like i'm starving specially after being used to the diet. Mainly because I eat a lot of the right food such as fruits and vegetables. Thank you so much for replying!

    I meant do you use a scale to weigh your food?
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,304 Member
    I think you are reading too much into a loss which occurred over a one week period (if I have read your first post correctly).

    You can do everything right and weight loss is still not linear - meaning there will be weeks of staying the same, even going up a bit - but as long as your overall movement is downwards then you are losing weight.

    I also found that the weeks I was under my allowance did not neccesarily correlate with the weeks I lost the most - but overall l was losing, so the program was working.

    PS: I do not agree with the starvation mode term that is bandied around on here - but I do think you should be eating back your exercise calories, or at least most of them - especially on a low figure of 1200.
    ie you should be netting 1200, NOT eating 1200 only, plus exercising
  • lisawinning4losing
    lisawinning4losing Posts: 726 Member
    I just started a 1,340 a day diet though I'm letting myself go slightly over if a I work it off with exercise. I was a bit confused by the OP because you said that you were hovering in the mid 180's then dropped "down" to 188? Did you mean to say 178? Anyway, yeah I would imagine that at 1,200 calories a day and working out every day you would lose weight very quickly, but as others have said make sure you're also getting enough to keep your metabolism healthy. Congrats on your progress so far, that's discipline!
  • Skarlet13
    Skarlet13 Posts: 146 Member
    I think you may be overestimating your exercise calories. You would have to be going very hard on the elliptical to burn that much in 60 minutes. There's a difference between net burn and gross burn.

    http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/how-many-calories-are-you-really-burning?page=single
  • lisawinning4losing
    lisawinning4losing Posts: 726 Member
    By the way, what do you eat on a 1200/day diet? Is it mostly lean meat and vegetables, like a high protein, low carb diet?
  • RNsusieQ
    RNsusieQ Posts: 20 Member
    I lost weight eating 1400 a day but gained it right back as soon as I stopped eating so little. 1200 is probably too low for your body. Check out In Place of A Road Map to help understand how to lose weight, lose body fat & gain muscle.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013
  • MB2MN
    MB2MN Posts: 334 Member
    [/quote]

    I meant do you use a scale to weigh your food?
    [/quote]

    THIS. So much this. If you're new to "dieting" (I prefer "mindful eating") then you definitely need to be measuring your food. It is SO easy to underestimate portion sizes, especially with things like peanut butter, where just an extra TBSP adds 100 calories. I would definitely suggest tracking measurements for everything you eat until you really get the hang of what portions look like. I was SHOCKED when I saw how small a cup of cereal was for instance and that I was probably eating 3 servings when I thought it was just one.

    If you truly eat 1200 calories you will lose, plain and simple. Your ticker says you still have 40ish lbs to lose so there is no reason that you wouldn't lose if you accurately track.
  • Mollique
    Mollique Posts: 62
    First off, forget about starvation mode. It doesn't apply unless you have been eating an extremely low calorie diet for months and have almost zero body fat.

    I question the fact that you were not losing on 1200 a day (for one). Do you have a food scale? Do you measure your liquids out in cups?

    How are you calculating your calorie burns when working out, and are you eating those calories back?

    Some fluid retention in the muscles when you work out is very normal, and can mask fat loss.

    If you really are in a calorie deficit, you cannot gain more than maybe 1 or 2 noobie muscle lbs. Muscle gaining requires a calorie surplus.

    How did you decide on 1200 calories?

    ETA: Please use the 'quote' function so we can tell who you are answering in your posts. Thanks!

    Hi sorry guys and thanks for the advice on the quote function. You pointed out some great things! First off I am not educated on calculating body fat, exercise, or liquids. I do have a scale and I do measure myself in certain areas. I used my fitness pal to generate how many calories I should eat. I also calculate my calorie burn from exercising with my fitness pal (although I feel like it may be wrong) for example burning 800 calories from 60 minutes of eliptical. I really do not feel like i'm starving specially after being used to the diet. Mainly because I eat a lot of the right food such as fruits and vegetables. Thank you so much for replying!

    I meant do you use a scale to weigh your food?


    no I do not. how important is it? and does it change the amount of calories???
  • georgecarl7
    georgecarl7 Posts: 42 Member
    How many calories does it take to be in the 'starvation' mode? Over 300 and under 700?
  • MB2MN
    MB2MN Posts: 334 Member
    I think you may be overestimating your exercise calories. You would have to be going very hard on the elliptical to burn that much in 60 minutes. There's a difference between net burn and gross burn.

    http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/how-many-calories-are-you-really-burning?page=single

    No, you can burn that much especially if you are 40lbs overweight, which her ticker says. I can keep my HR at 80% on the elliptical if I have a high resistance...which is around 600 cals an hour for me as per my HRM and I'm 130 lbs.
  • MB2MN
    MB2MN Posts: 334 Member
    [/quote]


    no I do not. how important is it? and does it change the amount of calories???
    [/quote]

    Yes, hugely. You could be guessing something is half the size it really is. Twice the serving size equals twice the calories.
  • Mollique
    Mollique Posts: 62
    I think you are reading too much into a loss which occurred over a one week period (if I have read your first post correctly).

    You can do everything right and weight loss is still not linear - meaning there will be weeks of staying the same, even going up a bit - but as long as your overall movement is downwards then you are losing weight.

    I also found that the weeks I was under my allowance did not neccesarily correlate with the weeks I lost the most - but overall l was losing, so the program was working.

    PS: I do not agree with the starvation mode term that is bandied around on here - but I do think you should be eating back your exercise calories, or at least most of them - especially on a low figure of 1200.
    ie you should be netting 1200, NOT eating 1200 only, plus exercising


    ok great advice thank you!

Categories