Do I have to eat over 1200 calories a day?

What the hell was the point of this if you refuse to make any changes and don't want to lose weight in a healthy way?
This isn't the place for you if you aren't going to accept people's advice when you ask for it.

Well, I think the issue is that people aren't actually reading my original question and trying to offer advice that wasn't asked for. The original question, I thought, would be easily answered with a simple yes or no. Do I have to eat 1200 calories a day if I'm full? Yes or no. Simple you'd think. I wasn't asking about scales, other nutrients, or anything else. People have taken it upon themselves to instruct me in everything from A-Z.

If we're talking every once in awhile, no you don't. If we're talking more than a few times a month, then yeah, you do. 1200 is already lower than what you should be eating anyway. But here's the thing....if you start eating up to 1200 or even better, up to 1400 or whatever you should be eating, you have no way of knowing if that's what you're actually eating. You could end today logging 900 calories and you have no idea if you actually ate 900 calories. It could be 600 calories or it could be 1800 calories.

You didn't ask for the advice about weighing food but it's really, really good advice. And you might just find that it helps you. I promise it will help you with your weight loss goals, but it might help you mentally as well. It did for me, anyway. Wanna know why? Because once I knew that I was actually logging what I was actually eating, I didn't have to stress every time the scale stayed still or only moved half a pound. I knew that I wasn't playing guessing games and that weight loss isn't linear. I knew that I was doing everything right and that even though the scale didn't reflect it this week, it would the next, or the next after that. And it has.

^I think that right there would be huge for you. You're SO worried about every little calorie and you don't need to be. I'm having a hard time figuring out the best way to explain what I'm trying to say. :sigh: Basically, if I'm just guessing with my logging, which is basically what you're doing, and then I gain weight or I don't lose, I'm going to freak out. I might even be so stressed and frustrated that I decide to just stay fat b/c this just isn't working for me, like everything else I've ever done. But if I'm accurately logging my food, I'm going to see results. Maybe not every week, but I won't be as stressed b/c I know I'm doing everything right and maybe I'm just retaining water this week, or it's normal to go a week or two without much of a loss. It's even normal to go up occasionally depending on what's happening.

And the other great thing about tracking accurately is that I feel far less guilty when I go over. I dunno, maybe that's a bad thing.:laugh: But really, when I go over occasionally, I can see that it didn't make a huge difference in the grand scheme. I'm not talking about every weekend or anything, but special occasions, etc. And when I go over more than occasionally, I can see that it DID make a huge difference in the grand scheme, and I know what I need to do to change things. When you have no idea how many calories you're actually eating, you can't see these things and learn from them. So while I get how you feel, or at least I think I do, I also think it might be cathartic for you to look at things from a different perspective and try something different.

And I absolutely understand what you're saying about not being able to handle the nutritional content on top of measuring and logging and the thought of weighing. I get it b/c I felt the same way about macros (protein, fat and carbs) when I started here. I still feel that way about micros (vitamins, etc); it stresses me out just thinking about trying to hit my calorie target AND macros AND micros. Plus I have no idea how anyone could possibly hit their iron goal on the daily. Anyway, start small. Just start looking at your totals and seeing where your protein is coming from and where your carbs are coming from. Once you feel comfortable start making changes. But it will be easier to make those changes if you start paying attention to those things now.

Take baby steps and don't give up. Eating at a deficit has overwhelmed me several times and several times, I've kept logging and just started eating more. Haven't put back on the weight I've lost; I've just stopped losing. Then I pick back up when I'm ready and start losing again. I don't consider these instances failures. They're huge successes. Being able to maintain my weight while I take a break and then start losing again. Baby steps!

I agree with a couple of the other posters on here. OP, from what you've said and your diary, it sounds like you have a very unhealthy relationship with food. You're overwhelmed by the enormity of counting or weighing your intake, yet thought and planning for food consumes your day. You're nearly in tears because you can't find the correct calories, but changing your routine would add such stressors as to completely ruin the one part of your day you seem to enjoy (food). You're emotionally exhausted from talking about it and just want a simple answer (which sounds more like wanting affirmation more than anything), yet when offered the simple answer (yes you need to eat 1200) you keep making reasons why it's not something you can actually do. You're over-apologetic for "wasting" peoples time, yet are fixated on your way of doing things so much that suggestions to try otherwise are ignored or dismissed as too stressful. Basically you sound like you're wound as tight as a top and want someone to affirm that you're doing the right thing by possibly over-restricting, and anything else is too much stress to deal with.

To be honest, your posts don't feel like they're really about the actual food, they seem to be hinting at a larger problem underlying your eating that needs to be addressed. Maybe it's just normal job or kid stress that's gotten a little overboard, or maybe it's more.Honestly, I would definitely suggest you look into local sliding scale clinics. A talk therapist can more accurately help you identify what exactly you hope to accomplish with weight loss and food control, and help you identify healthy drives from unhealthy ones, and some clinics will lower rates down to $5 or even $0 per session depending on income and situation. Proper nutrition is highly important, and the effects of disordered eating can be devastating on both the mind and the body, and certainly don't do anything to actually help an already stressful situation, aside from giving an illusion of control. Make it a priority to take care of yourself, REAL care, that takes into account your mental and physical needs as a functioning body and mind, and think about the calories after that's been addressed.

I personally don't see a problem with cereal/granola bars but you MUST be careful of the added sugar - many of these snacks are laden with sugar. Perhaps try alternatives like Nakd bars or a low fat protein bar.

Completely understand where you're coming from with not having the time to weigh everything, but if you have time to log, surely you have time to weigh? I use the MFP app when I cook so I weigh and log as I go, and it doesn't take much more time than normal. If you're really serious about losing weight you need to monitor your intake with as much accuracy as possible, or you run the risk of over/under eating.

Regarding your intake - it's hard to eat if your body is telling you it's not hungry, but meeting your calorie goals is vital for weight loss. Based on your age, height and weight your BMR is 1576kcal (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/). You should not be eating less than this, and that's before any exercise is taken into account.

The hardest thing about losing weight is coming round to the idea that sometimes you need to eat more to lose more. Once you've come to terms with this your weight loss will be much more successful.

I wish you all the luck!!

You'd think it's simple, but there are many more things going on here. Although, honestly, I'd say that you should really be talking to a therapist. You clearly have a lot going on in your life that you're not handling well on your own, and this whole thing is adding stress to the breaking point.

It's not healthy to push yourself ragged to the point of being in tears every day. I'd say that's probably more detrimental to your overall health than being overweight. You clearly can't quite handle this process at the moment, so I suggest you get the rest of your life in order and get to a better place mentally before you try to tackle this.

Great articles.

http://www.coachcalorie.com/how-to-stop-feeling-hungry/

http://www.coachcalorie.com/never-feel-hungry-losing-weight/

we're in pretty much the same boat. same height, almost the same weight, and i average in about 900 cal a day. I eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack a day >.< yesterday i made sure i got up to 1,000 cal (a little over) and felt so sick and over fed.
I'm no expert by any means, i havent been doing this that long and im still learning a lot. but my body tells me what i need, and when a doctor has tried to control my diet every thing went terribly wrong. im still in the process of speeding up my metabolism, one day i'll eat more. today is not that day.

Here is what im doing for it:
waking up earlier (this helps with eating breakfast sooner and working out earlier)
drinking more water
Drinking natural teas (green tea, helps me get nutrients i may not be getting from food)
Taking vitamins (to fill in some gaps)

I know someone here is going to disagree with me, but as i said, my body tells me what i need.

MOST people will disagree with your post.....not "someone."

900 calories a day? Oh - but you ARE taking vitamins.......so your existing muscle mass should be protected......not!!

Under a doctor's care......this might be ok for the very OBESE pateint....but OP is not under a doctor's care, or very obese.

Here's what happens to people who are merely overweight (and on 900 calories)...............your heart, lungs, kidneys, brain need fuel everyday (fuel = calories, not vitamins).......fat stores cannot provide 100% of that fuel. So your body will have to make choices..... heart or existing muscle tissue......lungs or existing muscle tissue......kidneys or the hair on your head......you can guess what your body is going to choose to fuel.

If you want the same body fat % that you had before dieting.............900 calories (is dangerous) ......but you can become a smaller person and still be fat.