Is it normal to maintain on 1200 cals?
HealthyMakeover
Posts: 142 Member
About six months ago, I struggled with restrictive eating habits and I finally broke out just recently.
I upped from about 500-800 calories to 2000, and I gained a lot of my weight back.
I am now at 5'6", and 115 lbs but I fluctuate like absolute crazy to the point where I can't tell if I'm 112, or 120, or somewhere inbetween.
Right now, to stop myself from gaining, I found that eating 1200 calories is my medium. I haven't lost, nor gained.
I still exercise, although not much at all. I eat my exercise calories back.
Could it be normal to maintain on 1200 calories?
I understand that I could be eating more, but I will gain weight. I tried it, and I did. And I don't want to gain.
I upped from about 500-800 calories to 2000, and I gained a lot of my weight back.
I am now at 5'6", and 115 lbs but I fluctuate like absolute crazy to the point where I can't tell if I'm 112, or 120, or somewhere inbetween.
Right now, to stop myself from gaining, I found that eating 1200 calories is my medium. I haven't lost, nor gained.
I still exercise, although not much at all. I eat my exercise calories back.
Could it be normal to maintain on 1200 calories?
I understand that I could be eating more, but I will gain weight. I tried it, and I did. And I don't want to gain.
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Replies
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Ummmm no, you're probably noticing you gain at over 1200 calories because you are underweight for your height. At 5'6" a healthy weight is between 120-160, with 120 being if you have a very small frame but most people are a medium frame which means a healthy weight minimum would be more like 130. Eating 500 calories a day is a starvation diet and your metabolism is likely a bit lower than normal for someone at your height as a result, add to that you're underweight and yeah you're probably maintaining at 1200-1400 calories which is low to be at maintenance and probably unsustainable long term. I would check your relationship with your body and food and maybe seek some help or guidance on what's healthy. Not saying you necessarily have an ED (I'm not a doctor or dietitian or anything) but it doesn't sound like a healthy relationship with eating and your body to me.
edit: Also possible that you are consuming more calories than you think. Otherwise, it's probably what I already mentioned. It definitely would not hurt your body to let it gain 5-10 lbs.0 -
Are you weighing your food or just eyeballing? Do you track your exercise with a HRM or use MFP's defaults?
I'm no expert, but I don't think it's possible to maintain on 1,200. I recommend talking to your doctor. You may have hurt yourself hormonally or metabolically by eating so few calories depending on how long you were eating so few calories.0 -
I'm 5'6" and 117 lbs and that is way too heavy for me. I have an extremely small frame, my bone structure is very small, my waist is around 24 inches. I have had 2 specialists AND my family doctor tell me that 110 is my ideal weight. Anything over that, and it is unhealthy FOR ME. So don't assume that 130 is a healthy weight based on height. God, I weighed 130 when I was full-term pregnant and I was ENORMOUS.
But to answer the question, even with an underactive thyroid, (meaning my metabolism is slow) even I lose weight on 1200 cal/day. Check with your doctor. Wishing you the best!
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Maybe you killed your metabolism with the restricting and you're body's holding on to those calories for dear life. Try exercising more and then you can eat more. 0
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I'm 5'6" and 117 lbs and that is way too heavy for me. I have an extremely small frame, my bone structure is very small, my waist is around 24 inches. I have had 2 specialists AND my family doctor tell me that 110 is my ideal weight. Anything over that, and it is unhealthy FOR ME. So don't assume that 130 is a healthy weight based on height. God, I weighed 130 when I was full-term pregnant and I was ENORMOUS.
Your body is an anomaly then, so congrats. It happens, but it's not common. Obviously there will always be exceptions. Healthy weight categories are averages based on large sample sizes of people. Of course you have to use your judgment, you're an individual, not a statistical number or completely average person. But, it is something to consider and talk to a doctor about, as you have already which is great. I'm just saying maybe she should get another opinion too from a health professional. If you're naturally small and even lose on 1200, something isn't quite adding up in her case. Either medically (she's underweight, thyroid problem, etc) or honest-food tracking-wise0 -
I'm 5'6" and 117 lbs and that is way too heavy for me. I have an extremely small frame, my bone structure is very small, my waist is around 24 inches. I have had 2 specialists AND my family doctor tell me that 110 is my ideal weight. Anything over that, and it is unhealthy FOR ME. So don't assume that 130 is a healthy weight based on height. God, I weighed 130 when I was full-term pregnant and I was ENORMOUS.
But to answer the question, even with an underactive thyroid, (meaning my metabolism is slow) even I lose weight on 1200 cal/day. Check with your doctor. Wishing you the best!
I don't believe for one minute that you were enormous at 130 lb, sorry0 -
I am small-boned, 5' 1" and am maintaining 112 pounds on 1200 calories a day. I eat my exercise calories. My age is probably contributing to my metabolism but I have never been a big eater and do not feel starved.
Sorry but I cannot believe someone could be 5 inches taller than me and need to weigh 110.0 -
I guess the short answer is 'no' or 'not usually' which you have already heard from the other posters.
But the long answer is nearly impossible to give to you by strangers on the internet who can't observe your body and take inventories. I would strongly suggest seeing a nutritionist and your doctor to develop the eating plan for you.0 -
I'd probably say no, unless you have an abnormally low BMR (which can happen).
I wouldn't like to be stuck at 1200 cals for life though, so you could try upping it gradually. Try out 1300 but give it at least a month to settle down (a gain in the first week shouldn't put you off). If you maintain at that, up it again and so on. Good luck with it.0 -
You body has a natural weight where it is comfortable. If you are having to drastically cut your calories below 1200 calories to maintain that weight then you are not at your body's natural weight. Your body cannot function properly without consuming muscle mass on fewer calories for any period of time. I would dare say you do not need to go below 1200-1400 calories a day. If necessary increase your activity as opposed to decreasing your nutritional intake.0
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I'm 5'6" and 117 lbs and that is way too heavy for me. I have an extremely small frame, my bone structure is very small, my waist is around 24 inches. I have had 2 specialists AND my family doctor tell me that 110 is my ideal weight. Anything over that, and it is unhealthy FOR ME. So don't assume that 130 is a healthy weight based on height. God, I weighed 130 when I was full-term pregnant and I was ENORMOUS.
But to answer the question, even with an underactive thyroid, (meaning my metabolism is slow) even I lose weight on 1200 cal/day. Check with your doctor. Wishing you the best!
Wow. this is depressing on so many levels.
Your "specialists" and "doctor" should be sued for malpractice. They have no business advising on nutrition or pushing young women to be underweight. Sickening. That's why it's important to use OUR OWN BRAIN when determining what is healthy, not just trusting everyone and everything else.
Assuming that you had a healthy pregnancy, and a healthy baby, you are VERY fortunate for that.1 -
:noway:0
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I'm 5'2 and the recommended weight for ME is 120-136lbs so I'd say you have a skewed view of your "normal weight". I would definately seek advice from a nutritionist.
ETA that I don't plan on going that low because I think I would be too thin. I'm going for 140.0 -
You should be able to maintain at more than 1200. With your history of restrictive eating patterns, I would be really careful about setting your baseline intake that low, because it's really easy to get busy and miss a snack, so then you're down to 1100, or then the next day you're not as hungry and you drop to 1000, and then you're back to undereating. It can be a slippery slope is what I'm saying, and it would help to have a little more of a cushion between your baseline intake and undereating.
When you up your calories, a slight gain right at the beginning is totally normal. It's not real fat gain -- it's usually water weight and glycogen replenishment. How long do you usually give it before you drop back down to 1200 again? It's beyond frustrating, but it can take a week or two before your body stabilizes again, so you won't know much earlier than that if you're actually gaining or if it's just fluctuations.
If you try to slowly up your calories (and I think you probably should), try going very slowly. Add 50-100 calories/day and try to stick with the increased intake for two weeks at minimum. I would really encourage you to take measurements as you go, since that'll give you a more accurate picture of what's going on with your body than the scale will at first. There's no way an extra 350-700 calories/week will make you gain real fat, not over two weeks, so you just have to keep reminding yourself that your body doesn't defy the laws of physics. (That may sound sarcastic, but I mean it completely seriously! I have had to tell myself that on a number of occasions).
Finally, while you're trying to up your calories and your brain is freaking out, try to find any other positive thing to focus on other than the scale. Whether it's having more energy, feeling just a little bit less tired after a workout, whatever, just try to focus on how the extra calories are benefitting your body.0 -
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I'm 118 pounds and 5'4" (but like you, I fluctuate) and pretty sedentary, and my maintenance is somewhere in the 1200-1500 range.
If you're light and not super active, your body just doesn't need a ton of calories to maintain your weight. It sucks but it's not unexpected.
If you want to change it, you can either burn more calories through exercise or you can build enough muscle that your body will need more calories to function (although I guess those two things are related.) Muscle burns more calories than fat pound-for-pound, so if your body fat percentage is lower and you have more muscle, you'll be able to eat a bit more.0 -
:noway:
My thoughts exactly.0 -
Bad advice is bad. You can't "kill" metabolism. You can restore it by slowly refeeding your body/upping calories. It sounds pretty scary but it works long term. Focus on health first and yes, you WILL gain weight. It's is natural and a response the body does once higher amounts of calories are reintroduced. But give it time and patience and it will come off.Maybe you killed your metabolism with the restricting and you're body's holding on to those calories for dear life. Try exercising more and then you can eat more.0 -
I guess the short answer is 'no' or 'not usually' which you have already heard from the other posters.
But the long answer is nearly impossible to give to you by strangers on the internet who can't observe your body and take inventories. I would strongly suggest seeing a nutritionist and your doctor to develop the eating plan for you.
Yes, best to see a nutritionist and a doctor for the best plan for you. Also, everyone is different so you will have to experiment a bit to find out what works best for your body. Good luck!0 -
I'm 5'6" and 117 lbs and that is way too heavy for me. I have an extremely small frame, my bone structure is very small, my waist is around 24 inches. I have had 2 specialists AND my family doctor tell me that 110 is my ideal weight. Anything over that, and it is unhealthy FOR ME. So don't assume that 130 is a healthy weight based on height. God, I weighed 130 when I was full-term pregnant and I was ENORMOUS.
But to answer the question, even with an underactive thyroid, (meaning my metabolism is slow) even I lose weight on 1200 cal/day. Check with your doctor. Wishing you the best!
You're an outlier, and a first time poster, and believe that at 5'6" you were "enormous." This combination of factors does NOT indicate a healthy body mentality, reliability, or that the OP should follow anything you say.
OP, if you're counting your calories and measuring your food with a scale, and you're only eating 1200 calories a day and maintaining, I echo the other intelligent posts here saying go talk to your doctor. Actually, go talk to your doctor REGARDLESS, as it seems you had past issues with body image and food, and being under a doctor's advisement on your nutrition will help you overall.0 -
I recommend seeing a regular doctor, but I believe you also need to see a psychologist or counselor.
I was anorexic in high school (15 years ago). I began seeing a psychologist who specialized in eating disorders. She was extremely helpful. She had me slowly increase my calorie intake (I was at about 500-700 calories per day when I started seeing her). I kept a food journal and met with my psychologist weekly to discuss the mental issues associated with my "restrictive eating habits".
A nutritionist is great, but they are unable to treat the mental side of what is going on with you. I would never have been able to develop normal eating behavior and be healthy without the help of my psychologist.
Good luck to you!0 -
I'm 118 pounds and 5'4" (but like you, I fluctuate) and pretty sedentary, and my maintenance is somewhere in the 1200-1500 range.
If you're light and not super active, your body just doesn't need a ton of calories to maintain your weight. It sucks but it's not unexpected.
If you want to change it, you can either burn more calories through exercise or you can build enough muscle that your body will need more calories to function (although I guess those two things are related.) Muscle burns more calories than fat pound-for-pound, so if your body fat percentage is lower and you have more muscle, you'll be able to eat a bit more.
While this is true, there is a big difference between maintaining on 1600 cals vs 1200 cals. At the OPs height and weight, she should not be maintaining on 1200 cals - that number should be > 1600 cals. That's far enough away from the expected value that it's not likely she's just 'not the average person'.
So,
1) there's something medically wrong,
2) or the OP is replenishing glycogen and water and that accounts for the weight gain when she increases calories,
3) or the OP is underestimating intake and/or underestimating outtake.
OP needs to figure out which of the above is the issue.0 -
I'm not sure... I stay at or below 1200 a day... And I am not losing... It's very frustrating... I workout 4-5 days a week anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and I have a LOT of weight to lose... But I either gain or stick..... So I'm not sure... 1200 doesn't sound like a lot but maybe for some people it is...0
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Wow! Wasn't expecting this many replies.
Thanks to everybody that has contributed with a reply.
I am going to work my hardest at respecting my body's needs, and to become the healthy girl I should be!
I understand a lot of you are probably going *facepalm* at me while reading my original topic, but life is a learning lesson and I'm young (while that is no excuse, but) I have time to fix things, right? Well, I'd like to think that way. I'm glad I have made an account here, I am learning a lot.0 -
Ok if your skinny fat that might be possible , but if your shapely then its not possible. It really comes down to the muscle you have on your body.0
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Go see a doctor. Have some tests.0
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About six months ago, I struggled with restrictive eating habits and I finally broke out just recently.
I upped from about 500-800 calories to 2000, and I gained a lot of my weight back.
I am now at 5'6", and 115 lbs but I fluctuate like absolute crazy to the point where I can't tell if I'm 112, or 120, or somewhere inbetween.
Right now, to stop myself from gaining, I found that eating 1200 calories is my medium. I haven't lost, nor gained.
I still exercise, although not much at all. I eat my exercise calories back.
Could it be normal to maintain on 1200 calories?
I understand that I could be eating more, but I will gain weight. I tried it, and I did. And I don't want to gain.
so you ate very little and lost weight, then you upped it and gained. You are now at 115lbs. Is that the weight the you ended up with after you 'gained a lot'? In which case, it could quite well be that your metabolism is not working like it would for other people since other ED suffers have reported similar issues. It would probably be best to check with a specialist in that field and see what you could do to improve your metabolism.0 -
I think those who responded to my post missed my point entirely. I am NOT underweight at 110 pounds, that is WHY my doctors say 110 is my ideal weight. Because OVER that, it causes health issues FOR ME. My point was that you can't use the standard BMI for everyone because there many exceptions to that rule. Am I "overweight" at 117? No. Does the weight cause health problems that would resolve if I lost weight? Yes. (Assuming the weight I gain is "fat" weight and not muscle weight. I could probably handle 120 lbs if I gained muscle, but unfortunately I never do.) And yes, I really was quite large (FOR ME) at 130 lbs full-term pregnant, (not sure why anyone would make that up?) and yes my son was/is healthy. He was a large infant, even large for dates in the womb. He had to be tested to rule out a pituitary gland problems because of his large size. lol, oh my poor baby. He's a healthy adult now and on the leaner side like me. He is muscular like his dad, but lean with nice muscle tone. (I lack the nice muscle tone part. Working on it!!)0
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I'm 5'6" and 117 lbs and that is way too heavy for me. I have an extremely small frame, my bone structure is very small, my waist is around 24 inches. I have had 2 specialists AND my family doctor tell me that 110 is my ideal weight. Anything over that, and it is unhealthy FOR ME. So don't assume that 130 is a healthy weight based on height. God, I weighed 130 when I was full-term pregnant and I was ENORMOUS.
But to answer the question, even with an underactive thyroid, (meaning my metabolism is slow) even I lose weight on 1200 cal/day. Check with your doctor. Wishing you the best!
You're an outlier, and a first time poster, and believe that at 5'6" you were "enormous." This combination of factors does NOT indicate a healthy body mentality, reliability, or that the OP should follow anything you say.
OP, if you're counting your calories and measuring your food with a scale, and you're only eating 1200 calories a day and maintaining, I echo the other intelligent posts here saying go talk to your doctor. Actually, go talk to your doctor REGARDLESS, as it seems you had past issues with body image and food, and being under a doctor's advisement on your nutrition will help you overall.
Wow. That's a pretty audacious claim to make to someone with whom you've never held a conversation. I am healthy, I'm trying to get healthier, and I've never had body image issues or an eating disorder, if that is what you're implying. I think I look great at 117, but unfortunately it's hard on my body due to my aforementioned health issues. Look up Marfanoid features and maybe you'll have an understanding of differences in body structure before you insult or discredit a person you've never met. I mentioned I had health problems in my first post, and I advised her to seek advice from a doctor because even I lose weight at 1200 cal/day.
Dear OP: I sincerely wish you the best!
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