1200 cals a day?!
Replies
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I'm 5'2". I lost my weight eating significantly more than 1200.
I don't understand why people would willingly eat so little.
Look, it was perfectly and totally right for you to eat more than 1200 calories a day. You lost 82 pounds! That is a whole lot (and jesus you can be proud, by the way) so you lost a whole lot by eating 1200+ calories.
But what people seem to not understand is that NOT EVERYBODY HERE IS THE SAME.
If you're let's say 135lbs and you want to be 125lbs and your body is really hard on losing weight, a 1200 calorie diet might be what it takes you in order to lose those pounds.
the range of people that actually need to eat 1200 calories is to lose is MUCH... MUCH smaller than you think.
MFP allows folks to put in information that isn't correct for them, which is why this topic comes up all the time.. and is done to death.
Yes, it is very little, of course you're right! But eating 1200 calories a day is also definitely NOT starvation mode as some people claim it to be. It's definitely the wrong thing to do when you're overweight trying to lose weight and get all frustrated, but, again, it is not even close to starvation.0 -
I did it when I first started on MFP, it was difficut for me to sustain after a while.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/TheEffort/view/fat-to-skinny-with-a-touch-of-psychosis-571278
The best way is to figure out your calorie requirements - http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ and go from there.
Good luck.
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I'm 5'2". I lost my weight eating significantly more than 1200.
I don't understand why people would willingly eat so little.
Look, it was perfectly and totally right for you to eat more than 1200 calories a day. You lost 82 pounds! That is a whole lot (and jesus you can be proud, by the way) so you lost a whole lot by eating 1200+ calories.
But what people seem to not understand is that NOT EVERYBODY HERE IS THE SAME.
If you're let's say 135lbs and you want to be 125lbs and your body is really hard on losing weight, a 1200 calorie diet might be what it takes you in order to lose those pounds.
Actually it works the other way, as you get closer to your goal, you eat more (not more than maintenance), and you have a more gradual rate of loss. It is not healthy to take an aggressive cut when you have so little to lose.0 -
I think it depends on how tall you are, too. I'm 5'2 and have no problem staying at 1200 cals / day. I usually have a protein bar for breakfast, then usually only water until lunch when I have a chicken breast and raw veggies, or black beans and chicken in a tortilla, or a tuna wrap. No afternoon snack, and then often eggs or egg whites with veggies for dinner. On exercise days I eat more. I usually am not hungry, or just a bit hungry.0
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On days I don't exercise I don't have any problem staying below 1200 calories. I will eat 2/3 of a cup of oatmeal in the morning, which is 200 calories, then do a tuna salad with lettuce at lunch for 250 calories. Then i will eat 2 chicken breasts and some vegetables at dinner for 300 calories, and a half cup of frozen yogurt for 100 calories. I still have room for another serving of oatmeal at 200 calories and another 150 calories to spare.
If you eat healthy stuff all day, it isn't really that difficult to stay under 1200 calories.
Did bad today though, went to the Thai buffet and pigged out lol. Ate mostly vegetables and chicken though.0 -
I'm 5'2". I lost my weight eating significantly more than 1200.
I don't understand why people would willingly eat so little.
Look, it was perfectly and totally right for you to eat more than 1200 calories a day. You lost 82 pounds! That is a whole lot (and jesus you can be proud, by the way) so you lost a whole lot by eating 1200+ calories.
But what people seem to not understand is that NOT EVERYBODY HERE IS THE SAME.
If you're let's say 135lbs and you want to be 125lbs and your body is really hard on losing weight, a 1200 calorie diet might be what it takes you in order to lose those pounds.
Actually it works the other way, as you get closer to your goal, you eat more (not more than maintenance), and you have a more gradual rate of loss. It is not healthy to take an aggressive cut when you have so little to lose.
^^THIS! You will lose weight at 1200 calories, of course, you aren't eating over maintenance. But in long term, I feel it is not necessary to do. Sure if you are 5 feet tall, you can probably handle it. But a lot of people on here that eat at 1200 are not short.
If you eat at 1200 calories and don't feel full and satisfied ... don't push yourself to eat that little. In the long term you are setting yourself up for failure.0 -
I drink an herbalife shake for breakfast and lunch and have a snack mid morning and afternoon of fruit/cheese or veggies. For dinner I have meat/chicken and a salad. Staying away from bread, pastas, rice makes it easier to stay at 1200 calories. For snack after dinner I have been enjoying an orange.:flowerforyou:
Agreed. Cut that stuff out of my diet and staying right around 1200 was no sweat after that.0 -
On days I don't exercise I don't have any problem staying below 1200 calories. I will eat 2/3 of a cup of oatmeal in the morning, which is 200 calories, then do a tuna salad with lettuce at lunch for 250 calories. Then i will eat 2 chicken breasts and some vegetables at dinner for 300 calories, and a half cup of frozen yogurt for 100 calories. I still have room for another serving of oatmeal at 200 calories and another 150 calories to spare.
If you eat healthy stuff all day, it isn't really that difficult to stay under 1200 calories.
Did bad today though, went to the Thai buffet and pigged out lol. Ate mostly vegetables and chicken though.
You are a man, you should not eat that little.0 -
I'm 5'2". I lost my weight eating significantly more than 1200.
I don't understand why people would willingly eat so little.
Look, it was perfectly and totally right for you to eat more than 1200 calories a day. You lost 82 pounds! That is a whole lot (and jesus you can be proud, by the way) so you lost a whole lot by eating 1200+ calories.
But what people seem to not understand is that NOT EVERYBODY HERE IS THE SAME.
If you're let's say 135lbs and you want to be 125lbs and your body is really hard on losing weight, a 1200 calorie diet might be what it takes you in order to lose those pounds.
Actually it works the other way, as you get closer to your goal, you eat more (not more than maintenance), and you have a more gradual rate of loss. It is not healthy to take an aggressive cut when you have so little to lose.
^^THIS! You will lose weight at 1200 calories, of course, you aren't eating over maintenance. But in long term, I feel it is not necessary to do. Sure if you are 5 feet tall, you can probably handle it. But a lot of people on here that eat at 1200 are not short.
If you eat at 1200 calories and don't feel full and satisfied ... don't push yourself to eat that little. In the long term you are setting yourself up for failure.
I agree that anybody who makes themselves miserable while losing the weight is only going to gain in back.0 -
I only have 1200 calories a day too and it was quite a shock for me at first too considering I was easily taking in 2500-300 day before I started tracking.
You start to really make them count and it is doable... I do add back in my calories when I work out though and I am still losing weight.
You will make changes, healthy changes... but that is the idea. You can manually adjust it higher if you need to but give it a try and track how much you are actually going over every day.
I started cutting back on my half & half in my coffee, then switched to 1% milk to drink, now I drink Skim and put that in my coffee as well. I have increased my veggies and eat more salads. Healthier proteins...
Now when I work out or even when I don't I am still within my range.0 -
On days I don't exercise I don't have any problem staying below 1200 calories. I will eat 2/3 of a cup of oatmeal in the morning, which is 200 calories, then do a tuna salad with lettuce at lunch for 250 calories. Then i will eat 2 chicken breasts and some vegetables at dinner for 300 calories, and a half cup of frozen yogurt for 100 calories. I still have room for another serving of oatmeal at 200 calories and another 150 calories to spare.
If you eat healthy stuff all day, it isn't really that difficult to stay under 1200 calories.
Did bad today though, went to the Thai buffet and pigged out lol. Ate mostly vegetables and chicken though.
You are a man, you should not eat that little.
Maybe. But I've lost 90 pounds and I just had a full physical, and the Dr. says I am a helluva lot healthier than when I was fat.0 -
...and you're gonna have an issue if you try to eat more than that from here out.On days I don't exercise I don't have any problem staying below 1200 calories. I will eat 2/3 of a cup of oatmeal in the morning, which is 200 calories, then do a tuna salad with lettuce at lunch for 250 calories. Then i will eat 2 chicken breasts and some vegetables at dinner for 300 calories, and a half cup of frozen yogurt for 100 calories. I still have room for another serving of oatmeal at 200 calories and another 150 calories to spare.
If you eat healthy stuff all day, it isn't really that difficult to stay under 1200 calories.
Did bad today though, went to the Thai buffet and pigged out lol. Ate mostly vegetables and chicken though.
You are a man, you should not eat that little.
Maybe. But I've lost 90 pounds and I just had a full physical, and the Dr. says I am a helluva lot healthier than when I was fat.0 -
I am probably going to die from cancer brought on by artificial sweeteners but at least I won't be fat in my casket.0
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P.s. forgot to mention I'm 5'2"
FML hate being small!
I am 5'2. I lose 0.5 lb/week weight eating 1900-2100 cal/day. I net around 1700 cal/day. I too started at 1200 cal per the MFP recommendation and then started reading more on these forums about TDEE. Went onto Scooby's calculator to find my TDEE, and then raised my goal to 1400, then 1500 and was losing a lb per week. When I got closer to goal and after getting a FitBit, I raised it again to ~ 1700 based on a 250 cal deficit from my daily burn. Just because you are petite doesn't mean you are doomed to eat 1200 calories.
If that is what works for you - lucky you, really! If I ate 2100 cals a day I would be definitely gaining weight even though I'm 5'7''. It's not really about height, it's about your starting weight and BODY. A 300lbs lady will lose weight on a 2000 cals diet, a 150lbs lady might need a little (or a lot) luck for losing 0.5lbs/week on that diet.
I started MFP at 150 lbs. I weighed in a couple of weeks ago at 125 lbs. I've been tracking daily for 390 days according to my update today. Yes that is just about 0.5 lb/week for a year. I had weeks where I lost 1-2 lbs, and I've had plenty where I've lost nothing. It all averages out to 0.5 lb/week and I go over my allotted calories a few times a week, I'm slightly under a few times a week as well. Weekly I average out to my net goal and am seeing fairly predictable results. I'm getting ready to transition to maintenance but will probably keep my goal the same for a few more weeks to give myself a little bit of a buffer. I'm also trying to add more strength training.
PS - I don't eat very clean either! I have two small children so we eat convenience food, and chocolate and wine are a must.
ETA the wine is for me, not the two small children... 0 -
Before I bow out of this topic ...
If you CAN lose weight eating more, you should. Especially if you are working out and not extremely short/petite.
I'm 5'5 and I eat 1700-1800 calories. I've lost 13 lbs in a little over 2 months. I'm healthy, I'm feeling great.
Most people who eat 1200 or less are going to be back here in 1 year needing to start over or lose weight they gained after they ate junk food for a month straight because they were so tired of "dieting"
If you can eat that little and not feel hungry...and you can sustain it ... and I mean like for 6 months, not 1 month or 2 months. If you can really eat at 1200 for the rest of your life .... then I will eat the food you are missing out on 0 -
...and you're gonna have an issue if you try to eat more than that from here out.On days I don't exercise I don't have any problem staying below 1200 calories. I will eat 2/3 of a cup of oatmeal in the morning, which is 200 calories, then do a tuna salad with lettuce at lunch for 250 calories. Then i will eat 2 chicken breasts and some vegetables at dinner for 300 calories, and a half cup of frozen yogurt for 100 calories. I still have room for another serving of oatmeal at 200 calories and another 150 calories to spare.
If you eat healthy stuff all day, it isn't really that difficult to stay under 1200 calories.
Did bad today though, went to the Thai buffet and pigged out lol. Ate mostly vegetables and chicken though.
You are a man, you should not eat that little.
Maybe. But I've lost 90 pounds and I just had a full physical, and the Dr. says I am a helluva lot healthier than when I was fat.
I kind of doubt it. If people paid attention to what I initially wrote I said I eat only 1200 calories on days I don't exercise. That is like one or two days a week. Most days I am eating 1500-1800 calories and walking 4-8 miles.0 -
On days I don't exercise I don't have any problem staying below 1200 calories. I will eat 2/3 of a cup of oatmeal in the morning, which is 200 calories, then do a tuna salad with lettuce at lunch for 250 calories. Then i will eat 2 chicken breasts and some vegetables at dinner for 300 calories, and a half cup of frozen yogurt for 100 calories. I still have room for another serving of oatmeal at 200 calories and another 150 calories to spare.
If you eat healthy stuff all day, it isn't really that difficult to stay under 1200 calories.
Did bad today though, went to the Thai buffet and pigged out lol. Ate mostly vegetables and chicken though.
You are a man, you should not eat that little.
Maybe. But I've lost 90 pounds and I just had a full physical, and the Dr. says I am a helluva lot healthier than when I was fat.
Dude is also in his 40's. Do I think it's healthy and that muscle mass is most likely being sacrificed, maybe so, but 1200 probably isn't as far off for him as others.
Myself, if I were under or at 1200 at lunchtime I'd be light headed...0 -
Before I bow out of this topic ...
If you CAN lose weight eating more, you should. Especially if you are working out and not extremely short/petite.
I'm 5'5 and I eat 1700-1800 calories. I've lost 13 lbs in a little over 2 months. I'm healthy, I'm feeling great.
Most people who eat 1200 or less are going to be back here in 1 year needing to start over or lose weight they gained after they ate junk food for a month straight because they were so tired of "dieting"
If you can eat that little and not feel hungry...and you can sustain it ... and I mean like for 6 months, not 1 month or 2 months. If you can really eat at 1200 for the rest of your life .... then I will eat the food you are missing out on
Yeah, anybody who calls what they do "dieting" is going to gain the weight back.0 -
On days I don't exercise I don't have any problem staying below 1200 calories. I will eat 2/3 of a cup of oatmeal in the morning, which is 200 calories, then do a tuna salad with lettuce at lunch for 250 calories. Then i will eat 2 chicken breasts and some vegetables at dinner for 300 calories, and a half cup of frozen yogurt for 100 calories. I still have room for another serving of oatmeal at 200 calories and another 150 calories to spare.
If you eat healthy stuff all day, it isn't really that difficult to stay under 1200 calories.
Did bad today though, went to the Thai buffet and pigged out lol. Ate mostly vegetables and chicken though.
You are a man, you should not eat that little.
Maybe. But I've lost 90 pounds and I just had a full physical, and the Dr. says I am a helluva lot healthier than when I was fat.
Dude is also in his 40's. Do I think it's healthy and that muscle mass is most likely being sacrificed, yes, but 1200 probably isn't as far off for him as others.
Myself, if I were under or at 1200 at lunchtime I'd be light headed...
When I get rid of this last 10 pounds of belly fat I'll start worrying about my muscle mass, but I'm not exactly wasting away at 185 and 5'11.0 -
At one point my goal was to eat 1200 cals a day and I was constantly failing. When I failed I thought horrible things about myself and just spiraled out of control emotionally and benged on food. It was a neverending cycle. My husband pointed out that if I would set a more realistic goal, then I would succeed, feel better about myself and make more progress overall. He was right!0
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At one point my goal was to eat 1200 cals a day and I was constantly failing. When I failed I thought horrible things about myself and just spiraled out of control emotionally and benged on food. It was a neverending cycle. My husband pointed out that if I would set a more realistic goal, then I would succeed, feel better about myself and make more progress overall. He was right!
I definitely agree that the way to be successful at any lifestyle change is to not be miserable doing it.0 -
Your initial response was happy about staying under 1200 calories on your off days. I kinda stopped reading right there. You've calculated your TDEE and BMR though, I'm sure.
...and you're gonna have an issue if you try to eat more than that from here out.On days I don't exercise I don't have any problem staying below 1200 calories. I will eat 2/3 of a cup of oatmeal in the morning, which is 200 calories, then do a tuna salad with lettuce at lunch for 250 calories. Then i will eat 2 chicken breasts and some vegetables at dinner for 300 calories, and a half cup of frozen yogurt for 100 calories. I still have room for another serving of oatmeal at 200 calories and another 150 calories to spare.
If you eat healthy stuff all day, it isn't really that difficult to stay under 1200 calories.
Did bad today though, went to the Thai buffet and pigged out lol. Ate mostly vegetables and chicken though.
You are a man, you should not eat that little.
Maybe. But I've lost 90 pounds and I just had a full physical, and the Dr. says I am a helluva lot healthier than when I was fat.
I kind of doubt it. If people paid attention to what I initially wrote I said I eat only 1200 calories on days I don't exercise. That is like one or two days a week. Most days I am eating 1500-1800 calories and walking 4-8 miles.
I'm 90% sure you're netting too little... and would be willing to bet that you're under your BMR by a fair margin, but hey, good luck dude.0 -
On days I don't exercise I don't have any problem staying below 1200 calories. I will eat 2/3 of a cup of oatmeal in the morning, which is 200 calories, then do a tuna salad with lettuce at lunch for 250 calories. Then i will eat 2 chicken breasts and some vegetables at dinner for 300 calories, and a half cup of frozen yogurt for 100 calories. I still have room for another serving of oatmeal at 200 calories and another 150 calories to spare.
If you eat healthy stuff all day, it isn't really that difficult to stay under 1200 calories.
Did bad today though, went to the Thai buffet and pigged out lol. Ate mostly vegetables and chicken though.
You are a man, you should not eat that little.
Maybe. But I've lost 90 pounds and I just had a full physical, and the Dr. says I am a helluva lot healthier than when I was fat.
Dude is also in his 40's. Do I think it's healthy and that muscle mass is most likely being sacrificed, yes, but 1200 probably isn't as far off for him as others.
Myself, if I were under or at 1200 at lunchtime I'd be light headed...
When I get rid of this last 10 pounds of belly fat I'll start worrying about my muscle mass, but I'm not exactly wasting away at 185 and 5'11.
Dude, your BMR is 1800. I'd say you are pretty close to wasting if you have been eating 600 calories less than BMR.0 -
My BMR is 1412
You should be netting that at the least, then. So eating 2000+ if you're really burning 600 cals a workout. I recommend using Scoobys accurate calorie calculator. Your BMR is higher than mine, I don't burn nearly that in exercise, and I'm maintaining on 2600. Best of luck!0 -
Your initial response was happy about staying under 1200 calories on your off days. I kinda stopped reading right there. You've calculated your TDEE and BMR though, I'm sure.
...and you're gonna have an issue if you try to eat more than that from here out.On days I don't exercise I don't have any problem staying below 1200 calories. I will eat 2/3 of a cup of oatmeal in the morning, which is 200 calories, then do a tuna salad with lettuce at lunch for 250 calories. Then i will eat 2 chicken breasts and some vegetables at dinner for 300 calories, and a half cup of frozen yogurt for 100 calories. I still have room for another serving of oatmeal at 200 calories and another 150 calories to spare.
If you eat healthy stuff all day, it isn't really that difficult to stay under 1200 calories.
Did bad today though, went to the Thai buffet and pigged out lol. Ate mostly vegetables and chicken though.
You are a man, you should not eat that little.
Maybe. But I've lost 90 pounds and I just had a full physical, and the Dr. says I am a helluva lot healthier than when I was fat.
I kind of doubt it. If people paid attention to what I initially wrote I said I eat only 1200 calories on days I don't exercise. That is like one or two days a week. Most days I am eating 1500-1800 calories and walking 4-8 miles.
I'm 90% sure you're netting too little... and would be willing to bet that you're under your BMR by a fair margin, but hey, good luck dude.
Whatever I'm doing, it's been working pretty good for me.0 -
I'm 5'2". I lost my weight eating significantly more than 1200.
I don't understand why people would willingly eat so little.
Look, it was perfectly and totally right for you to eat more than 1200 calories a day. You lost 82 pounds! That is a whole lot (and jesus you can be proud, by the way) so you lost a whole lot by eating 1200+ calories.
But what people seem to not understand is that NOT EVERYBODY HERE IS THE SAME.
If you're let's say 135lbs and you want to be 125lbs and your body is really hard on losing weight, a 1200 calorie diet might be what it takes you in order to lose those pounds.
I think it depends more on your activity level. I'm 5'2 and I got down from 145 to 124 by eating between 1500 - 1800 calories, sometimes more depending on my workouts and I tend to not log all my food on the weekends. BTW, I have a desk job but I try to workout at least 4 times a week between 30 minutes to an hour.0 -
I am n 1200 a day, some days it can be hard but most days it is just fine. And it encourages me to workout more so I can eat guilt free. Its works for me and I just find food that give me the most amount food for the least amount of calories like Subway veggie subs. They fill me up and not alot of calories.0
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After years of 'dieting', losing, regaining, repeat repeat repeat I finally realized that for the most part, I'm no longer going to do anything I can't do forever. Now, I will do a couple of Whole30 challenges a year, but that's to help me break cravings, and because a little challenge is fun. But outside of a whole30 challenge? I eat what I want to eat and fit it into my calorie goal for the day - which is above BMR and about 1000 calories less than TDEE as calculated by my fitbit.
I'm stressed out beyond belief at work right now, which is hardwired to be an 'eat all the things' time, and I'm mentally having a hard time staying at my BMR level. There is no way I could do 1200 calories per day, nor would I want to.
It was a hard adjustment to me to move to 1-2 lbs per week, instead of bigger losses, but I need to do this healthfully and in sustainably. 1200 is very likely too low and your expectations are very likely too high. I think both things should be adjusted.0 -
I think people got the wrong idea about me. I stay 1200 or lower one time a week or so, not every day. I was just making the point that it is fairly easy to to if you eat the right stuff.0
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I was on a 1350 calorie a day but the nutritionist at my gym said I wasn't eating enough and bumped me to 1500 a day and to eat five meals a day. He also bumped me to 2000 calories a day on weekends because I swim and burn about 1300 calories a time. I hate to say it, but on average I was rarely eating 1000 calories a day and felt weak and sick, now I am forcing myself to eat. Seek professional advice and get a menu plan. I have lost 20 pounds in two months by eating carbs and protein and working out almost everyday. Smaller, more frequent meals will help speed up your metabolism. Watch what you eat as well, all that boxed food is so over-processed. I buy organic as much as possible and items with very few ingredients.0
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