1200 cals a day?!

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!

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.

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.

...and you're gonna have an issue if you try to eat more than that from here out.

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.

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.

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.

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.

here are some clues:

1. don't trust the initial setup that MFP provides. If you put in the wrong/inaccurate information, it'll tell you to eat an amount that may not be applicable.
2. Make sure you eat enough.
3. Figure out what works for you and is sustainable/healthy/long term.
4. avoid fads. don't buy in to any "Hey, try the twinkie and vodka diet"
5. Don't cut out anything now that you don't plan on literally giving up forever.
6. GET A FOOD SCALE. Weigh everything. No, seriously.
7. Get an HRM with a chest strap. You'll at least have a better idea of what you're burning. It'll be more accurate than the generic info in the exercise database.. and even more than the cardio machines. This is great for steady state cardio (run/walk/etc)
8. Don't go balls out. You'll burn out. I see 300 lb people show up here, instantly start working out and cutting their intake SEVERELY... trying to cut out all of their carbs at once.. whatever. Take it slow. Figure out how much you need to eat FIRST in order to lose.. then incorporate exercise.
9. Don't cardio yourself to death.
10. Take the information on the forums with a grain of salt. A lot of people that have been here for a while.. and have been successful, may seem jaded. They give out GREAT advice day after day, only to be met with people that refuse to listen.
11. Eat real food. Not diet food. Not "low fat, sugar free, now without X." It's easier to get/find/count.
12. don't set time restrictions.
13. measure yourself weekly. Don't just weigh. Measure and take pictures.
14 BE PATIENT.
15. Avoid forum topics that have "1200" in the title. It's just full of butthurt. Lots of it.
16. If you ask a question on the forum, give as much information as you can ("yes, I have a food scale and weigh my food" is worlds better than "I eat a palm full of miscellaneous boiled chicken parts..sometimes.")
17. Be honest with yourself and honest with us.
18. This isn't a game, it's about changing your lifestyle. Do that.

pretty much that.

...and don't fall into the "1200 calorie" vertigo of suck because of:

the typical MFP users does this:
1. I wanna lose weight, let's try MFP.
2. OH! Wow, it tells me I can lose 2 lbs a WEEK? AWESOME!
3. I just sit at a desk when I'm not working out, I guess I'm sedentary.
4. MFP tells them 1200 calories, and they don't even eat that.. then they work out on top of it.. creating an even bigger deficit.
5. Lose a lot, fast, brag about 1200 calorie success.
6. Come back in a few months trying to figure out why they're dizzy, tired, not losing weight.
7. Get on the forums, ask why they aren't losing.
8. Get two responses (I eat 1200 and lose) (I eat 2200 and lose)
9. Argument ensues about who is right.

Now. That being said. These threads happen hundreds of times per day. Most times, and I mean really.. seriously.. 95% of the time.. people get the 1200 number because they don't put the right information in when they set up the account. There are a great number of people that are trying to help. I'm one of 'em.

I'm a hardcore advocate of actually finding out what works for the individual.. by means of other calculators, averages, time, practice, and patience.

Blanket prescriptions of 1200 calories "because it worked for me" is more harmful to the generic new user than the "figure out what you need to eat." Unfortunately, one is a LOT easier to type.

Find out what you need: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

and make sure to read: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

this could help.

change your settings to .5lb or 1lb per month. welcome to the world of still eating and still losing.

.5lb per month?! Way too low.....

Okay, starve then. Wear down your adrenal system from eating too little. Then when you get to your goal weight and resume eating "normally" again, gain it all back and then some. Welcome to the perpetual life long diet of misery.

QFT

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.