1200 calories is HARD...

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DOVE437
DOVE437 Posts: 15
in Health and Weight Loss
to reach. I struggle to eat well AND reach 1200 calories. Most days I don't reach it. Coffee and a small breakfast, Smart Ones or salad for lunch, then protein, veggies, and carb for dinner. (usually) I don't snack becasue I'm not hungry, we don't have candy or junk food in the house because my kids don't need it, I primarily drink only water, sometimes a glass of red wine, and I still don't reach 1200. I don't miss anything food wise, except for beer. :drinker: This wouldn't be so frustrating if it weren't for a nastly little pattern I'm seeing where my weight loss is more successfull when I'm closer to the 1200 vs further away. I've become cautious about running because I fear hurting myself, you know because I'd pass out and end up wiping my face across the asphalt, which really sucks because I have a Spartan race in 4 weeks. UGH. It's not my first so I know I can do it, I just wont' be quite as prepared as I'd like to be. Who knew this was such a complicated science of a balancing act?

Pity Party over. Just had to vent for a moment :) Tomorrow is Friday! :glasses:
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Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Dietary fat...

    have full fat dressing on your salad (or perhaps eat more than just salads for lunch), saute veggies or roast them in olive oil, nuts and nut butters, eat eggs and cheese and full fat dairy. fat is a very essential macro-nutrient and most dieters cut out way too much because they are under the impression that it is the devil and that fat makes you fat...it does not.

    veg and fruit, etc are great, but you need far more than that to get proper nutrition.
  • JaxNole82
    JaxNole82 Posts: 21
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    Id suggest adding in some snacks between meals. A handful of almonds will run you about 180 Cals and provide healthy fats as well.
  • Boosier3
    Boosier3 Posts: 57 Member
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    Try incorporating peanut butter or almonds, or any kind of nuts.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    you wouldn't be here if 1200 is hard to reach...

    Stop eating diet food...ie smart ones...

    Why eliminate the foods you love/want just eat smaller portions...

    1lb a week is sufficent for the 50lbs you have to lose...anything more than that and you are losing fat and muscle...and it will be hard to sustain...

    And doing a spartan race on 1200 calories a day...good luck with that.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Add cheese, avocado, full calorie salad dressing, and seeds or nuts to your salad.

    Have bacon and eggs for breakfast and cream in your coffee.

    Roast your veggies in olive oil at dinner. Marinate your chicken and add sauce or gravy. Put some butter on those carbs. And have a small serving of ice cream after dinner.

    Adding some calorie dense foods to each meal should make it possible to boost each meal by a few hundred calories without adding more volume to your stomach.

    And be sure you're logging your running and eating back at least some of those earned calories.
  • Amelia7779
    Amelia7779 Posts: 53 Member
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    I'm really not trying to be snarky, but I don't understand these posts. If it's so hard to reach the measly sum of 1200 calories, how come you have weight to lose?

    I'm at 1200 right now and I haven't had dinner yet.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    you wouldn't be here if 1200 is hard to reach...

    Stop eating diet food...ie smart ones...

    Why eliminate the foods you love/want just eat smaller portions...

    1lb a week is sufficent for the 50lbs you have to lose...anything more than that and you are losing fat and muscle...and it will be hard to sustain...

    And doing a spartan race on 1200 calories a day...good luck with that.

    ^This.

    Stop with 'diet' foods. Eat the food you love in moderation. You'll hit your calories easily that way. Also, snacks. They're pretty awesome.

    Losing weight isn't about how little you can possibly eat or how miserable you have to be. It's about eating a healthy amount of food with a moderate deficit, and you don't have to be miserable OR fearful you're going to hurt yourself due to lack of caloric energy.
  • DOVE437
    DOVE437 Posts: 15
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    I'm really not trying to be snarky, but I don't understand these posts. If it's so hard to reach the measly sum of 1200 calories, how come you have weight to lose?

    I'm at 1200 right now and I haven't had dinner yet.

    I have hypothyroidism and am pre-diabetic. I've always struggled with my weight and my family has a lot of issues. My cholesterol is through the roof and has been since I was 21 so I've been conscious of food for a long time. Eating has never been a problem for me, and I've never been really excited about it. Quite frankly I don't care about food and until I started running 25 miles a week, did Insanity and WW with out loosing a lb, I started tracking EVERYTHING that went into my mouth. That is when I realized I was averaging 800 calories a day and had to add food to my diet. The stuggles go both ways. :wink:
  • DOVE437
    DOVE437 Posts: 15
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    Thanks for the tips! I do love eggs. mmmm. And almonds, though my braces don't. grrrr.

    hahaha.

    I've done a lot of these races before, and Warrior Dashes, and 10k's, 10 mile Park to Park, numerous 5k's. This Spartan Sprint is only 4 miles. Granted 2 miles was really really hard 2 weeks ago, I just know I won't be prepared as well as I should be for it. I've been doing burpees though still :glasses:
  • Miamiuu
    Miamiuu Posts: 262 Member
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    How did you become over weight in the first place if eating 1200 calories is hard?
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    How did you become over weight in the first place if eating 1200 calories is hard?

    The thread is less than a page long. You might have bothered to read it before posting.
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
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    you wouldn't be here if 1200 is hard to reach...

    Stop eating diet food...ie smart ones...

    Why eliminate the foods you love/want just eat smaller portions...

    1lb a week is sufficent for the 50lbs you have to lose...anything more than that and you are losing fat and muscle...and it will be hard to sustain...

    And doing a spartan race on 1200 calories a day...good luck with that.

    This.. ALL of this.
  • Amelia7779
    Amelia7779 Posts: 53 Member
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    I'm really not trying to be snarky, but I don't understand these posts. If it's so hard to reach the measly sum of 1200 calories, how come you have weight to lose?

    I'm at 1200 right now and I haven't had dinner yet.

    I have hypothyroidism and am pre-diabetic. I've always struggled with my weight and my family has a lot of issues. My cholesterol is through the roof and has been since I was 21 so I've been conscious of food for a long time. Eating has never been a problem for me, and I've never been really excited about it. Quite frankly I don't care about food and until I started running 25 miles a week, did Insanity and WW with out loosing a lb, I started tracking EVERYTHING that went into my mouth. That is when I realized I was averaging 800 calories a day and had to add food to my diet. The stuggles go both ways. :wink:

    Gotcha :)
  • LoosingMyLast15
    LoosingMyLast15 Posts: 1,457 Member
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    Thanks for the tips! I do love eggs. mmmm. And almonds, though my braces don't. grrrr.

    hahaha.

    I've done a lot of these races before, and Warrior Dashes, and 10k's, 10 mile Park to Park, numerous 5k's. This Spartan Sprint is only 4 miles. Granted 2 miles was really really hard 2 weeks ago, I just know I won't be prepared as well as I should be for it. I've been doing burpees though still :glasses:

    you need to get rid of the diet food and eat real food. if you prefer to eat them look for ones that are lower in sodium and incorporate a nice salad with them or additional veggies. salads don't have to just be lettuc tomato cucumber you can put artichoke hearts, nuts, raisins, cheese, sun dried tomatoes, chick peas lots of good things can go into a salad so many options. as for the races eating that little and doing something like spartan or warrior dash is not going to turn out well over the long haul. i do rugged maniac, 5ks, 8ks, 10ks and halfs so i'm very familar with the amount of energy you burn doing these things. one note of encouragement keep in mind that while it's 4 miles you do stop because of all the obstacles (i'd actually be worried about that if you're consistanting eating low amounts of food).

    good luck at spartan
  • Beet_Girl
    Beet_Girl Posts: 102
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    Stop eating diet food...ie smart ones...

    Why eliminate the foods you love/want just eat smaller portions...

    I can't do that because the foods I love/want do not keep me as full as "smart" choices. They are lower on the glycemic index. If I just eat smaller portions of what I like, I'll be feeling lightheaded, dizzy...
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
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    I'm really not trying to be snarky, but I don't understand these posts. If it's so hard to reach the measly sum of 1200 calories, how come you have weight to lose?

    I'm at 1200 right now and I haven't had dinner yet.

    I have hypothyroidism and am pre-diabetic. I've always struggled with my weight and my family has a lot of issues. My cholesterol is through the roof and has been since I was 21 so I've been conscious of food for a long time. Eating has never been a problem for me, and I've never been really excited about it. Quite frankly I don't care about food and until I started running 25 miles a week, did Insanity and WW with out loosing a lb, I started tracking EVERYTHING that went into my mouth. That is when I realized I was averaging 800 calories a day and had to add food to my diet. The stuggles go both ways. :wink:

    so you were averaging 800 calories a day with running 25 miles a week and did insanity and didn't lose any weight ... are you sure? Is that net calories?
  • marybowldseddington
    marybowldseddington Posts: 71 Member
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    I am not certain your numbers were right. 800 calories a day net would result in weight loss even in so called starvation mode in the long term.
    One glass of milk adds 300 calories and you did not list any dairy.
    If you are pre-diabetic you may need medication as the increased insulin in your blood stream is going to make it very hard for your body to let go of any fat.
  • Keepcalmanddontblink
    Keepcalmanddontblink Posts: 718 Member
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    you wouldn't be here if 1200 is hard to reach...

    Stop eating diet food...ie smart ones...

    Why eliminate the foods you love/want just eat smaller portions...

    1lb a week is sufficent for the 50lbs you have to lose...anything more than that and you are losing fat and muscle...and it will be hard to sustain...

    And doing a spartan race on 1200 calories a day...good luck with that.
    This! I find it hard to stay within my calorie limits and I have it set to 1450 to 1700. I will get crabby cause I want something to snack on and am out of calories. lol
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,583 Member
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    Sigh...
  • hpjunkie23
    hpjunkie23 Posts: 1
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    been having the same issue. but not so much that i'm hungry, it's that the husband and i have a strict budget and cant afford anything that goes over $3. any ideas of calorie rich foods for less moola? lol :happy:

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