1200 calories is HARD...
DOVE437
Posts: 15
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:
Pity Party over. Just had to vent for a moment Tomorrow is Friday! :glasses:
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Replies
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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.0 -
Id suggest adding in some snacks between meals. A handful of almonds will run you about 180 Cals and provide healthy fats as well.0
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Try incorporating peanut butter or almonds, or any kind of nuts.0
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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.0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
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:0 -
How did you become over weight in the first place if eating 1200 calories is hard?0
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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.0 -
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.0 -
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.
Gotcha0 -
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 spartan0 -
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...0 -
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.
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?0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
Sigh...0
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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:0
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Thank you Everyone who added positive feedback and suggestions0
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Another one of these threads.. really?? 1200 calories is hard... ya ok..0
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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.
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?
Hypothyroidism and prediabetes makes you less hungry and makes you not use the fuel you are having, it slows you metabolism down so you down burn the calories. Because of the slow metabolism the 1200 calories may be all her body requires for running like a maniac.0 -
It is hard to believe that someone could exercise like a maniac and eat 800 calories and not lose weight, but untreated or UNDER-treated hypothyroidism will do just that! Before I got my levels sorted out I couldn't lose a LB! It is incredible frustrating! It is hard to believe if you haven't been there.
As far as not hitting 1200 calories-you obviously have to change up what you are eating. I find when you eat in a very regimented way (dieting) you can slowly go lower and lower calorie or crab-wise. I myself had to add fruit back into my diet because my carbs were creeping below 30g/day which is too low especially since I work out 5-6 times a week. PEANUT BUTTER!
Also I agree about cutting out diet food. If the food you like don't keep you as full-eat more...this should help if you are having trouble ingesting enough calories.0 -
I definitely struggle with getting the calorie intake right and getting a well balanced meal so I don't eat pavement as they say! I have been so thankful for Shakeology to help me get the nutrition I need no matter what else happens during the day! :drinker:0
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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.
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?
Hypothyroidism and prediabetes makes you less hungry and makes you not use the fuel you are having, it slows you metabolism down so you down burn the calories. Because of the slow metabolism the 1200 calories may be all her body requires for running like a maniac.
the thing is 800 calories is really very little and the reason I asked about net calories is because with all that running and other aerobic exercise that looks like at least 400 cals a day or maybe more.
I get that those conditions mentioned affect the metabolism, so you then have far less room for error. If she averaged 800 cals and did not count in exercise calories that would mean that her actual average after counting in exercise might have been as low as 400 - 500 cals, which seems really unlikely considering that she did not lose any weight, not even a little.
If she counted her exercise calories then it is quite possible that through an accumulation of little errors she actually consumed more and burnt less and because her metabolism is what it is she actually ate at maintenance. Yes her maintenance might be stupidly low for her stats, but 800 cals ???
As an example:
she could log 1300 cals food and 500 cals exercise, bringing her net calories to 800. Now, if she was out by 200 cals with the food for whatever reason, and her exercise calories where out by 300 cals, because ultimately the estimates of calorie burns assumes a normal metabolism, she actually consumed 1500 cals and had 200 cals exercise thus bringing over all consumption to 1300 calories, which, whilst still low, is more realistic.
I personally would get the hypothyroidism treated and see whether adopting the diabetes diet and meticulous logging shows any change, but that's just my 0.20 -
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.
this is great advice and also the other one about the added foods. avacados in your eggs or salads or sandwiches are yummy. oils on your vegies when cooking them and some butter on them when eating them, lol. , smart ones have so much sodium. try to make it on your own or at least add some stuff to the smart ones like cheese on the pasta or rices, or have a pc of bread with it. cream in your coffee is more calories. add in some protein to your salads or some croutons and cheese. there are ways to add in more calories without hardly adding more food. that is the reason most of us have the problem with eating too much calories. good luck.. remember your body needs carbs and protein and fats when doing a race. I am sure of that. maybe you need to check out your tdee and eat like that. it might be better for you. not sure.0
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