I abandoned 1200 calories per day, and so should you

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  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Did you use a food scale? This sounds like under estimating calorie intake. At 5'7" 150, 1200 should have led to weight loss.
    This is along the lines of what I was going to ask.

    OP, did you make any other changes besides upping your calories? Weighing solids and measuring liquids, better logging, found accuracy in calories in/calories out?

    I ask because you said you maintained at 1200 and 1500 calories, which is a 300 calorie difference each day. If you are maintaining at 1500, then that means you were most likely overestimating your calorie intake at 1200.

    However, I'm so glad you found what works for you. I eat 2100-2300 a day at "trying to maintain" even though I'm still slowly losing still but i would not suggest that anyone else try it. I do agree with eating enough to properly fuel your body, though.
  • Grumpsandwich
    Grumpsandwich Posts: 368 Member
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    Point out just for sake that some ppl think they know everything... :P

    There ARE diseases/disorders/syndromes that impair the body's metabolism that require a lot of ppl to eat lower calorie/carb meals.

    They dont starve to death
    They DO build muscle

    Their bodies burn food/calories at slower rate, digest slower, absorb more calories requiring them to work twice as hard and eat half as much as other ppl
    Thyroid, pituitary disorders, poly cystic ovarian syndrome just to name a few that i know a bit about. Im sure there are DOZENS of other disorders that impair the body
    (Tries not to trip getting off her box lol)
  • pnkpoodlkiss
    pnkpoodlkiss Posts: 8 Member
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    I LOLed at the post that said "I eat 10 packs of 100 calorie cheetos a day"
  • Beet_Girl
    Beet_Girl Posts: 102
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    In my personal experience; I lost weight at 1200 cals and I lost weight at 1800 cals. Why would I want to eat less calories if I can eat more and still lose weight?

    a) You might want to lose it faster. If you're a calories in calories out person that would appeal and I guess is why people dial in 2lbs/week and hit the 1200 bottom stop.
    b) You may not want to do the extra exercise required to maintain a deficit and adequate loss rate at the higher intake.
    c) You may want to spend less on food, or not have enough money to eat more.
    d) You might believe that calorie restriction prolongs life (I don't, but they're out there)

    QFT
  • EmbraceTheDarkSide
    EmbraceTheDarkSide Posts: 514 Member
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    this thread makes me sad :(
  • pepperpat64
    pepperpat64 Posts: 423 Member
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    Lots of hangry people in here!

    LOL gotta remember that one.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    No one "should" be doing anything based on another person's experience. When I started I was on the verge of diabetes, so I HAD to lose as much as possible as fast as possible. It worked for me and I lost the biggest chunk of my weight on around 1200 a day in the first 5 months. I did not "plateau" and I kept losing at a very predictable rate. When my blood sugar started looking more normal, I took a 6 month "break" where I just maintained at around 2400 calories (long story, basically did not want to spend money on new clothes). Now that I'm out of the danger zone, I just do whatever calories I feel like doing for that day provided I do not go over my maintenance calories. Some of these days happen to be 1200, and even 1000. I say everyone should find what works for them and stick to it, be it 1200 or 2000.
  • GingerPeachLass
    GingerPeachLass Posts: 20 Member
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    And then there's those people that say, "I know I should eat more than x amount of calories, but I'm not hungry and I can't force myself to eat!" If you can't eat more than 1200 calories, how did you get fat in the first place?!

    by creating so much of a deficit that you threw your metabolism into starvation mode, thus hanging onto weight and not losing. That's how.
  • dintentions3
    dintentions3 Posts: 43 Member
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    its working great for me
  • mycupyourcake
    mycupyourcake Posts: 279 Member
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    I LOLed at the post that said "I eat 10 packs of 100 calorie cheetos a day"
    Thank you very much. I wish I had a gif for that. Heck I just wish I knew where you all got gifs!
  • paganstar71
    paganstar71 Posts: 109 Member
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    I aim for 1,200 cals a day, but I accept that sometimes it's not enough, especially if I didn't choose nutritious food during the day or went to a restaurant for a treat.

    I tried to bump my calories up to 1,500 a couple of weeks back but bizarrely felt more hungry and kept going over my calories; and actually put on some weight, so I went back to what works for me. I'm 5'3".
  • SugaryLynx
    SugaryLynx Posts: 2,640 Member
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    I aim for 1,200 cals a day, but I accept that sometimes it's not enough, especially if I didn't choose nutritious food during the day or went to a restaurant for a treat.

    I tried to bump my calories up to 1,500 a couple of weeks back but bizarrely felt more hungry and kept going over my calories; and actually put on some weight, so I went back to what works for me. I'm 5'3".

    You felt hungry because your Leptin levels returned. It happens to everyone. I maintain around 2100 with minimal activity and even easing up by 100 a week to get there I had moments of hunger. Hunger is a terrible queue for whether or not you're eating enough. Depending on how long you stayed at that amount and your logging accuracy can make a difference, too. Plus water weight fluctuations from adding calories and how you went about that. I'm 5'3.5" .
  • nikkihk
    nikkihk Posts: 487 Member
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    And then there's those people that say, "I know I should eat more than x amount of calories, but I'm not hungry and I can't force myself to eat!" If you can't eat more than 1200 calories, how did you get fat in the first place?!

    by creating so much of a deficit that you threw your metabolism into starvation mode, thus hanging onto weight and not losing. That's how.

    ...Um, No. There is no such thing as "starvation mode".

    Here is a long drawn out explanation enjoy: http://www.nowloss.com/starvation-mode-myth.htm
  • cicisiam
    cicisiam Posts: 491 Member
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    Nice of you to share your thoughts, but we are all not alike or we would be clones & in a cult. Let's just provide information and let everyone figure out what works best for them eh? " Many different paths to the top of the mountain, yet they all get you to the top of that mountain." Happy Day ya'all!:flowerforyou:
    Hi everyone,

    This post is mainly concerned with the myth that 1200 calories per day is ideal for losing 2lb/week. This is the number that myfitnesspal will spit out at you if you want to lose a lot of weight and you don't exercise much. I followed this 1200 calories/day goal for about 6 months, and I am here to tell you that, if your current goal is 1200 calories per day, you should really reconsider.

    First of all, a bit about myself so that you can compare to my circumstances. I am a 23 year-old female, 5'7", and I weight 150 lbs. I am a university student and during the period where I was eating 1200 calories/day, I was not exercising much at all. I have been sitting at the same weight (+/- a couple pounds) for about a year.

    While I was eating 1200 calories per day, I was not a happy camper. I was constantly hungry, and I found myself skipping meals in order to maintain that goal. In addition, I was not losing any weight. And I can say with 100% confidence that eating 1200 calories/day for 6 months didn't make me lose a SINGLE pound. I had been sitting at the same weight the entire time. I was fed up, and I started reading into the 1200 calorie/day myth a bit more. I took some advice and I calculated my BMR, which was about 1500 calories/day. I was scared to increase my intake though, because I was afraid of gaining weight.

    About 2 months ago I increased my calorie intake to about 1700 calories/day. Guess what? I'm still sitting at the exact same weight. This makes me realize in retrospect how much I was starving my body. I am also much happier now. I am not afraid to eat throughout the day. I can have breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks in between. I have also started working out for an hour per day on the exercise bike in hopes of overcoming my plateau. But the point of this post is that 1200 calories was definitely not ideal for me, and there is a chance that it is not ideal for you. Calculate your BMR and bump up your intake if 1200 calories is not working for you. Your body needs nourishment and there is definitely more to losing weight than limiting your calories. I know that there are already posts about the 1200 calorie misconception, but I just wanted to tell my experiences and try to get the message across that 1200 calories is not something to automatically swear by.
  • meganjcallaghan
    meganjcallaghan Posts: 949 Member
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    it's how i lost most of mine....worked out alright for me.
  • kmtbeaulieu
    kmtbeaulieu Posts: 33 Member
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    Others have questioned whether you religiously used a food scale and accounted for everything so I won't address it.

    But at 5'7" and 150 lbs, you should not have chosen the 2 lb option to begin with-only the 0.5 lb.

    MFP can get into serious legal trouble if they don't add important notations specifying which weekly weight loss goal is suitable for a person.


    MFP would not suggest 1200 to her, she would/ve had to click on the customize option that says it's not advised
  • shapefitter
    shapefitter Posts: 900 Member
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    I'm currently on about 2000 kcal a day. For years, I haven't felt hunger, until now. I'm cooking my dinner, at the moment, and because I'm feeling hungry, I'm a bit clueless, about what to do, as the food is not yet ready...As, I am usually a slow eater, I don't want to 'inhale' the food, once it's cooked. So, in the last half hour, I've drunk 800ml of water, and I'm planning on drinking some more, as it's helped a bit.
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
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    Hi everyone,

    This post is mainly concerned with the myth that 1200 calories per day is ideal for losing 2lb/week. This is the number that myfitnesspal will spit out at you if you want to lose a lot of weight and you don't exercise much. I followed this 1200 calories/day goal for about 6 months, and I am here to tell you that, if your current goal is 1200 calories per day, you should really reconsider.

    First of all, a bit about myself so that you can compare to my circumstances. I am a 23 year-old female, 5'7", and I weight 150 lbs. I am a university student and during the period where I was eating 1200 calories/day, I was not exercising much at all. I have been sitting at the same weight (+/- a couple pounds) for about a year.

    While I was eating 1200 calories per day, I was not a happy camper. I was constantly hungry, and I found myself skipping meals in order to maintain that goal. In addition, I was not losing any weight. And I can say with 100% confidence that eating 1200 calories/day for 6 months didn't make me lose a SINGLE pound. I had been sitting at the same weight the entire time. I was fed up, and I started reading into the 1200 calorie/day myth a bit more. I took some advice and I calculated my BMR, which was about 1500 calories/day. I was scared to increase my intake though, because I was afraid of gaining weight.

    About 2 months ago I increased my calorie intake to about 1700 calories/day. Guess what? I'm still sitting at the exact same weight. This makes me realize in retrospect how much I was starving my body. I am also much happier now. I am not afraid to eat throughout the day. I can have breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks in between. I have also started working out for an hour per day on the exercise bike in hopes of overcoming my plateau. But the point of this post is that 1200 calories was definitely not ideal for me, and there is a chance that it is not ideal for you. Calculate your BMR and bump up your intake if 1200 calories is not working for you. Your body needs nourishment and there is definitely more to losing weight than limiting your calories. I know that there are already posts about the 1200 calorie misconception, but I just wanted to tell my experiences and try to get the message across that 1200 calories is not something to automatically swear by.

    Everyone is different. Plenty of people lose weight eating 1200 calories a day. I personally didn't lose weight eating 1200. I don't lose weight eating 1750-1840 a day either which is the recommended amount for someone my weight and height to lose 1 lb a week. My doctors have told me I most likely won't lose weight unless I eat 500-800 calories a day which they would never recommend for me because I only have 40 lbs to lose (want to lose a total of 58 though) and it simply isn't sustainable.
  • yanika24
    yanika24 Posts: 1
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    how do u break the plateau!? My weight has always fluctuated. I've been 180lbs I have been 108 lbs. Right now I am 145 and all I want is 130. I was 160 in december and it seems that after I broke 145 I just won't budge anymore. Is it because I just turned 25?
  • Nikoruo
    Nikoruo Posts: 771 Member
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    i'm nearly the exact same as you.... 5'8", female, 23... except i'm 224lbs. My calorie intake recommendations have changes since i started on here... slowly shrinking and shrinking so i've been able to maintain it. I think it started somewhere near 1900 to lose 2lbs per week. Right now it's currently at 1280 to lose 2lbs for week, at sedentary level. I log any prolonged walking and any workouts i do with the help of an HRM. Sometimes i don't lose much but let me just say this.... Before i jumped down to my latest recommended amount i was eating around 1500 calories and didn't lose a thing for a few weeks. then I went down to about 1200-1300 and now i'm losing about 2lbs a week again. So for me it's working greatly! You just have to make sure not to go under 1200, or so says my dietician. When you get to the point where it's telling you that you need to burn less than 1200 OR you are getting to the point where you aren't losing on the recommended amount, it's time to start working out. It's true what they say: Dieting goes far. Losing weight is 80% diet and 20% fitness. So once you've dieted all you can before it gets unhealthy, start getting fit and going for jogs! (raise your food intake accordingly of course) best of luck!

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