I abandoned 1200 calories per day, and so should you

Just speaking for myself I started at 1200 but it wasn't sustainable. I was so hungry but then I upped it to 1900. My workouts are better because I have more energy and I'm losing weight.

I found that the only way I could stick with 1200 cal/day was to not eat bread or sweets of any kind, and to eat plenty of fat. Basically following the general guidelines (if not the exact numbers) of a low-carb diet. I would suggest to anybody that if you think your calorie goal is realistic, but it's clearly not enough to keep you from being hungry and/or fatigued, try reducing your carb intake and increasing your fat intake.

I think it's important for everybody to read some different guidelines from different sources. But you have to listen to your body and make adjustments accordingly. Because, ultimately, it doesn't matter how much MFP, USDA, Dr. Oz, or Dr. Atkins know about the human body; they don't know you. Also, they don't have to live with the consequences of their recommendations - you do. So do your research, keep it diverse, decide for yourself what you're gonna try and how you'll make it work for you.

My story (in case you're interested):
I didn't realize this until after I fell off the wagon completely, couldn't seem to get myself back into it, and started reading about low-carb diets.
While I was on 1200 cal/day, I lost 15 lbs. That was my greatest success ever. While researching low-carb diets, I studied my food diary from my "successful" diet and found that the days when I met my calorie goal, I had eaten no grains, only 1-2 servings of fruit, and exceeded my allowance of fat. These are the general guidelines of a low-carb diet; and I was following them without realizing it. These days also landed in the weeks with my greatest weight loss. I considered that evidence that a low-carb diet might work for me.

There's a lot of research and debate about low-carb diets; far more than I can summarize (and I don't fully understand all of it myself) so I'm not going to attempt to regurgitate it here. If you're reading recommendations that tell you to eat more carbs, I suggest you also read something by Gary Taubes, and then decide which way you're going to go.

Based on my research and my personal experience, I landed on this:
Calorie limit: 1500 cal/day. But I don't actually enforce this limit, it's more of a guideline (and MFP doesn't work without a limit). I eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm satisfied. Most days I find I only need about 1300 cal. to feel satisfied and energized.
Carb limit: I eat around 50 carb/day. I've found this to be my "sweet spot" - that is, the minimal amount of carbs I need to eat to not feel sick. I typically get that from 1-1.5 servings of fruit, 1 serving of whole milk (i.e. full fat) yogurt, and small amounts that add up from things like vegetables and salad dressing (typically less than 5 g per serving).
Protein goal: I found some research that indicates that weight loss works best if you consume 0.7 g of protein per lb of lean body weight. I estimated that to be around 88 g per day for me. I really work on getting 616 g per week, because this varies a lot for me from day to day.
The rest of my calories come from fat.

I avoid: sugar, grains, starchy vegetables. Because those foods just make me hungrier.

That was just 1 day out of 3 months of logging. I did only eat a pizza from Pizza Hut because I had been having fun at a Comic Con all day and I didn't fancy the cakes and fries on sale at the event, so I waited until we left.

That day I had worked up a raging appetite, but a single day of what many people would class a mini fast is not going to hurt anyone. As it happens the following day I was ill with a vomiting bug so you could probably criticise that day too! My logging is not spotty, sometimes 'real life' gets in the way - it's not always 100% enjoyment in most peoples' life. Good luck with your perfect life!

Aren't you pleasant. I'm just going to leave it with hangry and go eat ma ice cream. Have fun singing the joys of 1200 calories

Yeah, have fun telling people how to have fun and, you know, enjoy life! Digging around in diet diaries to make personal judgements sounds a right bundle of laughs. Meh...

The constant butthurt over 1200 calories is irritating though. I don't understand why people defend it so vehemently. Sure, you can lose on 1200 cals. But if you can also lose on 1500, why would you not eat more?

Yes that constant butthurt may be irritating - but so is the flip side: the vehement '1200 is not right for anybody' posts.
It IS right for some people - those who are older, smaller, less active, or for some reason are on medically supervised lower calorie diets.

I am not say your post was doing this - but there seem to be zealots on both sides of fence to me.

You do need more calories, you said this yourself!

Sigh. Yes I do, for a number of reasons.

The problem is you directly linked muscle mass with higher calorie requirements.

I explained why this is factually wrong.

Now you're talking about something different, i.e. my personal TDEE. Which has nothing to do with the amount of calories required by fat vs muscle - the latter is universally applicable.


Your inability to follow a logical line of argument is astonishing. Congratulations.

My line of argument is simple. You need more calories because you are a body builder. As you have pointed out you only need an extra 60 cals per day versus a higher body fat version of yourself, but this is only when you are resting. Your workouts and metabolism means you can maintain your weight at 800+ more calories than the average woman, and yet I am not allowed to lose weight at 800 calories less than the average woman's maintenance level? This is not logical. You do know what an average is, don't you?

You clearly have no idea of the difference between BMR and TDEE. Google is your friend.

I am also NOT a bodybuilder. I am a powerlifter.

That was just 1 day out of 3 months of logging. I did only eat a pizza from Pizza Hut because I had been having fun at a Comic Con all day and I didn't fancy the cakes and fries on sale at the event, so I waited until we left.

That day I had worked up a raging appetite, but a single day of what many people would class a mini fast is not going to hurt anyone. As it happens the following day I was ill with a vomiting bug so you could probably criticise that day too! My logging is not spotty, sometimes 'real life' gets in the way - it's not always 100% enjoyment in most peoples' life. Good luck with your perfect life!

Aren't you pleasant. I'm just going to leave it with hangry and go eat ma ice cream. Have fun singing the joys of 1200 calories

Yeah, have fun telling people how to have fun and, you know, enjoy life! Digging around in diet diaries to make personal judgements sounds a right bundle of laughs. Meh...

Only did so to prove a point because in general I find people who say they maintain 1200 and are soooo happy with it generally you know...Don't. If you're so bothered by it, you can always close your diary. Seems to make you cranky.

I am eating 1340 calories a day and burn anywhere between 900-1500 calories a day exercising. I do not eat my exercise calories back and have lost 23 lbs in 11 weeks. Everyone's diet plan will be different

I am eating 1340 calories a day and burn anywhere between 900-1500 calories a day exercising. I do not eat my exercise calories back and have lost 23 lbs in 11 weeks. Everyone's diet plan will be different

So you are netting between 440 and minus 160 calories per day??!!

Not a healthy eating plan :noway:

I am eating 1340 calories a day and burn anywhere between 900-1500 calories a day exercising. I do not eat my exercise calories back and have lost 23 lbs in 11 weeks. Everyone's diet plan will be different

So you are netting between 440 and minus 160 calories per day??!!

Not a healthy eating plan :noway:

3 days a week I net -3000+

Still healthy as anything I am.

Just because someone sets there limit at 1200 doesn't actually mean they eat 1200. My limit is set there and eat around 1600 calories per day but am never over my limit because I workout! That's the whole point!

Just because you think it's "right", doesn't mean it's right for anyone else.

I'm on day 28 and I am kind of happy with the results so far but I have to be honest I am sooooo impatient. I just dropped my CAL intake from about 2000 a day to 1540. I hope that another 28 days from today will see more of a result

That was just 1 day out of 3 months of logging. I did only eat a pizza from Pizza Hut because I had been having fun at a Comic Con all day and I didn't fancy the cakes and fries on sale at the event, so I waited until we left.

That day I had worked up a raging appetite, but a single day of what many people would class a mini fast is not going to hurt anyone. As it happens the following day I was ill with a vomiting bug so you could probably criticise that day too! My logging is not spotty, sometimes 'real life' gets in the way - it's not always 100% enjoyment in most peoples' life. Good luck with your perfect life!

Aren't you pleasant. I'm just going to leave it with hangry and go eat ma ice cream. Have fun singing the joys of 1200 calories

Yeah, have fun telling people how to have fun and, you know, enjoy life! Digging around in diet diaries to make personal judgements sounds a right bundle of laughs. Meh...

Only did so to prove a point because in general I find people who say they maintain 1200 and are soooo happy with it generally you know...Don't. If you're so bothered by it, you can always close your diary. Seems to make you cranky.

I didn't say I maintain at 1200! I said everyone is different, and you chose to argue with a very simple fact by making a personal judgement on my happiness levels. Not cool.

Edit: It's Mother's Day here in the UK and I don't plan on spending any more time defending myself against people who think it is productive or entertaining to snipe at other people's experience, knowledge and ability to enjoy life.

I am eating 1340 calories a day and burn anywhere between 900-1500 calories a day exercising. I do not eat my exercise calories back and have lost 23 lbs in 11 weeks. Everyone's diet plan will be different

So you are netting between 440 and minus 160 calories per day??!!

Not a healthy eating plan :noway:

3 days a week I net -3000+

Still healthy as anything I am.

Pinkraynedrop, I don't understand why you quoted my post.

My query was to spoiled wife, whom I quoted, who didn't say anything about netting more on other days and whose diet plan seems to be one of netting between 400 and minus 160 per day.
Extremely unhealthy intake.

I said nothing about your intake or anyone else's intake in my post.

From my understanding of this issue which is not much at all, calorie requirements for weight loss varies from person to person.

With me, I can lose some weight if I have less than 2500 calories. This is because I work out an average of 4 days a week 2.5 hours per work out.

I wish I could eat less than 2500 calories a day but my body will not let me. So, the best I can do is maintain between 175 to 180 lbs.

First of all, there's no two ways around it: if you eat less calories than you burn, you WILL lose weight. It's impossible that the original poster couldn't lose a single pound on 1200 calories per day. It's against the laws of thermodynamics.

That being said, the lower caloric intake isn't a magic bullet. If you're starving yourself on 1200 calories a day, then there's a fundamental problem: you're not doing something sustainable. You'll quit. Or worse, you'll reach your goal, and your diet will be so impossible to maintain that you'll just go back to your old eating habits and gain the weight back.

There are a few ways to play with your target caloric intake to make it sustainable:

1. Raise it closer to your BMR. This means you'll lose weight slower, but remember: this is a marathon, not a sprint! It's MUCH better to lose, say, 1 lb per week while eating in a way you enjoy, than starve yourself to reach your goals. Skipping meals is a SURE sign you're going at it too hard.

2. Change your food, and make sure to include healthy fats and protein. Fat and protein help with satiety. That is to say, if you eat mostly fat and protein, you'll feel full. If you eat carbs, you'll be hungry within an hour. Veggies and fruits are also great, because it's really hard to go over your caloric budget eating those. Try to binge on lettuce and you'll see what I mean. If you're making room in your caloric budget for fast food, soft drinks or desserts, you'll surely go hungry, because you're "spending" your budget on empty calories.

3. Do cardio. Cardio isn't a magic bullet, but it DOES burn calories. If you find a form of cardio you enjoy, you'll raise your caloric budget while getting healthier.

4. Lift weights. Lifting doesn't lead to weight loss directly, but what it does is activate fat burning. This means you'll maintain your muscle mass during weight loss. This will ensure that you're a healthier person when you reach your weight target.

Whatever you do, don't go thinking caloric deficit is not the answer... It is. As long as you eat good, quality food, and set realistic and sustainable goals, you WILL make it. Don't give in to fad diets, and remember... What you need is a lifestyle change. If it's too hard day to day, you WILL give up. But if you do it right, you won't even consider it a diet, just a better way of life.