What would 1200 calories a day FOREVER do to you?

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  • __freckles__
    __freckles__ Posts: 1,238 Member
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    I agree. I actually just found a very interesting/funny article about it ( a little more geared toward women than men, but still entertaining). http://sophieologie.me/2013/09/26/1200-calories/comment-page-3/

    I would be interested to see what research went into the health community deciding on that number.

    I've seen that article before and I agree. Where the hell did they come up with 1200? If people want to eat 1200 and lose weight, God bless them. But if you can eat more and still lose, why wouldn't you?

    ETA: OP, not to get all crazy on you, but just food for thought: We're the same height and I was 136 during maintenance, and my maintenance calories were 2200. So I would lose weight probably at around 1760. (I don't actually know the exact number range cuz I'm bulking right now, but I took 20% below TDEE). Everybody is different, but you could probably eat way more than you are eating and still lose.
  • SugaryLynx
    SugaryLynx Posts: 2,640 Member
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    Ironic you bring up that article. It was a nice read. My friend actually sent it to me via Facebook for my birthday because she knew I was into weightlifting, etc. I too want to know the elusive mystery behind the magical 1200 number! xD
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    There is a show I've watched on British television called Supersize vs Superskinny. Its a bit of a reality show and it is contrived but they take someone who is morbidly obese and someone who is dangerously thin, break down their usual dietary habits and make them swap diets for a short time before sending them off on a healthy eating plan.

    Why bring this up? Because you see these rail-thin people who weigh like 90 pounds and have caused themselves a lot of bodily harm with their diets and you get to see what their caloric intake was day to day. Quite often it is around the 1200 range or even a bit higher. You keep that up forever you will be skinny, weak from loss of muscle and a lowered metabolism and you will cause your body harm that will put you at high risk for certain ailments.

    Being fat increases health risks but so does being rail thin. There is a happy middle ground.
  • Just_Bella
    Just_Bella Posts: 78
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    Would put me into a perpetual state of hanger
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Example supersize superskinny episode where 5'9 womans diet is "super healthy" with vegetables and what not. Her diet was 1000 calories a day but I've seen cases where it was 1200 and got basically the same result

    Skip to about minute 22:20 to see what she looks like eating that "forever"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0C1dSf3wxQ
  • lautour
    lautour Posts: 89 Member
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    I think it depends on your height, weight and activity level, and perhaps your age since metabolism slows as you get older.

    For my height, 1200 would be my BMR if I were a normal bmi and if I stayed sedentary. I'm short.
  • holly55555
    holly55555 Posts: 306 Member
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    The less you weigh, the less calories you need to maintain.

    Eventually you'd hit a weight where 1200 calories would just be maintaining. You probably wouldn't feel very good, you'd shoot your metabolism, and if you ever ate more than 1200 calories, your body would save it all as fat. But some people are really small framed and do end up eating around 1200 a day - just because they're not hungry and their body doesn't need more. It really just depends on you and your activity level, how your body would react.
  • holly55555
    holly55555 Posts: 306 Member
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    Oh also! We're the same exact height and I started at 138 lbs, but 31% body fat. I have been eating 1600 a day, working out 3-5x a week.

    I'm now 125, and lost about 10% body fat (maybe more - only measuring by the scale), and have about 5 lbs more of FAT to lose (so who knows if the scale will change) before I'm at my physical peak (I'm very small frame and have little muscle mass). Unless of course I decided to be a hardcore athlete and gain more muscle - probably won't happen, I don't really enjoy working out.


    There is no reason to eat 1200 cal a day at your height. It gets harder to lose when you're getting close to the end - for me, I lose a lb maybe every 10 days now, but doing it slowly and surely is the best way because you will keep it off. :)

    I still drink wine and eat cake and burgers and french fries - just not every day. You will get there!
  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,065 Member
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    I'd die. No way I could live on 1200 calories a day, but that's just me.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    The subject is the question. I am within 5-10 pounds of my original goal( went from 178 to 134 in 3.5 months), and as such I have stopped being so extreme with my dieting/exercising and am now eating around 1200 calories a day and only exercising for 30 minutes to an hour a day with off days. I am losing weight slower but i'm fine, I don't look bad where I am, and I am not as impatient to lose the last 5-10 lbs. As I get nearer to when I am going to need to start maintaining I've started wondering what would happen if I ate at 1200 cals a day...forever. Just out of curiosity. Would I keep losing a pound or so a week...until I died. How could that happen if 1200 is supposed to give me enough nutrition? Would my metabolism drop so low that that would eventually just become my maintenance number. I am 5'7.5" 134 lbs. and my BMR is calculated at 1447( though between work and school I am active over 15 hours a day so i'm sure my TDEE is reasonably high). I was just curious about how that all works. Anyone have any knowledge for a poor gal?

    Can we back up? I am also 5'7", started at 180 lbs and started losing weight the week of Thanksgiving, which means you started after me. I'm currently 154 lbs and have steadily lost between 1-1.5 lbs per week. You're at 134 lbs in 3.5 months? What in the name of chocolate-dipped marshmallow peeps did you do, eat less than 1200 cal with that activity level the entire time?
  • MBrothers22
    MBrothers22 Posts: 323 Member
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    You'd lose lean mass (bad), be hungry all the time (bad), get weak because of lean mass loss (bad), and lose until you're very underweight (bad)

    If that sounds like fun, go for it.
  • holothuroidea
    holothuroidea Posts: 772 Member
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    For someone with your build and activity level, your metabolism can adapt to a certain extent but but in order for you to survive long term on such a deficit your body would need to scavenge muscle and fat tissue, and divert energy from non-vital processes (things that are important for long term health, but not short term survival) as your body approaches a TDEE of 1200.

    None of these things are good for your health.

    I seriously want anyone who isn't under 5' tall and sedentary to just forget that the number 1200 even exists.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
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    I am 5' 7" and I literally don't think I could eat so little unless I was vomiting so much that I went to the emergency room. So, it's been a good 18 months since I've eaten so little. I weigh 180 now, but when I weighed 137, I was still maintaining on 1800 calories a day at least.

    So, what would 1200 calories a day forever do to me?

    It would be "I will cut a mofacker" day, all day, erry day.
    roberto.jpg
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
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    Personally...Id be hangry forever.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
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    Make you cranky as hell?
  • RomulanWarbird
    RomulanWarbird Posts: 230
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    You'd die.

    Probably not but you might.
  • determinedbutlazy
    determinedbutlazy Posts: 1,941 Member
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    I would eat my couch.
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,660 Member
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    I was going to ask how much (or how little) you were eating to lose 44 pounds in 3.5 months, but I see you already answered that. I say this as nicely as I possibly can - you need to be seeking help. You have an eating disorder.

    I guess this is what concerns me -- how can someone lose more than 10 lbs. a month in a way that's healthy? Most people who have that kind of weight loss are morbidly obese people put on extreme low calorie regimens under a doctor's supervision.

    Moreover, you are someone who has a profile that say "yuck!" and calls herself a sloth and disgusting. Most profiles talk about goals in a positive way -- to be healthier, to be more toned, to have more energy, to get ready for an event like a wedding, etc. I don't find that just being funny, I find it troubling.

    1200 calories might be for a maintenance weight -- for someone who is 5'2" and sedentary.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    Make me slit my wrists.

    I kid, I kid, but seriously. I'd be effing miserable.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    1200 calories might be for a maintenance weight -- for someone who is 5'2" and sedentary.

    No. Wrong. 1200 calories was too low for ME, at 5'0", when I was sedentary. NO WAY IN HELL could that ever be a maintenance weight for someone taller. Completely impossible. Do some research on TDEE and BMR, and see for yourself.

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