Help with 1200 calories a day diet

I'm around the same age and am set to a 1200 calorie net, but I'm able to exercise, so am allowed usually between 100 and 300 more. Is there some activity you can do so you can get a few more calories? Also, you might be able to lose on more than 1200 if you are tall or larger framed. I'm a small person, so my TDEE is only around 1500.

I'm 5'6 180 at the moment(I was 186 but I lost 6 lbs before I got here). That really isn't a norm for me. Or maybe its a new norm, I'm not sure. I was 137 lbs. 3 years ago until I quit smoking. The rest of the weight was gained after that. I was walking then, 3 miles or more a day, or riding a bike. But I've virtually worn down the cartilage in my knees.

Well, based on your current height, weight, and age, the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation works out to a BMR of 1448.2 calories. That's how much your body burns just to stay alive and doesn't include any activity, so your daily burn is going to be higher. The common multiplier for a sedentary lifestyle is 1.2, so you're looking at 1448.2 x 1.2, which works out to 1737.9 calories as an estimate just to keep your current weight.

If you ate 1500 calories, you'd still have a deficit of about 238 calories a day and 1665 calories a week. You might not lose weight as fast as you would with a larger deficit, but it will help the hunger issue, which will likely make it easier for you to keep going.

Thanks for the input. I think I've decided to stick to the 1200 calories a day until I start starving again and then on that day eating 1500. That way I can keep losing and just deal with the hunger when necessary.

Any input on that plan?

Yah it's a crappy idea...to be quite blunt.

Low calorie diets lead to being hungry...extreme hunger leads to over eating...1500 is not a lot of food to be frank esp with your stats.

When I started here I was right around the same as you...my calories were 1600 a day (included exercise calories) and I lost 1lb a week steadily....I now eat 1700 a day and I am still losing.

You will continue to lose on 1500...so why deal with hunger, stress etc when you don't have to?

Sounds like you want to punish yourself for being over weight...

Unless you're confined to a bed/wheelchair you can do something to earn extra activity calories. (Even then, there are options.) You don't have to run a marathon. Walk at whatever pace suits you for 5 minutes a few times a day. Walk in place while watching TV. Look up Leslie Sansone videos on Youtube.

Every little bit helps. This is coming from someone who once thought I could never run, due to a prior car accident. (Broke both my legs, have titanium rods from each ankle to knee & from knee to hip in one leg.) To a certain extent being an active person is a choice. I'm lazy by nature, and I'm no longer letting that nature lead me.

I do eat 1200 a day. And I'm not hungry, in fact, some days I just don't want any more food that I've already eaten and I'm under my calories so I have to look for something else to eat. And I'm losing weight very steadily since I started tracking. I'm eating 500 calories below my BMR and 25% below my TDEE, so I'm supposed to be losing 1.2 pounds a week, usually it's higher. Your own numbers might be different depending on your own BMR and TDEE.

Don't get hung up on protein. Nutritionists say a good percentage of calories in protein is from 10-35%. You'd have to really try to be protein deficient. I aim for 20-30% and I'm usually over because protein is in grains, beans, veggies, etc.

But I also eat low fat vegan foods, lots of fiber, lots of food. And yes, I hit the low end of the recommended range of fats, and proteins besides all the other nutrients. I use a lot of Happy Herbivore and other low oil low fat recipes that are high in nutrients. That said, I don't eat out much (once a week) and I don't eat processed foods as a rule. So it can be done. And it can be done in a healthy manner.

I was eating right around 1200 calories a day and exercising also for the first couple of months I was on MFP. Getting near my goal, I wanted more food so I upped my calories to 1500 and I'm losing just as much weight. Since the beginning of January (when I started) I've had one day a week where I pretty much eat whatever I want. I try not to binge on that day but I eat out, I have more sweets, whatever. I also went out of town for five days and didn't get any exercise and didn't log anything (and ate a lot!). I've lost 15 pounds since January 12th, only "dieting" six days a week and now in the last week or two, with increased calories. I'm beginning to believe that the 1200 calorie thing was unnecessary for me. Try more calories!

If you continually allow your self to get to the point where you start to eat more than your calorie goal, you are effectively reducing your deficit anyway. Even if you stick to 1200 for most days, but then eat 1500-1700 a few days a week will bring your average calorie intake up. So, question becomes, why make yourself get super hungry when you can increase by a few hundred calories each day and still maintain the same overall weekly deficit?

There are many things you can do activity wise that will give you a bit more calories or the 500 calorie deficit you are looking for. You said you have problems with your knees, but are your arms injured as well? You can do body weight exercises and upper body calisthenics to provide some resistance training and some light cardio as well.

Eating 1500 calories instead of 1200 calories isn't a binge at all, that is unless you ate a total of 2700 calories that day. Adding a few calories to satisfy hunger, but still staying at a deficit to meet a weight loss goal is a controlled increase. Losing all control and continuing to eat despite the possible desire to stop and awareness that the calories they are consuming are going to be over maintenance.

I actually binged yesterday

Because 1200 cals isn't enough for you, and will lead you to eat more on a pretty regular basis. Plus your body will be pissed at you for under-feeding it.

Seriously - some good info in this thread. You can and SHOULD be eating more than 1200 cals and still lose weight, so why on earth would you restrict yourself to a measly, unsatisfying, and below-your-BMR 1200?

According to your ticker, you only have about 3lbs to lose, or is that a short-term goal? Either way - you can and should be eating more than 1200.