Issues with the 1200 cal a day diet

Jcornwa1
Jcornwa1 Posts: 18
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone. I had a quick question. I am attempting to stick to a 1200 calorie a day diet, which is usually very easy for me. Obviously I eat around %75 of my exercise calories back which (despite MFP calculations) is medically approved.
However, I had an interesting revelation yesterday and I wondered what everyone does about this. I was at school or work from 6 am until 11 pm yesterday, running around, very active, and I managed to only go over my 1200 calorie mark by 100 calories ending the day at 1300 ...( I ate 350 cals in Oreos and Sour Patch, this is NOT normal for me. I usually make the most of my calories, the girls at work just had them and I couldn't resist). What made me wonder think though is that if I had been off yesterday...woken up at 11...laid around until 12...eaten at 1 and probably been back in bed by at least 10 that night ( work the next day), then I would have stuck to the same number of calories if I was followig my "diet plan".
1200 per 11 hours of activity vs. 1200 per 18 hours of activity. This doesn't make sense. What I am going to start doing, maybe everyone else already is, is calculate my weekly deficit (5600) and allot myself more or less calories per day of the week depending on my predicted activity level that day. That way, on the days that i am doing homework,nannying, and mostly sedentary, I can eat my minimum, and on the days that I waitress for 12 hour shifts running up and down a hill in our outdoor seating, ill eat more. I think each day of the week ill tick off whatever I ate, so I can see how many calories I have left over for the week. This will also help control binges. Does this make sense? Am I crazy or is this healthy? It seems like every time I have any thought or idea about weight loss everyone tells me i'm doing it wrong or need help. Am I being obsessive and overly number centered? I just thought it was funny that people accept a blanket- 1200 cals a day, without taking into consideration how different activity levels can be day to day. Any wisdom?

Replies

  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
    Your daily activity is based on averages, so I don't know if getting too granular on daily activity makes sense, but that's my opinion. It's ultimately up to you and what you can better adhere to on your diet. If you are already eating back calories from exercise, then I would just basically see what your weight does over the period of a few weeks to see if anything needs to be adjusted. If you are losing, then why change things...if you are gaining or staying the same (assuming your goal is weight loss), then adjust your process to either eat less or exercise more to account for those additional calories you missed logging or exercise you maybe overestimated on calories burned.
  • rainbowxelephant
    rainbowxelephant Posts: 71 Member
    Ohmygod please eat more than 1200 calories a day, especially if you're a server and on your feet all day! I worked at a busy restaurant for over a year and ended up underweight for a while because I just wasn't eating enough. IMO you should calculate your TDEE and eat that instead of the MFP minimum. 1200 calories is what my toddler eats in a day
  • Jcornwa1
    Jcornwa1 Posts: 18
    I wonder how many people go the 1200 NET ( after eating back exercise calories) method vs. how many use the TDEE...
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,660 Member
    I teach on a large college campus every other day and wear a pedometer. On those days, I put in 2-2.5 miles just walking around on campus, but the other days when I don't teach I'm fairly sedentary. I just set my activity to lightly active, which I think covers the average of days when I'm active and days when I'm not. Then, I enter any additional exercise I do as exercise calories -- such as may daily 30 minute walk around my neighborhood and whatever I do at the gym. Most of the time, I "eat back" exercise calories, although if I have a big workout, like I did yesterday, I might not eat it all back because I'm just not hungry enough.
  • onefortyone
    onefortyone Posts: 531 Member
    At 4lbs to go (according to your ticker), and looking like you're already at a healthy weight, a deficit of 5600 a week may just be not possible. If you 'can't control' yourself and feel the need to eat more, resorting to uncontrolled eating, then it might just be your body telling you to eat more in general, including on less active days. Lower your goal to 1/2lb weight loss per week and you're more likely to get to your goal in 2 months steadily, instead of yo-yo'ing for the next two months trying to shift your last 4lbs too quickly.

    To answer your question, I personally wouldn't do it weekly myself, because I'd prefer to eat my 'base' calories (around 1600) every day no matter what, and then eat my exercise calories back on days I exercise. But I do not think there's any harm in doing so.
  • MBrothers22
    MBrothers22 Posts: 323 Member
    Seeing as you only have 4 pounds to lose, there is ZERO reason to be eating only 1200 calories. NONE.
    If you're of average height (5'4") you need to be eating at least 1500 calories
  • Jcornwa1
    Jcornwa1 Posts: 18
    I'm 5'8". Hmm. Ok. Thanks for the input everyone. I shall research some more and adjust accordingly.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    I'm 5'8". Hmm. Ok. Thanks for the input everyone. I shall research some more and adjust accordingly.

    Set MFP to lose 0.5lb per week....
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    Something like a FitBit might be helpful for you so you know better rather than guess what you are burning. Also the phone app has a nifty weekly graph under the nutrition tab which will show you at a glance how you're doing across the week.
  • sloth3toes
    sloth3toes Posts: 2,199 Member

    1200 per 11 hours of activity vs. 1200 per 18 hours of activity.
    on the days that I waitress for 12 hour shifts running up and down a hill in our outdoor seating, ill eat more.

    It sounds like you aren't eating enough in general. But, as for eating more on days you work harder? Absolutely. You could estimate the calories burned, and enter the additional work as exercise. This would give you a revised calorie goal for the day.
  • rainbowxelephant
    rainbowxelephant Posts: 71 Member
    I wonder how many people go the 1200 NET ( after eating back exercise calories) method vs. how many use the TDEE...

    I wish MFP would change that to 14 or 1500 honestly. Most people should eat around 2000 gross calories and so many people subscribe to 1200 calories as a scripture.
  • rainbowxelephant
    rainbowxelephant Posts: 71 Member
    I'm 5'8". Hmm. Ok. Thanks for the input everyone. I shall research some more and adjust accordingly.

    So I calculated your TDEE to be about 2300 calories. And your BMR to be about 1500-1600. And no one should ever eat under their BMR! You're 5'8?? Honestly, I don't think you need to lose weight. None of my business, but you're already quite thin.
  • MBrothers22
    MBrothers22 Posts: 323 Member
    I'm 5'8". Hmm. Ok. Thanks for the input everyone. I shall research some more and adjust accordingly.

    In that case it'd be even more. Around 1600 calories. Play around with this website scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    It'll give you the best information

    Also forgot to add, your BMI is already on the lower end of healthy. Going to 130 would really be the lowest healthy weight for you at 5'8".
    This is why taking it slow (eating more) is the best idea with not much to lose.
  • mumblemagic
    mumblemagic Posts: 1,090 Member
    Excellent questions! One piece of advice I can give you is to remember that that the goal is to lose weight, not to get the numbers right.

    On a scientific level, you are absolutely right, on days when you have a lie-in, chill out, rest etc. you will use fewer calories than on days when you are running around like a headless chicken after tiny humans with runny noses :smile:. This means that a 1200 calorie limit may be appropriate on one day, but you may need more on another. If you want to counteract that, you can use a fitbit or similar to get a measure of your actual daily calories. Some people like that. I definitely like the idea of that, but I'm not sure how practical it would be, and some of them are a bit inaccurate.

    Generally though, I find it best to set my daily activity to sedentary, and track any additional exercise or activity. It's not as accurate a measure of my daily calories, but it serves the purpose - i.e. I am losing weight at an acceptable rate and am not hungry all the time :smile:

    Edit:
    BTW, I am 5 ft 8 too. At sedentary my calorie goal should be about 1460 for a 1 lb per week loss (I round up to 1500 though because I like nice round numbers). As you are close to your goal weight you should be aiming for more like 0.5 lbs per week, so I would suggest that a goal of about 1600 upwards would be more appropriate than your current 1200. Stick your numbers into MFP and see what it suggests, for a 0.5 lbs per week weight loss.
  • mumblemagic
    mumblemagic Posts: 1,090 Member
    I'm 5'8". Hmm. Ok. Thanks for the input everyone. I shall research some more and adjust accordingly.

    So I calculated your TDEE to be about 2300 calories. And your BMR to be about 1500-1600. And no one should ever eat under their BMR! You're 5'8?? Honestly, I don't think you need to lose weight. None of my business, but you're already quite thin.

    This is bandied around on the forums a bit, but actually there isn't any scientific justification for this for overweight people - the extra calories are just going to come from fat anyway.

    (see http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1058378-oh-noes-i-am-eating-below-my-bmr)

    That said, all the advice I have read about highly restrictive diets are that they can be bad for you and should only be done under a doctor's supervision and for short periods only.

    I personally wouldn't want to operate on a 1200 calorie limit, as I find I can crash if I don't eat enough over the week, I get really tired and lethargic.

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