1200 calories=starvation mode?

Crazygurl1211
Crazygurl1211 Posts: 29
in Health and Weight Loss
All over the place, I have been seeing that a woman should eat no less than 1200 calories per day to avoid going into "starvation mode" and the weight loss stalling. But does this differ depending on the weight of the woman? I have been eating 1200 calories a day and losing MAYBE two pounds a week (without exercise so far), and I weigh 220-225 pounds. In my case, the deficit is large enough that I should be losing more - it sucks, because I feel like I'm not eating nearly enough, go to bed hungry every night, AND the weight loss seems to have stalled, especially this week when I don't think I lost anything. Historically, when I have tried to lose weight, it has come off relatively fast - I have never had problems losing weight at all.

I know health comes first and foremost, but I do want to lose the weight as fast as possible, and I thought limiting myself to 1200 calories per day would help. But it seems like I might be eating too little.

I am going to start incorporating daily exercise into my routine, so I want to eat the right amount of calories. I have actually heard lots of stories about people whose weight loss stalled, and then they started losing weight when they started eating MORE, particularly those doing Insanity or other intense workouts. How does one figure this out?

Replies

  • Nedra19455
    Nedra19455 Posts: 241 Member
    Did you pick 1200 cal per day? Or did MFP?

    A few weeks ago, I started at 215 lbs and said I wanted to lose 1 lb per week and was "lightly active." MFP gave me an allowance of 1,860. I am guessing that even if I wanted to lose 2 lbs a week, it would still be over 1,300 cal a day.

    Additionally, I am using a fitbit which is synced with MFP, so MFP adjusts my goals to match my level of activity. As a result, I eat closer to 2,100 cal most days.

    I have been consistently losing 1.5-2 lbs a week and wasn't hungry, so for a few days I tried to set my goal to losing 1.5 lbs a week instead of just 1. My new baseline calorie goal was 1,520 and I was totally miserable -- even when eating all my "exercise calories" too. I went back to my original goal of just 1 lb per week and I now eat a net of 1,820 cal per day and am good again and losing weight at 1.5-2 lbs again.

    The point of all this (sorry, I'm tired and rambly) is that I think it's entirely possible that upping your intake a bit will help. "Lightly active" really is quite light. Even though I walked only about 7,000 steps today, I still earned nearly 200 exercise calories, which means that MFP counted that activity as being above and beyond simply being "lightly active."
  • Crazygurl1211
    Crazygurl1211 Posts: 29
    MFP actually did - but I haven't even been going by that. I've heard for a long time that 1200 calories was the minimum that a woman should be consuming. But I put into MFP that I want to lose 2 pounds per week (I actually want to lose more if possible), and it came up with 1200 per day, even though I think I put in that I was moderately active.

    I have been pretty sedentary during this past couple of weeks eating 1200 per day - on the few days when I did work out, I would up it to about 1800-2000 because I don't think I could possibly stick to 1200 per day AND work out.

    But I am going to start working out 6 days a week tomorrow, and I know that makes it a whole different ball game. I just want to consume the optimal amount of calories for the fastest weight loss possible - and if that means that I get to eat more, then all the better!
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    Starvation mode by and large does not exist. 1200 calories certainly will not cause fat loss to stop. There are a myriad of reasons why eating so few calories might be a bad idea (poor recovery, likelihood of a binge, difficult to maintain, low energy levels just to name a few) but starvation mode is not one of them.
  • 120by30
    120by30 Posts: 217 Member
    You can definitely eat more and still lose weight. There's really no way around being patient in losing weight. It took time for us to gain the extra weight, so it will take time to for us to lose it, as well. Best of luck to you!


    ETA: Since you plan on working out regularly, the TDEE method may work better for you. Here's a link to a useful website. Look it over and check out the calorie calculators. http://scoobysworkshop.com
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    You can certainly raise your calories up and eat more. It's all about a lifestyle change, so for most a 1200 isn't enough. You don't want to drive yourself insane with hunger :-) I eat 1850 daily, but figure out what works best for you.
  • RHachicho
    RHachicho Posts: 1,115 Member
    If you are eating relatively clean and still constantly starving then yes you really need to eat more. Your going to be a little hungry in your diet but it shouldn't be gnawing at you.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    How does one figure this out?
    I figured out how much I should be eating after reading this topic: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13

    Actually, I believe I read it about ten times over before finally wrapping my head around all the info and then running my numbers through the tools with the steps provided there. :tongue: But it was the best move I ever made - that was over 2 years ago, and I've had nothing but sustainable success since then. Give it a read. Or ten. :smile:

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