Looking for others consuming less than 1200 calories/day
met_in
Posts: 17
Hi everyone,
I am kind of new to actively logging my food and exercise, I am trying to keep a 1106 calorie diet as advised by http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ and I am finding it a little hard. It is not exactly the amount of calories I find hard to keep, more like the macronutrients. It turns out I only eat carbs and fat and no protein. My goal is to be able to eat the junk food I loove so much and adjust the rest of my meals to make room for it. Sometimes it works fine, however, sometimes I have no idea what to eat.
I would love to follow the diaries of others like me. I have no food allergies, although I do not really like vegetables on their own, processed meat (except for saussages that I get cravings for about once every 6 months) and pork. I love junk food, although I am trying to eat way less, I eat a lot of Turkish food (since I am Turkish), and I love seafood, lamb, chicken, turkey, potatoes, rice..etc.
Currently I am not exercising, but I will start swimming 3-4 times a week in about 10 days (when the weather gets a bit warmer) and I might start doing some exercises at home as well.
I am currently 51 kilos and 160cm, I would like to be under 47 kilos (the goal was till August, but I now see that it is going to take me at least 4-5 months unless I starve myself, which I don't want to).
I am really interested in findig out how others who were similar to me changed their eating habits and what their meal and exercise plans look like!
I am kind of new to actively logging my food and exercise, I am trying to keep a 1106 calorie diet as advised by http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ and I am finding it a little hard. It is not exactly the amount of calories I find hard to keep, more like the macronutrients. It turns out I only eat carbs and fat and no protein. My goal is to be able to eat the junk food I loove so much and adjust the rest of my meals to make room for it. Sometimes it works fine, however, sometimes I have no idea what to eat.
I would love to follow the diaries of others like me. I have no food allergies, although I do not really like vegetables on their own, processed meat (except for saussages that I get cravings for about once every 6 months) and pork. I love junk food, although I am trying to eat way less, I eat a lot of Turkish food (since I am Turkish), and I love seafood, lamb, chicken, turkey, potatoes, rice..etc.
Currently I am not exercising, but I will start swimming 3-4 times a week in about 10 days (when the weather gets a bit warmer) and I might start doing some exercises at home as well.
I am currently 51 kilos and 160cm, I would like to be under 47 kilos (the goal was till August, but I now see that it is going to take me at least 4-5 months unless I starve myself, which I don't want to).
I am really interested in findig out how others who were similar to me changed their eating habits and what their meal and exercise plans look like!
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Replies
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I think you have your numbers confused. You should be 15-20% from your TDEE...not trying to hit less than your BMR. Your calorie intake should be between 1513-1424, depending on if you are doing 15 or 20%..and that I calculated with having exercising only 3 times a week, if you exercise more than that then you will eat more. And I used the same site you did.0
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I did not put in any exercise, since I haven't started yet. I will just eat back my exercise calories when I do start working out. I calculated it with a 25% deficit and it told me to eat 1106 net calories. Maybe I should do a 20% deficit?
Edit: I calculated it here http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ when I was 52 kilos, with a 25% deficit and no exercise/desk job option for exercise.0 -
Seafood, lamb, chicken, and turkey all have protein.
It may be rough given so few calories, but try plugging some of them into your daily diet in the place of a cupcake. Maybe keep a cookie as your treat for the day. I think you'll find you're more satisfied and better able to meet your macros when you replace calorie dense, nutritionally void snacks with calorie light, nutritionally dense foods. Start slow, like, 50% foods just to meet your macros/50% to treat yourself. Each week, change the numbers (60/40, 70/30, 80/20, 90/10) and see which is easiest for you to maintain and still enjoy the pleasures of leisure foods.
When you aren't able to handle 1106 calories anymore, check out http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ for a more realistic amount of calories to eat per day and not hate life.
( I found that you're 5'2 in another thread, and put your numbers in accordingly. According to Scooby's, with no exercise and 20% reduction, you'd be taking in 1276 calories per day. That extra 270 will really help. But because you have so little weight to lose, I'd go for 10% reduction )0 -
at 160cms/ 51 kgs you are already borderline underweight - why are you trying to actually be underweight ? this is not healthy0
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at 160cms/ 51 kgs you are already borderline underweight - why are you trying to actually be underweight ? this is not healthy
This.
You may just be wanting to work on body composition. To do that you need to lift heavy things, and eat protein.0 -
at 160cms/ 51 kgs you are already borderline underweight - why are you trying to actually be underweight ? this is not healthy
I kind of anticipated getting a similar response, because I know that on paper it looks fine, but at the same time, I have a lot of fat to lose. I weigh a lot less than I look, I alwazs have, and the only reason I have set a goal in weight is because I used to be around 44-47 kilos consistently for years (and still had belly fat and a chubby face) before I gained 7 kilos in 2 short months when I moved abroad to go to graduate school 2 years ago. I would at least like to get back to where I was before then.
But I would also be fine with losing however much I can and looking better, which is why I would like to exercise. I am not too concerned with the amount of weight I lose, I have the goal weight because keeping track of something motivates me, and it is easier to keep track of my weight than it is to keep track of how much fat I have lost from my belly or face, since that is a very gradual change.0 -
I don't consume that little, so I have nothing helpful to add there, but with your current stats, I find it hard to believe you are "chubby" as your profile states If anything, given your diet, you have more fat that you need from poor eating and little exercise, but you aren't overweight. I'm no expert, but my advice would be eat more (but not all "junk") and start lifting weights. You'll likely see results in your body composition that will make you happy without having to lose weight.0
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Hello! I am on a less than 1200 per day goal. I am eating protein, vegetables (unlimited), fruits (limited), green tea every 2-3 hours and I've successfully lost 9lbs in 3days and I don't feel deprived. I totally would love to share diaries!0
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^QFTat 160cms/ 51 kgs you are already borderline underweight - why are you trying to actually be underweight ? this is not healthy
This.
You may just be wanting to work on body composition. To do that you need to lift heavy things, and eat protein.
As a rule of thumb, the following weekly targets would give a balance between minimizing these negative side effects and seeing a reasonable weekly weight loss:
More than 75 lbs: 2 lbs/week
40-75 lbs: 1.5 lbs/week
10-40 lbs: 1 lb/week
Less than 10 lbs: 0.5 lb/week
Obviously, the deficit that is right for you will depend on your personal circumstances and how well you deal with the deficit. For example, for someone who is morbidly obese, the health benefits of getting the weight off quickly will often outweigh the possible negative impact and, as such, a higher than 2 lb a week deficit may well be appropriate.
Some links to help hopefully...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
Setting Your Calorie and Macro Targets
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1058378-oh-noes-i-am-eating-below-my-bmr
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1072049-thoughts-on-tdee-calculators-and-switching-from-mfp-to-tdee
Exercise calories
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
ETA: Protein consumption is essential to maintain LBM whilst losing body fat!0 -
I did not put in any exercise, since I haven't started yet. I will just eat back my exercise calories when I do start working out. I calculated it with a 25% deficit and it told me to eat 1106 net calories. Maybe I should do a 20% deficit?
Edit: I calculated it here http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ when I was 52 kilos, with a 25% deficit and no exercise/desk job option for exercise.
You don't need such an aggressive deficit if you only have to lose about 4 kilos. Try a lower deficit of 10%. If you have such a large deficit you risk losing lean mass along the way as well, and that's not good for you for many reasons: your metabolism decreases, your bone density is reduced, etc etc.
If you are going to gradually add exercise figure out how much you burn per workout (with an HRM) and on the days you exercise eat back those calories, and on the days you don't stick to TDEE - 10%.
Also, if you are trying to lose weight because you feel "skinny-fat" the best you can do is have a really small deficit while you lift heavy for body composition, you'll feel and look so much better.0 -
Hello! I am on a less than 1200 per day goal. I am eating protein, vegetables (unlimited), fruits (limited), green tea every 2-3 hours and I've successfully lost 9lbs in 3days and I don't feel deprived. I totally would love to share diaries!
You've mostly lost water weight which will just come right back.
Do you plan on eating less than 1200 for the rest of your life?
To keep weight off you both need to make lifestyle changes, not "I'll do this until I reach my goal" changes. Which means to learn how much you should be eating when you are at that weight, plus a deficit until you get there.
Though OP - I'd suggest eating more protein and lifting heavy things.
The goal is to lose the weight and keep it off right? In order to do that you have to do it healthy. See links posted above.0 -
No one should ever go below 1200 cals, unless of course you are pro ana and this is your thing.......not healthy!0
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I did not put in any exercise, since I haven't started yet. I will just eat back my exercise calories when I do start working out. I calculated it with a 25% deficit and it told me to eat 1106 net calories. Maybe I should do a 20% deficit?
Edit: I calculated it here http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ when I was 52 kilos, with a 25% deficit and no exercise/desk job option for exercise.
After reading the other responses (sorry, not good with metric conversion in my head, I am US), you would do best with a 10% deficit then. You are wanting to recomp your body, lose body fat. Which would still put you at 1300 without exercise.0 -
No one should ever go below 1200 cals, unless of course you are pro ana and this is your thing.......not healthy!
I think I am as far from being anorexic as possible, if you guys saw me in person, you would not be thinking that I am anorexic for wanting to lose weight. I think I am going to upload a few images in my profile that show how my body looks right now and how it used to look when I was 44 kilos. But if it is as unhealthy as people have been suggesting, I will add 100 more calories and be on a 1200 calories/day regimen.0 -
oh I agree, my plan is to get back to ~2000 in 3 weeks, when I return back to work from my maternity leave. Just kick starting to get the postpartum weight off. This so that I can feel lighter when I start working, being able to go to gym in June. I was a distance runner up until my pregnancy, so just trying to get back into my old habits, routines after the baby
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No one should ever go below 1200 cals, unless of course you are pro ana and this is your thing.......not healthy!
I think I am as far from being anorexic as possible, if you guys saw me in person, you would not be thinking that I am anorexic for wanting to lose weight. I think I am going to upload a few images in my profile that show how my body looks right now and how it used to look when I was 44 kilos. But if it is as unhealthy as people have been suggesting, I will add 100 more calories and be on a 1200 calories/day regimen.
You should still be eating more than 1200 a day, especially when you add exercise. Please read the links above.0 -
^QFTat 160cms/ 51 kgs you are already borderline underweight - why are you trying to actually be underweight ? this is not healthy
This.
You may just be wanting to work on body composition. To do that you need to lift heavy things, and eat protein.
As a rule of thumb, the following weekly targets would give a balance between minimizing these negative side effects and seeing a reasonable weekly weight loss:
More than 75 lbs: 2 lbs/week
40-75 lbs: 1.5 lbs/week
10-40 lbs: 1 lb/week
Less than 10 lbs: 0.5 lb/week
Obviously, the deficit that is right for you will depend on your personal circumstances and how well you deal with the deficit. For example, for someone who is morbidly obese, the health benefits of getting the weight off quickly will often outweigh the possible negative impact and, as such, a higher than 2 lb a week deficit may well be appropriate.
Some links to help hopefully...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
Setting Your Calorie and Macro Targets
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1058378-oh-noes-i-am-eating-below-my-bmr
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1072049-thoughts-on-tdee-calculators-and-switching-from-mfp-to-tdee
Exercise calories
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
ETA: Protein consumption is essential to maintain LBM whilst losing body fat!
Wow, thank you so much! I will read these right now, this is really helpful.0 -
Also, if you are trying to lose weight because you feel "skinny-fat" the best you can do is have a really small deficit while you lift heavy for body composition, you'll feel and look so much better.
^^This. If you are in a healthy weight rage, but unhappy with the amount of fat on your body, you need to build muscle. Recomping will help your body look leaner and stronger. Lift heavy!0 -
oh I agree, my plan is to get back to ~2000 in 3 weeks, when I return back to work from my maternity leave. Just kick starting to get the postpartum weight off. This so that I can feel lighter when I start working, being able to go to gym in June. I was a distance runner up until my pregnancy, so just trying to get back into my old habits, routines after the baby
You can still eat more and lose weight.0 -
No one should ever go below 1200 cals, unless of course you are pro ana and this is your thing.......not healthy!
I think I am as far from being anorexic as possible, if you guys saw me in person, you would not be thinking that I am anorexic for wanting to lose weight. I think I am going to upload a few images in my profile that show how my body looks right now and how it used to look when I was 44 kilos. But if it is as unhealthy as people have been suggesting, I will add 100 more calories and be on a 1200 calories/day regimen.
You should still be eating more than 1200 a day, especially when you add exercise. Please read the links above.
I am planning on eating at least half of my exercise calories back, especially since swimming is my choice of exercise and I heard that it makes you really hungry.0 -
Also, if you are trying to lose weight because you feel "skinny-fat" the best you can do is have a really small deficit while you lift heavy for body composition, you'll feel and look so much better.
^^This. If you are in a healthy weight rage, but unhappy with the amount of fat on your body, you need to build muscle. Recomping will help your body look leaner and stronger. Lift heavy!
I really want to get into lifting weights, I have been reading about its benefits for a while now, I just really hate going to the gym, but I do want to incorporate that into my lifestyle gradually. This might be a silly question, but besides losing fat from my belly area, I also want to lose some of the chubbiness from my face, and my understanding is that I would have to lose weight in order to achieve that, I am guessing weight lifting on its own would not help with that and I would have to lose some weight, is that true?0 -
Also, if you are trying to lose weight because you feel "skinny-fat" the best you can do is have a really small deficit while you lift heavy for body composition, you'll feel and look so much better.
^^This. If you are in a healthy weight rage, but unhappy with the amount of fat on your body, you need to build muscle. Recomping will help your body look leaner and stronger. Lift heavy!
I really want to get into lifting weights, I have been reading about its benefits for a while now, I just really hate going to the gym, but I do want to incorporate that into my lifestyle gradually. This might be a silly question, but besides losing fat from my belly area, I also want to lose some of the chubbiness from my face, and my understanding is that I would have to lose weight in order to achieve that, I am guessing weight lifting on its own would not help with that and I would have to lose some weight, is that true?
Weight lifting and eating at a small deficit you will lose weight. You can't choose where, it'll come off where it wants to when it wants to and problem areas are the last place to get rid of it.
Here are some links on lifting heavy.
Want to lift heavy things?
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
Stronglifts Summary
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary
Stronglifts Womens Group
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women0 -
Even at a low weight people can retain a high BF% if they are inactive and consume insufficient amounts of protein which you have suggested you do...hence the term skinny fat.No one should ever go below 1200 cals, unless of course you are pro ana and this is your thing.......not healthy!
I think I am as far from being anorexic as possible, if you guys saw me in person, you would not be thinking that I am anorexic for wanting to lose weight. I think I am going to upload a few images in my profile that show how my body looks right now and how it used to look when I was 44 kilos. But if it is as unhealthy as people have been suggesting, I will add 100 more calories and be on a 1200 calories/day regimen.
I suggest you read and introduce the methods outlined in the link I left earlier so you get the proper macros required and take up exercise particularly lifting...because if the number on the scale is a indicator of your progress, lifting with the right balance of macros will help you drop you BF% but help you maintain a healthy weight range.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
FYI: I am not implying you are anorexic but people who suffer from this eating disorder generally have body dysmorphia therefore are never happy with their appearance, so what you see in the mirror may not be indicative of a healthy body if you had an ED.
44kg as you stated as a previous body weight is quite low, (my 13yr daughter is of a similar weight) and she is not overweight in any sense of the word, so curious as what your height is.0 -
I believe OP is about 5'2" (160 cm) if I read that correctly.0
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Even at a low weight people can retain a high BF% if they are inactive and consume insufficient amounts of protein which you have suggested you do...hence the term skinny fat.No one should ever go below 1200 cals, unless of course you are pro ana and this is your thing.......not healthy!
I think I am as far from being anorexic as possible, if you guys saw me in person, you would not be thinking that I am anorexic for wanting to lose weight. I think I am going to upload a few images in my profile that show how my body looks right now and how it used to look when I was 44 kilos. But if it is as unhealthy as people have been suggesting, I will add 100 more calories and be on a 1200 calories/day regimen.
I suggest you read and introduce the methods outlined in the link I left earlier so you get the proper macros required and take up exercise particularly lifting...because if the number on the scale is a indicator of your progress, lifting with the right balance of macros will help you drop you BF% but help you maintain a healthy weight range.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
FYI: I am not implying you are anorexic but people who suffer from this eating disorder generally have body dysmorphia therefore are never happy with their appearance, so what you see in the mirror may not be indicative of a healthy body if you had an ED.
44kg as you stated as a previous body weight is quite low, (my 13yr daughter is of a similar weight) and she is not overweight in any sense of the word, so curious as what your height is.
I definitely fit the definition of skinny fat, this thread has made me decide to put a lot more emphasis on keeping the macronutrient ratios as opposed to the calories consumed. I have uploaded a picture of me at 53 kilos versus at 44 kilos in order to settle the body dysmorphia issue, I am 160 cms, so quite short.
http://imgur.com/a/T7FWv/layout/blog 1st image is at 53 kilos, 2nd at 44, I don't think I look anorexic in the 2nd image and that is where I would like to get back to. I am already reading the links about lifting weights, thank you so much!0 -
Hi OP, I started recently and am on 1200, eating back at least half of my exercise calories. I review the 1200 on a weekly basis and intend to increase the calories as I get nearer to my target weight.
I have also started weight lifting as a result of this website. I read a few of the oftmentioned programmes and chose "Stronglifts 5x5" for its simplicity and effectiveness. I am doing this in order to try to maintain muscle mass as I lose weight. Once I'm at my goal weight (9st 7lb / UK size 10) I will up my protein and start to lift heavier weights.0 -
I've looked at your photos and converted your measurements in to metric. You look a very healthy weight to me. Do you know what your body fat percentage is?
In your first post you state two goals. You would like to weigh less than 47kg and would like to eat junk food. Do you mind me asking, "what is your actual goal?"? Is it to be a smaller dress size, be more toned or muscle-y..? I'm wondering if you actually need to lose weight or build more muscle instead.0 -
I've looked at your photos and converted your measurements in to metric. You look a very healthy weight to me. Do you know what your body fat percentage is?
In your first post you state two goals. You would like to weigh less than 47kg and would like to eat junk food. Do you mind me asking, "what is your actual goal?"? Is it to be a smaller dress size, be more toned or muscle-y..? I'm wondering if you actually need to lose weight or build more muscle instead.
I don't know my body fat percentage, but I think it must be pretty high. I have a few goals; I would like to have a more active lifestyle, currently I sit on a couch all day, except for when I am running around or hiking with my nephews. I would like to lose a LOT of fat from my belly area and just generally lose the chubbiness, because I don't look good in summer dresses or bikinis due to the fat. It really isn't just in my head, I have a lot of fat on my torso.
I would like to have a more toned body and just be generally a bit more healthy. I get really tired after climbing up a few sets of stairs. I think exercising, lifting weights and from what I understand consuming more protein and paying more attention to my macronutrients would solve most of my problems, but I am not sure I will ever be able to go to the gym regularly. For now, I would like to focus on getting a bit healthier via swimming and losing some fat via cutting back on my calories.0 -
So three goals?
1) Increased fitness / more active lifestyle.
2) Less fat.
3) More muscle / look toned.
Are you me? I started off with just #2 but along the way I've realised that doing cardio for #1 makes me feel happy and #3 is perfectly possible for me looking at the Success Stories on here.
Personally, I'm doing cardio for #1 to help me achieve #2 and will then work on #3 from doing Stronglifts 5x5. At least that's the plan. If you'd told me four weeks ago that I'd be a member of a gym and attending classes I wouldn't have believed you.0 -
If you'd told me four weeks ago that I'd be a member of a gym and attending classes I wouldn't have believed you.
That makes me feel so much better And congrats! 0
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