Too few calories?

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froggyjade
froggyjade Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi I've just started today, am 5ft 1 and have 3 1/2 stone to lose. It seems that my 1200 calorie allowance is really low! I've had cereal and a sandwich and 2 low fat snacks and only have 300 cals left! Is this right? If it is I think I might starve :-(

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  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    You need to eat your exercise calories back on top of that. Also in your settings you have a relatively small amount to lose so it needs to be set at a pound a week or less not 2 pounds. If you have it set at 2 pound at your height it will default to 1200. Also make sure you have your activity level set correctly. It all works on what information you give it so it can take some tweaking to find a level that you can work with. Good luck
  • nmcguier
    nmcguier Posts: 27 Member
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    Are you exercising? If so, eat back your calories. Instead of eating cereal for breakfast, have a couple fried eggs. 180ish calories and quite filling. Replace your diet snacks with carrots/celery sticks. Skip the sandwich and have 2 cups of low cal soup instead for lunch. Load up on veggies with your dinner. You can eat a ton of vegetables for 300 calories.

    A 1200 calorie day for me (which I didn't maintain because it stunk) looked something like:
    Breakfast - English muffin with light cream cheese and coffee
    Lunch - Can of progress light soup and a 100 calorie snack bag thing
    Dinner - lean chicken or pork, rice/quinoa/couscous, 2 cups of steamed veggies
    Snack - Breyer's no-sugar-added ice cream

    Now I shoot for 1350 net every day, but I also exercise 50+ minutes 6 days a week.

    Also, if 1200 is too low, ratchet back the weight loss. 1200 is a minimum number regardless of your size and how much weight you have to lose. This is simply because it's almost impossible to get all your daily micro- and macronutrients in so few calories. Try going to 1.5 pounds/week and see how it goes for you. Also also, remember that slow weight loss is more permanent than a rapid drop. The whole process can be frustratingly slow.
  • froggyjade
    froggyjade Posts: 2 Member
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    I don't do any exercise but walk for at least an hour a day, I'll put that in my tracker, thanks for the advice x
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    I don't do any exercise but walk for at least an hour a day, I'll put that in my tracker, thanks for the advice x

    An hour of walking is exercise. Don't knock it, it does wonders.

    And I agree, you should adjust it to about 1lb/week instead of 2. 2 is probably too aggressive for the amount you have to lose.
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
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    What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1600 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for a week. If you lose 1-2 lbs, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few weeks, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

    Allan
  • dwarfiegodsmack
    dwarfiegodsmack Posts: 317 Member
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    What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1600 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for a week. If you lose 1-2 lbs, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few weeks, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

    Allan


    ^^^ agree
  • gotolam
    gotolam Posts: 262 Member
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    Hi I've just started today, am 5ft 1 and have 3 1/2 stone to lose. It seems that my 1200 calorie allowance is really low! I've had cereal and a sandwich and 2 low fat snacks and only have 300 cals left! Is this right? If it is I think I might starve :-(

    You need to re-think your eating strategy when taking in 1200 calories. You won't be able to eat less of what you used to eat. At 1200 calories it is going to take some amount of work to determine what the best meals are to satiate your body and still give it the appropriate nutrients. I would stay away from cereal...not because there's anything wrong with it, but because you're going to waste too many calories on it. Same thing with bread. It's a waist of calories.

    At a 1200 calorie diet, you need to start thinking about your food intake like a budget. If you took a 50% paycut, would you still be able to go to Starbucks everyday? Probably not. You'd probably have to think of substitutes for your usual go-to items. It's the same thing with dieting. You can eat very healthy and get very full on a 1200 calorie diet. You just have to figure out where you can make adjustments to still satisfy your stomach and get all the nutrients you need.

    Suggestion: Replace cereal and low fat snacks in the AM. Eat two eggs (140 calories) and two slices of bacon (120 calories) totaling 260. Lunch can be stir fried vegetables with tofu or white breast chicken ( approx. 300-400 calories). Dinner can be salmon (250 cals) and a serving of brown rice (220 calories)...throw in some stir fried vegetable or salad for a total of about 600 calories. That's about a 1200 calorie day.

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