Yes, 1200 calorie diets work!

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  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    As you say 1200 is the hardest way to diet.... so why make it so hard and make everyone that has to deal with you miserable. I prefer improving my health, having energy to live my life and eat good food.

    When you lose 100 lbs that way can we meet up and lift together? Might be fun... but great job on your weight loss.
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
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    I've been tracking for the past 110 days

    Aiming to net 2100 calories a day. I run, I lift weights, I eat any and all foods (that I enjoy eating)
    I've lost over 20 pounds.

    It took me years to gain all this weight, I don't thinks it's safe or smart to lose my excess weight over night or 5 months.

    But I am not on a diet like you are, I am eating the way I plan to for the rest of my life, just a little bit less for now!

    Good luck with not feeling like death, and gaining it all back when you start eating again.
  • greentart
    greentart Posts: 411 Member
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    I'm a chick and I can't survive on 1200. I tried it. I was angry, hungry, and just generally miserable. Ate more, felt better. I do agree on the skinny fat though.
    I would much rather be able to bench press and lose inches vs. lbs than be a flappy, weak person. Truly, to each their own, but I hope you're seeing a doctor during this.
  • SugaryLynx
    SugaryLynx Posts: 2,640 Member
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    2ltjbm0.gif

    Enjoyed bacon and eggs this morning. Cut the same amount of weight OP does a week on 1650 net...is female.

    OP thinks willpower is the ability to effectively starve yourself to a feeble scale weight goal and not the power to stick to your goals irregardless of what they may be.



    I agree with the others. Have fun uh...maintaining after all that.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    Side note, I did 1200 and under for several months. I quit when my hair started falling out. True story.

    I don't want to be a naysayer though, so good luck.

    When I did this, my husband told me to just stay fat because it's better than me being a hangry b!tch all the time.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
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    I've never understood why some people think weightloss requires martyrdom.

    Also, enjoy your muscle loss. I hear guys are into that these days.
  • davis978
    davis978 Posts: 103 Member
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    I did that once too. 1200 calories a day, and running 40 miles a week. Lost of lot of weight. Also lost a lot of muscle, my period, some friends, sleeping without nightmares, and the ability to find joy or happiness in anything. Then stopped losing.

    1200 is just too low for most people to sustain over the long term (more than a year or two). And, most people eating 1200 do stop losing before they reach their goal weight.

    But hey, I'm happy for you. I hope you are the one in a million that can get the results you are looking for with that 1200 or less.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Sure, you can be miserable and diet down on 1200 calories. I'd rather be able to lose on 3,000 though. I'll be a cranky little bish if not.
  • MissMissle
    MissMissle Posts: 293 Member
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    Congrats man!! I also started at 1200 calories a day - Im up to almost 1300 now and eat back my exersice calories - WHEN i exercise haha!

    Coupld things I've noticed: people always assume I will feel weak, lethargic, etc when I'm exersicing. HUH? This isn't true. I feel lethargic when Im doing exercise I hate, like the eliptical - but then I can do 100 push ups no problem, because it isn't boring as hell. I also ride my horse, and sometimes others, every day. Some people don't think that's exercise (I guess thats why it's in the Olympics, and also the only sport where you have to wear an arm band with your medical information straped to you and an inflatable vest for when you fall off and get knocked out) Sorry, small rant... anyway - all i say to that is come try to ride her if you like :-). I have plenty of energy to ride her, and others, even though Im generally dripping sweat by the end of it - it's awesome!

    I'm eating "more food" on 1200 (or a little more) calories that I ever did before I found MFP and another program I started on (which i wont mention as not to advertise / get trolled). What do I mean by "more food"? I think what you were saying - my diet used to be nothing for breakfast, for lunch i would have a candy bar, or a bag of mike n ikes, and maybe a bowl of soup. For dinner I would have boxed mac n cheese, cheese and crackers, or more candy, and beer. This was WAY more calories sure, buuuuut I was always still hungry.... the 1200 calories eat now I think of as "more food" because it fills me, it makes me feel better, and its totes enough for me right now.

    If I was a fitness guru... haha aka if I had any idea what i was doing in the gym and decided to hit the weights hard like those bodies I drool over in there - Im sure I would have to up my calorie intake.... but for now, 1200 is totally working for my sedentary job and lifestyle - Im losing weight, I feel good, I screw up sometimes and I don't get pissy about it, and it works! So here's to keeping it off and filling our day with good food choices that fuel our bodies and make us feel good - finally!!

    *8edited to add that I HOPE someday, maybe after the 6 month mark, I can add a couple hundred more calories because I will take the initiative to learn how to lift...but for now...Im a bit scared.
  • endermako
    endermako Posts: 787 Member
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    So you want to maintain 1200-1400 for the rest of your life? Good luck with that.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,932 Member
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    If you're looking for a troll, OP, then look in the mirror.
  • Letibetiboop
    Letibetiboop Posts: 24 Member
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    Question - are you also working out?
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Congrats on your loss. Whether I would be cranky or happy on your diet is pretty irrelevant IMO, because it's not my diet.

    You didn't ask for suggestions, but since it's an open forum I'm offering some anyway.

    If you are not already doing so, start taking a multivitamin to make sure you get your micronutrients.
    Since you are closer to goal, I'd also suggest upping your calories a little to ease the transition to maintenance.
    Start thinking now about maintenance. It is the hardest part. The part most people fail at. Think about it now and make a plan.

    Best of luck to you.
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
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    69 lbs in 9 months, ok its a little slower than you but I have never gone to bed hungry so am happy to do it my way

    If it works for you then great but it doesn't mean that its any more of an achievement than anyone else losses

    Do let us know what program you intend to follow to replace all that lost muscle mass
  • Galatea_Stone
    Galatea_Stone Posts: 2,037 Member
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    DYELB?
  • wu3ju3j
    wu3ju3j Posts: 12 Member
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    I am doing a diet of 1200 or less. Average about 1000 over last 53 days. I have lost 18 pounds and feel great. Feel free to browse my diary. I go for my proteins first, then enjoy good healthy vegetables and fruits. There have been days that I have had less than 800 calories, but felt full. Why eat extra food just to make a number?

    I am monitored weekly by our nurse at my place of work and my PCP is impressed. I have never felt so much full of energy in my life before. I have cerebral palsy which causes spastic and tight muscles along with a scissor gait when I walk and limited use of left arm. I feel so much more agile and less off balance having lost weight.

    I started on 4/15/15 with MFP at 182 lb. (5'10") and am now 164 lb. In the proceeding year I was as high as 195 lb. and nearly a 40 inch waist. Today I and fitting comfortably in 32's. I want to be down at the lower end of the BMI scale near 130 lb. and a 28-30 waist or wherever my body feels best. This weight might seem lower, but having CP, I do not have the typical muscle mass. In my teens I was around 112 lb. and that was considered normal for my CP.

    Responses welcomed!
    I know I will be trolled and flamed for posting this message but I am sick and tired of everyones high horse mentality when it comes to calorie counts. 1200 calories, if done correctly, is more than sufficient.

    I began my journey January 1, 2014. I just completed 5 months and have lost over 55 pounds. I went from 280 to 225 and I feel great. Average calorie count is 1050 with an initial goal of 1200. After a few months, I moved my goal to 1400 and now I am at 1600. Yes, if you plan on just eating a cheeseburger at 1000 calories for the day, your screwed and will harm yourself. But let me give you an idea of my meals.

    Breakfast is high protein egg sandwich OR oatmeal and high fiber toast. Either one is about 300 calories. Lunch is a special K protein bar at 170 calories. Dinner is either chicken breast with rice (370 calories), Large Baked potato with veggies (about 500 calories) or an extra large salad (350 calories). You see, at the end of the day, I have ample protein and fiber, good source of fuel (Carbs) and come in under 1000 calories. This leaves me some wiggle room if I want a small (and smart) dessert, some fruit with my lunch, or anything else. You see, I picked HEALTHY, LOW CALORIE foods to fill me up.

    I will repeat. 1200 calorie diets, eating garbage, will allow you to lose weight but you will not feel good. But 1200 calorie diets that are low calorie, high nutrient food is a great way to lose the weight and keep it off.

    Someone here will complain about my use of a protein bar. Many argue they are candy bars on steroids. They are meal replacements, quite tasty and have good nutrients (fiber and protein being the main ones). Regardless, you can not argue with the results. This diet has allowed me to lose over 55 pounds in 21 weeks. Right now, I average a weight loss of 1.2 pounds a week!

    So before you all chastise someone for asking about a 1200 calorie diet, troll someone who supports the 1200 calorie diet, or even worse, name call (eating disorder, stupid, unhealthy) those who use the diet, take a look in the mirror. Why do you hate the low calorie diet so much? I think if you are honest with yourself, you will realize that is comes down to will power. Doing 1200 calories is the hardest diet out there. You go to bed hungry for the first few weeks before your body adjusts. Many don't make it past the first few days. So although I applaud those of you who are eating better and losing 0.2 or 0.4 pounds a week because you think everyone needs to eat 2000 calories and just exercises the deficit off, I wish you would applaud those of us who have the will power to change and who are losing 1.5 to 2 pounds a week because we refuse to listen to those who say it can't be done....

    Let the trolling and flaming begin....
  • DavidMStephens
    DavidMStephens Posts: 13
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    The only thing that I'm not a fan of is how tiny your lunch is.

    But I mean, if you're not starving before every meal and if you're getting the nutrients you need, then it's all fine by me. I often hit around 1200-1400 cals a day (and sometimes I exercise on top of that), but that's just the amount that I eat to keep me full and not hungry. When I eat up to what my maintenance cals are, I feel stuffed and gross.

    My breakfast keeps me full until about 4pm. So I eat a protein bar about 12pm in order to make it to dinner. Thanks for the input!
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
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    No
  • eimaj5575
    eimaj5575 Posts: 278 Member
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    I lost all my weight on 1200 calorie diet. BUT I am 5'3 31 year old female! 1200 calories for a male is NO GOOD! ALSO I ate back my workout calories all the time, It took me alittle over 2 years to lose 55 pounds! 5 months to lose 55 pounds is prob not the best idea. BUT now I am back up a few pounds bc I am eating more, lifting weights, and trying to get some muscle back that I didnt realized I lost due to my lack of lifting and eating 1200 calories. I will not knock a 1200 calorie diet to lose weight bc I did it. BUT had I known what I know now I would reconcider how to do it. Yes it works but didnt give me the body I wanted. Just gave me the number on the scale I wanted. NOW i am going after the body I want.
  • oregonzoo
    oregonzoo Posts: 4,251 Member
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    Good for you.
    But I work out hard. 4-5 days a week.

    I can't stay under 1700 calories a day without wanting to hurt people.

    Even THEN I still get pretty damned hungry.
    If you are going to bed hungry, you are doing it wrong.
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