1200 calories a day and loving life!

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Replies

  • stickersticker
    stickersticker Posts: 140 Member
    please, I do 1200 and it is not filling
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    Do you want scholarly articles? There are plenty of those, too.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,300 Member
    I think a net of 1200 for losing (So that means 1200 plus exercise calories.)
    IS suitable for some people - older shorter not very active women.


    Older shorter not very active women are a sizable proportion of the population so 1200 wont be that unusual as an appropriate number.
    Still wont be the right number for most people - but it will be fine for some of them.

    Of course 1200 for losing means that once goal weight is reached, they should switch to maintenance amount which will be more - just as it is for everyone else.

    I'm just saying this because this forum seems to swing to the other extreme and say 1200 is not suitable for anyone - and that is not correct either.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    I think a net of 1200 for losing (So that means 1200 plus exercise calories.)
    IS suitable for some people - older shorter not very active women.


    Older shorter not very active women are a sizable proportion of the population so 1200 wont be that unusual as an appropriate number.
    Still wont be the right number for most people - but it will be fine for some of them.

    Of course 1200 for losing means that once goal weight is reached, they should switch to maintenance amount which will be more - just as it is for everyone else.

    I'm just saying this because this forum seems to swing to the other extreme and say 1200 is not suitable for anyone - and that is not correct either.

    Yes a net of 1200 is suitable for some and if you are very careful with macros (as I was corrected recently on this) you can get in decent ratios.

    But that being said 1200 unless done right for a woman who is 5 ft 4, 120 lbs is not good...esp when logged protien was as low as 18 grams one day. I have personal experience with 1200 and sub (not on purpose) and it can be filling but takes me days to recover from it. As well I have a sister who is the same size as the OP and she maintains on 2300 a day...mind you she is active but at the same time it's hard to be active with so few calories...
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    How do you guys think MFP has avoided lawsuits all these years, recommending 1200 to everyone, if it's dangerous? How do you think all the people in the world, on diets and off, avoid physical harm when people don't count calories and macros? If they're all harming themselves, how would MFP forumites know that but not the medical profession? Why do you think none of the published diet plans warn against going to 1200 or x grams of proteins?

    Those are just for thought.

    Bear in mind that a year ago here people believed it was dangerous to eat below your BMR. And two years ago it was that you had to 'eat more to lose weight'.
  • skruttan44
    skruttan44 Posts: 86 Member
    There was something in People recently about some female stars and their daily diets (as in normal eating, not losing) and they were eating 1400-1500, mostly, and they weren't 5'1". They probably had personal chefs who calced their number, I'm guessing.

    I'm not advocating any calorie level and definitely not advocating the super-thin actress look, I'm just against the 'fear of 1200' (logged value) for people trying to lose, especially small ones.

    Thank you. I am a shortie, and the truth is we don't need as many calories. There are more of us on here, we just tend to not say much as there seems to be an uproar against eating the 1200 calories only. At least every time it is mentioned, it is a big deal and everyone wants us to eat more. Wasn't eating too much what lead everyone to this site to begin with?

    1200/day an be sufficient when eating healthy, and looking for weight loss.
    And no, I am not hungry or deprived.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    Isufficient protein and fat.
  • NotASoul
    NotASoul Posts: 25 Member
    I'd like to see the diary to prove it...I suspect you are eating more than you think...

    Diary open - go ahead, you have between 24 and 48 hours (only opening temporarily, probably 24 hours but 48 if I forget...)

    You don't weigh everything...starting mid june is where tracking has started from previous times (Feb/Mar) where you weren't weighing most of your food as well..and you say it can't add up to much but with it being fruit, bread and pasta you bet it can.

    The last couple weeks you have logged sub 500 calories, often sub 1k, too low protien and no exercise...I bet :bigsmile:

    If 1200 works so well for you why can't you stick to it? why are you back again after March?...nothing logged in april, nothing logged in may...
    Ok, maybe I was being vague - I only occasionally eat below 1200 calories per day, and it is not something I realised I might be doing until the last few days, when out of curiosity I measured my approximate calorie intake on a day when I had mostly cut out snacking. I am aware of the inaccuracy involved, which is why I stated "around" 1200 rather than simply "below"; usually it's somewhere between 1000 and 1300 if I'm not snacking, presumably around 1800-2000 if i am snacking (haven't tested yet).

    This is a quote from you about your intake...

    So really you have been logging 1200 calories and come to proclaim it's great and you feel wonderful but were eating "about" 1800-2000 previous to this...my sister is your height and a bit heavier than you and maintains on 2300...so you keeping your logged calories @ 1200 is a bit silly.

    as well the only reason you are doing it is
    I just feel better about myself when I'm eating this amount :/

    I again say you are eating more than you think...the chocolate chip cookies and fruit prove that...it would have to be a very small apple to have 47 calories and a very tiny cookie to have so few calories...(my cookies have almost 150 each yours are recorded at half that)

    I do exercise but I don't log it because it ups calories ridiculously much when I do. The times I wasn't logging was during holidays and exams - I'm at university and don't want my mum to know I'm calorie counting (pathetic, I know, but there you have it), and I didn't want to make exam stress worse by logging during them.
    With the cookies, they were homemade and I was logging the recipes, so yes the calories were correct (at least as far as they can be on baked goods). I do weigh pasta as I am clueless about portion sizes so those amounts (and rice, and similar) were correct. And yes, the apples were small - calorie information was on the packet they came in.
    I admit to being less neurotic before but this time round I am weighing things correctly.
  • ChristineRoze
    ChristineRoze Posts: 212 Member
    I can eat 1200 calories, but after doing it for a few weeks i am slowly eating a bit more because as stated it's not really a sustainable amount. I am impatient i will admit and i want to lose 4 more kg in the next few months so that's why i am eating that low but i am keen to up it to maintenance when i reach my goal! haha That will be a good day :P.
  • SomeNights246
    SomeNights246 Posts: 807 Member
    Is this weird? I eat quite healthily which means that for 1200 calories I can get quite a lot of food, but beginning to wonder if I really want to increase my calories again, even when I reach my goal weight...

    You have to eventually. Because you will die
    [/quote



    She will definitely NOT die eating 1200 calories a day for the rest of her life. She might plateau, but not die. A lot of people live with A LOT less than that and are happy & healthy!

    Um... yeah she will. Ever heard of Minnesota starving experiment? Those men were eating 1500 calories. It would take longer for her to become unhealthy, sure. But eventually she would starve. Unless she's really, really short.

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