DR Says To Eat 1200/day

"Listen to your doctor" would be at the top of the list.

id listen to a doctor over a APP. I would never doubt a doctor when giving advise in his profession but thats me

Be wary OP, be wary. Doctors are not the best sources for nutrition information, and if this doctor thinks you can build muscle on 1200 a day then I would take her nutrition advice with a whole shaker full of salt. That's me though, I don't take medical advice from my finance guy, and I wouldn't take dietary advice from a medical doctor just because they graduated med school, lot's of people graduate med school, it doesn't mean they know jack about nutrition.

Rigger

Physicians often know very little about diet. Sometimes the 1200 calorie number is a knee-jerk response with little to back it up. Your doctor is hoping that you will do what is necessary to avoid weight gain. That's good. As a long-time MFP member, you already know how to avoid weight gain and how to regulate your eating and exercise to control your weight. So, it sounds to me like you need to educate your doctor. You will not know if this medicine causes YOU to gain weight until it does. If it does, you know how to lose that weight through careful adjustment of your daily caloric intake and exercise.

Happily, my physician is often glad to have me show him some piece of information that serves to increase his knowledge. They are often "pedaling as fast as they can" and spend more time trying to keep up with the serious diseases they must treat than keeping up with the ins and outs of diet and nutrition. I would love to SWAT the cardiologist's office that gave my husband a "diet" that is just a list of what I recognize as random sentences pulled from a variety of diet sources with no coordination. I'm happy to say those "diet instructions" are no longer posted in the kitchen as he came to realize how spotty and partial the information was and what he needed to learn to be healthy.

So, yes, you should listen to your doctor but do not assume that s/he is always better informed on health issues than you are. They are too busy dealing with disease to spend much time knowing the latest about health.

I think that doctors in general know very little about nutrition and metabolism unless they specialize. I would request a specialist consult and I think if you track how much you currently eat and then reduce by a couple hundred calories while exercizing, that should help. Just saying to eat 1200 to maintain seems crazy to me. I would think over time as a maintenance plan that would damage your metabolism more. I hope things work out for you.

^this. Ask for a referral to a specialist as well as a registered dietitian.

well I am sure the dr thinks that is best but I would consult an actual nutritionist for some real advice. It is your right to ask what nutritional education and training your doctor has completed. Most only do a semester or two of nutritional training/studies while in medical school. This is a fact. The standard recommendation when trying to lose weight is eat 1200 but they are not taking into consideration the calories you may burn with exercise. If you burn calories with exercise while eating at 1200 then your actual deficit is going to be less than 1200 and that is not good for you. Just ask more questions and do your research. That is what I would do.

The doctor knows best

1200 calories per day is completely doable. Just use MFP to plan ahead what you will eat for the next day, to make sure you get your protein in and stay within 1200 calories.

I would give it a try per your MD's recommendations, and see what happens in the next month or so. It may need to be adjusted depending on whether you gain, lose or maintain weight.

I'd follow your doctor's advice. If you find after 2-3 weeks that it's unworkable in your life - you are hungry and irritable, losing too much, etc - ask for a referral to a dietitian for help with food management.

Listen to doctor.

But also do due diligence on your part.....since it is your body and not the doctors.

Track your food and calories and see how your body responds.

Listen to your Dr, but Drs are not nutritionists. I would see if your medical plan would cover a nutritionist or diet expert under the circumstances they actually might.

A second opinion is always good. MFP is an application, not sure it always knows.

It may even be worth it to pay for at least a consultation with a nutritionist, but even nutritionists go for fads. Make sure to check the credentials.

if you feel good, try the 1200 calories and see how you feel but be aware of how your body is feeling while you do it. if you feel weak or are losing weight fast, i'd suggest you up your calories and ask your doctor to refer you to a nutritionist/dietician. my experience with them so far has been so-so at best, but you could get lucky.

i have never gotten a single useful word from a doctor when it comes to nutrition or diet. seems like they just give generic out-of-a-book advice that has never yet applied to me, but again, you could get lucky.

The doctor who is comfortable with his practice and advice will be happy to refer you to a dietician. If he is not, beware his knowledge.

Start with MFP's recommendations. If you gain weight after the first week cut your daily calories by 100. Repeat.

Is this to lose weight, or just to maintain? If it's just to maintain that seems too low even with the effect of the medication.

Definitely see a dietician.

1. Doctors aren't always right. You should definitely take professional medical advice over advice from somebody over the internet. However, they can occassionally get things wrong. I've been given things that I shouldn't be given (like Propanalol when I have asthma, which is generally a no-no, and caused a panic when I told my psychiatrist).

2. See a dietician. They have more specialised training in nutrition and weight loss/maintenance.

3. My friend is a recently qualified doctor and even he admits that he doesn't know much about nutrition and that he'd advise me to see a dietician instead of relying on General Practitioners.

4. You should see if the medication causes weight gain in your own personal situation. I've often been on medications which are known to commonly cause weight gain (equal to or more than 1 in 10 people) and haven't experienced any weight gain at all. Not all patients are the same, which some doctors tend not to remember. It's easy to look at a list of side effects and freak ("coma or death" was one of the ones that got my attention) but they don't apply to all.

Don't take my advice over a doctor though, or any of anyone's advice that isn't qualified. However, do take our advice about seeing a specialist dietician.

^ This - ask for a referral to a dietitian
I have some health issues that mess with my metabolism. I tried the 1200 on doctor's advice and steadily gained. That's a very generic guideline that they give because they aren't knowledgeable in that area. With more research on my part it was determined I need to be at around 1600.