is 1200 enough?

Pick a way of eating you can stick to long term. I think as long as you are at 1200 minimum that can be a range of appropriate calories. Signs you are too low - being obsessed with food, binge eating, feeling weak, a lot of hunger or even lack of hunger when you should be hungry.

The problem with being a big deficit is that (I think) you are more likely to lose a significant amount of muscle mass as well as fat. I'd add weight/resistance training to your routine to maintain as much muscle mass as you can while you are losing.

I'd guess you picked a weight loss goal that's too agressive for you. With about 30 pounds left to lose, you should set your goal to 1 pound per week at the most. This will be much more reasonable. Also be sure to eat back at least half of your earned calories (if not more)

It's a bit low. I came here 18 months ago with the same question. I had set my goal at 2# per week (too aggressive). Set it for 1# a week and enjoy the process. You'll still get there in the end, and you will have learned something sustainable, rather than, "Oh, I met my goal, now I have to figure out how to eat to stay here." Listen to the TDEE people. There are a lot of them here because it works.

Good luck! :flowerforyou:

I've always found it better (for me) to have my calories set higher and be happy what I'm doing and be able to stick to it rather than dropping to the absolute minimum of 1,200 calories and constantly feeling like I'm on a diet. This is not a short term fix, you need something you can live with and sustain. I have mine set at 1,450 a day.

You're going to get a lot of responses. Some will say: I do 1200, therefore it's fine.
Some will say: 1200 is too low (for me, and therefore you).
And you'll get some saying I eat (insert # here) and lose, therefore you will too.

Neither of those answers is useful FOR YOU.

What is? Get your height, weight, age, gender and activity level into a TDEE calculator and do the math.
Or, be HONEST about how much you need to lose and use the guidelines above (about how much you should try to lose a week), and then FOLLOW what MFP tells you after you choose the right selection.

Eat what it tells you, and "eat back" what it tells you to.

Or, do the TDEE method and don't eat back.

My point? Everyone is different. And therefore so are their caloric needs.

READ THIS (and its links):
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

good luck

If you are trying to lose the last couple pounds what i would personally recommend is doing intermittent fasting, by that I mean do your cardio on an empty stomach, preferably first thing in the morning if you have time. Because your stomach is empty your body will look to the quickest energy stores which is stored fat. Keep in mind though, when doing this type of training you can just do LISS (low intensity steady state) which for example means going for a jog at around the same speed for NO MORE than 30mins, as it becomes easier either increase your speed if running outside or increase your incline if running on the treadmill. If I were you I would also increase your calorie intake, it's much too low, i've been there where i was getting the minimum calorie intake and not seeing results and the fact is when you have a calorie deficit that low your body is going to always hold onto the rest of that stubborn fat because your body is not getting enough calories to make it feel "safe", the reason your body holds onto fat is just in case of starvation. I would increase your calories to about 1500. Especially on weight training days you want to have more calories and carbs than you would on your off training days. Also you should cycle between calorie intake to keep your metabolism for falling (which is seems like it has for you) that being said, have one day where you eat around 1400 and another day where you eat around 1600 this will "trick" your body into having a faster metabolism even on the days where you are eating less calories. AND lastly, I would really recommend weight training at least 4 times a week, whether it's free weights or circuit training, for me I saw better results with the last 5 lbs when I weight trained more often than I did cardio. Because the more muscle you have the more of a higher metabolism you will have. Hopefully this helps and keep in mind when trying to lose the last few pounds, this is the hardest part of getting to your fitness goal, it's not going to be easy and you will have to work harder and eat cleaner than you ever have before.

What you eat is more important. 1200 is enough if you are eating HEALTHY food. My goal is 1200 a day as well. Lot's of lean protein, veggies, and healthy carbohydrates like sweet potatoes and brown rice. 1200 calories of bad food will leave you still feeling hungry. It's that simple.

I would recommend logging your exercise and eating more on days that you exercise more. A large deficit will cause muscle loss, not fat loss. A lot of people that run (myself included, especially when I was running 1/2 marathons) eat extra protein to protect ourselves from muscle loss.