1200 calories per day

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Icbarr
Icbarr Posts: 6
in Motivation and Support
This is going to sound like a stupid question, but I am a real newbie when it comes to dieting.

1200 calories is the amount that is necessary for me to reach my 125 pound weight goal.
What I can't figure is once I get there, if I will still have to continue to eat this little?
Because I am pretty sure I won't be able to sustain this. My current routine is to exercise every day to get more calories on the bank because the 1200/day allocation simply does not cut it for me. What happens if I am too tired to exercise? What happens if I need a break?

Is this how folks stay in the game? By exercising in order to be able to eat? Or, does it get better as far as the hunger is concerned?
I feel like I am starving! And the sad thing is that the more I exercise, the hungrier I get. I am losing weight so far but with another 5 pounds to go, I honestly don't think I can keep it up before I get there!

Replies

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    no you will be able to eat more go to goals and on the top right it shows how much you burn from daily activity level. This number will go down as you lose weight (around 10 calories per pound) so if you have 5 lbs to lose you will be able to eat that number - 50 once you get down 5 lbs.

    With so little to lose I would suggest changing your weight loss goal to 0.5 lbs/week, as the closer you get to your goal the smaller your caloric deficit should be as you have less fat to lose, and you don't want to burn muscle instead. This should give you more calories and will only be 250 under your maintenance amount.
  • kao708
    kao708 Posts: 813 Member
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    You need to eat less in order to lose weight but once you get to goal you will be able to eat a little more to maintain. If you stay with MFP you will be able to change your goals to "maintain" once you reach your goal weight and it will recalculate your daily calorie goal for you. If you were to change that now as an example you should get a higher daily calorie goal to maintain your current weight.
  • sweetlilgiggles
    sweetlilgiggles Posts: 23 Member
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    1,200 calories a day is really too little for your body. You should really bump it up a couple hundred calories, since you're putting your body into starvation mode. Yes, you're losing weight, but it's not the healthy way to do it, and once you get tired of putting your body under such stress, you'll gain it all back, if not more. 1,500 calories is a perfectly healthy and reasonable goal.
  • bettertracie
    bettertracie Posts: 196 Member
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    Well, If you're just getting started, you will end up answering these questions yourself. You will get used to finding healthy satisfying options within your goals, and depending on how much your working out and how much weight you have to lose, your body will need extra fuel to get you through your workouts!! Plus, if your working out really hard and staying solid under those 1200, you may be doing your body more harm than good by putting it into starvation/save me mode...

    There's lots of blogs on here that address the topic at length, but met your body tell you what it needs (within reason), theres so many people here to help you!!! You can do this, stop looking for your out already!!! :)
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
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    Chances are- looking at your profile- you have your weightloss set too fast for your goal. You are within 10 lbs of what you are looking to be and are already a healthy BMI, so your weightloss goal should be closer to .5 lbs than 1 lb per week. This will allow you more calories, and though the weightloss will be more gradual- it will be better for your body overall

    If you are feeling hungry, it's likely because you aren't eating filling foods and are inadvertently saving calories for a big dinner instead of maintaining fullness throughout the day.

    Feel free to friend/PM me- I have some pretty good "building blocks" to help get through the day (they are just mad long otherwise I would post them).
  • sabrinafaith
    sabrinafaith Posts: 607 Member
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    What are you eating?

    If you are eating a balanced diet of healthy foods, including about 75-115 grams of protein, you shouldn't be hungry. If you are eating a ton of carbs and not much else, then you will be hungry on 1200 calories.

    A combination of protein and fiber will keep you satiated for a longer period of time. You should be eating about half your weight in protein and 25-30 grams of fiber a day. That means tons of vegetables, fish, white meat, small portions of red meat, light tofu, low fat dairy and whole grain carbohydrates.
  • freerange
    freerange Posts: 1,722 Member
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    I’m assuming here, the 1200 is what the “system” says you need to eat to lose weight? If it has you losing 1 lb a week that’s 500 cals a day. So in theory you will be able to add those 500 cals back to your diet when you reach your goal. And YES you should be exercising on a regular basis anyway. SO if you are in this just to lose weight and then think you can go back to what you were doing before, then STOP now, you won’t be happy in the long run. If however you are in this to learn how to eat/live a healthy life style, well you are in the right place. By the time you’re done you should have the ammunition to know how to eat and what to do if you miss a day of exercise. Or have a splurge night out, and over eat.
  • abyt42
    abyt42 Posts: 1,358 Member
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    Maintenance calorie allotment is higher that the calorie allotment for weight loss. Add to it whatever exercise you're doing, and you should have a fairly comfortable range.

    However, I'm finding myself less hungry, too, as I'm getting accustomed to eating less food each day. I went out on Saturday and had a cheddar bagel (a weekly treat way back when) and couldn't finish it... it was just too much bread...

    When I've set my calories for maintenance, I move from 1200 to 1350 or so.... it's a huge change, even if it doesn't look like it... It's a tortilla with 1/2 oz of cheddar; it's a beer and popchips...and not a light beer, a good beer....
  • Icbarr
    Icbarr Posts: 6
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    It's clear to me that I am not doing this quite right yet. Thanks for the helpful advice!
    I changed my profile and has asked for extra help so I can get on track.

    I don't plan on giving up, but I don't want to fail. I have been going from 135 to 125 back and forth since I had my first child 20 years ago. I feel silly for making such a fuss over 10 pounds, but the truth is that these extra 10 pounds make quite a difference in my small frame. It's amazing how much better I feel for having lost over 5 pounds. I just didn't realize until now that I am doing this too fast.

    I should have disclosed this right away, but I have been quite active for the last 7 years, running marathons and always making sure I have enough exercise when I am not in training. However, things changed a bit at home in the last few months. I am back in schools and with no plans on training for a marathon at least until october. With running less, the extra pounds came rushing in. I am also much more tried and with less disposition to work out after staying up doing homework after working all day. NOT making excuses here. I just need to find a way to adjust.

    I am excited about MFP and how it can help me learn how to eat right. And I am grateful I can rely on the community to help guide me. THANK YOU!

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