1200 calories a day

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newoutlook2014
newoutlook2014 Posts: 68 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Not much, is it? I'm very tempted to use my calories on one big-ish meal and a small snack. Has anyone else used up their calories like this? I guess it's OK, as long as I stay within my calorie allowance.
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  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
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    Or, why not get off of 1200 calories and eat at -500 of your TDEE? Unless that is -500 of your TDEE? :#
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    MFP is quite notorious for setting calorie goals FAR too low, regardless of height and weight. For example, it told me to eat 1200, and my BMR (the bare amount of calories I need to LIVE) is 1280. And I am extremely tiny, only 5 feet. So unless you are smaller than me, or bedridden, it is almost a CERTAINTY that you are eating too little. (This can result in lean muscle loss, chronic fatigue, metabolism damage, and bingeing due to over-restriction.)

    Go to

    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    and enter your height/weight/activity level.

    Subtract 10-20% from the number it calculates for you, and that is the number of calories you should be eating a day in order to lose weight. With this method you do not eat back your exercise calories, as they are already figured into your daily goal.


    All that said, it makes no difference when you eat your calories, whether you space them out or whether you eat them all at once.
  • kcthatsme
    kcthatsme Posts: 5,136 Member
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    newoutlook2014 wrote: »
    Not much, is it? I'm very tempted to use my calories on one big-ish meal and a small snack. Has anyone else used up their calories like this? I guess it's OK, as long as I stay within my calorie allowance.

    If I did that (big-ish/small), I would be starving and overeat.

  • newoutlook2014
    newoutlook2014 Posts: 68 Member
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    AllOutof_Bubblegum wrote: »
    MFP is quite notorious for setting calorie goals FAR too low, regardless of height and weight. For example, it told me to eat 1200, and my BMR (the bare amount of calories I need to LIVE) is 1280. And I am extremely tiny, only 5 feet. So unless you are smaller than me, or bedridden, it is almost a CERTAINTY that you are eating too little. (This can result in lean muscle loss, chronic fatigue, metabolism damage, and bingeing due to over-restriction.)

    Go to

    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    and enter your height/weight/activity level.

    Subtract 10-20% from the number it calculates for you, and that is the number of calories you should be eating a day in order to lose weight. With this method you do not eat back your exercise calories, as they are already figured into your daily goal.


    All that said, it makes no difference when you eat your calories, whether you space them out or whether you eat them all at once.

    thanks for this...this looks much better. I think I can eat around 1600 calories a day and lose weight safely. that is my TDEE minus 20%. did I work that out right?
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    newoutlook2014 wrote: »
    AllOutof_Bubblegum wrote: »
    MFP is quite notorious for setting calorie goals FAR too low, regardless of height and weight. For example, it told me to eat 1200, and my BMR (the bare amount of calories I need to LIVE) is 1280. And I am extremely tiny, only 5 feet. So unless you are smaller than me, or bedridden, it is almost a CERTAINTY that you are eating too little. (This can result in lean muscle loss, chronic fatigue, metabolism damage, and bingeing due to over-restriction.)

    Go to

    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    and enter your height/weight/activity level.

    Subtract 10-20% from the number it calculates for you, and that is the number of calories you should be eating a day in order to lose weight. With this method you do not eat back your exercise calories, as they are already figured into your daily goal.


    All that said, it makes no difference when you eat your calories, whether you space them out or whether you eat them all at once.

    thanks for this...this looks much better. I think I can eat around 1600 calories a day and lose weight safely. that is my TDEE minus 20%. did I work that out right?

    I have no way of knowing, as I don't know your stats. If you entered your info in the website correctly and know how to subtract, then yes, you probably did it right. :)
  • wildcowbell
    wildcowbell Posts: 15 Member
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    I manage to stay under 1200 and not be hungry. Feel free to add me as a friend and take a look at my food diary. My meals are rounded, and I have snacks. You just need to figure out what foods will fill hunger for longer. Snacks through the day probably won't do that.
  • PrizePopple
    PrizePopple Posts: 3,133 Member
    edited January 2015
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    wildcowbell wrote: »
    I manage to stay under 1200 and not be hungry. Feel free to add me as a friend and take a look at my food diary. My meals are rounded, and I have snacks. You just need to figure out what foods will fill hunger for longer. Snacks through the day probably won't do that.

    tumblr_inline_n7osbqZ5kV1rbumi6.gif

    Can we just establish right now that eating below that level is not a good thing for your body...? I don't care how "rounded" you think you're eating, you're likely not. Giving others advice to eat under 1200 calories is a piss poor idea.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    If you eat a lot of healthy food, you can stay VERY full on 1200 calories a day. Many people who eat All Healthy, All The Time have difficulty eating 1200 calories because it's just too much food.

    So, don't worry too much about staying full. :)

    You can eat six small meals or one big one. It's all okay. :)
  • MaryinColorado
    MaryinColorado Posts: 19
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    Thank you for this thread! This is only my 3rd day on 1200 cal. & I'm so hungry I can hardly stand it. I know if I try to go on much longer like this I'm going to completely lose control & go on a binge. Thanks for posting the link to that other calorie calculator, I'm definitely going to check that out!
  • wildcowbell
    wildcowbell Posts: 15 Member
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    PrizePopple wrote: »
    wildcowbell wrote: »
    I manage to stay under 1200 and not be hungry. Feel free to add me as a friend and take a look at my food diary. My meals are rounded, and I have snacks. You just need to figure out what foods will fill hunger for longer. Snacks through the day probably won't do that.

    tumblr_inline_n7osbqZ5kV1rbumi6.gif

    Can we just establish right now that eating below that level is not a good thing for your body...? I don't care how "rounded" you think you're eating, you're likely not. Giving others advice to eat under 1200 calories is a piss poor idea.

    Can we also just establish that you know nothing about my metrics or activity level...and as for 'giving others advice to eat under 1200 calories', you can thank this site for that, not me. So you can tone back the passive aggressiveness. 1200 works for me, and plenty of others.

  • khearron26
    khearron26 Posts: 171 Member
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    wildcowbell wrote: »
    PrizePopple wrote: »
    wildcowbell wrote: »
    I manage to stay under 1200 and not be hungry. Feel free to add me as a friend and take a look at my food diary. My meals are rounded, and I have snacks. You just need to figure out what foods will fill hunger for longer. Snacks through the day probably won't do that.

    tumblr_inline_n7osbqZ5kV1rbumi6.gif

    Can we just establish right now that eating below that level is not a good thing for your body...? I don't care how "rounded" you think you're eating, you're likely not. Giving others advice to eat under 1200 calories is a piss poor idea.

    Can we also just establish that you know nothing about my metrics or activity level...and as for 'giving others advice to eat under 1200 calories', you can thank this site for that, not me. So you can tone back the passive aggressiveness. 1200 works for me, and plenty of others.

    I agree. I'm 5'0'', and 1200 works for me.
  • newoutlook2014
    newoutlook2014 Posts: 68 Member
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    I'm 5'7 and not tiny, and I just had 1600 calories today... whoops! but according to that other site that's what I should be aiming for. At least I don't feel hungry now...
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
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    newoutlook2014 wrote: »
    I'm 5'7 and not tiny, and I just had 1600 calories today... whoops! but according to that other site that's what I should be aiming for. At least I don't feel hungry now...
    Excellent. See how it goes.

    And make sure you use a food scale and weigh in grams...you will be more accurate when tracking, and the more accurate the better :)

  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
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    I couldn't live on a 1200 calorie diet. That amount seems too low to me.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    MFP is often 1200 PLUS EXERCISE CALORIES.

    Caps for emphasis. If even that is too little for you, reduce your goal to 1 pound a week (or 0.5 if you don't have much to lose). Or if you don't want to bother figuring out how many calories you burn, use http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ with a 20% deficit.

    You won't lose any weight long term if you're starving yourself on day 3.
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
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    Originally mfp gave my 1240 cals. I'm sedentary, 35, 200 lbs and 5'3. I found myself unable to stay in that range and would beat myself up for 'failing' and wouldn't track the over calories. I decreased my rate of loss to 1 lb a week, and I now have 1490 calories. Most days I don't even eat to that goal, but I always eat over 1200. Now I log every. Single. thing. Surprise surprise, I'm currently losing more than I was before. It's totally a mental game with me.
  • geneticsteacher
    geneticsteacher Posts: 623 Member
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    The 1200 + exercise worked for me. I lost 22 lbs. The first 3 days were a bit of a shock and I felt hungry all the time, but that soon passed. I have had to temporarily switch to maintenance after surgery and my calorie goal is only 1630. (5'6", 152 lbs., age 58, very sedentary at the moment.)
  • whitespider360
    whitespider360 Posts: 42 Member
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    I'm on my 4th day and I still can't reach 1200 calories. I just can't hold that much. My thing tells me to eat more but I just can't. And I have 100+ pounds to lose. I drink like 10-12 glasses of water a day. Friend request are welcome.
  • TorsMinator
    TorsMinator Posts: 8 Member
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    I've got 1240 as my limit which seems right to me. I am 5'11 and currently about 214 lbs. A couple of years ago I had gotten down to 162lbs but the only way I was able to reach that goal was by strictly maintaining that 1200 limit. Working out daily and not eating back my burned calories.

    It all depends on your individual body/metabolism. Some people can lose weight at 2000 or 1600 and some people can't.
  • kynesa
    kynesa Posts: 27 Member
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    I am doing 1200 a day. I previosly did MFP Before for 7 months and lost 76lbs before I became pregnant. I averaged between 900 and 1100 calories plus eating back exercise cals. U didn't really feel hungy. I was going high protein and high fiber.

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