1200 calories a day

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.

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.

Please take note of what the quoted person below me put in caps. And no, I will not tone back anything. Eating below the minimum recommended calories is dumb and dangerous, and to recommend others do the same is irresponsible.

Francl27 wrote: »

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.

TorsMinator wrote: »

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.

This sounds extremely dangerous, especially due to your height.

Of course you'll lose weight on 1200 calories. Just about anybody would. Is it sustainable, healthy loss with the correct nutritional stats for your height, weight, age and activity level? I can't agree with that.

The above posters suggesting TDEE -20% are right. If you do go by MFP's NEAT method, their stats for calorie burns that you are supposed to eat back are sometimes wayyyyy inaccurate and that can lead to overeating. It also doesn't take into account your general activity level, just what you do for exercise.

I don't like those odds. I'll be content eating between 17-1800 calories a day and losing all the way.

I tend to stick to ca. 1200-1300 calories a day. Some days I eat a little less, say 1100, but that's because usually once a week or so I'll eat more, maybe 1700-1800. It averages out. This is on the advice of my weight loss nurse, as well as MFP, so no, 1200 isn't crazy or unhealthy for everyone, especially if you're short!

I find the easiest way is to have 3 small meals spaced out, with a snack or two in between. You have to eat a lot of vegetables. I usually have 250-300 for breakfast, and then 350-400 for lunch and dinner. I found it difficult and was hungry for the first couple of weeks. You not only get used to it, but you get better at making food choices that allow you to eat more. For example, today for lunch I'm having raw cucumber, carrots and green pepper, with some cold leftover lean pork, and melon for pudding. It looks like a lot of food, but it only comes to about 300 calories. Leaves me room for a yogurt as a snack later on.

If I'm actually really hungry, I always eat something. 100 calories extra every so often might slow down you weight loss a tiny amount, but it won't make a huge difference in the long-run and I don't intend to make myself miserable.

Can I see your food journal? Maybe we can figure out where to add food or change some food choices. Dipping below 1000 isn't good in the long run. Maybe a swap for some healthy fats like in some nuts and seeds or avocados can add good calo

IsaackGMOON wrote: »

Or, why not get off of 1200 calories and eat at -500 of your TDEE? Unless that is -500 of your TDEE?

Not the OP but this always confuses me... my BMR is 1440 but my TDEE is 1720, so eating -500 under my TDEE would mean I was under my BMR (1220 vs 1440). Which do I go for?

jenmachin wrote: »

IsaackGMOON wrote: »

Or, why not get off of 1200 calories and eat at -500 of your TDEE? Unless that is -500 of your TDEE?

Not the OP but this always confuses me... my BMR is 1440 but my TDEE is 1720, so eating -500 under my TDEE would mean I was under my BMR (1220 vs 1440). Which do I go for?

Eat 10 to 20% LESS your TDEE, not a flat calorie amount. 20% of 1720 is only 344 calories.

Also, I wish people would stop with the generalized analysis that 1200 is bad. It may be bad for most but not everyone depending on height, weight, goals, activity level, etc. My TDEE is 1510 so 1200 calories is fine for me... I choose to eat more but if others choose to follow 1200, why be so judgmental?

whitespider360 wrote: »

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.

Are you being overly restrictive about what you can eat? This sometimes happens initially especially if people cut both carbs and fat a lot and don't really think about what they should be eating instead, other than vegetables (which are great). I think it usually takes care of itself, but the risk is that you get bored and discouraged or burn out, so I think it's best to try and figure out a good diet that you would enjoy with an appropriate number of calories. Looking at your macros and the meals you've been having is a good way to do this.

MFP put me at 1240 per day as well. First day was hard then it got easier with meal planning but today, day 5, I felt like complete crap. I'm changing my goal to 1 lb per week to bump up the calories a little. I also read that generally for women 1200 calories should be the lowest intake so it concerned me that I was only consuming 40 more per day.