Never thought I'd say that 1200 Calories seems like a lot

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jls6462
jls6462 Posts: 16
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello,

So I'm a college student that's not in terrible shape and my weight has stayed consistent, but I want to shed about 20 pounds to get back to my weight when I wrestled. Honestly, I'd be happy with getting to 130 which is only 10 lbs away. Anyways, I've been doing a lot of research, and it recommends 1200 Cal/day to lose. At college I live a pretty sedentary life, but I'm trying to fit workouts into my schedule to get my old athletic body toned. Recently, I've changed my diet and have been mainly eating whole foods, which really expands how much food I can eat because processed often contains more calories. Well this change has really surprised me because I've always LOVED food to where I could just keep going, but now that I'm on this path with whole foods, the 1200 recommended seems like a lot. Like I can eat about 800-1000 and feel comfortable and content. Should I be concerned? Should I push to eat more even though I feel full?

Does anyone else have this problem? I always thought that going so low would make me miserable and always hungry, but its the exact opposite!
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Replies

  • Just115Pounds
    Just115Pounds Posts: 81 Member
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    I have that problem too. Today is the first time that I have eaten 1200 cals in like 3 weeks and I feel terrible...I usually eat around 900-1000 otherwise I feel extremely full e.e
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Yes, you should aim to get at least 1200 calories (unless you fall into some pretty rare exception categories).

    The good news is, if you feel full and satisfied on what you eat, you're very likely already eating that much. Did you check out this thread? community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10012907/logging-accuracy-consistency-and-youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think/p1
  • jvt63
    jvt63 Posts: 89 Member
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    I am at 1200 calories too, doing whole foods only, and I can relate. Dinner was 3 ounces of fish, sautéed mushrooms, and 1/2 a sweet potato with a teaspoon of butter...I am full and don't understand it. Although I was just on the "Nutella = evil" thread and there is always room for Nutella.
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,660 Member
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    You might be OK with 1200 if you're sedentary, but once you start working out again, you'll start to feel hungry. You can get to 1200 by eating whole foods, but adding more healthy fats to your diet, such as nuts.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    If you add in things like oil to cooking or the odd snack it's easy to eat that amount. You can still eat whole food, just increase fats, spreads, milk in drinks etc.

    If you're full maybe use things like protein shakes to increase calories a bit. I find they help me get in all the protein I need which can be hard otherwise.
  • CADAVER0USB0N3S
    CADAVER0USB0N3S Posts: 41 Member
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    You could try adding more calories/fat into your diet without eating a whole lot more food by eating nuts, cooking in olive oil, avocados, peanut butter etc. You want to make sure you are hitting your macros too for protein/carbs/fat etc. Hope this helps :)
  • mom2ava07
    mom2ava07 Posts: 186 Member
    edited February 2015
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    I'm dealing with the same thing. I usually eat about 900-1000 a day. My appetite seems to have decreased dramatically since when I first started. I'm sure it can't be healthy to not at least reach 1200.
  • jls6462
    jls6462 Posts: 16
    edited February 2015
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    PHEW I'm so happy I'm not the only one....I thought I was going crazy!!

    I will try and add in more foods as I don't want my metabolism to drop as a result. Thanks guys. I have tons of almonds and what not, so those will make a great snack. Maybe even add in a yummy processed treat now and then :) I just don't want to encourage the scary little monster inside of me ;)
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Yeah, 100% "clean" eating usually isn't sustainable for very long. Ask yourself, "can I see eating this way for the rest of my life?" If not, give yourself a little more leeway.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    segacs wrote: »
    Yeah, 100% "clean" eating usually isn't sustainable for very long. Ask yourself, "can I see eating this way for the rest of my life?" If not, give yourself a little more leeway.

    Based on me, it lasts 4 years, off and on. With regular 15lb regain-loss cycles throughout.

    Huzzah!
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,485 Member
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    Not sure of the terms 'whole' and 'clean', but I cook from scratch 80% of the time.
    I have been 1200cal for years and find peanut butter on toast, tuna melts, a plate of fruit and nuts, cottage cheese, yogurt, and cheese and crackers are good things to help up the calories.
    Of course a protein bar, protein shake, a glass of wine, or a chocolate bar will also fill calories.
    Try your hardest to get to the 1200 and eat back about half your exercise calories.
    Cheers , h.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Geez I wish I had your problem lol xx
  • jenglish712
    jenglish712 Posts: 497 Member
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    Just115Pounds wrote: »
    I have that problem too. Today is the first time that I have eaten 1200 cals in like 3 weeks and I feel terrible...I usually eat around 900-1000 otherwise I feel extremely full e.e

    Between this, your young age, and you stating in another you r were aiming for around the lower end of your healthy BMI, some of this is worrisome. While losing 8 pounds since December 9th would not be that quick of a lost for someone overweight, you are likely already in healthy BMI range. I think at one point you said you were 5' 4" I don't know what all your TDEE and all that are, so I don't know how far below your TDEE 900 is. I may be reading too much into this but you are sending up some red flags.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Add in nut butters, avocado, nuts. You really need to make sure you're getting all your nutrients.
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
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    I am curious how so many of you can feel full eating only 900 calories?

    No way would that work for me.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    higgins8283801 wrote: »
    I am curious how so many of you can feel full eating only 900 calories?

    No way would that work for me.


    Me neither. Something is definitely amiss here...
  • jenglish712
    jenglish712 Posts: 497 Member
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    oh, theres a. few filling low cal foods I could eat to be full at 900... but it wouldnt happen by accident and I would get sick of celery, egg whites and baked pollack really fast. And theres no way I would feel great.
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
    edited February 2015
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    yes, i've had this problem for years now. certain foods just are way more filling and if i stay away from carbs, i tend to not eat enough. i wouldn't worry about your metabolism suffering. mine didn't. i just kept losing. i bottomed out at 101 a year and a half ago after not really logging for almost a year because i was at goal weight, but i probably still had the same habits i adopted when logging. gained up to 108, started logging again and now down to 102.8. probably too low though. i'm going to have to probably introduce more high calorie/non-filling foods into my diet.

    this is a common issue on mfp.
  • jls6462
    jls6462 Posts: 16
    edited February 2015
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    Before supper this evening I ate 2 servings of jalopenos, 2 of peperoncinis, and 1 serving of banana peppers, as a result I felt really full by the time I finished my full meal. Although this is definetly something I won't be able to keep up with, it just worked today because I had Mexican. But, I ate 500 Cal and felt full... I had to push to eat more... Luckily I love good and was happ to do so!

    Also, what does that jail looking pic above mean?
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
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    jls6462 wrote: »
    Before supper this evening I ate 2 servings of jalopenos, 2 of peperoncinis, and 1 serving of banana peppers, as a result I felt really full by the time I finished my full meal. Although this is definetly something I won't be able to keep up with, it just worked today because I had Mexican. But, I ate 500 Cal and felt full... I had to push to eat more... Luckily I love good and was happ to do so!

    Also, what does that jail looking pic above mean?


    It means she can't behave properly in the forums.

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