1200 Calories
kellymoore104203
Posts: 25 Member
Anyone have great tips I do not find this a lot of calories and I do not want to eat my exercise calories would appreciate any good tips ... Thank you in Advance trying to really embrace and enjoy this journey
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First I need to know why you are insisting on 1200 calories and not eating back exercise calories? No need to starve yourself to get the weight off. You only have 20lbs so you shouldn't be set to lose much more than 1lbs a week. I lost 10lbs in exactly 2 months by eating between 1300 & 1600 calories a day and not exercising. Unless you are under 5'0 or in a wheel chair there's not need to do something so severe.0
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OP is older, which is probably why she is set at that low. I'm 56 and petite, 5;1.5". My BMR at sedentary is only 1136, so at 1200, if I don't work out, I'm just maintaining. I have actually set my "base" to 1000, but eat back exercise calories, so I tend to eat between 1200-1500 a day. I try to eat nutrient dense, lower calorie foods. I also eat nutrient-rich snacks between meals. You can look at my diary which is open. Yesterday was a "high calorie" day because I worked out and shoveled, but Monday is more typical for me.0
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Depending on what type/intensity of exercise you do you probably should eat back some of those calories. 1200 is low, and your net calories will be really low if you don't.
You may also benefit from dropping your goal from 2 to 1 lb of loss per week if you are having a hard time on 1200.
No need to be miserable.0 -
how is that severe? MFP tells me to only eat 1200 a day because I'm not very active at work (a sit all day job). I'm not starved either.0
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Unless your exercise is so little that it doesn't amount to much, you should be eating more. Your body needs fuel. Having a large calorie deficit will cause you to lose weight faster, but faster isn't always better.0
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My mom is 5'3, 156, and 61 years old and is losing .5lbs/week on 1400-1500 calories. And is a breast cancer survivor on daily estrogen suppressant meds. Sorry if you don't think that my advice is sound but I'm not that big of dumb butt. The age card is BS.
I may be 36, and 5'11 and eat more to lose weight that most, but I do know that my mom is successful at higher calories and is older than you.
Not everyone is like you.0 -
If you are exercising, you need to make sure you are properly fueling your body for those workouts, which means eating more calories. To not do so with such a low calorie goal would be foolhardy and unhealthy. There's no need to make yourself miserable.0
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If you are over 40 and smaller, your TDEE is not that high. Even active, my TDEE is roughly 1500-1600 calories. 1200 is not unreasonable for a smaller woman who is sedentary. Even at that level, I would only lose .5 to 1 lb. a week because it's a very small deficit. Our metabolism is much lower than that of younger people due to age and size; this especially true for post-menopausal women. The "1200 calories is too low" rule is not one size fits all.0
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If you are over 40 and smaller, your TDEE is not that high. Even active, my TDEE is roughly 1500-1600 calories. 1200 is not unreasonable for a smaller woman who is sedentary. Even at that level, I would only lose .5 to 1 lb. a week because it's a very small deficit. Our metabolism is much lower than that of younger people due to age and size; this especially true for post-menopausal women. The "1200 calories is too low" rule is not one size fits all.
Are you purposely ignoring my post? I'm pretty sure 5'3 and 61 years old is a shorter, older, post menopausal woman. And she's been though cancer treatment. Not everyone is like you.
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MFP has me at 1200 Calories per day. I have around 15lbs to lose. I tried last year with 1200 calories and I was miserable and starving which lead to binging at night. Needless to say I didn't lose any weight. I started again in January and trying to eat 1500 Calories (some days more and some days less). I found this more manageable and have lost about 5 lbs so far. Everyone is different but I could not stick to this lifestyle change only eating 1200 Calories per day0
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kristen6350 wrote: »Not everyone is like you.
And not everyone is like your mum. I ate 1200 for months and felt fine, and had no problems sticking to it.
Though I do agree that she should really be eating back her exercise calories, or at least some of them! OP, eat back half if you're worried about over estimating your burn. Plus, if you get to eat some of them back, it might motivate you to exercise more... it certainly motivates me!
In terms of sticking to low calories, lots of vegetables can fill you up with few calories. I sometimes have a huge salad from Tesco which is a tiny amount of calories (<50) but I can never even finish it it fills me up so much. Also drink lots of water, it's surprisingly good at keeping you full (and of course drink only water, no point in drinking your calories if you're struggling to stick to your goal).
Ultimately you've seen two examples from kristen and rosebette - for some people 1200 is fine, some people can (and need) to go higher. You need to find out what works best for you
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kristen6350 wrote: »If you are over 40 and smaller, your TDEE is not that high. Even active, my TDEE is roughly 1500-1600 calories. 1200 is not unreasonable for a smaller woman who is sedentary. Even at that level, I would only lose .5 to 1 lb. a week because it's a very small deficit. Our metabolism is much lower than that of younger people due to age and size; this especially true for post-menopausal women. The "1200 calories is too low" rule is not one size fits all.
Are you purposely ignoring my post? I'm pretty sure 5'3 and 61 years old is a shorter, older, post menopausal woman. And she's been though cancer treatment. Not everyone is like you.
Geez! Angry much?0 -
If you are over 40 and smaller, your TDEE is not that high. Even active, my TDEE is roughly 1500-1600 calories. 1200 is not unreasonable for a smaller woman who is sedentary. Even at that level, I would only lose .5 to 1 lb. a week because it's a very small deficit. Our metabolism is much lower than that of younger people due to age and size; this especially true for post-menopausal women. The "1200 calories is too low" rule is not one size fits all.kristen6350 wrote: »My mom is 5'3, 156, and 61 years old and is losing .5lbs/week on 1400-1500 calories. And is a breast cancer survivor on daily estrogen suppressant meds. Sorry if you don't think that my advice is sound but I'm not that big of dumb butt. The age card is BS.
I may be 36, and 5'11 and eat more to lose weight that most, but I do know that my mom is successful at higher calories and is older than you.
Not everyone is like you.
Agreed. Everyone is different. My sedentary TDEE is 2300+ at 46 years old and I'm not a large woman. And the only way to really know is to track your intake and monitor your daily fluctuations, etc. over a long period of time. MFP is a tool you can use to help you get informed of what is best for you.
OP: This place is designed for you to eat your exercise calories back. Unless you absolutely know what your maintenance calories are and what a safe deficit is for YOU, you should follow the advice of the folks who designed this site until you get it down for yourself. Best of luck.
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I eat 1200 cal comfortably. If I'm hungry because I worked out hard I'll eat more. Just listen to your bod. I'm gluten free so I find it easy to eat 1200. You can look at my diary if you need some ideas.0
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I am turning 50 and in menopause I have been having a hard time lost weight but I don't want to use that for excuse but losing weight is not as easy at it used to be for my body
I thanks for all the replies and feel more educated because of them thank you0 -
Hi, I'm 65 at 5'2.5" and have lost 42lbs out of 50 eating anywhere from 1,260 to 2,000 calories depending upon my exercise schedule. I was losing at the rate of one pound per week and I'm now at .3oz to one half pound per week.
If you're exercising you need to eat back at least half to two-thirds of your exercise calories. I figure out my calorie burns by wearing a heart rate monitor for steady state cardio exercise and a pedometer for everything else which gives me good estimates of calories burned.
You have to fuel your body for exercise. When I'm not at the gym four days a week I'm pretty sedentary, so I dial back my calorie intake for those days, closer to 1,260 - 1,400 depending on my pedometer estimates.
Let MFP work for you, it's designed for you to lose weight - don't create too much of a calorie deficit or you will not be able to maintain it for the long term. It takes time to lose the weight, you can't rush it.0 -
Thank You will definitely follow some great advice from all your experience0
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Not to throw shade on this discussion, but I read the MFP terms and conditions documents last week when I first entered the forums. There was a specific suggestion to avoid any thread with "1200" in the subject line, and then it went into a very logical justification for that.0
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Thank you am looking for that document you refer to cant find it but I was put on this many calories with my goals and sedentary with exercise it varies from 45 minutes to 90 minutes per day0
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tinascar2015 wrote: »Not to throw shade on this discussion, but I read the MFP terms and conditions documents last week when I first entered the forums. There was a specific suggestion to avoid any thread with "1200" in the subject line, and then it went into a very logical justification for that.
Can you link to where? I was curious so went through the Terms of Use and the Community Guidelines and couldn't find anything about that.
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I echo some of the comments above. I, too, have been calculated at a 1200 calorie with MFP, which means that I do have to eat some exercise calories as I feel needed. Also I set up my goal at 0.5 per week at the advice of some amazing people here. They are right about taking it slow. If you starve yourself you will just shock your body. Eventually your body will win (enters surviving mode) and you will eat more than before. So, take it slow and steady and you will be great
As for tips, like everyone already said, aim for good food. The type of food that gives you the nutrients you need at a low calorie count. My diary is also public and you can look for inspiration. That's the beauty of this app
Good luck and keep us posted. We can help with support to reach your goal.
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kristen6350 wrote: »If you are over 40 and smaller, your TDEE is not that high. Even active, my TDEE is roughly 1500-1600 calories. 1200 is not unreasonable for a smaller woman who is sedentary. Even at that level, I would only lose .5 to 1 lb. a week because it's a very small deficit. Our metabolism is much lower than that of younger people due to age and size; this especially true for post-menopausal women. The "1200 calories is too low" rule is not one size fits all.
Are you purposely ignoring my post? I'm pretty sure 5'3 and 61 years old is a shorter, older, post menopausal woman. And she's been though cancer treatment. Not everyone is like you.
OP, Setting a 2 pound a week goal when you're short and older is just not going to happen. I'm there myself and it's just unrealistic. If that's what you're doing, switch to 1 pound a week and get more calories to play with. This is especially true because you only have 20 pounds to lose.
If you work out hard, do eat back half your exercise calories. If you don't work out very hard, then it's fine not to eat quite as much. Go by how much energy you have, you need to fuel your workouts.
As far as feeling satisfied with eating less? I find that eating a lot of low-fat protein and lots of vegetables keeps me satisfied. I aim to get 100 g of protein a day, eat as many veggies as I can, and sort of let the rest of my macros take care of themselves.
When you're dealing with a small calorie allotment, cutting a little fat here, and some starchy portions there can make a big difference in your calorie numbers. I try to get as much food volume as I can for the number of calories I take in. I only eat the starches that I absolutely LOVE (like oatmeal) and do without those I don't. I use teaspoons of oil instead of tablespoons. Things like that. Choices like that leave me room to eat larger portions of my veggies, and yogurt and lentil loaf (I'm a vegetarian).
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Let MFP work for you, it's designed for you to lose weight - don't create too much of a calorie deficit or you will not be able to maintain it for the long term. It takes time to lose the weight, you can't rush it.
^^^This was everything! I am still very new here and I think this was the best advice so far.
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I've been on around 1200 calories for about a month now and haven't suffered for it.
I have a 200 calorie breakfast (usually porridge), 300 lunch (sandwich and a yoghurt), 400-500 at dinnertime so I can eat the same as my partner and still have a couple of hundred left for snacks throughout the day (crisps, cereal bars, yoghurt, fruit)
I rarely eat vegetables but find protein fills me up and stops the hunger0 -
DemoraFairy wrote: »tinascar2015 wrote: »Not to throw shade on this discussion, but I read the MFP terms and conditions documents last week when I first entered the forums. There was a specific suggestion to avoid any thread with "1200" in the subject line, and then it went into a very logical justification for that.
Can you link to where? I was curious so went through the Terms of Use and the Community Guidelines and couldn't find anything about that.
I would like to see this as well.0 -
I sooo agree. At 47, right now when I eat much over 1200, my weight loss rate slows down to a snails pace. I don't believe for a second that 1200 is too low if you are eating mostly highly nutritious food, especially lots of veggies, which are great for filling you up. Heck I even get all my protein requirements and that's with rarely eating animal products.....Our metabolism is much lower than that of younger people due to age and size; this especially true for post-menopausal women. The "1200 calories is too low" rule is not one size fits all.
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I have a 1220 calorie allotment and Planning out meals/snacks ahead of time helps me; otherwise, I tend to overeat. Lean protein (chicken breast, salmon, other fish) with a baked potato is great for me for dinner. Add .5-1 tbsp light whipped butter and it really helps to satisfy and fills me up. I can stay under 400 calories for dinner this way.
For lunch, I use a high fiber wheat bread (40 cal per slice) with turkey breast and that helps make me feel fuller.
Carrots are a great snack. Also, pop chips and pretzels can be good in moderation. The pop chips feels like a treat.
For breakfast, Special K protein or cinnamon is great or 2 slices of nature own fiber bread I mentioned above with the light whipped butter and an egg. Both of these are just under 200 caloriws and fills me up.
Don't let all the negative people on here tell you than 1200 is too low. Everyone is different. If you don't lose weight after a few weeks, then re-evaluate. Good luck!!0 -
kellymoore104203 wrote: »... I do not want to eat my exercise calories...
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To answer the original question without debating whether 1200 is right or wrong, proteins and fats will keep you fuller longer. Chicken, fish, pork, steak, etc. I try to make protein my priority, then carbs and fats, because then I don't feel like I'm starving.0
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Like the others said, protein and good fat will keep you feeling fuller for longer. My favourite low-calorie snacks are: veggies, olives, beets and pickles. My favourite high-calorie snacks (usually used at the end of the day to reach 1200cals) are: nuts, nut butter, banana, cheese, beef jerky.
A few of my staple recipes (those are the higher calories, more filling ones):
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/cheese_rollups.html
Add some pepperoni on top before rolling, and it's like a pizza without the dough
http://www.everydaymaven.com/2012/chocolate-and-peanut-butter-baked-banana-boats/
I usually don't use chocolate, but if I had dark chocolate chips I would def sprinkle a few on top!
http://www.blogilates.com/blog/2012/08/17/100-natural-pancakes-recipe-gluten-free-flourless-low-calorie/
I have these often! I top it with some peanut butter melted on top. YUM!
I have been on 1200cals for 2 months and I lost almost 20lbs. I do feel hungry sometimes, but it's just something that I've learned to get over. Otherwise, I'm going to eat well over maintenance. Make sure that you drink plenty of water, when I am dehydrated I am that much more hungry. I usually don't eat back my exercise calories, unless I am really hungry then I'll have half of them. I also try to make them nutritious.
Ultimately, I think it's up to you to decide which rate is best for you. I started at 182lbs and 52lbs to lose, so I am okay with this rate since I still have a good way to go.
It's all about experimenting and finding out what works for you. If you're losing, keep doing what you're doing. If not, tweak until you are and stick to it.
Every weight loss is different, but it is a matter of CICO. And a matter of sustainability.
Good luck!0
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