Struggling to keep calories to 1200!!

Options
13»

Replies

  • lexbubbles
    lexbubbles Posts: 465 Member
    Options
    Selah722 wrote: »
    I'm at 1200 calories too, 5'5, losing 1.5lbs/week. (shorter girls have it tougher)

    I feel. 1200 cals, 5'4 losing 1lb. That's why I do a LOT of exercise. I eat back half my exercise cals to allow for MFP estimate discrepancy and end up with 1,700-1,900 on most days. I'd lose 1lb if I stuck to 1,200 but I mostly lose 1.25-1.5 because of the exercise and being generous with my 'buffer zone'

    Although I've never ever found it hard to stick to 1200 purely because I don't take my tea with milk or sugar (I mostly drink green or fruit tea, anyway) and don't drink coffee.
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
    Options
    For the regular person 1200 is too low anyway. I am 5'2, in my 30s and my bmr is 1321.

    If you're struggling on 1200, eat a little more.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,036 Member
    edited April 2015
    Options
    ChelseyWoo88 wrote: »
    Hello, new to this.
    Finding it so hard to keep to 1,200 calories a day. When i look at my food diary i feel like most of my calories goes on tea and coffee and fruit! feel like there's hardly any 'real food' on there!
    Help Please :)

    Tea and coffee don't have any calories, or very, very few calories like maybe 2 or 3 ... unless you add something to them???

    And I've cut way back on my fruit intake because fruit is actually quite high in calories. Go with veg instead.

    BTW - I'm on 1250 calories, and it would be difficult (just barely doable) if I didn't exercise. So I exercise a lot.

  • lynndot1
    lynndot1 Posts: 114 Member
    edited April 2015
    Options
    I find if I eat below my BMR I tend to feel sluggish and get the urge to eat more which results in killing my deficit. My BMR is 1388, so I usually end up eating around 1400-1450 not counting exercise, and that works for me. It means I lose pretty slow, not even 0.5lb/week, but I don't really have much to lose anyway I'm just getting my bf% down so I don't care. This is net calories of course, on days I jog or do long walks with the dog I eat more.

    If 1200 is very much below your BMR I suggest adding some back. Some people do that 1200 calorie diets just fine, others don't, it really depends on your lifestyle.

    And also your specs. I'm 5'4" on a good day :) My BMR is going to be lower than someone much taller than me. My boyfriend, for instance, his BMR is closer to 1900, if he were to eat 1200 with me every day he'd be so miserable.

    Some people don't mind eating below their BMR, but I think because of how much I lift weights it just kills me to do it too many days in a row, I'm too exhausted all the time. The good thing about weight loss is it's very simple - eat less than your daily burn and you will lose. It may be slow, or fast, but you'll get there.

    As for drinking your calories - I think I lucked out growing up in that my parents only ever drank coffee and tea black, so that's how I take it unless I'm having a latte urge. But those calories definitely add up. If you're worried just taper yourself down. So if you add 2 spoonfuls of sugar to your coffee, next time try 1.5 spoonfuls for a few days, then 1, etc, and you might find you enjoy coffee black just fine after a while. That's what my boyfriend did - he used to load his coffee on milk and sugar and now we have an espresso machine and he drinks a shot of strong espresso by itself just fine.
  • rockmama72
    rockmama72 Posts: 815 Member
    Options
    This past week I averaged 1200 per day. It's low, but doable. It's my first week back, so it didn't seem to hard since I'm motivated, and I ate well so I wasn't hungry. I won't stick to this level forever.

    You've got to stop drinking so many calories if you want to be full... There's no way around it. Eat lots of protein, vegetables, and whole grains. You also might try setting a calorie range--say 1200 to 1500. That way you can stop at 1200 on the days where you feel satisfied, and on days when you're hungry you eat more. You'll still lose weight, but you won't be miserable.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
    Options
    Lower the aggressiveness of your goal and earn more through exercise.
  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
    Options
    I have never done as low as 1200 calories a day, even before exercise. I am a bit tall, though (5'9"). I am set to lose 1.5 lbs/week now on 1570 cal/day before exercise. I usually end up eating at least 1800 calories after exercise. I do know, when tried to set my loss to only 1 lb/week, I stalled for a while, so I did have to drop my calories more to see some progress. It's actually easier for me to be stricter with my eating, as I don't get as tempted to overindulge with the extra calories, and seeing at least a pound loss nearly every week keeps me motivated. I will eventually increase my calories when I get closer to my goal.
  • ChelseyWoo88
    ChelseyWoo88 Posts: 25
    Options
    when i put in a regular coffee with semiskimmed milk one sugar, says 40 calories. tea with 1 sugar and same milk. Didn't know if i exercised and logged it i would get more calories back. im new to all this and its hard to get my head around,
  • 99clmsntgr
    99clmsntgr Posts: 777 Member
    Options
    Your calories aren't coming from the coffee, they're coming from the milk and sugar. The USDA database lists an 8-ounce cup of coffee at 2 calories (sorry, all you "it has no calories" crew). Tea is about the same.

    Coffee, brewed from grounds, using tap water: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/4287?
    Tea, black, brewed, prepared with tap water: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/4337?

    Switch to the low-calorie sweeteners to cut the sugar calories (and insert "artificial sweeteners are the devil!" threadjack opportunities here). For the cream or milk...not much you can do there other than cut what you use or cut it out completely. If you wean yourself down from the milk and sugar, you'll probably come to find that you enjoy a cup of good black coffee or tea.

    The system will add your cardio exercise calorie deficit back into your total calories you can consume for the day. Just be careful, everything that's in the MFP database is an estimate. There's eleventy different "exercise calories" websites out there, they'll all be a little different, so take whatever you add back in as just that -- a rough estimate. And, no, logging resistance/weight training doesn't apply specific calories to your daily budget, and there's a lot of different threads out there that will explain why.
  • ChelseyWoo88
    ChelseyWoo88 Posts: 25
    Options
    99clmsntgr wrote: »
    Your calories aren't coming from the coffee, they're coming from the milk and sugar. The USDA database lists an 8-ounce cup of coffee at 2 calories (sorry, all you "it has no calories" crew). Tea is about the same.

    Coffee, brewed from grounds, using tap water: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/4287?
    Tea, black, brewed, prepared with tap water: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/4337?

    Switch to the low-calorie sweeteners to cut the sugar calories (and insert "artificial sweeteners are the devil!" threadjack opportunities here). For the cream or milk...not much you can do there other than cut what you use or cut it out completely. If you wean yourself down from the milk and sugar, you'll probably come to find that you enjoy a cup of good black coffee or tea.

    The system will add your cardio exercise calorie deficit back into your total calories you can consume for the day. Just be careful, everything that's in the MFP database is an estimate. There's eleventy different "exercise calories" websites out there, they'll all be a little different, so take whatever you add back in as just that -- a rough estimate. And, no, logging resistance/weight training doesn't apply specific calories to your daily budget, and there's a lot of different threads out there that will explain why.

    Thankyou thats very helpful :)
  • BaniArmour
    BaniArmour Posts: 16 Member
    Options
    I also have a bit of a hard time, though with university it's a bit easier, since i sometimes get up late and don't have time to prepare snacks . I'm short (158) and extremely sedentary (on my busiest days i walk ~3500 steps at most), so 1200 is the right way for me to loose weight and see a change not too long after...well after 2 months I've only lost 1kg so i'm not doing very well, oops.
    I think you should try to see more as a suggestion than some sort of rule.

Categories