Is a 1200 calorie day really realistic???? Is that what most of you are doing????

A nutritionist would never recommend under 1500 for a healthy and sustainable diet.

Thanks kgracesch, because I am at 1900 calorie and workout 2-3 times a week. I am still losing 1 to 1.5 lbs a week.

I did it for 9 months.

The first couple of days it was really hard sticking to 1200 calories, but now it's hard for me to even reach 1000 calories. It's pretty simple to stick to a low calorie diet as long as you stay away from candy, junk food, soda, and white breads. I have been eating low fat, reduced fat, low sugar, organic types of things for the past week and feel pretty good. I've already lost 4.5 lbs.

I'm 5'5", 250 lbs, female.

When I started 3 years ago, I started at 232 lbs. I started on livestrong.com who suggested 1600 calories/day or something like that. I lost weight, but was tired, cranky, horrible mood swings and hungry all the time. I hid from my friends because I knew I couldn't see them without having to go over my calories for the day. With every pound I lost, that calorie goal dropped dramatically and me feeling motivated from seeing results worked out longer and harder without eating any of my exercise calories back.

Around 200 lbs, my calorie goal dropped to 1200 and I was literally shaking all the time and terrified that if I went over, I would never lose weight. I joined MFP because I liked the community better and they suggested with my activity level that I consume around 1500 calories per day.

6 months later, I had lost 50 lbs. It was great. I could shop without paying the fat tax on clothes. People treated me better. My (now ex)boyfriend stopped cheating on me for awhile (like 2 weeks).

Then winter came and I couldn't stay warm, I was shaking all the time, hallucinating, my mood swings got progressively worse. And then I landed in the hospital. When I got out, I had lost my job and could no longer afford food, my gym membership and all of my efforts went to finding work. I found a job at a fast food establishment and decided to go back to school.

I struggled to avoid the freshman 15 and in that process gained 60 lbs.

Fast forward to today. Trying to lose it all again. Better educated, more prepared to do this without literally starving myself. MFP suggests 1630 calories for me. It's not enough for me.

I've set my goal to 1800, however, I find that is the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM I can eat to not have the shakes. Most days I eat between 2300 and 2500 calories. I've been losing. Not as fast as I did the first time, but I don't feel as crappy and I don't hide from my friends in fear of going over my calorie goal.

I'm sorry for writing all of this. It has just occurred to me that no one is going to read this or give a crap.

punkrockgoth wrote: »

I'm 5'5", 250 lbs, female.

When I started 3 years ago, I started at 232 lbs. I started on livestrong.com who suggested 1600 calories/day or something like that. I lost weight, but was tired, cranky, horrible mood swings and hungry all the time. I hid from my friends because I knew I couldn't see them without having to go over my calories for the day. With every pound I lost, that calorie goal dropped dramatically and me feeling motivated from seeing results worked out longer and harder without eating any of my exercise calories back.

Around 200 lbs, my calorie goal dropped to 1200 and I was literally shaking all the time and terrified that if I went over, I would never lose weight. I joined MFP because I liked the community better and they suggested with my activity level that I consume around 1500 calories per day.

6 months later, I had lost 50 lbs. It was great. I could shop without paying the fat tax on clothes. People treated me better. My (now ex)boyfriend stopped cheating on me for awhile (like 2 weeks).

Then winter came and I couldn't stay warm, I was shaking all the time, hallucinating, my mood swings got progressively worse. And then I landed in the hospital. When I got out, I had lost my job and could no longer afford food, my gym membership and all of my efforts went to finding work. I found a job at a fast food establishment and decided to go back to school.

I struggled to avoid the freshman 15 and in that process gained 60 lbs.

Fast forward to today. Trying to lose it all again. Better educated, more prepared to do this without literally starving myself. MFP suggests 1630 calories for me. It's not enough for me.

I've set my goal to 1800, however, I find that is the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM I can eat to not have the shakes. Most days I eat between 2300 and 2500 calories. I've been losing. Not as fast as I did the first time, but I don't feel as crappy and I don't hide from my friends in fear of going over my calorie goal.

I'm sorry for writing all of this. It has just occurred to me that no one is going to read this or give a crap.

I read it, I give a crap Sounds like you know what you are doing this time..when I read about the shakiness I was going to tell you to up your protein but, your protein seems to be good. I used to get shaky when I had blood sugar issues...have you had that checked out??

1200 is a little low for me, I can manage on 1300 though as long as I plan my meals for the day. I do better if I exercise as the extra couple of hundred calories really helps. I don't always manage to stick to 1300 calories on the odd day but still lose if I stick to it the rest of the week.

Info: Age, 25; Height, 6'0": SW:207; CW: 189; GW: 155.

For me, 1200 calories every day was not sustainable for very long. I was able to stick to it for maybe 2 months, but not after I began exercising. 1200 calories was impossible to maintain when working out every day. I was dissatisfied and tired so I decided to modify my calorie goals by listening to my body. Since then, I have developed a kind of adjustable plan so that I feel as satisfied as possible at the end of each day.

After some experimentation, I decided on a range of 1200-1800. It all depends on what my body is telling me. I wake up with the loose aim of consuming 1200 calories (more as a mind trick to prevent over eating). Some days, I feel ravenous. Rather than fight my body by trying to maintain that 1200 calorie limit (a recipe for disaster), I increase my calorie intake in one of two ways:

(1) I consume up to 1800 calories, but hold myself to stopping if I feel satisfied before that limit.
(2) I aim for roughly 1200 NET calories by eating 80% of my workout calories ( since exercise equipment is always overestimating).

Simply put, to maintain weight loss I work out every day, I listen to my body and endeavor to eat only healthy, nutritious food. I may be doing it wrong, but I feel great!

MFP expects you to eat your exercise calories back. So that 1200 calories is BEFORE exercise. If I burn 200 calories, I add that to the 1200. If you are in "weight loss" mode I would be careful how many exercise calories you eat back.

maillemaker wrote: »

start lifting heavy ***** and you won't need to go that low in calories lol

I don't see how exercise helps though.

If you have to eat X calories to lose Y amount of weight each week, and you exercise and eat it back, you're back to the same X calories. So why go through the discomfort of exercise on top of it just to end up where you started?

lol idk just ask all the heavy lifters on here who can lose weight on 1.8k-2.5k a day or recomp on 2.5-3.2k a day and you'll have your answer

that is actually a pretty wild question, you basically asked "why not just put in as little effort as possible"

p_lady08 wrote: »

Thanks kgracesch, because I am at 1900 calorie and workout 2-3 times a week. I am still losing 1 to 1.5 lbs a week.

That's great. My nutritionist has me between 1700-2000 calories a day and hitting specific macronutrient ranges. I'm 5'10 and 145. I workout 4-6 days a week (walking, swimming, Pilate's, light lifting) nothing crazy! I find it is all about balance and if I hit my numbers I'm able to lose .5 a week and maintain the weight I want.

MFP says I should eat 1200 cal/day to lose 0,5 kg/week but I increased it to 1400 cal. Feeling pretty good with the amount of food now.

ptkat28 wrote: »

3dogsrunning wrote: »

ptkat28 wrote: »

Urban_Princess wrote: »

3bambi3 wrote: »

The calorie goal is based on the information you input when you joined. Did you choose 2lb/week loss? With 35lbs to lose, that's pretty aggressive.

Also, if you are exercising, you should be eating at least a portion of your calories back.

For reference, I'm 33, 5'4" and 144 and I eat 1,800 calories a day to lose.

holy famoly, you are stunning! Similarly, I'm 27, 5'4''..but I eat 1200 or less. my SW was 240 and I have lost eating 1000-1200 (very quickly, mind you) and I work out 5-6 times a week. I don't know if I could eat anymore (and do it without feeling guilty). I really wish i could eat 1800

@Urban_Princess ... I am 45 and 5ft even! MFP set my calories at 1000! I am so full now it is not funny! I do not know how people eat more than that! I started at 228 and am now 195 in 10 weeks!! YAY! I exercise everyday now, but am still not hungry even tho not eating over 1000-1100!

If MFP gave you 1000 calories you set up you goal during the glitch. MFP is not supposed to give you less than 1200 calories and it has been fixed now.

I should also add, I've done the lower calorie and tons of cardio, lost a bunch of weight and looked great. The real struggle came when I moved into maintenance.

shadow2soul wrote: »

ptkat28 wrote: »

Urban_Princess wrote: »

3bambi3 wrote: »

The calorie goal is based on the information you input when you joined. Did you choose 2lb/week loss? With 35lbs to lose, that's pretty aggressive.

Also, if you are exercising, you should be eating at least a portion of your calories back.

For reference, I'm 33, 5'4" and 144 and I eat 1,800 calories a day to lose.

holy famoly, you are stunning! Similarly, I'm 27, 5'4''..but I eat 1200 or less. my SW was 240 and I have lost eating 1000-1200 (very quickly, mind you) and I work out 5-6 times a week. I don't know if I could eat anymore (and do it without feeling guilty). I really wish i could eat 1800

@Urban_Princess ... I am 45 and 5ft even! MFP set my calories at 1000! I am so full now it is not funny! I do not know how people eat more than that! I started at 228 and am now 195 in 10 weeks!! YAY! I exercise everyday now, but am still not hungry even tho not eating over 1000-1100!

@ptkat28 - You might want to re-set your goals. There was a glitch a while back where people were getting calorie goals below 1200. 1200 is the minimum calorie goal MFP will give a woman (excluding glitches).
You can read more about the minimum here:
https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1375583-a-message-about-myfitnesspal-s-updated-nutrition-goals

Thanks you guys!! I will re-calculate and see what happens! I don't want to do something wrong!!! I have tried to eat up to 1200, but I am just too full!!!

I'm SO jealous you get full after 1000 calories. I'm on 1850 and sometimes go to bed with my tummy rumbling

I started at 1200, but found that I my body did not do well at all. I have a higher metabolism, so I have to eat every 4 hours. I have set mine at 1380. I feel better now. I can sustain my lifestyle changes at the higher calorie count.
For reference, I am 5'4" and 127 lbs.

I'm a five-foot, 56-year-old relatively sedentary female, and I do nicely on 1200, meeting macros and micros, and fitting in a small treat every day. I don't get hungry, and I'm able to eat pretty much anything I like. Part of what I do to help myself is to make the time to eat; to relax while I'm eating; and to really enjoy it.