Do you stick with the 1200 cals/per day suggested by MFP?
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I eat 1200 - been doing for about 3 weeks(3 weeks tomorrow) - i have mine set for 1500. Most days I hit 1200 or a tiny bit over and other days i am more hungry so I hit higher. But all in all I do NOT got over my 1500. I also want to add I do not excerise. At the weight I am it is hard for me but I will be starting a slow exercise program by the beginning of Nov and building up from there. As I am very obese I am shedding the lbs pretty fast(weigh in last week wed was 6lbs lost, hoping for another 2 or 3 by tomorrows weigh in). If you are closer to your goal weight ie less then 50lbs to go you should go for 1lb weight loss. if you are under 30lbs it might help to go less. GL!0
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I have a problem eating healthy AND eating 1200 calories without resorting to high carb foods like sweets, breads and pasta. For example, a typical breakfast is a hard-boiled egg, and a tomato from my garden. Lunch might be a large salad with blue cheese, fat free dressing, raw mushrooms and cucumbers. Dinner is on the grill with a bacon wrapped chuck tender, (142 g), with sauteed mushrooms, a 5 ounce baked potato, and a whole, grilled zucchini. I factor in a tablespoon of olive oil, and a tablespoon of lite sour cream. Calories for dinner, 492; lunch, 105; breakfast, 81. That is 678 total, healthy calories. I log 10,000 steps every day and typically earn an additional 168 exercise calories. MFP says I don't eat enough. I take a daily vitamin, rutin, and a potassium supplement. I am 74 years old, and down 60 pounds from my heaviest weight. I have about 15 pounds to loose to meet my goal of a healthy weight and BMI.0
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I have a problem eating healthy AND eating 1200 calories without resorting to high carb foods like sweets, breads and pasta. For example, a typical breakfast is a hard-boiled egg, and a tomato from my garden. Lunch might be a large salad with blue cheese, fat free dressing, raw mushrooms and cucumbers. Dinner is on the grill with a bacon wrapped chuck tender, (142 g), with sauteed mushrooms, a 5 ounce baked potato, and a whole, grilled zucchini. I factor in a tablespoon of olive oil, and a tablespoon of lite sour cream. Calories for dinner, 492; lunch, 105; breakfast, 81. That is 678 total, healthy calories. I logged 10,000 steps every day and typivally earn an additional 168 exercise calories. MFP says I don't eat enough. I take a daily vitamin, rutin, and a potassium supplement. I am 74 years old, and down 60 pounds from my heaviest weight.
If you want more calories, you could try swapping fat-free dressing for a dressing with fat and light sour cream for regular. Do you have a medical reason to limit carbohydrates? You could also eat a larger potato or add some grains to your salad.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »I have a problem eating healthy AND eating 1200 calories without resorting to high carb foods like sweets, breads and pasta. For example, a typical breakfast is a hard-boiled egg, and a tomato from my garden. Lunch might be a large salad with blue cheese, fat free dressing, raw mushrooms and cucumbers. Dinner is on the grill with a bacon wrapped chuck tender, (142 g), with sauteed mushrooms, a 5 ounce baked potato, and a whole, grilled zucchini. I factor in a tablespoon of olive oil, and a tablespoon of lite sour cream. Calories for dinner, 492; lunch, 105; breakfast, 81. That is 678 total, healthy calories. I logged 10,000 steps every day and typivally earn an additional 168 exercise calories. MFP says I don't eat enough. I take a daily vitamin, rutin, and a potassium supplement. I am 74 years old, and down 60 pounds from my heaviest weight.
If you want more calories, you could try swapping fat-free dressing for a dressing with fat and light sour cream for regular. Do you have a medical reason to limit carbohydrates? You could also eat a larger potato or add some grains to your salad.
Yes this...
add toast and butter to breakfast.
Add some meat to that salad
add butter to the potato and full fat dressings and sour cream.
You may get to a "healthy" weight but at what cost to your bones and muscle esp at your age.0 -
I try to stick to the 1200 and limit Carbs. Sometimes I eat some of my exercise calories sometimes I don't. Depends on the day and how hungry I am.0
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when i didn't exercise, yes i did. now i eat about 50% of my exercise calories back. well, more lately, but ideally 50% for me0
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I have a problem eating healthy AND eating 1200 calories without resorting to high carb foods like sweets, breads and pasta. For example, a typical breakfast is a hard-boiled egg, and a tomato from my garden. Lunch might be a large salad with blue cheese, fat free dressing, raw mushrooms and cucumbers. Dinner is on the grill with a bacon wrapped chuck tender, (142 g), with sauteed mushrooms, a 5 ounce baked potato, and a whole, grilled zucchini. I factor in a tablespoon of olive oil, and a tablespoon of lite sour cream. Calories for dinner, 492; lunch, 105; breakfast, 81. That is 678 total, healthy calories. I log 10,000 steps every day and typically earn an additional 168 exercise calories. MFP says I don't eat enough. I take a daily vitamin, rutin, and a potassium supplement. I am 74 years old, and down 60 pounds from my heaviest weight. I have about 15 pounds to loose to meet my goal of a healthy weight and BMI.
Vitamins (micronutrients) are good but they don't support existing lean muscle mass. Eating too little forces your body to make hard choices....fuel your heart muscle, or fuel a full head of hair? Your body can't get 100% of daily needs from fat stores. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.
Your definition of "healthy" appears to be pretty narrow. Losing weight is just step 1. Maintaining the weight you lost (forever) is step 2. How will you manage step 2 with your list of "healthy" foods? Your maintenance calories will be higher, forever.0 -
I freaked out at first when I first thought about only eating 1200 calories, but it hasn't been nearly as bad as I expected. There's a thread on Reddit full of full day's meals for 1200 or under for inspiration.
I usually don't eat back calories, but at least with this guideline, I can figure out how much to eat back based on how much I exercised. My fitness schedule can be a little all over the place, so I like to have a consistent baseline to work off of and can tweak from there.
But tbh, I don't actually know what I'm talking about. Just what has worked/is working for me.0 -
I did better today even though I'm up but I believe it is because I had soy sauce on my fish last night. Tonight used pepper only. I ate a few of my exercise cals not all. Plus I should have remembered I never just jump into a diet I ease in so the 1200 isn't looking so tiny right now. Lolol...0 -
I eat about 1500 to 2500 all in one meal at night and have lost about 17 lbs in 4.5 weeks. Male 6'1", 233. Im supposed to eat 1500 to loose 2 lbs a week. I would die splitting up only 1500 cals over multiple meals. All at once (over a couple of hours) and I feel very satisfied. I also do cardio 4 times a week for about 35 min with goal to increase to 60 min 5 times a week.0
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I eat about 1500 to 2500 all in one meal at night and have lost about 17 lbs in 4.5 weeks. Male 6'1", 233. Im supposed to eat 1500 to loose 2 lbs a week. I would die splitting up only 1500 cals over multiple meals. All at once (over a couple of hours) and I feel very satisfied. I also do cardio 4 times a week for about 35 min with goal to increase to 60 min 5 times a week.
I eat as much as I want in my window at night and dont worry how many calories it is.0 -
1200 will work if you break it up into 5 or 6 meals0
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This discussion was very helpful. I just started back and need to lose about 60lbs so as of now I'm sticking to the 1200 cals and working out without eating my calories back. I think once I get closer to my goal I will adjust my calorie intake but it's nice to know that many others have bumped up their cals for the day and still saw results.0
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This discussion was very helpful. I just started back and need to lose about 60lbs so as of now I'm sticking to the 1200 cals and working out without eating my calories back. I think once I get closer to my goal I will adjust my calorie intake but it's nice to know that many others have bumped up their cals for the day and still saw results.
qspoon86, unless you are VERY petite, you need to eat back most of your exercise calories and net at least 1200 calories per day. Use a food scale, log accurately, and the weight will come off. No need to starve yourself.0 -
I've deliberately set my weight loss goal lower per week but I still normally lose more than the "0.25kg a week" suggested. I'm at 1600 calories a day and when I'm sticking to it (ahem) I lose weight. I also do a lot of exercise and try to eat at least half my exercise calories back depending on hunger levels. It takes a while to work out what works for you. Everyone is different
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I've never eaten less than 1650 calories (includes exercise - I use TDEE too). I was 34 when I started and 213 pounds, now 37 and 133 pounds. I'm 5'5".0
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When I exercise I simply need more than 1200 cals. I love to exercise so all is well. Another thing I thought of was will MFP lower/adjust the caloric burn as I lose weight??0
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