Why 1200 MFP?

ren3liz wrote: »

Thank you everyone! I find that if I can burn a few hundred calories and then eat 1400-1600 I am fine. But if I try to do a straight 1200 I'm shot, hangry, emphasis on the angry.

I know this will be an unpopular opinion here but I'm resistant to using a food scale. I just don't like the idea of weighing everything I eat because food means so much more culturally than grams of macros, at least to me. I think that would take some of the enjoyment out of eating and cause me some stress. It's something I would reconsider if I needed to, but for now what I'm doing is working.

Cheers everyone! The insight from experienced folks is much appreciated.

I don't like the scale much either... So I don't use it all the time... But it was worth the experience because it helped me learn. Why not get one and use it here and there. If you're close in your estimates... Then don't use it.

ren3liz wrote: »

Thank you everyone! I find that if I can burn a few hundred calories and then eat 1400-1600 I am fine. But if I try to do a straight 1200 I'm shot, hangry, emphasis on the angry.

I know this will be an unpopular opinion here but I'm resistant to using a food scale. I just don't like the idea of weighing everything I eat because food means so much more culturally than grams of macros, at least to me. I think that would take some of the enjoyment out of eating and cause me some stress. It's something I would reconsider if I needed to, but for now what I'm doing is working.

Cheers everyone! The insight from experienced folks is much appreciated.

I don't use my scale much when I do log. I used it to sanity-check my portions years ago and occasionally pull it out for a re-check on very calorie laden foods like nut butters. But overall I know what a half cup of rice looks like, or a tablespoon of nut butter or ounce of cheese. It's a worthwhile exercise to weigh some foods you eat really often, like your bowl of cereal, and just see if it's what you thought it was. Then go from the visual of where it hits the bowl.

My calorie goal on MFP is 1200 and it is barely achievable without exercise. In fact, I'm not certain that I have had a single day of 1200 (net) without adding extra calories to spend through effort! It works out at about 1400-1500 in reality.

I agree with the others that you have to find something sustainable and if you are feeling hungry all the time, that is not sustainable. Having said that, there are loads of food choices that are filling but not very calorific (I'm looking at you veggies!). Something to check is your daily total nutrition: are you macros right and are you getting all your required vitamins and minerals.

I don't eye-ball and I don't weigh but I do use measuring spoons for everything (tsp/tbsp/cup etc). Seems to be working okay for me.

2lbs/week? Why? And sedentary means just that...sedentary. If you're putting crazy stuff into your settings, you should expect crazy results. Yes, you should eat more than 1200 calories a day.

As for the scale, I don't get your logic. Food means WAY more to me than macros - as my profile says, I like food more than I like people. Weighing my food only means I actually know what my macros are. If I'm using cups and eyeballing portions, I have no clue how many calories I'm actually eating. You may be losing at a steady rate now, but if you stop losing while using your estimation method, how are you supposed to know what adjustments are necessary for you to start dropping pounds again? Weighing doesn't take any enjoyment out of eating. It's just a couple of extra minutes of preparation. It's the only way to accurately log your intake. I mean, it's your decision, but let's be honest about the reason - you just don't want to do the extra work. And that's fine; no need to sugarcoat it.

I lost most of my weight on 1850 calories/day. I have a desk job and I was lifting weights 4-5 days per week with very little cardio. I was losing about a half a pound a week, which is perfectly fine by me. It's not a race, and I refuse to be miserable and hungry all day just to lose 2 pounds per week for no good reason.

ren3liz wrote: »

Thank you everyone! I find that if I can burn a few hundred calories and then eat 1400-1600 I am fine. But if I try to do a straight 1200 I'm shot, hangry, emphasis on the angry.

I know this will be an unpopular opinion here but I'm resistant to using a food scale. I just don't like the idea of weighing everything I eat because food means so much more culturally than grams of macros, at least to me. I think that would take some of the enjoyment out of eating and cause me some stress. It's something I would reconsider if I needed to, but for now what I'm doing is working.

Cheers everyone! The insight from experienced folks is much appreciated.

I won't specifically try to talk anyone into using a food scale if s/he finds it somehow psychologically destructive, but I will say this (perhaps more for lurkers who may be reading than for OP):

Using a food scale sounds like a much more time consuming, or fussy, or intrusive process than it ultimately turns out to be (after a short learning phase, especially learning how to use tare/zero efficiently). I vaguely expected it to add some kind of obsessive flavor to logging, and it really didn't. It just saved time, and produced better data.

ren3liz wrote: »

Actually I was thinking about it and can think of a couple ways it would be really helpful for me in meal-prep: measuring portions of chicken/proteins for the week, buying a block of cheese and cutting/weighing it to exact portions, and getting a feel for what portions of my frequently eaten foods LOOK like. Not so much using it for individual meals, but as part of the week's prep. I just can't imagine busting out a food scale when I'm eating with friends! Thx all and cheers.

Your plan sounds reasonable/helpful.

I don't weigh food when I don't fix it at home. At restaurants and friends'/family's houses, I estimate (and not in real time during the occasion - later!). I've read a few people here who weigh when away from home, but most folks seem to do something more like I do.

In the world at large, other people's weight loss processes are boring. I don't feel the need to bore (or worse, embarrass) my friends & family.

MFP sets my calories at 1200 as well, however I am very diligent about exercising everyday and I eat half my earned calories. Its worked very well for me at this point, and Ive lost 23 lbs so far.

ren3liz wrote: »

I know this will be an unpopular opinion here but I'm resistant to using a food scale. I just don't like the idea of weighing everything I eat because food means so much more culturally than grams of macros, at least to me. I think that would take some of the enjoyment out of eating and cause me some stress. It's something I would reconsider if I needed to, but for now what I'm doing is working.

I think this is a reasonable position. If you stall, something to try.

When I started I thought the food scale stuff was nuts and that I would never get so obsessive (and I was losing fine). I had a food scale from when I used to bake, but had no interest in using it for calorie counting. But then the measuring and estimating started to get annoying and I though, hmm, I'll try being more precise, and I found for me (even though I'd been losing fine without it), I actually preferred the scale, it seemed easier. I pop food on it when cooking and it's part of the process, and logging is easier when I have a number and don't have to think "was that a medium or large apple"? The most annoying part of logging for me still (other than restaurants) is having to try to figure out the cut of meat that fits best, since that's where I second guess myself, as I used to with the estimates.

Not at all saying you should go to a scale, though -- I just thought it was funny since I really did think it was way too much to weight initially.