1200 calories a day + exercise

Melmo1988
Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
edited February 2016 in Food and Nutrition
My calorie goal is set to 1,200 calories a day, and I eat back my exercise calories. I went for long walks all week and burned between 600-800 calories a day but days like today when I couldn't, I stayed at 1,200.
I am wondering how long it took you to lose weight at this calorie goal? I'm starting at 234 and my goal is 140 by December 2016.
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Replies

  • tmc715
    tmc715 Posts: 1 Member
    That is not enough food to see weight loss that you will sustain. Your body will go into starvation mode eventually and will hold on to what you eat, which could eventually cause weight gain. I am a personal trainer and do not recommend my clients go below 1500.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    tmc715 wrote: »
    That is not enough food to see weight loss that you will sustain. Your body will go into starvation mode eventually and will hold on to what you eat, which could eventually cause weight gain. I am a personal trainer and do not recommend my clients go below 1500.

    While I agree that 1200 is probably too low of a calorie goal for the OP...the starvation mode stuff is nonsense.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    tmc715 wrote: »
    That is not enough food to see weight loss that you will sustain. Your body will go into starvation mode eventually and will hold on to what you eat, which could eventually cause weight gain. I am a personal trainer and do not recommend my clients go below 1500.

    1,200 is a very low calorie goal. But "starvation mode" is a myth. I hope the rest of the advice you're giving to clients is based in science.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    I'd be careful with that high of exercise calories. I would think you'd have to go on an extremely long walk to burn that much! I wouldn't eat back more than half, although your base calorie goal is pretty darn low too - so it probably all evens out even if you eat the higher amount.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    I'd be careful with that high of exercise calories. I would think you'd have to go on an extremely long walk to burn that much! I wouldn't eat back more than half, although your base calorie goal is pretty darn low too - so it probably all evens out even if you eat the higher amount.

    That is also true...600-800 calories would need to be like a 10-15 mile walk.
  • peachyfuzzle
    peachyfuzzle Posts: 1,122 Member
    Honestly, 90lbs by the end of December might be too aggressive for you. Considering weightloss naturally slows the less you weigh, the harder it is to hit a bigger deficit. That's just nature.

    Here's the math:

    94lbs * 3500 cals/lb = 329000 cals

    330 days left roughly until the end of December

    329000 cals / 330 days = 996cals/day deficit

    1200 might be a 1k deficit for you now, but when you start losing weight, the number of calories you need to maintain your weight will decrease meaning the difference between whatever that number is, and 1200 calories will also decrease.

    That kind of deficit just is not sustainable, and you'll probably be too lethargic to work out enough to keep that deficit after a while.

    100lbs in less than a year at your current weight is surely possible, but certainly unrealistic, and not very healthy for your body. At some point on that course, you'd likely be considered to be on a VLCD which is something you shouldn't do without doctor's supervision.

  • auntstephie321
    auntstephie321 Posts: 3,586 Member
    That seems like a really low caloric intake, how tall are you? Even if you are short your profile says you are 27 so 1200 is likely way too low. What did mfp give you for a goal when you entered your info?

    I read through your profile and saw that you've done this and lost weight successfully before however gained it back. Part of the reason for that may have been the unsustainable eating plan you used to lose the weight. If you are underfeeding yourself to get the lbs off but go back to the way you were eating before after you reached your goal, you will find it near impossible to keep the lbs off. I'd recommend a slow and steady plan to lose the weight, eat at a reasonable deficit, keep walking, don't try to rush it.

    the estimate for 600-800 cals burned during your walks seems really high too, where did you get those numbers?
  • thiosulfate
    thiosulfate Posts: 262 Member
    Even if you don't believe everything people are posting here and decide to continue this extreme regimen, you will eventually suffer the consequences. Said consequences include, but are not limited to, hair loss, brittle nail, fatigue, stomach ulcers, and eventually a food binge thus eliminating a lot of the weight loss by this unsustainable diet.
  • Melmo1988
    Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
    edited February 2016
    Ok so to answer everyone's questions:
    My walks are usually 90 minutes or so, I've been walking to the mall and yesterday I walked back to 75 mins each way, which is apparently about 4.1 km. Yesterday I walked back after. I also walk my daughter to and from school 2x a day. I am obese so I burn more calories than a normal weight person, and I also push my 30lb baby in a stroller. I'm also using mfp info when I log my walks. I used a watch that tells me how many calories I burn and it said 1,037 for a 75 min walk to I'm confident that 450 ish is pretty accurate.
    Also, my goal is 2lbs a week so that's 45 weeks, that's means dec5 is pretty reasonable.
    Mfp gave me the 1,200 calorie a day goal to lose 2lbs a week. I am 5'5.
    And yea I lost 75 lbs before while eating about 1,500 calories a day. I ended up gaining back the weight because I started binge eating after I found out my ex cheated on me plus some other stresses and it took years to stop.
  • Melmo1988
    Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
    thiosulfate wrote: »
    Even if you don't believe everything people are posting here and decide to continue this extreme regimen, you will eventually suffer the consequences. Said consequences include, but are not limited to, hair loss, brittle nail, fatigue, stomach ulcers, and eventually a food binge thus eliminating a lot of the weight loss by this unsustainable diet.

    I've been eating 2000 calories a day with exercise, doesn't seem unsustainable to me
  • Melmo1988
    Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
    peachyfuzzle wrote: »
    Honestly, 90lbs by the end of December might be too aggressive for you. Considering weightloss naturally slows the less you weigh, the harder it is to hit a bigger deficit. That's just nature.

    Here's the math:

    94lbs * 3500 cals/lb = 329000 cals

    330 days left roughly until the end of December

    329000 cals / 330 days = 996cals/day deficit

    1200 might be a 1k deficit for you now, but when you start losing weight, the number of calories you need to maintain your weight will decrease meaning the difference between whatever that number is, and 1200 calories will also decrease.

    That kind of deficit just is not sustainable, and you'll probably be too lethargic to work out enough to keep that deficit after a while.

    100lbs in less than a year at your current weight is surely possible, but certainly unrealistic, and not very healthy for your body. At some point on that course, you'd likely be considered to be on a VLCD which is something you shouldn't do without doctor's supervision.

    I probably wouldn't stay at 1,200 for whole time but either way, thanks for the info. I think I will raise my calorie goal to 1,500 or 1,600
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,271 Member
    Not sure how you are getting your exercise numbers.
    I burn 100 calories for every half hour walk.thats using MFP numbers for 'walking the fog' but I walk same pace with or without dog. 600- 800 calories would be a 3- 4 hour walk, are you really doing that much?
  • nevereverend
    nevereverend Posts: 17 Member
    Step yourself down -- If you are at 2000 a day, then ease down to 1700 and in a couple months drop to 1400 and then a few months later, go down to 1200.

    I dropped a little over 110lbs in 6 months doing this while tracking my macronutrients at a 35-40% protein and an even split between carbs and healthy fats. I went from not dieting to 2400 a day, to 2100, to 2000, to 1700, to 1400, to 1100. It worked, but if your protein levels are not high enough, your body will burn muscle as well as fat.

    I burn about 500 - 800 calories in an average day at the gym, so my Dr and nutritionist stepped me back up to 1300 with an increase in protein and carbs. You need to be careful with very low calorie diets, especially with large amounts of exercise, since your body wont care if it burns muscle as well as fat -- it WILL get the energy it needs if you dont give it enough via nutrition. And you will need that muscle, since lean muscle mass greatly assists your ability to burn fat, even after exercising.
  • leomakarov
    leomakarov Posts: 27 Member
    Go here LINK and enter your info. Results may be more or less the same compared to MFP's, but there is a lot of other nice info. For #6, leave it at 20%.

    With the numbers you gave, you should be around 1900 calories/day for a healthy weight loss.
  • Melmo1988
    Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
    edited February 2016
    paperpudding wrote: »
    Not sure how you are getting your exercise numbers.
    I burn 100 calories for every half hour walk.thats using MFP numbers for 'walking the fog' but I walk same pace with or without dog. 600- 800 calories would be a 3- 4 hour walk, are you really doing that much?

    I am getting my numbers from mfp. for example yesterday I walked an hour and 15 minutes to the mall,walked around the mall for an hour (although did not log that) and then walked home which took an hour and 15 minutes. Like I said above, I also normally walk my daughter to school and back twice a day which is 30 mins each time. MFP tells me I burn 176 calories every 30 minutes for a moderate pace, although I usually walk fast but underestimate and log it as moderate. So my 75 minute walk is 396 calories. Then another 396 on the way back. Like I said above, I am obese so I think I burn more calories than an average person for the same amount of time.
  • Melmo1988
    Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
    leomakarov wrote: »
    Go here LINK and enter your info. Results may be more or less the same compared to MFP's, but there is a lot of other nice info. For #6, leave it at 20%.

    With the numbers you gave, you should be around 1900 calories/day for a healthy weight loss.

    And is that 1,900 before or after exercise? Because if you mean after, Ive been consuming around 2,000 except today because I didn't exercise.
  • Melmo1988
    Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
    nevereverend wrote: »
    Step yourself down -- If you are at 2000 a day, then ease down to 1700 and in a couple months drop to 1400 and then a few months later, go down to 1200.

    I dropped a little over 110lbs in 6 months doing this while tracking my macronutrients at a 35-40% protein and an even split between carbs and healthy fats. I went from not dieting to 2400 a day, to 2100, to 2000, to 1700, to 1400, to 1100. It worked, but if your protein levels are not high enough, your body will burn muscle as well as fat.

    I burn about 500 - 800 calories in an average day at the gym, so my Dr and nutritionist stepped me back up to 1300 with an increase in protein and carbs. You need to be careful with very low calorie diets, especially with large amounts of exercise, since your body wont care if it burns muscle as well as fat -- it WILL get the energy it needs if you dont give it enough via nutrition. And you will need that muscle, since lean muscle mass greatly assists your ability to burn fat, even after exercising.

    I don't need to do that. Yes I am at 2,000 a day but that's WITH exercise. I am not going to only eat 1,200 calories and exercise the way I do.
  • leomakarov
    leomakarov Posts: 27 Member
    Melmo1988 wrote: »
    leomakarov wrote: »
    Go here LINK and enter your info. Results may be more or less the same compared to MFP's, but there is a lot of other nice info. For #6, leave it at 20%.

    With the numbers you gave, you should be around 1900 calories/day for a healthy weight loss.

    And is that 1,900 before or after exercise? Because if you mean after, Ive been consuming around 2,000 except today because I didn't exercise.

    That's 1900 calories NET. Which means exercise included. So if you burn 800 calories / day walking, you'd have to consume roughly 2700 calories that day. I'm not sure where the idea of " only eat half of your exercise calories back". I'd like to see some info on that myself.
  • Melmo1988
    Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
    I don't feel like I should be eating that much if I am not hungry. If 2,000 or 2,200 is enough, I am not going to feel like I *have to* eat more
  • Melmo1988
    Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
    And I think some people only eat half the calories back because they are worried the numbers are not accurate so they eat half to play it safe and not eat too much.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Melmo1988 wrote: »
    And I think some people only eat half the calories back because they are worried the numbers are not accurate so they eat half to play it safe and not eat too much.

    Yep, that's why I eat roughly half back. Just to be on the safe side.
  • Melmo1988
    Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
    Makes sense. That's why when I log exercise I underestimate a bit just in case.
  • QueenofHearts023
    QueenofHearts023 Posts: 421 Member
    I walk for 2 hours a day and I only burn 300.
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member

    What my doctor told me when I asked about 1200 + half my exercise calories was that it was fine as long as I'm in the 'obese' bmi category, but once I fall out of that, he wants me to go up to 1400. I've been losing about a pound a week, give or take. By most calculators, I'm seeing I fell out of 'obese' last week, but he said 165 pounds for me, so that's where I'm headed. Instead of listening to people on the boards who may or may not have your body type, experience, fitness level, etc, talk to your doctor about the changes that you're making and what's safe for you personally.

    As to calories burned from walking, it really depends on how you're walking, your current weight and physical condition, speed, etc. It might be good to invest in a fitness tracker with a heart monitor so you can see what your true 'burn' is.
  • Melmo1988
    Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
    ElizabethOakes2 wrote: »
    What my doctor told me when I asked about 1200 + half my exercise calories was that it was fine as long as I'm in the 'obese' bmi category, but once I fall out of that, he wants me to go up to 1400. I've been losing about a pound a week, give or take. By most calculators, I'm seeing I fell out of 'obese' last week, but he said 165 pounds for me, so that's where I'm headed. Instead of listening to people on the boards who may or may not have your body type, experience, fitness level, etc, talk to your doctor about the changes that you're making and what's safe for you personally.

    As to calories burned from walking, it really depends on how you're walking, your current weight and physical condition, speed, etc. It might be good to invest in a fitness tracker with a heart monitor so you can see what your true 'burn' is.

    I did have one and it told me I burned 1,037 calories in 75 minutes. I returned it because I don't think that's accurate and ordered a different one that I should get on wednesday.
  • Melmo1988
    Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
    QueenofHearts023 wrote: »
    I walk for 2 hours a day and I only burn 300.

    How much do you weight? Because how much you burn depends on fitness level and weight and I just starting to get back into walking and I weight 234 so I'm obese.
  • lisa9805
    lisa9805 Posts: 303 Member
    thanks for posting this. based on myself I should be eating abouy 300-800 more calories depending on my exercise lol I am also logged intp MFP as 1200 calories without exercise and often feel its not enough.
    leomakarov wrote: »
    Go here LINK and enter your info. Results may be more or less the same compared to MFP's, but there is a lot of other nice info. For #6, leave it at 20%.

    With the numbers you gave, you should be around 1900 calories/day for a healthy weight loss.

  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
    Melmo1988 wrote: »
    Ok so to answer everyone's questions:
    My walks are usually 90 minutes or so, I've been walking to the mall and yesterday I walked back to 75 mins each way, which is apparently about 4.1 km. Yesterday I walked back after. I also walk my daughter to and from school 2x a day. I am obese so I burn more calories than a normal weight person, and I also push my 30lb baby in a stroller. I'm also using mfp info when I log my walks. I used a watch that tells me how many calories I burn and it said 1,037 for a 75 min walk to I'm confident that 450 ish is pretty accurate.
    Also, my goal is 2lbs a week so that's 45 weeks, that's means dec5 is pretty reasonable.
    Mfp gave me the 1,200 calorie a day goal to lose 2lbs a week. I am 5'5.
    And yea I lost 75 lbs before while eating about 1,500 calories a day. I ended up gaining back the weight because I started binge eating after I found out my ex cheated on me plus some other stresses and it took years to stop.

    "Apparently"? You need to know exactly what distance you are walking, because THAT will give you a more accurate idea of how many calories you are burning. Nothing can tell you that someone will burn X number of calories for a 75 minute walk That's absurd. 4.1 km = about 2.5 miles. The rule of thumb is 100 calories per mile (whether you walk or run it...it's within a few calories either way). Yes if you are obese, you will burn more. Use this calculator to see a close idea of what you may be burning.

    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calories_burned.htm
  • Melmo1988
    Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
    How am I supposed to know EXACTLY how far it was? I looked it up on google maps but I don't know if I followed the same route it was measured by.
  • Melmo1988
    Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
    And I don't care how absurd you think it is, I'm logging the numbers mfp gave me. Without a tracking device that's the best I can do.

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