Does anyone use the 1200 cal guideline?

OK, maybe a little more than you asked for, OP, but...

I started dieting 7 weeks ago, and I had a goal of 1,200 kcal/day thing for two weeks, then moved my goal up to 1,300 kcal/day for another two weeks, and then to 1,400 kcal/day for a month—so I have another week there, and then I'll move up to 1,600/day for either four weeks or eight, depending on my weight at that point. I was at 180 lbs on Day 1; two weeks later when I moved up to a 1,300/day target, I'd already lost 10 lbs (probably mostly water weight) and was at 170; two weeks later, when I moved my target to 1,400/day, I'd lost 5 lbs and was at 165; two weeks later, still at a 1,400/day goal, I was 160.

I found the 1,200/day goal difficult because I was constantly hungry—but I never went over by much, and in fact I was often under, just because I was new to the whole idea and wasn't totally sure what I was doing. My two weeks at a 1,300/day goal was difficult in a different way; there was a lot of fluctuation because I'd started exercising and was trying (and not often succeeding) to figure out how to balance my total caloric and net caloric intakes. At 1,400/day, I gave up on that kind of regular exercise because everything was so erratic, although I do get out and walk some days, and I try to eat back what I burn off.


In the chart, dark blue is net calories, and light blue is total (if over net). I like a 1,400/day goal, but I'm not planning on eating low-cal for long and can't wait to get up to maintenance (which should be about 1,800–2,000, depending on which calculations I use) by September at the latest, but hopefully before. I don't think eating too low should be done for any great amount of time, and 1,200—especially at 133 lbs with only 15 to go—seems far too low to me. I'm eating at 1,400 now and losing about 2.5 lbs/week . . . but it all depends, I think, on your metabolism, how quickly and easily you lose weight.

SOOO . . . to finally get to the point: I think counting calories will help, but do you need to go down to 1,200? If you haven't been counting calories up to now, it's hard to say, but I'd suggest that for a few days, you continue eating as normal and log everything to find out your current daily average. If you can take off 100 or 200 kcal/day from that number without dropping to 1,200, then I suggest just trying that for a while. You should still lose weight that way—and it may not be as rapidly as it has been the past few months, but that's OK. Half a pound or a quarter of a pound a week is still weight loss.

Sorry for rambling . . . and GOOD LUCK!

godlikepoetyes wrote: »

WHY do you guys eat only 1,200 calories? If MFP gives you so few, then by all means go with it. But most women, MOST, do not need to eat so few calories to lose weight. I hear about this "1,200" calories all the time. I think it's because many women believe, or fear, they just won't lose unless they eat the absolute minimum. This is simply not the case for most women. I was on another post and a woman, who is 5'8"!! was eating only 1,200! This is absurd. I suggest that everyone do some research into TDEE and to consider the World Heath Organization's definition of food malnutrition/food insecurity--anyone who consumes fewer than 1,800 calories a day is "chronically under-nourished and hungry." Obviously this is an average across the weights of every age, sex, and height of normal weight persons, but doesn't that number put things into perspective? The TDEE for healthy men and women is between 2,350 and 3,000 and those numbers are likely too low.

Because that is what my TDEE and BMR calculated for me to lose 2lbs a week at my weight and activity level.


People act as if 1200 is sooooooooooo little food but I eat all day long. If you accurately measure your food in grams and ensure you're eating a lot of protein and fat 1200 is plenty.

godlikepoetyes wrote: »

I now am maintaining at 120, my TDEE is 2200 because I'm much more active now (averaging 15k steps a day). I lost my weight eating between 1600-1900 calories.

Good for you! I wish everyone could read this and just think logically about it.

Thanks, me too. Certainly there are some for whom it is appropriate, but for many it is not. It makes me sad when people like the OP seem to think this is what is required, referring to it as "the recommended amount". Many people try 1200 and fail, and give up because they think it's too hard. Others stick with it, and maybe they don't find it too restrictive, but if you can eat more and still lose, why would you not want that? As a wise rabbit here once said, "the winner is the one who eats the most food and still reaches their goal".

I've been on 1200 calories since January and lost 28lbs doing it (a pound a week). I keep it strictly that low as I don't weigh my food, and I don't count things like coffee, so I probably take in more calories than I record, but it works for me.

I use the 1200 calorie goal, but I use it as a bit of a 'yellow light' so when I make that mark I know I have eaten 'enough'. I had an ED many years ago and trying to lose weight is stressful because I don't want to cause harm to my body but I do want to drop some lbs. I try to stay between 1200 and 1500, which allows me to be a little more easy on myself. To me 1200 is not a limit but a minimum.

Oh heck no. I wouldn't be able to function on so little calories. I'm far too active to sustain on 1200 calories. My body has gotten so used to 1800-2000 calories that I couldn't imagine eating much below that. I never in my wildest dreams imagined I'd be able to eat that many calories and still lose weight, but I am. I'm 5'6" 157 lbs and my goal weight is 140-145. I wish more people would realize 1200 calories isn't always the answer.

seekingdaintiness wrote: »

The imaginary mfp diet strikes again!

There is no magic eating back your calories science to weight loss. You don't do it, folks. You exercise to speed your weight loss. It doesn't work in some special different way because you are using this particular diet tracker. You misunderstand this particular software and use it as an excuse to eat more then wonder why you can't lose weight. It would be funny except for how you all misinform others on a daily basis.

No offense, but I don't understand why people think this way. What is the rationale for why your net calorie amount goes up, then, when you exercise? Do you think it's a programming glitch? I have eaten back those calories, and always lost the amount of weight.loss I've set MFP to. That's how it's supposed to work.
Exercise is meant for fitness; diet is for weight loss. "Speeding up" weight loss is typically never a good thing, because the smaller you are, the better the chances are that you're losing more and more muscle.

greenlucozade wrote: »

I am sticking to 1200 calories as well but just a question if anyone can help? I usually go over by 200 calories but work out everyday with my exercise bike on a high level- making it very easy for me to burn about 500 calories in 20 minutes. Is this okay? So if I overeat 1200+ as long as I exercise it off will I lose weight? Tonight I ate 1400 but I'm planning to burn off 800 now. Thanks xx

You'll know if it's working if/when you lose weight.

WinoGelato wrote: »

greenlucozade wrote: »

I am sticking to 1200 calories as well but just a question if anyone can help? I usually go over by 200 calories but work out everyday with my exercise bike on a high level- making it very easy for me to burn about 500 calories in 20 minutes. Is this okay? So if I overeat 1200+ as long as I exercise it off will I lose weight? Tonight I ate 1400 but I'm planning to burn off 800 now. Thanks xx

1200 is your net goal, which means that you are supposed to end at 1200. If you burn off 500 calories you should be eating 1700 so that you net 1200. Now with that said, 500 cals in 20 minutes seems excessive, where is that burn coming from? A lot of people only eat back a portion of those calories, maybe half would be a good starting point, so you would eat 250 + 1200 or a total of 1450.

I'm so confused. I feel like I've been doing this all wrong for weeks! On my app it just says goal = 1200, and if I go over I exercise a certain amount e.g. = I ate 1500 and I exercise 800 calories off, does that make sense? I always like to have my remaining calories stay around the 300 mark after exercising. I've been on this diet for almost a month now, I have not weighed myself yet... But not sure if I'm losing weight. How long did it take for everyone to notice weight loss?

greenlucozade wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

greenlucozade wrote: »

I am sticking to 1200 calories as well but just a question if anyone can help? I usually go over by 200 calories but work out everyday with my exercise bike on a high level- making it very easy for me to burn about 500 calories in 20 minutes. Is this okay? So if I overeat 1200+ as long as I exercise it off will I lose weight? Tonight I ate 1400 but I'm planning to burn off 800 now. Thanks xx

1200 is your net goal, which means that you are supposed to end at 1200. If you burn off 500 calories you should be eating 1700 so that you net 1200. Now with that said, 500 cals in 20 minutes seems excessive, where is that burn coming from? A lot of people only eat back a portion of those calories, maybe half would be a good starting point, so you would eat 250 + 1200 or a total of 1450.

I'm so confused. I feel like I've been doing this all wrong for weeks! On my app it just says goal = 1200, and if I go over I exercise a certain amount e.g. = I ate 1500 and I exercise 800 calories off, does that make sense? I always like to have my remaining calories stay around the 300 mark after exercising. I've been on this diet for almost a month now, I have not weighed myself yet... But not sure if I'm losing weight. How long did it take for everyone to notice weight loss?

You should see something like:

Goal - Food + Exercise = Remaining

Goal will always be the same, whatever MFP set you at, in this case 1200.

Food is the amount of calories you eat and log each day. You can increase the accuracy of this number by weighing your food with a food scale and choosing good entries in the database, using the recipe builder, etc.

Exercise is an estimate of how many calories you burn. This can be estimated by logging what activity you do in MFP (like walking, 3.5 mph, 30 min) ot entering with estimates from a heart rate monitor or activity tracker like FitBit.

When you subtract the food cals you eat and add back in exercise you get your remaining cals for the day. Ideally you want this to be as close to zero as possible. 1200 is the goal you are aiming for. If you are seeing 300 remaining at the end of the day, that means you are only netting 900 cals which is really low especially if you are active.

Have you read the stickied "most helpful posts" at the top of the forum sections? There is a lot of good info there about how to be successful with this tool.

Lastly, how much weight are you trying to lose? What goal did you choose when you set up MFP (lose 1 lb/week? 2 lb/week?). 1200 is a goal that is not right for everyone, as explained above. If you don't have that much to lose, and are active, it may be too low for you. Losing too quickly runs the risk of loss of lean muscle, netting below 1000 cals/day runs the risk of not getting enough nutrition, not fueling your workouts, etc.

I actually weigh every day, it helps me to understand the natural fluctuations I see on the scale day to day. Also, you can take measurements and a lot of people rely on those to measure progress in addition to scale weight. Measuring progress other ways is more difficul, you will likely not notice a change in the mirror or in your clothing for about 10 or more lbs.