1350 calories a day...how do you do it?
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Aaron_K123 wrote: »Correct me if I am wrong but BMR is a function of lean mass which is basically a function of your muscle mass. Men do have an advantage in this (but a small advantage not a huge advantage) and size does add to this of course.
My lean mass is about 136 pounds and I weigh 173. I'm 6' tall so my BMR is around 1700. So if you are a 5'6'' woman you probably have a lean mass of around 100 (although it varies). So in theory your BMR is probably around 1400.
So the difference between a man and a woman on average is about 300 calories from BMR. Now if I go for a mile run I probably burn 20% more than that example woman but again, not a ton more...just some more.
It isn't that hard for an average sized woman to lose weight at 1900 calories a day (i lose weight at 2400 a day). So again it baffles me how many are on this site (from the forums) eating 1200 or 1300 a day.
Here is a TDEE calculator, can try it yourself.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
Playing with this, thinking about a slightly overweight woman who wants to lose at a quick 1 pound per week I tried to figure out what size of woman that would be where 1350 would be the target. In otherwords were 1350 would be 500 calories a day under their maintenance.
Assumed 3-5 hours a week of light to moderate activity (because you can go for a walk now and again), 36 years old. Looked for what height and weight that person would have to be for 1350 calories to be their diet.
So 1350 calories for 1 pound a week loss (aggressive diet) is the diet of a 4'4'' tall 110 pound woman.
So yeah, do you really need to be eating 1350 calories a day?
I know -- from months of careful logging and experience -- that my baseline to maintain, at a sedentary level of activity, is 1,460. So if I wanted to lose weight, at a moderate deficit of 250, I would be eating within the range that you define as too low.
Add in activity and many women can lose weight at 1,900 calories a day (given my current level of activity, I would also lose at this level). But not everyone is willing or able to be that active and that's okay -- this site is for them too. There are people for whom 1,200-1,400 is an inappropriate target, but there are some for whom it works. Before deciding something is way too low or too high, I think it's more useful to look at where someone currently is physically and how much they're burning. What you say is too low is actually pretty spot on to what I would need to maintain if my activity level dropped.
By assuming 3-5 hours a week of moderate activity, I feel like you're moving the goalposts a bit. I'm specifically talking about sedentary people and that isn't how you ran the numbers.15 -
About twenty years ago (when I was still skinny) I overheard a pharmacist telling an overweight woman that you cannot diet without being hungry. That always stuck with me, and now I am her. I use his words as a mantra sometimes, though they might be a bit outdated. So either try and cope, look for more satiating foods, or up the kcals to a more comfortable level. But I guess the warm fuzzy gut feeling after a copious meal is no longer an option.
Well that isn't true at all. I lose a pound a week and I'm not hungry. It is very easy to disprove overgeneralizations like that because there are plenty of people who don't fit that "rule".
If you are active you can eat quite a lot and still lose weight.4 -
meghanfarrelly1433 wrote: »I'm really only about a week in, but I've eaten a bagel with honey cinnamon cream cheese for breakfast, a yogurt with granola for lunch, and not sure for diner yet but I have over 1,000 to go! I stay full by drinking coffee(make it black) and lots of water.
Are you saying your goal is 1,350 and you've had a bagel, cream cheese, yogurt, and granola today and you have over 1,000 left? Something seems off about those numbers -- what quantity of bagel, cream cheese, yogurt, and granola did you eat to get less than 350 calories today?9 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Honestly troubles me how many people on this site seem to be trying to eat 1200-1400 calories a day, that just seems ludicrously low to me. That is like a sandwich, a glass of milk, a salad and a bowl of cereal for your entire day. You look at people who claim to be full on that and they are just eating a ton of fibery plant matter to I guess make them feel full in the physical sense...but that can't be satisfying.
I'm 5'9" and 169 lbs. The MFP recommendation for me to lose 1 lb/week at sedentary is 1450 call/day. As I have lupus and struggle with pericarditis, I have to keep this in mind on the days I am unable to complete my normal activity. Honestly, I'm only aiming for 0.5 lb/week now because I just can't deal with the hunger regardless of my activity. I can see how for shorter sedentary women with small amounts of weight to lose, 1450 would be routine.
I think a lot of people set very aggressive goals. Many people say they're sedentary when they're quite active. Or they deliberately refuse to eat any exercise calories. Others try to lose ridiculous amounts of weight given their starting point.
People are often inpatient, and the whole "I'm happy on this" is often probably delusional thinking in an attempt to stubborn it out.9 -
geneticsteacher wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »Honestly troubles me how many people on this site seem to be trying to eat 1200-1400 calories a day, that just seems ludicrously low to me. That is like a sandwich, a glass of milk, a salad and a bowl of cereal for your entire day. You look at people who claim to be full on that and they are just eating a ton of fibery plant matter to I guess make them feel full in the physical sense...but that can't be satisfying.
Yes, but if you are an old woman like me, that is what you need to lose weight. It CAN be quite filling. I looked back at one of my 1400 calorie days (I'm at maintenance now) and this is what I ate:
Breakfast - cheese sandwich (sandwich thin, 2 slices full fat cheese)
Lunch - Oat bran, greek yogurt, peaches, maple syrup
Dinner - Pork loin, black eye peas, and salad
Late night snack - 2 cheese sticks and a sandwich thin
A little light on the fruit/veg and a little heavy on dairy and carbs that day, but total was right around 1400 calories. Exceeded protein and carbs, a little under on fat.
Yes if you are sedentary and pretty high up in the years that is true. I don't mean everyone, but most people and certainly a 36 year old woman, can and probably should eat more than that. I don't mean to imply that absolutely everyone can eat 1900 calories and lose weight. But most can.1 -
meghanfarrelly1433 wrote: »I'm really only about a week in, but I've eaten a bagel with honey cinnamon cream cheese for breakfast, a yogurt with granola for lunch, and not sure for diner yet but I have over 1,000 to go! I stay full by drinking coffee(make it black) and lots of water.
Coffee is an appetite suppresent but if your goal is to be healthy I really can't recommend using coffee as a substitute for food.1 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »About twenty years ago (when I was still skinny) I overheard a pharmacist telling an overweight woman that you cannot diet without being hungry. That always stuck with me, and now I am her. I use his words as a mantra sometimes, though they might be a bit outdated. So either try and cope, look for more satiating foods, or up the kcals to a more comfortable level. But I guess the warm fuzzy gut feeling after a copious meal is no longer an option.
Well that isn't true at all. I lose a pound a week and I'm not hungry. It is very easy to disprove overgeneralizations like that because there are plenty of people who don't fit that "rule".
If you are active you can eat quite a lot and still lose weight.
That may be true for you. Congratulations. That may not be true for everyone.14 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Correct me if I am wrong but BMR is a function of lean mass which is basically a function of your muscle mass. Men do have an advantage in this (but a small advantage not a huge advantage) and size does add to this of course.
My lean mass is about 136 pounds and I weigh 173. I'm 6' tall so my BMR is around 1700. So if you are a 5'6'' woman you probably have a lean mass of around 100 (although it varies). So in theory your BMR is probably around 1400.
So the difference between a man and a woman on average is about 300 calories from BMR. Now if I go for a mile run I probably burn 20% more than that example woman but again, not a ton more...just some more.
It isn't that hard for an average sized woman to lose weight at 1900 calories a day (i lose weight at 2400 a day). So again it baffles me how many are on this site (from the forums) eating 1200 or 1300 a day.
Here is a TDEE calculator, can try it yourself.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
With my stats my TDEE from this calculator is 2800 which is pretty spot on because I lose about a pound a week eating 2300 calories a day. A 5'6'' woman at 155 pounds doing moderate exercise would lose 1 pound a week at 1900 calories a day.
Playing with this, thinking about a slightly overweight woman who wants to lose at a quick 1 pound per week I tried to figure out what size of woman that would be where 1350 would be the target. In otherwords were 1350 would be 500 calories a day under their maintenance.
Assumed 3-5 hours a week of light to moderate activity (because you can go for a walk now and again), 36 years old. Looked for what height and weight that person would have to be for 1350 calories to be their diet.
So 1350 calories for 1 pound a week loss (aggressive diet) is the diet of a 4'4'' tall 110 pound woman.
So yeah, do you really need to be eating 1350 calories a day?
Well, just as an example, and using the Scooby calculator...I am a 40 year old, 5'4", 127 lb female. I have a desk job that keeps me sedentary 6 days a week for up to 14 hours a day. My TDEE is 1576, which is where I stay to maintain, so 1200-1300 to lose was where I needed to be.
My husband is a 6'0", 190 lb male. He has a very physical, active job 6 days a week. His TDEE is 2764. So, it really depends on the person and the lifestyle. You can't paint everyone with such a broad stroke.10 -
I eat 1200 calories a day and generally feel quite satiated.
For breakfast I either have 2 eggs (usually hardboiled) or ~100g of plain full-fat greek yogurt.
For lunch I often have a small turkey sandwich. I like using 1 piece of naan cut in half. I use avocado for my spread and a thin slice of provolone. Chicken salads made with greek yogurt are super common too. Or I hit the salad bar, load up on veg and use just balsamic vinegar or a smidge of cottage cheese for my dressing.
Dinner is frequently a combination of chicken and veg. I eat a lot of cabbage, I can have mountains of it for practically no calories.
Snacks are rare and usually consist of fruit. I try to stay away from sugar in general tho, I find that as soon as I start eating sugar in the day I start getting hungry quicker.
I only drink water and occasionally unsweetened tea.
For chain restaurants, Panera, Noodles & Company, Subway and Mad Greens are probably my go-to's, they all have good options ~400 calories (ex The Med Salad w/chicken at Noodles, most 6" w/o cheese or mayo at Subway, and skip the roll at Panera)
My diary's open, I log ~13/14 days.2 -
I eat 1400 calories (on an ideal day). Last night I went hiking with my dog and still blew out my goal, eating back my exercise calories & more so my diary is not always a glowing example. But I think it's open.
I bring breakfast & lunch to work and it's a lot of the same stuff which makes the prep easier. Morning coffee, yogurt, fruit, sometimes English muffins for breakfast. Leftovers, or prepped chicken breasts, meatballs & vegetables for lunch. Sometimes a sandwich. Today I had soup. I like to bring an afternoon snack as well. Most of the time it is cottage cheese & fruit, recently I've been making hard boiled eggs. Sometimes I just eat more toward the end of the work day if I plan to go to the gym when I get home. I try my darnedest to hit my macros too, like other have mentioned.
I'm short at 5'2 and generally sedentary as I work a desk job, my maintenance is 1550 & my BMR is 1250- so my window for a deficit is already small to begin with. But I can get by pretty well on 1400(ish).2 -
I do around 1200-1300 a day. My MFP calculated my daily as 1200, and it varies that based on my exercise. I log everything as soon as I do it or eat it. I fill up on veggies and drink at least 12 glasses of water a day. Don't laugh - I use a quart mason jar as my drinking glass. It has measurements on the side.
This is what I ate yesterday. I have lost 10.5 pounds in two weeks and am not ravenous. I am watching carbs more than protein or fat and do a brisk 30-45 minute walk at least 3x a week. For reference, I'm 5'7", weigh 180 right now and am trying to get to 145-150. In my profile pic, I'm about 165. I'm also 48 years old. The calorie levels might be higher for someone younger with a higher metabolism.0 -
My goal is set for 1200 a day, but I usually use that as a minimum and not a maximum goal. Realistically, I'm probably averaging about 1300 per weekday and then about 1500-1600 on weekends when I "cheat" (just eat normally because usually I'm visiting family). My basal rate is somewhere around 1600-1700 and I'm 5'4". I can usually end up feeling okay, but not fully satisfied, if I space out my 1200 calories and don't eat them in meals. I just graze throughout the day so it seems like I'm eating more to my brain/stomach. I've found having healthy snacks handy like baby carrots or fruits that I enjoy helps me a lot. My breakfast is usually some form of complex carbs and protein, and I absolutely love Greek yogurt, which fills me right up. I try to stick to a good protein like a turkey burger without the bun for dinner. It can be tough to stay within a calorie range, but small changes are more important than strict adherence. It's easy to stay on track if you let yourself indulge every once in a while! Best of luck!2
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On really lazy days my TDEE is only 1850 but on more active days it's about 2300 so I eat 1350 some days and 15-1600 on days where I feel I need a little more. At the end of the day 100 extra calories is only going to set your weight loss back by 1lb over 5 weeks so if some days you want more, have it. Anyhow you asked what I ate and it varies but I have a lot of chicken, egg white omelettes and I dont' have a terrible amount of room for indulgences but I can squeeze in some chocolate covered almonds here and there. Feel free to peep my diary or add me, I eat between 1350 and 16001
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Aaron_K123 wrote: »Honestly troubles me how many people on this site seem to be trying to eat 1200-1400 calories a day, that just seems ludicrously low to me. That is like a sandwich, a glass of milk, a salad and a bowl of cereal for your entire day. You look at people who claim to be full on that and they are just eating a ton of fibery plant matter to I guess make them feel full in the physical sense...but that can't be satisfying.
Another short woman here. I'm 5'4" weigh 172. MFP recommends I eat 1260 calories per day.
I'm satisfied every day eating less than that. If you eat the right foods, you feel full. I eat bacon and eggs for breakfast. Some type of protein, lately it's been pastrami, for lunch, cheese as a snack, protein and a veggie for dinner (chicken with broccoli, tons of LCHF recipes) and usually an evening snack.
It takes practice and planing to do this. I work with a doctor and a registered dietician who helped me work my way into this way of eating. But I'm rarely hungry between meals anymore.
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Tomk652015 wrote: »lots lean protein, lots of veggies, no dressings or little, not much in oils, nuts, peanut butters etc. not drinking calories.
This.
OP, I did net 1250 for the first half or so of 2014, and my diary is open. I wasn't hungry.
The disclaimer is that I had a lot to lose when starting out. I suspect I'd be dissatisfied on 1250 now. I thought I was at maintenance, did a long maintenance break (not logging most of it) and decided I want to lose a little more so do 1650 currently (TDEE, don't eat back calories unless I do a long run or bike and am hungry, tend to go over on the weekends, so that probably averages out around 1350-1400 net or so). My old logs are probably more what you are looking for because I'm only just getting back to logging and am trying to cut way down on animal-based foods and as a result am having more difficulty hitting my protein number than I did.0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »
With my stats my TDEE from this calculator is 2800 which is pretty spot on because I lose about a pound a week eating 2300 calories a day. A 5'6'' woman at 155 pounds doing moderate exercise would lose 1 pound a week at 1900 calories a day.
I wasn't too far off from those stats at one point during my loss, and it was closer to 1800, and definitely not moderate exercise. I had to put in a lot of activity to see results, and that's part of the reason I ended up falling off my weight loss plan. It just wasn't sustainable.2 -
You have to bear in mind not everyone is using an external TDEE calculator. My TDEE is currently about 2200 if i get all my usual activity in and as I'm sedentary it is all purposeful. So if for whatever reason I miss one or two things I can easily lose 2-300 calories from a day.
Using MFPs NEAT method my base goal in 1380 per day plus activity. I eat my exercise mostly so in reality I eat more like 17-1800 per day and net around 12-1300. I lose 1lb per week.
It's also very easy to tell people to just move more but there can be extenuating circumstances there too. Physical disabilities, fluctuating health conditions, long work days that reduce available time to workout and go for a walk etc some days.
Would I love for my TDEE to be 3000 per day? Sure! Is it realistic without busting my butt several hours a day? Nope. And due to easily fatiguing due to health issues it wouldn't be sustainable for me anyway.
To the OP, what weight loss goal have you chosen? Are you exercising and eating some of those calories back? Look for some recipes that are higher volume. Tonight I had a bunch of dry sauteed veg, bulgar and chicken, a massive bowl and it came out to 500 calories. For breakfast I had a slim bagel, scrambled egg and turkey bacon. About 400 calories. If you make clever choices can you can actually get a reasonable volume of food in. And if you can exercise to increase what you can eat, so much the better!4 -
SuzySunshine99 wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »Correct me if I am wrong but BMR is a function of lean mass which is basically a function of your muscle mass. Men do have an advantage in this (but a small advantage not a huge advantage) and size does add to this of course.
My lean mass is about 136 pounds and I weigh 173. I'm 6' tall so my BMR is around 1700. So if you are a 5'6'' woman you probably have a lean mass of around 100 (although it varies). So in theory your BMR is probably around 1400.
So the difference between a man and a woman on average is about 300 calories from BMR. Now if I go for a mile run I probably burn 20% more than that example woman but again, not a ton more...just some more.
It isn't that hard for an average sized woman to lose weight at 1900 calories a day (i lose weight at 2400 a day). So again it baffles me how many are on this site (from the forums) eating 1200 or 1300 a day.
Here is a TDEE calculator, can try it yourself.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
With my stats my TDEE from this calculator is 2800 which is pretty spot on because I lose about a pound a week eating 2300 calories a day. A 5'6'' woman at 155 pounds doing moderate exercise would lose 1 pound a week at 1900 calories a day.
Playing with this, thinking about a slightly overweight woman who wants to lose at a quick 1 pound per week I tried to figure out what size of woman that would be where 1350 would be the target. In otherwords were 1350 would be 500 calories a day under their maintenance.
Assumed 3-5 hours a week of light to moderate activity (because you can go for a walk now and again), 36 years old. Looked for what height and weight that person would have to be for 1350 calories to be their diet.
So 1350 calories for 1 pound a week loss (aggressive diet) is the diet of a 4'4'' tall 110 pound woman.
So yeah, do you really need to be eating 1350 calories a day?
Well, just as an example, and using the Scooby calculator...I am a 40 year old, 5'4", 127 lb female. I have a desk job that keeps me sedentary 6 days a week for up to 14 hours a day. My TDEE is 1576, which is where I stay to maintain, so 1200-1300 to lose was where I needed to be.
My husband is a 6'0", 190 lb male. He has a very physical, active job 6 days a week. His TDEE is 2764. So, it really depends on the person and the lifestyle. You can't paint everyone with such a broad stroke.
I agree you can't paint everyone with a broad stroke. But if you struggle to eat that little (not saying you do) another option would be to increase your activity level and eat more. That is what I am saying. My shock comes from how many people seem to choose to eat so little by default...and yes, it is a choice.
I am saying most people CAN eat 1900 a day and still lose weight, I stand by that.
I also have a desk job by the way. I am currently sat at a desk.3 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »About twenty years ago (when I was still skinny) I overheard a pharmacist telling an overweight woman that you cannot diet without being hungry. That always stuck with me, and now I am her. I use his words as a mantra sometimes, though they might be a bit outdated. So either try and cope, look for more satiating foods, or up the kcals to a more comfortable level. But I guess the warm fuzzy gut feeling after a copious meal is no longer an option.
Well that isn't true at all. I lose a pound a week and I'm not hungry. It is very easy to disprove overgeneralizations like that because there are plenty of people who don't fit that "rule".
If you are active you can eat quite a lot and still lose weight.
I know, but I prefer not to be active at the moment, nor do I want to eat 'clean', so hungry is the way to go for me. And then his words help. (And as I am a woman, I am allowed to change my mind and love sports and vegetables next week). He was just explaining CICO in Flemish over twenty years ago.
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Limiting calories to 1200 daily sucks but I'm another example of an older smaller woman trying to lose weight. At 5'3", 65 and sedentary, to get to my goal of 120 lbs, if I eat 1200 calories a day I will lose .33 lbs a week and arrive at my goal in Aug of next year. When I eat on target the ave. loss per week is about right. And honestly I don't think im any less hungry than a somewhat larger woman with a bigger calorie allowance :-(3
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