Is it possible to reach an underweight weight on 1200, just out of curiosity

ray90900
ray90900 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
do you guys know if you kept on continuing a 1200 calorie diet, does your body eventually just stop losing when you reach a certain weight, or could you keep on losing and losing until you like 10 pounds underweight or something? This is just out of curiosity, not in an eating disorder way. I'm 5'3 and do feel my best at 100 pounds, but that's because I have a very small frame, I didn't know if I could reach this weight healthily on 1200 or if it were possible even

Replies

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    If you eat under your maintenance level you will continue to lose weight, but your body will start to shut down non essential functions when you get to a too low bodyweight and then you will die
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
    The smaller you get, the smaller your deficit gets.

    So eventually, you may stop losing weight at 1200 calories because that might be maintenance for you at a smaller weight.

    1200 calories is recommended to get adequate nutrition.
  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
    Depends on how tall you are. Personally, I'm 4' 11' and 1,200 would never get me to an "underweight" BMI but if you're 5' 11" then it most definitely could over time.
  • ray90900
    ray90900 Posts: 3 Member
    samanthaluangphixay wrote: »
    The smaller you get, the smaller your deficit gets.

    So eventually, you may stop losing weight at 1200 calories because that might be maintenance for you at a smaller weight.

    1200 calories is recommended to get adequate nutrition.

    I don't see how 1200 could ever be maintenance, that seems very low. are you saying like if you were 5'6 and 90 pounds that would be maintenance then? I can see how that could be possible, but even then shouldn't they be maintaining on higher calories? Sorry just confused
  • ray90900
    ray90900 Posts: 3 Member
    JenniDaisy wrote: »
    Questions like these are very rarely 'just out of curiosity'.

    Underweight isn't usually healthy.

    I'm not asking whether it's healthy, I'm asking whether it's possible
  • JenniDaisy
    JenniDaisy Posts: 526 Member
    ray90900 wrote: »
    do you guys know if you kept on continuing a 1200 calorie diet, does your body eventually just stop losing when you reach a certain weight, or could you keep on losing and losing until you like 10 pounds underweight or something? This is just out of curiosity, not in an eating disorder way. I'm 5'3 and do feel my best at 100 pounds, but that's because I have a very small frame, I didn't know if I could reach this weight healthily on 1200 or if it were possible even

    My mistake.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    ray90900 wrote: »
    do you guys know if you kept on continuing a 1200 calorie diet, does your body eventually just stop losing when you reach a certain weight, or could you keep on losing and losing until you like 10 pounds underweight or something? This is just out of curiosity, not in an eating disorder way. I'm 5'3 and do feel my best at 100 pounds, but that's because I have a very small frame, I didn't know if I could reach this weight healthily on 1200 or if it were possible even

    100 lbs would already be considered several pounds underweight for 5'3".
    You would have a smaller and smaller deficit as you got smaller but could still lose weight eating 1200 calories assuming you were very accurate until you were even more underweight than that. I don't think it would be considered healthy weight loss at the point you pass into underweight.

  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
    ray90900 wrote: »
    samanthaluangphixay wrote: »
    The smaller you get, the smaller your deficit gets.

    So eventually, you may stop losing weight at 1200 calories because that might be maintenance for you at a smaller weight.

    1200 calories is recommended to get adequate nutrition.

    I don't see how 1200 could ever be maintenance, that seems very low. are you saying like if you were 5'6 and 90 pounds that would be maintenance then? I can see how that could be possible, but even then shouldn't they be maintaining on higher calories? Sorry just confused

    The less you weigh, the fewer calories you require to maintain your weight, all other things being equal (that is, same activity, same body fat percentage, etc etc.) For a short, sedentary, older woman, 1200 calories might indeed be maintenance for her or very close. Of course, this increases the more active that woman is, but it's not as unlikely as it sounds to a larger person.

    For example, at 5'4", 118 pounds, and 29 years old, I maintain my weight on approximately 1500 calories per day if I am sedentary (which I am not, so my actual maintenance is more like 2000/day.) It's not much of a stretch to imagine that a 5'0", 100 pound, 60 year old woman with a desk job who doesn't do any dedicated exercise might maintain her weight around 1200/day. Personally, eating 1500/day got old pretty quickly so I started running to increase my TDEE and allow myself to eat more, but I understand that not everyone does that.

    This is strictly for information's sake as I don't think it has much relevance to the original post, but I seem to always get sucked in to explaining this around MFP to people who have a much higher BMR and/or are very active.
  • b3achy
    b3achy Posts: 2,168 Member
    ray90900 wrote: »
    samanthaluangphixay wrote: »
    The smaller you get, the smaller your deficit gets.

    So eventually, you may stop losing weight at 1200 calories because that might be maintenance for you at a smaller weight.

    1200 calories is recommended to get adequate nutrition.

    I don't see how 1200 could ever be maintenance, that seems very low. are you saying like if you were 5'6 and 90 pounds that would be maintenance then? I can see how that could be possible, but even then shouldn't they be maintaining on higher calories? Sorry just confused

    Think more like 5'1" female at 100 pounds who is sedentary. 1200 is actually maintenance level based on the TDEE calculator I use. They would be at 18.9 BMI which is still in a normal weight range (although on the lower end), so adequately healthy. However, if they do any exercise/activity then it would be difficult to maintain at 1200. I know plenty of women who are 5'1" or shorter, so it's not out of the realm of possibility for a healthy woman who is short to be maintaining on 1200.
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    If you are short and dead idle, then eating 1,200 a day would be maintenance or even surplus, you'd settle somewhere.

    If taller and/or active, no that probably wouldn't be enough to maintain a good body mass.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Certainly possible that if you eat 1200 calories continuously and steadily that you would end up eventually underweight. Depends on your size (height), gender and overall activity level.

    I would say for the majoirty of the population though a strict 1200 calorie diet would leave you underweight eventually.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    ray90900 wrote: »
    samanthaluangphixay wrote: »
    The smaller you get, the smaller your deficit gets.

    So eventually, you may stop losing weight at 1200 calories because that might be maintenance for you at a smaller weight.

    1200 calories is recommended to get adequate nutrition.

    I don't see how 1200 could ever be maintenance, that seems very low. are you saying like if you were 5'6 and 90 pounds that would be maintenance then? I can see how that could be possible, but even then shouldn't they be maintaining on higher calories? Sorry just confused

    1200 is maintenance for a 5', 100 pound, sedentary, 60 yo old woman.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

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