MFP says to eat 1200 calories only... how do you do it?

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searchingformex
searchingformex Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
MFP says if I want to lose 1.8 pounds a week I can only eat 1200. How do you do that? What foods? & Better yet how do I lose 20 pounds in 2 months?

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  • alienws1998
    alienws1998 Posts: 88 Member
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    MFP told me the same thing calories wise. Once you cut out sugar, bread, pasta, soda, etc etc it's actually much harder to hit 1200 than you think. Start with replacing all sugar with a substitute that has no sugar and no carbs, I use Suclarose myself available in most any grocery stores in the baking section. I'm on day 61 right now and I've lost just under 20 pounds (19.3 or so). It is doable. Cheese sticks are your friend, quick easy snack, just unpeel and eat. Personal experience tip, I've found that 1500 is a better number, I lose more weight at that level than I do the 1200 calories MFP suggested.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
    edited September 2016
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    searchingformex wrote: »
    MFP says if I want to lose 1.8 pounds a week I can only eat 1200. How do you do that? What foods? & Better yet how do I lose 20 pounds in 2 months?

    If you have less than 50 lbs to lose a more reasonable goal is .5-1 lb a week... or 2-4 lbs a month. 20 lbs in 2 months is an aggressive goal even for those who are 50+ lbs overweight.
    I am on 1200 calories at this point. I eat the same foods I always did just in appropriate portion sizes for my goal. I prelog my food every morning for the whole day to make sure I meet my calorie and protein goals. I drink water or unsweetened tea. I am not eating super low fat or low carb. My diary is public.
    Vegetables are great for filling up your plate without adding a ton of calories. Have a smaller portion of higher calorie food with more vegetables.
    Typical foods I eat:
    Breakfast- Greek yogurt, granola bars, cereal with milk, sandwich, dinner leftovers, fruit, cottage cheese (about 200-300 calories)
    Lunch- sandwich, salad, or dinner leftovers (about 300-500 calories)
    Dinner- something different every night of the month. (about 500-600 calories)
    Snacks- things like fruit, chips, popcorn, pretzels, chocolate, cookies, granola bar, carrots, celery, broccoli, trail mix, deviled eggs, pickles, cottage cheese (about 100-300 calories)
  • aliem
    aliem Posts: 326 Member
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    Lots of veggies! You can eat a whole zucchini for about 45-50 calories or eat 6 Cheez-Its for the same amount of calories. Spices are a great way to add flavor to a chicken breast (or really any meat/egg of your choosing) for nearly zero calories. Some goes for salsa and hot sauce. The two best ways to stay full longer is having a fiber rich diet and pairing a healthy fat with a form of protein.
  • learningtolove
    learningtolove Posts: 288 Member
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    Plant based is the way to go!
  • sweetpea813
    sweetpea813 Posts: 112 Member
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    I finally found an exercise that I love. I do Zumba 4-5 days a week and according to my HRM, I burn anywhere from 600-720 calories in a class. This allows me to eat more than 1200 calories.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
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    When you have very little to lose, trying to lose it quickly might not be the best course of action. I know how it feels to just want the weight gone, but in the long run, it's better to live through the experience of forming good habits with nutrition and exercise over the longer time from it takes you to lose weight slowly than it is to lose weight quickly and go back to the bad habits that had you needing to lose it in the first place.

    If you set your goal to lose a half pound a week, you'll be able to eat more than 1200 calories.

    I'm at the point where MFP gives me 1200 calories to lose less than half a pound a week and I get more calories for my daily intake through exercise.
  • ClareMillsRoberts
    ClareMillsRoberts Posts: 28 Member
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    It's doable, I typically have museli with low fat yogurt and fruit for breakfast (around 250 calories), a salad or soup or crackers with cottage cheese or hummus for lunch (250-350) and then for dinner I might have a veggie stew or curry, a veggie pasta, salmon with potatoes and veg, an omelette with salad, a bean chilli with rice etc (500-600 calories). Snacks wise I'll have a piece of fruit, crudités with hummus, rice cakes with Marmite or peanut butter, a raw fruit bar or a small cookie (100ish calories). I have reduced the amount of oil I use in cooking and cut down on bread, cheese and alcohol. I have also reduced my portion sizes and stopped going back for second helpings!
  • juliebowman4
    juliebowman4 Posts: 784 Member
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    My diary is open, feel free to check it out.
    I try to maintain 1200-1400/day
    If I want more, I try to do more exercise
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited September 2016
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    20 pounds in two months is approx 2.5 pounds rate of loss per week. MFP will NOT let you go down past the 1200 calories. This is by default.

    Eat foods that are heathy fats, proteins and rich in fiber. This provides satiety and helps you feel fuller longer. You may want to stay away from calorie dense foods and eat volume foods. Veggies, fruits, lean meats, fish, yogurt, cheese etc. Calorie dense foods are ok, though but you might want to limit these as they are higher calories and less filling foods and may only lead you to be hungrier.

    You can increase your activity by moving more and yes exercise. Exercise calories will add to the amount of calories you eat per day, so if you burn 300 calories in exercise you can eat that back or a portion there of and increase from 1200 to 1300/1400/1500 calories to NET your calorie goal for the day.

    1200 calories is rough if you don't exercise. I think you should reconsider your rate of loss to a min of .5 but no more than 1 a week.

  • Nickisa24
    Nickisa24 Posts: 19 Member
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    Today I had:

    Breakfast-2 scrambled eggs made with butter and 2 rashers of bacon with the fat cut off

    Lunch-homemade spicy tomato soup (fresh tomatoes, garlic, red chilli, onion, basil, one pepper, seasoned with salt and pepper

    Dinner-150g fillet steak, 100g steamed green beans and 75g of oven chips

    Snack-
    Tea, 1 sugar, dash semi skimmed milk
    Half a bar of 'teaser' chocolate
    1 small ice pop
    1 Granny Smith Apple

    And I'm under my calorie goal :smiley:

    On workout days, I'll throw some more carbs in
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    MFP "tells" you nothing...it spits out a target based on your inputs...less aggressive goal, more calories...more exercise, more calories...and let me guess, you picked sedentary as your activity level even though you're probably not.

    So much this... Oh how many people burn out starting at 1200 calories with wide eyes and lofty dreams.

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