Is 1200 cals Enough for an Office Worker?
GuessIgottalog
Posts: 65 Member
Hi, just wondering what other people think of eating 1200 cals to lose some weight (10-15lbs) when you are a female, office worker who skates for 45min once a week, walks at lunch time for 25min 3-4 days a week and lifts some weights at home 1-2 times a week for about 30 min.
Im 5'9" and I think maybe 160lbs....(I don't like to really know, scales are dumb lol)
Im 5'9" and I think maybe 160lbs....(I don't like to really know, scales are dumb lol)
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Replies
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I'm 5'9, female, an office worker, get around 12,000 steps per day and lift heavy weight four days a week. I would freak out and binge on 1200 calories per day. I lose on 1930 calories per day, and maintain at ~2200 calories per day.
She who eat the most and still loses, WINS!!!13 -
You can probably eat more than 1200 calories. Probably more like 1500 + exercise calories.
You are not overweight if you are 160 lbs. If you want to lose 10-15 lbs you should set your goal to lose .5 lb a week. With MFP you are supposed to log exercise and eat a portion of the calories earned from exercise.
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GuessIgottalog wrote: »Hi, just wondering what other people think of eating 1200 cals to lose some weight (10-15lbs) when you are a female, office worker who skates for 45min once a week, walks at lunch time for 25min 3-4 days a week and lifts some weights at home 1-2 times a week for about 30 min.
Im 5'9" and I think maybe 160lbs....(I don't like to really know, scales are dumb lol)
5'9" tall......1200 calories is not enough. 1200 is more appropriate for elderly and very petite women. Besides MFP gives you a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise. You should be "netting" 1200 calories..... not eating 1200 gross calories.2 -
You got 1200 calories when you put in your stats (height, current weight, age and activity level) in MFP..
Something sounds wrong.1 -
I am 5'6 and about 145-150 pounds, sedentary office worker. I can lose weight at 1600. Oh, and I am over 50. So, yeah, why torture yourself?5
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It might not be enough. Until you log, weigh in, and track progress its just a guess.
Get your starting weight.
Set yourself to sedentary but understand 1200 is low for most people, especailly at 5'9.
Log all food and workouts. Monitor hunger. Make smart choices for your calories.
Eat back some exercise calories.
Im only 5'4 - 160 trying to lose 30lbs. I dont eat less than 1400/day. I walk about 1.5 hours every day (my 2 15's and my lunch hour)
I get 12-16k steps M-Sat and ride the stationary bike for an hr on Saturdays. Nothing Sundays. Lifting a few days here and there.1 -
I am also a sedentary office worker, do get about 45 minutes of exercise 5 nights a week and I have had no problems losing the weight.0
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GuessIgottalog wrote: »Hi, just wondering what other people think of eating 1200 cals to lose some weight (10-15lbs) when you are a female, office worker who skates for 45min once a week, walks at lunch time for 25min 3-4 days a week and lifts some weights at home 1-2 times a week for about 30 min.
Im 5'9" and I think maybe 160lbs....(I don't like to really know, scales are dumb lol)
With only 10-15 pounds to lose you should set your weekly weight loss goal to 0.5 pounds per week. Losing two pounds per week is only appropriate for those who have a lot more to lose.
1200 calories is only appropriate for women who are very very short, or older AND sedentary, none of which describes you.
What are you doing about your exercise calories? MFP uses the NEAT method, and as such the system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p11 -
I'm 5'9" and I aim for 1,500 cal per day. I'm also about 11% body fat.
What is your body fat at? You even don't know how much you weigh, right?
Scales aren't dumb. Scales are tools.
Start here to estimate your body fat with a tape measure first thing in the morning:
http://vitals.lifehacker.com/how-to-determine-the-number-of-calories-you-should-eat-1693372946
Weigh yourself right after measuring your waist; use the tools properly.
Then go here: https://legionathletics.com/macronutrient-calculator/
That will tell you what you need to plug into MFP.
Track your waist measurement and scale weight.
Log your food consistently.
Adjust and recalculate your macros as necessary every 4 weeks, otherwise you are just guessing and hoping.
That can be a recipe for disappointment.
Make sure you are on a good progressive resistance program and not relying on cardio or pink dumbbells to do the work for you.
Also a recipe for disappointment because you will lose muscle mass and find it far harder to keep the weight off.1 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »I'm 5'9, female, an office worker, get around 12,000 steps per day and lift heavy weight four days a week. I would freak out and binge on 1200 calories per day. I lose on 1930 calories per day, and maintain at ~2200 calories per day.
She who eat the most and still loses, WINS!!!
Right but you are lifting weights 4 days a week plus you are very muscular - you need the food to feed your muscle, right?1 -
GuessIgottalog wrote: »Hi, just wondering what other people think of eating 1200 cals to lose some weight (10-15lbs) when you are a female, office worker who skates for 45min once a week, walks at lunch time for 25min 3-4 days a week and lifts some weights at home 1-2 times a week for about 30 min.
Im 5'9" and I think maybe 160lbs....(I don't like to really know, scales are dumb lol)
5'9" tall......1200 calories is not enough. 1200 is more appropriate for elderly and very petite women. Besides MFP gives you a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise. You should be "netting" 1200 calories..... not eating 1200 gross calories.
Well I want to make sure I lose because sometimes I don't exercise because I am too sore or diabetes or something is screwing me up.... (Diabetes is Type 1 and controlled by the way.)0 -
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GuessIgottalog wrote: »GuessIgottalog wrote: »Hi, just wondering what other people think of eating 1200 cals to lose some weight (10-15lbs) when you are a female, office worker who skates for 45min once a week, walks at lunch time for 25min 3-4 days a week and lifts some weights at home 1-2 times a week for about 30 min.
Im 5'9" and I think maybe 160lbs....(I don't like to really know, scales are dumb lol)
5'9" tall......1200 calories is not enough. 1200 is more appropriate for elderly and very petite women. Besides MFP gives you a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise. You should be "netting" 1200 calories..... not eating 1200 gross calories.
Well I want to make sure I lose because sometimes I don't exercise because I am too sore or diabetes or something is screwing me up.... (Diabetes is Type 1 and controlled by the way.)
You asked a question, you got a lot of answers, but it was not what you wanted to hear...Good luck.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »GuessIgottalog wrote: »Hi, just wondering what other people think of eating 1200 cals to lose some weight (10-15lbs) when you are a female, office worker who skates for 45min once a week, walks at lunch time for 25min 3-4 days a week and lifts some weights at home 1-2 times a week for about 30 min.
Im 5'9" and I think maybe 160lbs....(I don't like to really know, scales are dumb lol)
With only 10-15 pounds to lose you should set your weekly weight loss goal to 0.5 pounds per week. Losing two pounds per week is only appropriate for those who have a lot more to lose.
1200 calories is only appropriate for women who are very very short, or older AND sedentary, none of which describes you.
What are you doing about your exercise calories? MFP uses the NEAT method, and as such the system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
I do nothing about exercise calories. Im eating 1200 cals a day no matter what. I want to work my way to eating more later,,,,slowly add up but NEVER gain weight in my life again.2 -
GuessIgottalog wrote: »
MFP is different from a lot of other on-line calculators. Activity level is based on your job. Then MFP expects you to log exercise (separately) and & eat a portion of those calories also. So 1200 is a starting point.
Also, 1200 is a default minimum (read as one-size-fits-all) based on "I want to lose XX pounds per week." You choose an overly aggressive goal, you get very low calories.
Pound per week goals
75+ lbs set to lose 2 lb range
Between 40 - 75 lbs set to lose 1.5 lb range
Between 25-40 lbs set to lose 1 lb range
Between 15-25 lbs set to lose 1 -.50 lb range
Less than 15 lbs set to lose 0.5 lbs range2 -
I understand this im an office worker, but i also workout 6 days a week and walk a minimum 5 miles per day. So i dont consider myself sedentary.2
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GuessIgottalog wrote: »GuessIgottalog wrote: »Hi, just wondering what other people think of eating 1200 cals to lose some weight (10-15lbs) when you are a female, office worker who skates for 45min once a week, walks at lunch time for 25min 3-4 days a week and lifts some weights at home 1-2 times a week for about 30 min.
Im 5'9" and I think maybe 160lbs....(I don't like to really know, scales are dumb lol)
5'9" tall......1200 calories is not enough. 1200 is more appropriate for elderly and very petite women. Besides MFP gives you a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise. You should be "netting" 1200 calories..... not eating 1200 gross calories.
Well I want to make sure I lose because sometimes I don't exercise because I am too sore or diabetes or something is screwing me up.... (Diabetes is Type 1 and controlled by the way.)
You asked a question, you got a lot of answers, but it was not what you wanted to hear...Good luck.
Or maybe the comments were just what I needed to hear....lol1 -
I am an office worker, I sit most of the day. I eat right around 1200 calories per day and I am slowly cutting weight. (Nothing drastic). I walk about 40 min a day, (nothing crazy, just 2 - 20 min casual walks). I lift weights 5x a week for about an hour each time, again nothing to where I end up sweaty, I just lift heavy. So to answer your question, yes it is enough. I am 5'4" and 120lbs. I have lost about 25lbs of fat so far, put on about 5-10lbs of muscle.0
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RebeccaNaegle wrote: »I am an office worker, I sit most of the day. I eat right around 1200 calories per day and I am slowly cutting weight. (Nothing drastic). I walk about 40 min a day, (nothing crazy, just 2 - 20 min casual walks). I lift weights 5x a week for about an hour each time, again nothing to where I end up sweaty, I just lift heavy. So to answer your question, yes it is enough. I am 5'4" and 120lbs. I have lost about 25lbs of fat so far, put on about 5-10lbs of muscle.
You gained 5-10 pounds of lean muscle mass on 1200 calories a day? How did you measure this?
Most people eat at a smaller deficit to help minimize lean muscle loss. Because losing fat+muscle is pretty normal (unless you are obese).4 -
Huge difference between 5'4 and 120lbs and 5'9 and 160lbs. One burns calories according to height, weight etc, not because you are an office worker or cook.....RebeccaNaegle wrote: »I am 5'4" and 120lbs. I have lost about 25lbs of fat so far, put on about 5-10lbs of muscle.
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I'm 5'9", scale this morning was 165.7. I'm an office worker eating 1200 calories a day. Cardio about 5 hours a week. Take some walks at work but not consistently. I typically eat back about half of my cardio calories and if I don't go crazy on the weekends (I'm terrible at staying on track on the weekend) I easily lose 1 pound each week.0
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1200 is the recommended minimum, which is what MFP said for me - 50 yo, 5'7", starting weight 175, office worker, elliptical 45 minutesx4 days. Most days, I was slightly over that amount, even after eating back exercise calories. Some days, I was slightly under. I was losing an average of 5 pounds a month. I suggest you start there, monitor your hunger and body signals and adjust upwards as needed. Good luck to you! And stay away from the desk that has all the candy! (you know which one that is!)
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Cool, I think Im on the right track. It should even out due to me not being able to exercise consistently each week and some days on top of the 1200 cals I will have to eat more to treat low blood sugars....
Iv'e only been logging for a week so far.0 -
Trying to lose weight quickly will lead to a loss of muscle. It is also hard to sustain. You may lose some weight, but then you're going to gain it right back as soon as you stop restricting yourself as drastically. You'll be hungry and end up eating more because your body will demand it. Do yourself a favor and find a way of eating that is sustainable. Starving yourself isn't it.1
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FYI, this is a zombie thread that got resurrected by a spam message which has since been deleted.6
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GuessIgottalog wrote: »Hi, just wondering what other people think of eating 1200 cals to lose some weight (10-15lbs) when you are a female, office worker who skates for 45min once a week, walks at lunch time for 25min 3-4 days a week and lifts some weights at home 1-2 times a week for about 30 min.
Im 5'9" and I think maybe 160lbs....(I don't like to really know, scales are dumb lol)
I'm an office worker. Not very active at all. I may randomly have a day where I happen to only eat 1200-1300 calories, but in general that is not enough for me to feel satisfied & satiated. I find 1400-1600 works much better.
I'm 5'5", 47 years, 142ish heading for 130ish. 5k-6k steps is my goal daily, and I don't always hit it.0 -
Jeez. I would drop weight fast on 1200 a day and I'm 5 foot, 56 years old and weigh about 46 kilos. Also have an office job, walk around a bit and do short weights workouts maybe 4 times a week. I maintain around 1600-1700. So please eat a bit more you lot!0
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I am an office worker. I exercise daily. MPF gave me 1200 calories and it's not enough for me. I do 1600-1800 cal and I keep my weight. If my calories are lower then 1500 I loose weight very easily but I don't really need it.0
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