Looking for opinions on 1200 calorie diet

Are you asking if it is too much or too little? If you have lost 1 stone since July, it sounds like you are losing at a sustainable rate. If you are eating at a deficit and losing weight, you don't need to worry about storing fat.

I'm usually in the "1200 is not enough" camp but at 4'9'' and what looks like not a whole lot left to lose that is starting to enter the territory where 1200 might be enough. Its hard to say without knowing more about your activity and if you are netting 1200 or eating only 1200 regardless of activity.

cherise106 wrote: »

I still have at least 1 stone to lose and I normally only eat 1200 with and without exercise am pretty sedentary apart from my exercise 3 times a week which is metafit and it only lasts between 18 mins to 30 mins.

Well if you are fairly sedentary and 4'9'' then actually that might be reasonable. I'd suggest trying some TDEE calculators like these and see what they suggest:

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html

I tried the first one and with your stats and sedentary actually looked like 1200 was about right for TDEE -20%. That said that might be a bit aggressive in terms of weight loss for your size so I'd go off how you feel. If you feel weak or tired or light headed or your workouts feel more difficult than they should you might need to eat a bit more and take it slower.

From me to you, I'd add a couple of hundred on the days that you are exercising (actually, I'd add it anyways, because 1200 is too aggressive, in my thinking)

If you add a hundred or two hundred, you will continue to lose, almost guaranteed, but also you'll be ensuring you're getting adequate nourishment/nutrients/satiety.

I'm 5' and I find that most days 1200 is good. Some days I will barely make it to 1000 and other days I will eat almost 1500. Usually if you eat less one day you will eat more another day. For us short people we generally don't need nearly as much. If you are feeling good and satisfied after eating I wouldn't worry too much.

i'm 5'3" and in 2014 i ate 1200 calories per day - sometimes 100 to 200 calories of protein more if i worked out or did long, vigorous walks. i was the healthiest i've been in years. that being said, if you walk or run a lot, do heavy workouts or work out on treadmills or elipticals, you may need more. MFP has that figured in, btw.

kgirlhart wrote: »

You do need to make sure you are getting proper nutrition and 1200 is the minimum recommended for women. But at your height you will not need as many calories as a woman who is 5'9".

Yeah, I really wish they wouldn't toss that 1200 number around quite so freely because the idea that there is some sort of "one size fits all" magical calorie number that ensures adequate nutrition for a 5' woman and a 6' woman is kind of absurd. We could somewhat tailor the "get adequate nutrition" number to the individual by instead recommending the BMR as a minimum intake (along with a link to a website that will calculate it - such as scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/). And, yes, for tiny older women, that number might be less than 1200. But it's miles better than a blanket 1200.

That said, depending on her age, the OP is one of those rare few who are petite enough that 1200 may well be a good goal depending on her activity level (factoring in lifestyle not just workouts).

The evidence is that her current eating patterns have led to a loss of approximately 1 pound/week (14 pounds in ~14 weeks). That's pretty reasonable, though she may want to slow that down a little to 0.5 pounds/week as she gets closer to goal. This may happen automatically as her lighter self will require fewer calories and eating the same amount while losing weight slowly reduces your deficit as you lose.