What's the big deal about 1,200?
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>Your average everyday Joe Blow "I need to lose 50 lbs" guy is going to end up lethargic, with terrible looking skin, hair loss, brittle nails, and no sex drive when doing such a diet. When it is over, he's going to look in the mirror and think "this is not what I thought I'd look like at this weight" and then will spend the next few years trying to build back the muscle that he lost so that he could get to the point where his friend who dieted on 2000 calories was once he hit his goal weight.
I wonder if it would be worth the trade-off though. I've never been able to sustain a moderate weight loss long enough to hit a goal weight. Ever.0 -
annacole94 wrote: »Two points:
1) You inspired me to go change my diary to public so people can see where I'm coming from.
2) You inspired me to go take a peek at OP's diary. Ouch.
Thank you.
You are welcome!
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It must also be noted that intake isn't just about nutrients. Sure they should be the primary concern but calories purely from an energy standpoint are hella important too. Your body needs those to fuel basic bodily functions, it can't get all it needs from stored fat every day. Eating too little fat will impact hormone function and ability to absorb those precious tricky to hit on a low intake nutrients.
Reducing body weight is important, retaining health and lean body mass is more important.7 -
So I put in my information when I started MFP again after a few years because I have gained a lot, it said I need to consume 2700 calories a day (33yrs - 5'9" - 310.8) that was on the 1st of Jan. I have been eating a lot better than I was, one cheat meal a week, but have been averaging about 1100 calories. I mean even doing a slim fast diet only gets you to 1200 calories if your following it 100%.
But my question is this. Can you eat healthy low calorie foods all day and be well nutrified without having to hit such a high calorie number? By the way Im down 23 pounds as of this morning, and I rarely feel hungry during the day. I do a bit at night right before i go to sleep but i use water to combat that.
Any advice would be great, as Im losing some weight but I want to do it safely and make sure Im not going to damage my body in the long run
As a 33 yo 5'9" 300 ish pound male, at 1100 calories/day you are seriously under-eating. That's going to set you up for failure or malnutrition / hair loss / muscle loss.
What Are the Risks of Rapid Weight Loss?
Rapid weight loss creates physical demands on the body. Possible serious risks include:- Gallstones, which occur in 12% to 25% of people losing large amounts of weight over several months
- Dehydration, which can be avoided by drinking plenty of fluids
- Malnutrition, usually from not eating enough protein for weeks at a time
- Electrolyte imbalances, which rarely can be life threatening
Other side effects of rapid weight loss include:- Headaches
- Irritability
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
- Constipation
- Menstrual irregularities
- Hair loss
- Muscle loss
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My net goal is 1240 (I'm 4'10"), but I run and/or dance most days so typically eat more than that.0
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maillemaker wrote: »>Your average everyday Joe Blow "I need to lose 50 lbs" guy is going to end up lethargic, with terrible looking skin, hair loss, brittle nails, and no sex drive when doing such a diet. When it is over, he's going to look in the mirror and think "this is not what I thought I'd look like at this weight" and then will spend the next few years trying to build back the muscle that he lost so that he could get to the point where his friend who dieted on 2000 calories was once he hit his goal weight.
I wonder if it would be worth the trade-off though. I've never been able to sustain a moderate weight loss long enough to hit a goal weight. Ever.
If you cannot sustain moderate weight loss, how will you sustain extreme weight loss? And what happens when the weight loss process ends? Will you have any long term skills as far as knowing how to eat or be active in order to maintain the loss?
Maybe instead of opting to go faster and harder, you need to go slower and easier. "Slow and steady wins the race" is the truth for many of us. Rather than losing/gaining/losing/gaining/losing/gaining over a period of 3-5 years, you could slowly keep losing during that entire time and end up with a healthy and fit body.
As for it being worth it? I've never met a person who, in the long term, said that ending up at goal weight with low muscle mass and hair loss and generally feeling like crap was worth it.9 -
maillemaker wrote: »>Your average everyday Joe Blow "I need to lose 50 lbs" guy is going to end up lethargic, with terrible looking skin, hair loss, brittle nails, and no sex drive when doing such a diet. When it is over, he's going to look in the mirror and think "this is not what I thought I'd look like at this weight" and then will spend the next few years trying to build back the muscle that he lost so that he could get to the point where his friend who dieted on 2000 calories was once he hit his goal weight.
I wonder if it would be worth the trade-off though. I've never been able to sustain a moderate weight loss long enough to hit a goal weight. Ever.
If you cannot sustain moderate weight loss, how will you sustain extreme weight loss? And what happens when the weight loss process ends? Will you have any long term skills as far as knowing how to eat or be active in order to maintain the loss?
Maybe instead of opting to go faster and harder, you need to go slower and easier. "Slow and steady wins the race" is the truth for many of us. Rather than losing/gaining/losing/gaining/losing/gaining over a period of 3-5 years, you could slowly keep losing during that entire time and end up with a healthy and fit body.
As for it being worth it? I've never met a person who, in the long term, said that ending up at goal weight with low muscle mass and hair loss and generally feeling like crap was worth it.
This has been my experience. When I was "done" losing rapidly, I had no idea how to transfer that to maintaining a lower weight. I gained all the weight back and then some, and spent the next few years gaining and losing 10-15 lbs. over and over and struggling with binge eating.
I've since taken a much slower approach, not aiming to lose more than a pound a week when I am losing, and taking time off here and there. I'm down about 30 lbs and have maintained that for over a year (longest time I have maintained any loss). This time when I reach my goal weight, I will easily slide back to maintenance and continue with my current exercise and eating style, which is very sustainable for me.3 -
So I put in my information when I started MFP again after a few years because I have gained a lot, it said I need to consume 2700 calories a day (33yrs - 5'9" - 310.8) that was on the 1st of Jan. I have been eating a lot better than I was, one cheat meal a week, but have been averaging about 1100 calories. I mean even doing a slim fast diet only gets you to 1200 calories if your following it 100%.
But my question is this. Can you eat healthy low calorie foods all day and be well nutrified without having to hit such a high calorie number? By the way Im down 23 pounds as of this morning, and I rarely feel hungry during the day. I do a bit at night right before i go to sleep but i use water to combat that.
Any advice would be great, as Im losing some weight but I want to do it safely and make sure Im not going to damage my body in the long run
Whoa! 23 pounds in as many days?!? Yikes! Slow down my friend, you're going to burn out. If you are male the minimum is actually 1500
eta: and That's just over half of what YOUR body needs. I hope you reconsider. There are a lot of complications that go with this kind of weight loss.
Im not really in a rush to lose weight, Im not really trying to "diet" either. I am trying to institue a life style change that will be a permanent part of my life. "Eat to live not live to eat" I think the only reason im losing quickly right now is because I was eating so badly for a long time. I confess that sometimes I would order two meals through a drive thru because I was that hungry. I would drink soda and sweet tea constantly and snack on unhealthy things like ice cream bars, chocolate bars, even having a huge bowl of ice cream before bed.
But now all i drink is water (except for the occasional cheat meal), and choose high protein-low sugar foods, as well as measuring out snacks and even the sandwiches I eat to get the exact calorie counts. I snack on almonds, bananas, apples, boiled eggs etc. I have even tried some of those meal replacement slim fast shakes. I track my weight every day, same time every day (and I know your not really suppose to because weight fluctuates constantly. And I have noticed if I hit over 1500 calories I gain back. thats the only reason im floating at 1200 daily.
That's not a real gain at over 1500 calories. It's just the extra undigested food content in your belly that causes the scale to jump briefly, as well as a little water retention if you added more carbs. If you stuck with 1500 calories for a little while instead of going back to 1200 right away, you would probably see that it would drop back down.
Weighing daily is not bad if you don't let the scale stress you out. Many people weigh daily and track trends due to weight fluctuations. I weigh daily and yes sometimes get frustrated. But I am glad that I do. It has allowed me to see how various things impact the scale. I also know that I am my lowest weight on Sunday and Monday. My weight slowly creeps up during the week, for whatever reason. Then by Sunday it drops back down to where it was the previous week or a little lower. Strange.....
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If someone wants to stay at 1200 for a considerable amount of time then they'd better make damn sure that they have some nutritional nous, and that they make every calorie count!
Personally, i would not eat 1200 calories unless i positively, absolutely HAD too. I tried it once and lasted for 3 days, i was incredibly hungry and my protein and fat was woefully low, not to mention all the other macros/micros needed for health. Forget about popping pills to fill in the gaps, they are 2nd class compared to real, whole nutritious food.
I'm fortunate in that i can walk to earn extra calories, that's all it takes, just simple walking, and unless someone is disabled then everyone can do it! To be forced to eat so little and be sedentary at the same time is completely unnecessary. And if someone is here because they are obese or overweight then it is obvious that they are more than capable of eating more than 1000-1200 calories.2 -
For me I'm 5'7" and work out daily which includes a few sessions of Insanity and weight lifting. 1200 cals would not be healthy for me. I personally don't like the idea of eating below BMR and believe long term this can be dangerous for anyone though, since that is the number your body requires for basic functions.0
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VintageFeline wrote: »It must also be noted that intake isn't just about nutrients. Sure they should be the primary concern but calories purely from an energy standpoint are hella important too. Your body needs those to fuel basic bodily functions, it can't get all it needs from stored fat every day. Eating too little fat will impact hormone function and ability to absorb those precious tricky to hit on a low intake nutrients.
Reducing body weight is important, retaining health and lean body mass is more important.For me I'm 5'7" and work out daily which includes a few sessions of Insanity and weight lifting. 1200 cals would not be healthy for me. I personally don't like the idea of eating below BMR and believe long term this can be dangerous for anyone though, since that is the number your body requires for basic functions.
While I don't recommend anyone to go sub 1200 for very long if they can lose weight other ways, I don't think these statements are correct. If you are truly getting sufficient essential nutrients and micro nutrients, the entire purpose of fat deposits are to supply energy. These statements are implying that for some reason, when we eat less than we burn, that our bodies lose the ability to oxidize fat to make up the energy deficit.
Do either of you have anything besides opinion to back this up? I'd like to see the mechanism that would lead us to the inability to convert fat deposits to energy in times of vlc intake.1 -
Okay, so confused newbie here. I pretty much just joined MFP with 15-20 lbs to lose. I was a bit worried because MFP set my caloric intake to 1200 calories a day. That seemed pretty extreme, but I am aiming to lose 1lb a week. I'm 5'4" and have my setting on sedentary (I spend vast majority of my day sitting at my day job.), but I do have my Fitbit hooked up and throughout the day I'm allotted more calories to eat due to steps so sometimes I get a bit more than 1200. Does this sound right to you guys? Or should I be aiming for something higher? I haven't really been miserable, so long as I eat high-protein foods throughout the day. Then again, I've only been doing this for about a week in a half
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It depends on the person. I am short and, if I want to lose weight, 1200-1300 is how much I get to eat. It's just the way it is. Don't let other people dictate what is or isn't healthy for you. Do what works for YOU!3
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sketchdoll wrote: »Okay, so confused newbie here. I pretty much just joined MFP with 15-20 lbs to lose. I was a bit worried because MFP set my caloric intake to 1200 calories a day. That seemed pretty extreme, but I am aiming to lose 1lb a week. I'm 5'4" and have my setting on sedentary (I spend vast majority of my day sitting at my day job.), but I do have my Fitbit hooked up and throughout the day I'm allotted more calories to eat due to steps so sometimes I get a bit more than 1200. Does this sound right to you guys? Or should I be aiming for something higher? I haven't really been miserable, so long as I eat high-protein foods throughout the day. Then again, I've only been doing this for about a week in a half
With 15 lbs to lose, aiming for half-a-pound per week would be easier, but you can try the 1200 and see how it goes. MFP expects you to log your exercise and eat back some of those calories, and that's especially important when your goal is that low to start out with. 1200 cals made me miserable, so I settled for half a pound and upped my exercise so I could eat a diet that made me happy
As far as the OP and this thread in general, most people who say they struggle to eat as much as 1200 cals aren't logging properly and are eating more than they think. Some very small, sedentary, or older women might be fine on 1200, but in general it's not a lot of food - even healthy food. You need protein and fat, and these things are calorie dense. Your body needs nutrients, it also needs energy, that's what calories are.1 -
sketchdoll wrote: »Okay, so confused newbie here. I pretty much just joined MFP with 15-20 lbs to lose. I was a bit worried because MFP set my caloric intake to 1200 calories a day. That seemed pretty extreme, but I am aiming to lose 1lb a week. I'm 5'4" and have my setting on sedentary (I spend vast majority of my day sitting at my day job.), but I do have my Fitbit hooked up and throughout the day I'm allotted more calories to eat due to steps so sometimes I get a bit more than 1200. Does this sound right to you guys? Or should I be aiming for something higher? I haven't really been miserable, so long as I eat high-protein foods throughout the day. Then again, I've only been doing this for about a week in a half
What's your current weight at 5'4"? That is a factor too in the goal MFP gives you.0 -
maillemaker wrote: »For the whole "nutrient" thing, can't you just pop a multi-vitamin? I mean one of those Penn and Teller dudes lost a bunch of weight really fast by going to like a 500-calorie-a-day diet.
I heard Penn talk about his weight loss on his podcast. He was on a medically-supervised diet because his blood pressure was so out of control that he had to be hospitalized and put on several medications. He didn't go on this diet to look better, he was treating a life-threatening medical condition.8 -
Weight loss is all about deficit, not about eating right foods and cutting out "wrong" foods. Also, I am incl bed to think that if you're gaining on 1500, you're not tracking food correctly (you said MFP gave you many more calories to lose. According to your stats, there no no possible way, mathematically or scientifically that you'd gain on 1500! I am 35yo, 175lbs 5'3-4" and maintain on 1700 if sedentary.So I put in my information when I started MFP again after a few years because I have gained a lot, it said I need to consume 2700 calories a day (33yrs - 5'9" - 310.8) that was on the 1st of Jan. I have been eating a lot better than I was, one cheat meal a week, but have been averaging about 1100 calories. I mean even doing a slim fast diet only gets you to 1200 calories if your following it 100%.
But my question is this. Can you eat healthy low calorie foods all day and be well nutrified without having to hit such a high calorie number? By the way Im down 23 pounds as of this morning, and I rarely feel hungry during the day. I do a bit at night right before i go to sleep but i use water to combat that.
Any advice would be great, as Im losing some weight but I want to do it safely and make sure Im not going to damage my body in the long run
Whoa! 23 pounds in as many days?!? Yikes! Slow down my friend, you're going to burn out. If you are male the minimum is actually 1500
eta: and That's just over half of what YOUR body needs. I hope you reconsider. There are a lot of complications that go with this kind of weight loss.
Im not really in a rush to lose weight, Im not really trying to "diet" either. I am trying to institue a life style change that will be a permanent part of my life. "Eat to live not live to eat" I think the only reason im losing quickly right now is because I was eating so badly for a long time. I confess that sometimes I would order two meals through a drive thru because I was that hungry. I would drink soda and sweet tea constantly and snack on unhealthy things like ice cream bars, chocolate bars, even having a huge bowl of ice cream before bed.
But now all i drink is water (except for the occasional cheat meal), and choose high protein-low sugar foods, as well as measuring out snacks and even the sandwiches I eat to get the exact calorie counts. I snack on almonds, bananas, apples, boiled eggs etc. I have even tried some of those meal replacement slim fast shakes. I track my weight every day, same time every day (and I know your not really suppose to because weight fluctuates constantly. And I have noticed if I hit over 1500 calories I gain back. thats the only reason im floating at 1200 daily.lisasimmons155 wrote: »My mfp is set at 1390 per day. Over the last 3 weeks, this being my 4th, ive noticed im eating less and less andd my actually daily in take is about 1100, however this is when im at work due to set breaks etc but come saturday nigjt and sunday i have allowed my self a choc bar so when comes to an average daily it works out at 1260 (well that was last week). I feel fine . I feel better and enjoy my food alot more.
This of course is not for everyone.
I however i make sure i eat at least 1100 a day just so my body doesnt go in to starvation mode.
Starvation mode isn't a thing, well it isn't what you're trying to describe..0 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »sketchdoll wrote: »Okay, so confused newbie here. I pretty much just joined MFP with 15-20 lbs to lose. I was a bit worried because MFP set my caloric intake to 1200 calories a day. That seemed pretty extreme, but I am aiming to lose 1lb a week. I'm 5'4" and have my setting on sedentary (I spend vast majority of my day sitting at my day job.), but I do have my Fitbit hooked up and throughout the day I'm allotted more calories to eat due to steps so sometimes I get a bit more than 1200. Does this sound right to you guys? Or should I be aiming for something higher? I haven't really been miserable, so long as I eat high-protein foods throughout the day. Then again, I've only been doing this for about a week in a half
What's your current weight at 5'4"? That is a factor too in the goal MFP gives you.
135. I would be happy to be anywhere between 115-118 though. That's where I've felt my healthiest.0 -
sketchdoll wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »sketchdoll wrote: »Okay, so confused newbie here. I pretty much just joined MFP with 15-20 lbs to lose. I was a bit worried because MFP set my caloric intake to 1200 calories a day. That seemed pretty extreme, but I am aiming to lose 1lb a week. I'm 5'4" and have my setting on sedentary (I spend vast majority of my day sitting at my day job.), but I do have my Fitbit hooked up and throughout the day I'm allotted more calories to eat due to steps so sometimes I get a bit more than 1200. Does this sound right to you guys? Or should I be aiming for something higher? I haven't really been miserable, so long as I eat high-protein foods throughout the day. Then again, I've only been doing this for about a week in a half
What's your current weight at 5'4"? That is a factor too in the goal MFP gives you.
135. I would be happy to be anywhere between 115-118 though. That's where I've felt my healthiest.
Since you are not overweight set your goal to .5 lb per week. With mfp you are supposed to eat calories earned from exercise. A lot of people only eat some of those calories to account for errors in calorie burn estimates.2 -
maillemaker wrote: »For the whole "nutrient" thing, can't you just pop a multi-vitamin? I mean one of those Penn and Teller dudes lost a bunch of weight really fast by going to like a 500-calorie-a-day diet.
I heard Penn talk about his weight loss on his podcast. He was on a medically-supervised diet because his blood pressure was so out of control that he had to be hospitalized and put on several medications. He didn't go on this diet to look better, he was treating a life-threatening medical condition.
You mean he didn't do it on McDonald's Sausage Egg McMuffins and Wendy's Double stackers? /sarcasm
@Maillemaker ~ I get that those things are tasty and you can still have them, but you really need more nutritious food to go along with it. Cutting yourself down to 500ish calories a day is not going to do you any favors. You're setting yourself up to gain back more than you lose. Trust MFP, eat the calories allotted and you're likely to find this is far more sustainable than you realize.1
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