Is it really possible to only eat 1200cal per day?

It is possible. But depending on what you're eating at the moment, you might need to change drasticly your eating habits. Eating out will be hard (very hard), you'll have to give up all the proccessed food, you'll have to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, you'll have to cut lots of fat (butter, dessert and so on) and carbs and you'll have to portion size. But it's a process and knowing what we actually eat and what we pu into our bodies is an important knowledge. My first advice would be to cook. My second one is to workout (you can then earn some calories back). You might also want to change your goals and start at 1500 cals for a couple of days/weeks. Good luck!

Never eat less than 1200 a day or you'll be ravenous the next day. I stay under 1670 a day (anything more and I won't loose any weight) but I can quite easily stay around the 1200 mark now, in fact I find myself adding snacks to take me up to it. Which is brilliant. It's very hard at first and I wa so hungry! You've just got to want it and push through. Drink lots of water and moderate your portion sizes, that's what cut mine down drastically. I started eating real 1 person portions. I used a little plate rather than big dinner plates, you can't fit more than 300 cals on those if you eat none junk. I can fit 700cals on a big plate easily (pasta filling a big plate is nearly 700cals, my chicken, baked beans and potatos on a big plate was 500cals!) but it simply won't fit on a small plate and because it's so full it looks like a lot too.

It's possible but it definitely takes some getting used to and a lot of dietary changes.

And if your goal is set to 1200 you pretty much have to eat all of your exercise calories back to avoid a plateau.

I would suggest re evaluating your setting. If the site gave you 1200 the you probably plugged in a goal of 2 lbs per week with your activity level as sedentary.

And really unless you are sitting behind a desk or a computer all day you can probably get away with bumping up to lightly active or moderately active.

I think I have mine set to 1.5 a week and lightly active since I'm on my feet at my job and I get 1500 a day which, unless I eat bad food is more than enough and I eat back a good portion of my exercise calories and lately the weight has been melting off, like 1.5 - 2 lbs a week even with a cheat meal here and there.

It is challenging at first but now I have trouble some days completing 1200! I love to eat and so eat lots of vegetables that are low calorie and fresh fruit. I seldom feel really hungry when except when I let too many hours pass without eating something. I try to eat 3 meals and a couple of small snacks each day. You can do it!

... I was like, am I really a pig? I can easily eat 1500cal perday.

I'm sure you're not a pig, or anything like a pig. (Actually, I suspect that real pigs aren't "pigs" either, not in the sense of being natural overeaters.) It's kind of a matter of what you get used to. A few months ago, I don't know how many daily calories I was eating (since I didn't track food then), but from the rate at which I was gaining weight, I suspect it was north of 3500 cal/day.

I believe the 1200 cal/day that MFP is saying you should eat is NET calories. Be sure to track your exercise along with your food. Unless you're doing nothing at all, I bet you get more than 1200/day to eat, when your exercise is taken into account.

Myself, I'm being advised by a nutritionist, who instructed me to eat 1800 cal/day, total, and to exercise the way I told her I do ... which comes out to 1200 - 1400 per day, net. Of course, I'm not just tracking calories, as she also gave me explicit maximums on fat grams, carb grams, and (loosely) on protein.

Activity is key. Some days I don't quite make it even to 1200/day, total ... and I mostly don't feel hungry. Give it a chance ... you can do it!

If you're still really hungry, try varying your diet, and eating foods that will fill you up, rather than just use up empty calories.

When I started low fat yogurts and carrots helped. Stick with it and exercise - I've used walking. It let's you eat more and makes it realistic. If you know you have something coming up - do some exercise and get those calories in the can.. Good luck.

how do you look at other people's food diaries for ideas?

Add them as a friend and if they have allowed theyr diary to be visible to friend u can see what they eat. Add me if u like

From what I've seen and heard here on MFP, everyone starts out with a 1200 calorie limit. Depending on how much you currently weigh and your activity level, you may need a higher calorie limit. I changed mine when I started because I have been on maintenance for a few years and should be eating about 1600-1700 calories a day or more due to my activity level. I weigh 122#, but am pretty active. When I started on this journey I weighed205# and was on the old Slim Fast Optima program. I started out at something like 1800 calories. I lost at a good pace and became more active as I went along. Some days now I eat 1500 or more calories and some days 1200 or a little under. Veggies don't have alot of calories, so I get full on them and my calories are low. I am usually more hungry the next day then. You have to find what works for you, but maybe up your calorie limit.

Yeah, it's very possible but sometimes it takes time to get used to a lower intake. My first couple months on here I ate 1100-1200 cals every day; now I eat more, with the exception of certain days or moods. Eating lean protein can help you stay full with a lower amount of calories. The times I eat around that I'm usually eating tuna, egg whites, chicken, vegetables, peanut butter, unsalted pretzels, etc. And at least 12 cups of water. The water *really* helps to curb my intake.