1200 calories a day

I was climbing the walls at 1200. Good luck if you try to do it for a full week. Hide your cats.

1200 calories is the absolute minimum MFP will assign for women. In order to lose 2 pounds a week you need a deficit of 1000 calories a day. Because you've reached the floor, it's likely that you don't have enough to lose to sustain a 2 pound a week loss and should probably be aiming for a smaller deficit.

Gibby349 wrote: »

Is there anyone who is losing weight who are surviving off of 1200 calories a day and when I say surviving I mean feeling full and satisfied .Also are you dropping two pounds a week from doing this ?

Unless you have a lot of weight to lose, like more than 50 lbs, 2 lbs per week is way too aggressive. Also please keep in mind that MFP expects you to log your exercise and eat back at least some of those calories. So even if your starting goal is 1200, you should be eating 1200 plus exercise calories.

Choose a more realistic weekly goal, use a kitchen scale and log accurately and consistently, and don't force yourself to miserable, it's not necessary!

Tried30UserNames wrote: »

I spent decades dieting at 1200 calories a day. You get used to being hungry and weak all the time after a while. And on that calorie level, with daily exercise, I usually averaged around 2 lbs lost each week (or more likely lose 1 lb one week and 3 lbs the next, repeat). But no, there was never any fullness or satiation to it.

These days, I prefer a higher calorie level and slower weight loss.

Just for clarification, when you say you spent decades doing this, you mean you would do it, gain the weight back, and then do it again, is that correct? If that's the case, it doesn't sound as if you really ever did get used to it enough to keep the weight off long term.

Gibby349 wrote: »

TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »

I was climbing the walls at 1200. Good luck if you try to do it for a full week. Hide your cats.

Explain a little more please

They're saying that they were so hungry on 1200 cals a day that they were considering eating their cats. There are plenty of people who maintain a 1200 cal a day diet. I would say the hardest thing about a 1200 cal a day diet is that you need to get used to not being full, the portion sizes are a lot smaller, but I still find them filling. it's not about being full to be satisfied. You learn to eat to not be hungry - that is enough.

I am not at 1200, I'm at 1300 - the 100 calories allows me a snack between lunch and dinner. I do not eat breakfast, and I drink 12oz of black coffee in the mornings as a filler until lunch. There are certain meals that cause me to fill up, but really it's about finding foods that do fill you up.

My day usually consists of morning coffee, lunch is close or around 200 cals (I buy prepackaged healthy choice steamers; beef merlot is tasty and 180 cals!). Midafternoon snack is usually a banana, or some dried dates (usually around 100-120 cals). If it is a good day I don't go over 400 cals until dinner, allowing me to be pretty extravagant with my remaining 900 calories.

Last night I had Pasta Aglio e Olio, which was pretty calorie dense for the portion size, but it was ridiculously good, so I'll take it.

Bad days are countered with good days of exercise. 30 mins at the gym nets me 400 cals extra, which is nice, but I usually don't eat them back.

If you're having a hard time with 1200 cals, eat more, and then work out the deficit you will need to have at the gym.

I did 1200 for a while and found that I could not:
1. drink any calories, I only ate my calories to help with fullness
2. veggies, veggies, and more veggies!
3. doing some light exercise to increase my calories a bit for the day was helpful, I can't sustain a heavy exercise routine on that intake level....at least not happily
4. eating lower carbs at that calorie target helped me stay fuller

In the end I decided I would rather lose 1lb a week and be happier along the way.

Will you lose 2 lbs doing it? That depends on your size. For me, at my starting weight, yes, but you may not be large enough for that.

One thing I dislike about MFP is it does not do a good job of actually explaining where the heck your calorie goal comes from up front. You have to take the initiative to find that information out for yourself. I advise you do because understanding it can be invaluable to your journey.

FYI, 1200 calories is generally accepted as necessary for proper nutrient intake, therefore MFP is set up so that if your input information would give you a calorie goal below that number then it will default to 1200 (for liability reasons). IMO very few people should be eating below 1200 calories/day, so I agree with this strategy. I just wish it was better explained since those who are not aware often end up misled in their expectations for weight loss, leading to alot of frustration.

This is a handy calculator that does a nice job of breaking down your energy requirements.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
BMR - basal metabolic rate - how much you burn just being alive for the day
TDEE - how much you burn in a day being alive and doing what you do on a normal day
One thing to be aware of when comparing the results for this calculator to MFP calorie goal is it sets your deficit off of a % of your calorie needs, whereas MFP sets your deficit based off of a selected amount of lbs lost/week. So the weight loss rates are not directly comparable. But, using your TDEE number from this calculator you can figure out what your loss rate should be if you eat a certain number of calories. (-1000 calories per day is 2lbs a week) You may find that you would actually have to eat less than 1200 calories/ day to lose 2 lbs a week (not advised!) and MFP just gave you that number because it bottomed out.

Hopefully that made sense, if not please feel free to ask questions.

jhildebrandt73 wrote: »

I found that as I decreased my calorie intake, I was able to "listen" to my body better. Your mind will deceive you and tell you that you want something your body doesn't need. Your brain mainly pushes for the chemical response that comes from eating sugary foods and "comfort foods". So, in essence, it is like detox. Remember we eat to live, not live to eat.

Sometimes your body is telling you to eat because it needs more fuel to do the hard work your body does for you every day. Your body needs more than nutrition, it needs calories. Without knowing OP's stats and goals, there is no way to tell whether her mind is deceiving her, or her body is asking for necessary fuel.

toxikon wrote: »

Depends on your sex, height and weight.

A 5'2" woman who only has a small amount of weight to lose could probably do fine on 1200 cals a day.

A 6'3" man would probably pass out and quickly lose all his muscle mass and feel like absolute crap.

This!

I'm 4'11 and do fine on 1200 per day. I can actually go a little less most days especially those days I don't exercise. Depends on the person. And no I do not lose 2 lbs each week consistently.

The only way to feel full and satisfied on 1200 a day is if your nutrition is on point all day -- there's basically no room for junk food (high calories but little satisfaction) or liquid calories, like alcohol. I'm just barely 5 feet tall and at a healthy weight. I can do 1200 for a few days but I always end up super hungry, even when I'm eating protein, healthy fats, veggies, etc. I bumped my calories up to 1300 and I find that much easier. That extra 100 calories makes a big difference to me!

kimny72 wrote: »

hydechildcare wrote: »

I eat between 1200-1300 calories a day. Here is how to do it with out feeling hungry. Vegs lots and lots of vegs. Limit bread, rice, potatoes and you will be fine. My doctor told me 1200-1500 calories are what women need. She also told me to limit and very small quantities of starches. Before eating the starches on my diet of 1200 calories I would be hungry all day. Now I eat most veges and protein and do not feel hungry all day.

No offense, but your doctor was wrong. There are plenty of women on here (some in their 40s and 50s, btw) who have reached their healthy goal weight and maintain on over 2000 calories a day. I'm 44, 5'4" 130 lbs and I maintain on 1800 per day and lost weight on 1500.

Not directed at you but just in general, we need to stop perpetuating this myth that all women need to be borderline hungry while eating like little fragile birds to be a healthy weight. Your body needs fuel, fat, protein, and fiber to be strong and healthy and active. And the majority of women will need more than 1200 to achieve that, even while they are trying to lose weight.

I'll get off my soapbox now

I think it depends on your body. I can not eat that many calories and lose weight. Eating meat, vegs, nuts, and high fiber bread. I fill up and feel full faster and longer than when I eat pasta and other carbs. I know that if I eat 1500 calories per day. I will feel sick from eating to much or will end up eating junk food to meat those calorie goals of 1500. It depends on your needs, like everyone else has said listen to your body. I listen to mine and this is what it is telling me from years of trying and failing. I have finally found something that works for me that I can manage with out the hungry feeling that normal is there.