Will a 1200 calorie diet initially do any damage?
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PoppyFlower1
Posts: 62 Member
I’m following a Rosemary Conley diet plan which features a 1200 ‘jump start’ to the plan and then 1500 cals. MFP actually says for me to eat 1200 cals per day but I have around 60lbs to lose and this seems too low. If I start on 1200 and then increase to 1500 will my metabolism slow? X
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Replies
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No, but your body doesn't need a "jump start" either. I'm guessing if MFP is giving you 1200 your deficit might be too aggressive. Are you at 2lbs/week? You may want to drop it to 1lb/week.16
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Why not just use MFP's guided setup to create your calorie goal? It will calculate your approximate TDEE and set a deficit based on your preferred rate of loss (.5 - 2lbs lost per week).9
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MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »No, but your body doesn't need a "jump start" either. I'm guessing if MFP is giving you 1200 your deficit might be too aggressive. Are you at 2lbs/week? You may want to drop it to 1lb/week.
Yeah it is 1200 cals for a -2lb a week loss. It does seem too low though. I’m 5ft 7, 232lbs, and an RN so lightly active on some days but mostly sedentary.
What is the definition of lightly active? On work days I do 10,000 steps but I also do a lot of activity that isn’t steps. For example, washing patients, moving patients up and around the bed, transferring patients, cleaning bedspaces, moving equipment or pushing beds, and standing for procedures like putting in an NG or catheter. These are all activity based stuff but might not show up on my step count. I work 3 13 hour shifts per week. What would my activity level be?2 -
PoppyFlower1 wrote: »MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »No, but your body doesn't need a "jump start" either. I'm guessing if MFP is giving you 1200 your deficit might be too aggressive. Are you at 2lbs/week? You may want to drop it to 1lb/week.
Yeah it is 1200 cals for a -2lb a week loss. It does seem too low though. I’m 5ft 7, 232lbs, and an RN so lightly active on some days but mostly sedentary.
What is the definition of lightly active? On work days I do 10,000 steps but I also do a lot of activity that isn’t steps. For example, washing patients, moving patients up and around the bed, transferring patients, cleaning bedspaces, moving equipment or pushing beds, and standing for procedures like putting in an NG or catheter. These are all activity based stuff but might not show up on my step count. I work 3 13 hour shifts per week. What would my activity level be?
I'm an RN as well, work days are definitely active not lightly active.14 -
BeccaLoves2lift wrote: »PoppyFlower1 wrote: »MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »No, but your body doesn't need a "jump start" either. I'm guessing if MFP is giving you 1200 your deficit might be too aggressive. Are you at 2lbs/week? You may want to drop it to 1lb/week.
Yeah it is 1200 cals for a -2lb a week loss. It does seem too low though. I’m 5ft 7, 232lbs, and an RN so lightly active on some days but mostly sedentary.
What is the definition of lightly active? On work days I do 10,000 steps but I also do a lot of activity that isn’t steps. For example, washing patients, moving patients up and around the bed, transferring patients, cleaning bedspaces, moving equipment or pushing beds, and standing for procedures like putting in an NG or catheter. These are all activity based stuff but might not show up on my step count. I work 3 13 hour shifts per week. What would my activity level be?
I'm an RN as well, work days are definitely active not lightly active.
Thanks I work on a well staffed unit though so it’s really variable for me. One day for example a patient arrested so I was literally running to get equipment running around and then went with the patient and team to theatres, holding heavy equipment and then running back and catching up with my regular work.....I will have burned calories that day. But then the next day everyone might be stable and it’s not that demanding. I always never know what to class it as. Or is it better to not count the activity at all? X0 -
I have lost 108 pounds since July 2017. At first I did a lot of 1200 calorie days. I found it possible by eating lots of lentil soup. In order to satisfy my need to eat a lot of bites (I love to feel full) this was the best way for me. If you only have this few calories you have to eat super clean in my experience in order to feel satisfied. It requires a lot of discipline, but the results come QUICK.21
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If you set your goal to loose 2 pounds a week then 1200 calories is about right. It does this becasue you need to have a calorie deficit of 7000 at the end of every week in order to loose 2 pounds every week.
2 pounds a week is pretty aggressive for starting out, I would change your goal to 1.5 pounds a week or even just 1 pound a week. This will increase your amount of calories per day and make it more likely for you to reach your goal.
You can also exercise to allow for more calories a day. So if you burn 300 calories a day from exercise you would be able to eat 1500 instead of 1200.
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RaymondKnight wrote: »I have lost 108 pounds since July 2017. At first I did a lot of 1200 calorie days. I found it possible by eating lots of lentil soup. In order to satisfy my need to eat a lot of bites (I love to feel full) this was the best way for me. If you only have this few calories you have to eat super clean in my experience in order to feel satisfied. It requires a lot of discipline, but the results come QUICK.
Why were you undereating? Did you at least make it up on other days?8 -
I know how tempting a low calorie diet is with its fast results. But think of your long term. Eating at a major deficit for long periods of time will seriously impact your metabolism. Remember all the contestants of the biggest loser? Me neither, there's a reason we don't have any reunions or anything. They gain all theweight back because their diets weren't sustainable, and their metabolisms were so screwed that they just gained more without being able to lose it again.
Keep your long terms goal in mind. I'm no nutritionist, but there are a lot of studies on this. It's your body, you know it best, but please be careful.
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MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »RaymondKnight wrote: »I have lost 108 pounds since July 2017. At first I did a lot of 1200 calorie days. I found it possible by eating lots of lentil soup. In order to satisfy my need to eat a lot of bites (I love to feel full) this was the best way for me. If you only have this few calories you have to eat super clean in my experience in order to feel satisfied. It requires a lot of discipline, but the results come QUICK.
Why were you undereating? Did you at least make it up on other days?
My MFP recommendation was 1740 calories per day to lose 2 pounds per week. I never made these calories back up -and on top of it I did cardio (stairs) every day for 1 hour. This massive deficit is how I was able to lose 3.5-4 lbs per week. It wasn't easy - but my body was fine. And as a 5'11" man, having low calorie days (1200-1300) wasn't anything that caused me harm. (Just mental harm at times, because it's hard psychologically, lol)20 -
RaymondKnight wrote: »MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »RaymondKnight wrote: »I have lost 108 pounds since July 2017. At first I did a lot of 1200 calorie days. I found it possible by eating lots of lentil soup. In order to satisfy my need to eat a lot of bites (I love to feel full) this was the best way for me. If you only have this few calories you have to eat super clean in my experience in order to feel satisfied. It requires a lot of discipline, but the results come QUICK.
Why were you undereating? Did you at least make it up on other days?
My MFP recommendation was 1740 calories per day to lose 2 pounds per week. I never made these calories back up -and on top of it I did cardio (stairs) every day for 1 hour. This massive deficit is how I was able to lose 3.5-4 lbs per week. It wasn't easy - but my body was fine. And as a 5'11" man, having low calorie days (1200-1300) wasn't anything that caused me harm. (Just mental harm at times, because it's hard psychologically, lol)
3.5-4lbs a week is not healthy loss for anyone under 300lbs. A lot of muscle mass gets lost with that kind of super aggressive deficit. There's a reason for certain guidelines and minimum calorie intakes.16 -
LiveLoveKeto wrote: »I know how tempting a low calorie diet is with its fast results. But think of your long term. Eating at a major deficit for long periods of time will seriously impact your metabolism. Remember all the contestants of the biggest loser? Me neither, there's a reason we don't have any reunions or anything. They gain all theweight back because their diets weren't sustainable, and their metabolisms were so screwed that they just gained more without being able to lose it again.
Keep your long terms goal in mind. I'm no nutritionist, but there are a lot of studies on this. It's your body, you know it best, but please be careful.
@LiveLoveKeto & @PoppyFlower1
Being almost 54 I can tell you I've tried just about every diet out there (except Keto). I have always gained it back because my long term vision was no right. You are correct in that if you lose it too fast your weight will return because the diet plan is not sustainable. One (1) pound per week is perfect for an ultimate lifetime sustainable goal. You will feel better while dieting at the same time. Also if you have a Fitbit or some other step app connect it to MFP so it can track your steps and allow you to eat a few more calories during the day to feel fuller. 7 -
slowly losing is best for most people, unless of course there are serious health reasons. It's also more sustainable as a lot of people start the hit plateaus earlier or have blips or start researching cheat days
no jump start required, log and weigh your food when you start , exercise if you like, lift if you like
food is fuel, you need a certain amount to survive but everybody needs a different amount. What you require to lose weight will be determined by good logging and being patient
good luck1 -
RaymondKnight wrote: »I have lost 108 pounds since July 2017. At first I did a lot of 1200 calorie days. I found it possible by eating lots of lentil soup. In order to satisfy my need to eat a lot of bites (I love to feel full) this was the best way for me. If you only have this few calories you have to eat super clean in my experience in order to feel satisfied. It requires a lot of discipline, but the results come QUICK.RaymondKnight wrote: »I have lost 108 pounds since July 2017. At first I did a lot of 1200 calorie days. I found it possible by eating lots of lentil soup. In order to satisfy my need to eat a lot of bites (I love to feel full) this was the best way for me. If you only have this few calories you have to eat super clean in my experience in order to feel satisfied. It requires a lot of discipline, but the results come QUICK.
Thankyou, do you have the recipe for your lentil soup at all? I love lentils so this sounds yum5 -
From all the replies and information given in response to your question, the only thing you commented on was the lentil soup diet...*smh*
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PoppyFlower1 wrote: »RaymondKnight wrote: »I have lost 108 pounds since July 2017. At first I did a lot of 1200 calorie days. I found it possible by eating lots of lentil soup. In order to satisfy my need to eat a lot of bites (I love to feel full) this was the best way for me. If you only have this few calories you have to eat super clean in my experience in order to feel satisfied. It requires a lot of discipline, but the results come QUICK.RaymondKnight wrote: »I have lost 108 pounds since July 2017. At first I did a lot of 1200 calorie days. I found it possible by eating lots of lentil soup. In order to satisfy my need to eat a lot of bites (I love to feel full) this was the best way for me. If you only have this few calories you have to eat super clean in my experience in order to feel satisfied. It requires a lot of discipline, but the results come QUICK.
Thankyou, do you have the recipe for your lentil soup at all? I love lentils so this sounds yum
Seriously, that’s all the advice you took - undereating - instead of lowering your loss to 1 lb a week to make the process sustainable and increase your chances of success?20 -
I imagine if you were to set your stats to "active" you'd get quite a few more calories to work with. You can still eat lots of lentil soup that way.
eta for comparison:
I'm a retired, middle-aged, post-menopausal, very non-active, no thyroid, 5'7" woman and I can eat an average of 1800 calories per day (it's never the same for me but that is an average) and I've lost 19 pounds in 2 months. I did start at a higher weight ... 274.2 and I'm now 255 if that helps.
1200 calories is so little food, especially at your height and for your kind of career. I would definitely hike up the activity stat.
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PoppyFlower1 wrote: »BeccaLoves2lift wrote: »PoppyFlower1 wrote: »MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »No, but your body doesn't need a "jump start" either. I'm guessing if MFP is giving you 1200 your deficit might be too aggressive. Are you at 2lbs/week? You may want to drop it to 1lb/week.
Yeah it is 1200 cals for a -2lb a week loss. It does seem too low though. I’m 5ft 7, 232lbs, and an RN so lightly active on some days but mostly sedentary.
What is the definition of lightly active? On work days I do 10,000 steps but I also do a lot of activity that isn’t steps. For example, washing patients, moving patients up and around the bed, transferring patients, cleaning bedspaces, moving equipment or pushing beds, and standing for procedures like putting in an NG or catheter. These are all activity based stuff but might not show up on my step count. I work 3 13 hour shifts per week. What would my activity level be?
I'm an RN as well, work days are definitely active not lightly active.
Thanks I work on a well staffed unit though so it’s really variable for me. One day for example a patient arrested so I was literally running to get equipment running around and then went with the patient and team to theatres, holding heavy equipment and then running back and catching up with my regular work.....I will have burned calories that day. But then the next day everyone might be stable and it’s not that demanding. I always never know what to class it as. Or is it better to not count the activity at all? X
I'd get a Fitbit or similar tracking device if your daily activity is that inconsistent. If that isn't possible, then try setting your daily activity to lightly active and hope those active days offset the less active days. You can always adjust your calorie goal based on how much you are losing a week5 -
PoppyFlower1 wrote: »MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »No, but your body doesn't need a "jump start" either. I'm guessing if MFP is giving you 1200 your deficit might be too aggressive. Are you at 2lbs/week? You may want to drop it to 1lb/week.
Yeah it is 1200 cals for a -2lb a week loss. It does seem too low though. I’m 5ft 7, 232lbs, and an RN so lightly active on some days but mostly sedentary.
What is the definition of lightly active? On work days I do 10,000 steps but I also do a lot of activity that isn’t steps. For example, washing patients, moving patients up and around the bed, transferring patients, cleaning bedspaces, moving equipment or pushing beds, and standing for procedures like putting in an NG or catheter. These are all activity based stuff but might not show up on my step count. I work 3 13 hour shifts per week. What would my activity level be?
My understanding is that 10,000 steps is the threshold for "active". 1200 calories is a terrible idea for someone as active as you. You may feel perfectly fine- until you don't- and you will burn a lot of lean muscle mass 7 -
PoppyFlower1 wrote: »MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »No, but your body doesn't need a "jump start" either. I'm guessing if MFP is giving you 1200 your deficit might be too aggressive. Are you at 2lbs/week? You may want to drop it to 1lb/week.
Yeah it is 1200 cals for a -2lb a week loss. It does seem too low though. I’m 5ft 7, 232lbs, and an RN so lightly active on some days but mostly sedentary.
What is the definition of lightly active? On work days I do 10,000 steps but I also do a lot of activity that isn’t steps. For example, washing patients, moving patients up and around the bed, transferring patients, cleaning bedspaces, moving equipment or pushing beds, and standing for procedures like putting in an NG or catheter. These are all activity based stuff but might not show up on my step count. I work 3 13 hour shifts per week. What would my activity level be?
My understanding is that 10,000 steps is the threshold for "active". 1200 calories is a terrible idea for someone as active as you. You may feel perfectly fine- until you don't- and you will burn a lot of lean muscle mass
Thankyou, I didn’t realise the threshold for active was so low so if I’m classed as active that makes a big difference to my calorie allowance. I thought active would be someone that runs a few miles a day etc.
Sorry if I haven’t replied to all messages I’m on my phone and reading while shopping otherwise would have thanked everyone xx
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