Anyone else feel like 1200 cals is alot
Replies
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1200 is a good amount of calories.. for dinner.8
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Shortie0987 wrote: »And to those of you that asked I'm 5'2 and currently 224lbs.
If these are your stats you are used to eating a lot more than 1200 calories per day (I'm not trying to be mean - I'm being serious - you don't get to be 224lbs by being unable to eat 1200 calories).
as others said, either you aren't logging your food or you have cut out entire food groups - either strategy isn't great.
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1200 was the magic number MFP gave me (older/shorter/sedentary), exercise was my savior. Sticking to this number was terrible, so this is not a lot. Fast forward 5 years, I won't have to diet on 1200 calories again if I keep up my exercise and activity level.
OP if you think this is due to your previous ED, be mindful of this as sinking back into your ED patterns might be a possibility. I see it too often here in MFP that eating 1200 a lot and some are even to hit this target. Tons of threads exist on this. This is due to eating too many volume foods, wanting to lose weight quicker, jumping in feet first thinking dieting faster is better. Based on comments about the logging, you've been eating more, this is good physically, but in your mind you are under eating which is bad mentally. Keep working on this as you created this thread because of concerns. Good Luck.9 -
Are you trying to lose weight? If yes, then how did you gain weight in the first place?13
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I have 1200 calories and i find it such a struggle sometimes.
As its Easter today, i've treated myself to a small Easter egg...that was near enough 500 cals alone! 700 cals for the rest of the day, woo!
Or go for a walk and then eat back your exercise calories. Sticking to 1200 calories total is not necessary unless for someone extremely Sedentary. Are you? Or have you chosen too rapid of a weight loss goal, like 2 lbs/week when you have less than 50 lbs to lose?
You could also consider eating at maintenance today, so that you can enjoy Easter and then get back on a reasonable deficit tomorrow.6 -
Pastaprincess1978 wrote: »
Active job. When I got close to 1500 calories I found it was unsustainable for me.1 -
No. Unless you are under 5 feet tall, 1200 calories is not a lot of food. I tried it for 4 days and I couldn't deal with it. I am "lightly active" and do about 1 hour of working out per day. Maybe if you are just eating fruits and vegetables you can't reach 1200--but anything else, it is not a lot of calories.
ETA: I looked at your diary. There is NO way that is a lot of food. You are eating oatmeal for breakfast, some kind of taco for lunch, and a light dinner. None of this is "A LOT OF FOOD." I was expecting to see 20 lbs of celery or something. I think you should revisit the coping mechanisms you learned to get out of your anorexia or see a therapist. It is just NOT a lot of food if all you are eating is in your diary.7 -
Are you trying to lose weight? If yes, then how did you gain weight in the first place?
Not a wise comment in a thread where the OP has admitted a past of ED.
OP, you really need to talk to your health professional about this. Thinking 1200 is "so much food" could be pointing towards a relapse.11 -
I agree that 1200 is not a lot of food and you should probably be eating more, but without weighing your food it's hard to know how much you are eating now. Your diary has a lot of measurements in cups, "one large", "0.5 potato" etc. I suggest tightening up your logging first.
It also sounds like a good idea to reach out to your treatment team.4 -
Shortie0987 wrote: »Hi all. I am currently on 1200 cal diet and here is my issue. I am having a hard time meeting 1200 a day it seems like a lot of food. Most days I come in 100 to 200 cals under. I am trying to lessen that and only came in about 58 under yesterday. How worried do I need to be about this, I don't want to hinder my weight loss by eating too little but some days it's a lot and I dont want to just fill with empty cals. Like candy and such. Anyone else have this problem and have u still lost weight even if u are abit short some days?
1270 is not enough for me, so I swim hard and a lot so I can eat more food.3 -
Shortie0987 wrote: »I had an issue with anorexia in the past but a long time ago. Perhaps all this calorie counting is bringing some of that stuff back up again For me
Could well be. Do seek professional help.0 -
I'm newer to CICO, so definitely no expert.. But I am a mental health counsellor, and IMO, it may benefit you to seek out local external supports (dietician and mental health counsellor) to support you in this journey. The comments made leads me to believe that you MAY become at risk of following old, unhealthy patterns.6
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I always find it hard to believe that overweight people have a hard time reaching 1200 or 1500 calories when they go on diets, I mean if it were that easy you probably wouldn't have been overweight in the first place. And I don't say this to be mean, but to make people actually think about it, and seeing if it's actually true, or if they are missing something.12
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Are you trying to lose weight? If yes, then how did you gain weight in the first place?
Not a wise comment in a thread where the OP has admitted a past of ED.
OP, you really need to talk to your health professional about this. Thinking 1200 is "so much food" could be pointing towards a relapse.
Sorry, but it really annoys me when people claim it's too much food, especially when they're obese. I've had anorexia in the past, would eat <300 calories for months on end, weighed a tiny 82 lbs at one point, but still felt too big. It resulted in binge eating and massive weight gain, hence why I ended up on here.
After eating 1200 for over a year, I know it's not a lot of food. People start on here, eat 1200 for a month and say how difficult it is to eat so much food, it gets on my nerves. How did you get so big if you're struggling to eat 1200 calories?! They are obviously trying to 'eat clean', which is completely the wrong way to go about things.18 -
I always find it hard to believe that overweight people have a hard time reaching 1200 or 1500 calories when they go on diets, I mean if it were that easy you probably wouldn't have been overweight in the first place. And I don't say this to be mean, but to make people actually think about it, and seeing if it's actually true, or if they are missing something.
That was me 10 years ago though, when I first tried to diet... once you removed the calorie dense soda and chocolate and replaced some of the bread, rice, potatoes...etc with vegetables I was left with a really low amount of calories... until I got it more balanced, anyway
My (sedentary) maintenance when obese was 1900-2000 calories, roughly... so if you remove the 500 calories or so that was candy/soda, then another 300-400 that was white bread or fries... and replace that with steamed vegetables, in addition to replacing some of your regular pork and fattier/fried meat with chicken/turkey breast... let's just say it took a while to stop feeling either stuffed or starving and get my diet more balanced, with an appropriate amounts of calories
For me personally, a large part of it was due to the *types* of food (calorie dense vs low calorie) rather than the volume of food (aka candy bar vs a huge bowl of salad)
I don't restrict types of food now - but it took a while to basically re-learn how to eat5 -
i can get by on 1200 and never had an issue but i do enjoy days i get more. Food is delicious xD If your actually struggling to hit 1200 your diet is to boring and youve cut to much out. simple. If we struggled to hit 1200 wed never be fat in order to need a diet. I agree its likely your obsessive anorexia side popping its head out again excited at how little you can eat. Please dont let that side win that side is not your friend4
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netitheyeti wrote: »I always find it hard to believe that overweight people have a hard time reaching 1200 or 1500 calories when they go on diets, I mean if it were that easy you probably wouldn't have been overweight in the first place. And I don't say this to be mean, but to make people actually think about it, and seeing if it's actually true, or if they are missing something.
That was me 10 years ago though, when I first tried to diet... once you removed the calorie dense soda and chocolate and replaced some of the bread, rice, potatoes...etc with vegetables I was left with a really low amount of calories... until I got it more balanced, anyway
My (sedentary) maintenance when obese was 1900-2000 calories, roughly... so if you remove the 500 calories or so that was candy/soda, then another 300-400 that was white bread or fries... and replace that with steamed vegetables, in addition to replacing some of your regular pork and fattier/fried meat with chicken/turkey breast... let's just say it took a while to stop feeling either stuffed or starving and get my diet more balanced, with an appropriate amounts of calories
For me personally, a large part of it was due to the *types* of food (calorie dense vs low calorie) rather than the volume of food (aka candy bar vs a huge bowl of salad)
I don't restrict types of food now - but it took a while to basically re-learn how to eat
I had this issue as well. I did struggle to reach 1200 calories, sometimes. But it was because I removed all the high calorie "junk" from my diet and I was trying to replace it with veggies and chicken breasts. It took a while to learn the balance. Once I relearned how to eat and make wise food choices I had no problem hitting 1200 calories or more.
OP- I would definitely talk with your treatment team, as others said. All of this could be triggering past behaviors. Best of luck to you!!1 -
Fitnessmom82 wrote: »netitheyeti wrote: »I always find it hard to believe that overweight people have a hard time reaching 1200 or 1500 calories when they go on diets, I mean if it were that easy you probably wouldn't have been overweight in the first place. And I don't say this to be mean, but to make people actually think about it, and seeing if it's actually true, or if they are missing something.
That was me 10 years ago though, when I first tried to diet... once you removed the calorie dense soda and chocolate and replaced some of the bread, rice, potatoes...etc with vegetables I was left with a really low amount of calories... until I got it more balanced, anyway
My (sedentary) maintenance when obese was 1900-2000 calories, roughly... so if you remove the 500 calories or so that was candy/soda, then another 300-400 that was white bread or fries... and replace that with steamed vegetables, in addition to replacing some of your regular pork and fattier/fried meat with chicken/turkey breast... let's just say it took a while to stop feeling either stuffed or starving and get my diet more balanced, with an appropriate amounts of calories
For me personally, a large part of it was due to the *types* of food (calorie dense vs low calorie) rather than the volume of food (aka candy bar vs a huge bowl of salad)
I don't restrict types of food now - but it took a while to basically re-learn how to eat
I had this issue as well. I did struggle to reach 1200 calories, sometimes. But it was because I removed all the high calorie "junk" from my diet and I was trying to replace it with veggies and chicken breasts. It took a while to learn the balance. Once I relearned how to eat and make wise food choices I had no problem hitting 1200 calories or more.
OP- I would definitely talk with your treatment team, as others said. All of this could be triggering past behaviors. Best of luck to you!!
The thing about this kind of drastic change (from eating everything in sight including junk food to "clean eating" or eliminating all the junk, white carbs, fried foods...) is that not everyone can sustain it forever. So if you manage to eat 1200 calories like this, and you don't ENJOY the food, what happens a few months down the line when you get invited to a dinner or party with delicious food? Sometimes people can handle it, but if they have been depriving themselves of foods they enjoy sometimes go crazy when they reintroduce that food.0 -
lucerorojo wrote: »Fitnessmom82 wrote: »netitheyeti wrote: »I always find it hard to believe that overweight people have a hard time reaching 1200 or 1500 calories when they go on diets, I mean if it were that easy you probably wouldn't have been overweight in the first place. And I don't say this to be mean, but to make people actually think about it, and seeing if it's actually true, or if they are missing something.
That was me 10 years ago though, when I first tried to diet... once you removed the calorie dense soda and chocolate and replaced some of the bread, rice, potatoes...etc with vegetables I was left with a really low amount of calories... until I got it more balanced, anyway
My (sedentary) maintenance when obese was 1900-2000 calories, roughly... so if you remove the 500 calories or so that was candy/soda, then another 300-400 that was white bread or fries... and replace that with steamed vegetables, in addition to replacing some of your regular pork and fattier/fried meat with chicken/turkey breast... let's just say it took a while to stop feeling either stuffed or starving and get my diet more balanced, with an appropriate amounts of calories
For me personally, a large part of it was due to the *types* of food (calorie dense vs low calorie) rather than the volume of food (aka candy bar vs a huge bowl of salad)
I don't restrict types of food now - but it took a while to basically re-learn how to eat
I had this issue as well. I did struggle to reach 1200 calories, sometimes. But it was because I removed all the high calorie "junk" from my diet and I was trying to replace it with veggies and chicken breasts. It took a while to learn the balance. Once I relearned how to eat and make wise food choices I had no problem hitting 1200 calories or more.
OP- I would definitely talk with your treatment team, as others said. All of this could be triggering past behaviors. Best of luck to you!!
The thing about this kind of drastic change (from eating everything in sight including junk food to "clean eating" or eliminating all the junk, white carbs, fried foods...) is that not everyone can sustain it forever. So if you manage to eat 1200 calories like this, and you don't ENJOY the food, what happens a few months down the line when you get invited to a dinner or party with delicious food? Sometimes people can handle it, but if they have been depriving themselves of foods they enjoy sometimes go crazy when they reintroduce that food.
So true!! I managed to find the balance but it definitely was not easy to learn how to do things the right way. It was an eye opener for sure. Very easy to see how so many people deprive themselves, struggle and then go right back to old habits. Fortunately for me, I do have a lot of discipline and once I learned moderation it worked out for me. I finally learned that I can have some cookies, not all the cookies. Hard to break that all or nothing mentality!1 -
Sorry, but it really annoys me when people claim it's too much food, especially when they're obese. I've had anorexia in the past, would eat <300 calories for months on end, weighed a tiny 82 lbs at one point, but still felt too big. It resulted in binge eating and massive weight gain, hence why I ended up on here.
After eating 1200 for over a year, I know it's not a lot of food. People start on here, eat 1200 for a month and say how difficult it is to eat so much food, it gets on my nerves. How did you get so big if you're struggling to eat 1200 calories?! They are obviously trying to 'eat clean', which is completely the wrong way to go about things.
When I first started my weight loss journey, I went from eating over 3000 calories to eating under 1200; and yes, I did actually struggle to eat that much.
It was because my entire psychology and relationship with food had completely changed. Suddenly I just wasn’t hungry. It took time to get past that initial phase and settle into something more sustainable.
So it gets on my nerves when people get salty with dieters who are now struggling to eat enough.12 -
1200 calories only feels like "a lot" if you're very sedentary lol
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I think I'd be so hangry, I'd start eating people if I was restricted to 1200. That's really not very much food3
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I also have had an ED (eating disorder). But also for me lately I find I am eating healthier/lower calorie foods so I feel full faster because I am eating MORE as far as mass or size. Like one burger vs a huge salad. The salad is less calories but more filling. Did you change what you're eating and if so could that be part of it also?0
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I lost my weight up till now (19 lbs) on 1230/day. It’s what MyFitnessPal gave me to lose a pound/week. I’m older, 5’2” and lightly active. I switched to a half pound a week a couple days ago, which gave me more calories but I’m finding that I’m comfortable somewhere in between the two numbers.0
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Yes. I'd stick to around 700 or 800 if I didn't get hell for it here.6
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Shortie0987 wrote: »Hi all. I am currently on 1200 cal diet and here is my issue. I am having a hard time meeting 1200 a day it seems like a lot of food. Most days I come in 100 to 200 cals under. I am trying to lessen that and only came in about 58 under yesterday. How worried do I need to be about this, I don't want to hinder my weight loss by eating too little but some days it's a lot and I dont want to just fill with empty cals. Like candy and such. Anyone else have this problem and have u still lost weight even if u are abit short some days?
I had this problem too and had people going crazy at me saying how I must be logging things incorrectly etc! What it came down to is everything, yes calories matter but look at the breakdown, are you getting the nutrients you need? Are you logging drinks?
I don’t eat much, but I drank a lot of calories, cutting them out before I even started working out I lost a lot of weight and stopped gaining weight!
Some tips someone gave me if you’re eating so little and finding it hard to stick to or finding no weight loss
Put 5 hours between meals, 2 hours after eating at least to workout.
Anorexia usually comes with an obsession with calories, so what’s best for you is most likely to stop counting calories, just cut down on stuff that isn’t a necessary.
Eat normally but with a few tips
Cook from scratch (no pre cooked or pre made)
Cut out cokes etc
Switch snacks to something healthier, sometimes your body just wants something, so instead of giving your body chocolate try some fruit.
For now ignore calories just concentrate on putting more good stuff into your body, I do recommend a therapist for the anorexica so you’re able to overcome the obsession with calories and develop a better relationship with food!8 -
If you think 1200 is a lot... What were you eating before you were counting calories? Lol. How did you get to the point where you wanted to lose weight, if you think 1200 is so much?1
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