Why 1200 minimum??

drockncrisso · May 2018

I’m frustrated by a plateau. I’ve used this app before to lose weight- so I know how to do it. This current plateau has me beyond frustrated- but I’m wondering if I can just drop my calories below 1200- here is my logic. They say not to go under 1200 if you’re a woman- but at my height and weight- my BMR is 1427. Another woman with the same BMI, but 4 inches taller than me (therefore average height) would have a BMR of 1560! If this More average woman eats 1200- she’s getting a deficit of 360 a day, while I only get a 227 deficit a day. This adds up significantly over a week. Why can’t a smaller person drop down to 1000 a day?

lynn_glenmont · May 2018

Your deficit isn't calculated off your BMR, which is what you would burn if you lay in bed motionless 24 hours a day. Your deficit is calculated off of your TDEE, which, if you're sedentary, is around 1780 kcal PLUS any calories you burn doing intentional exercise.

If you were so small that your TDEE were 1427, you would be so small that losing more than a half pound a week would put too much stress on your body. That's why.

heybales · May 2018

You can totally.

Just don't expect to Finish your Food Diary - which really has no big negative except you don't get a wall post say such.
Big whoop in the scheme of things - you haven't told your friend's list you are done eating for the day, and potentially foolishly underate by a big amount where they almost all cheer you on anyway because they don't actually look or know.

Manually set a calorie goal - get your nutrients in - weigh your food since so little room for inaccuracy - and go at it.

And probably figure out how to be Lightly Active instead of Sedentary in daily life so you actually do burn more.

To that point, most people even with a 45 hr deskjob/commute are Lightly Active if you have a family/pets and household duties to attend to.
Sedentary is truly a bump on the log after work AND all weekend long. Watching TV, or playing video games, or on the computer.

And that low calorie goal is ONLY on days you don't exercise - MFP works by having you eat more when you actually do more - and still create a deficit to lose weight.

So use the tool correctly, you may infrequently actually eat under 1200 anyway if used right.

KellyEdwards85 · May 2018

Why would you want to drop to 1000 calories a day? Ask yourself, do you plan on eating this way for the rest of your life? It is not sustainable nor enjoyable. Unfortunately people see this a temporary fix, when it is really a lifestyle change.

cwolfman13 · May 2018

drockncrisso wrote: »

I’m frustrated by a plateau. I’ve used this app before to lose weight- so I know how to do it. This current plateau has me beyond frustrated- but I’m wondering if I can just drop my calories below 1200- here is my logic. They say not to go under 1200 if you’re a woman- but at my height and weight- my BMR is 1427. Another woman with the same BMI, but 4 inches taller than me (therefore average height) would have a BMR of 1560! If this More average woman eats 1200- she’s getting a deficit of 360 a day, while I only get a 227 deficit a day. This adds up significantly over a week. Why can’t a smaller person drop down to 1000 a day?

Your deficit isn't from your BMR...your deficit is from your TDEE or in the case of MFP, your NEAT. BMR is the calories you burn merely being alive...I'm sure you do more than simply exist.

Example...my BMR is around 1800 calories. I obviously do more than exist...I go about my day to day and do some exercise regularly. My TDEE (maintenance calories are anywhere from 2800-3000 depending...that means if I eat around 2300 - 2500 calories per day, I'll lose about 1 Lb per week...well above my BMR.

peleroja · May 2018

The thing about dropping your calories that low, even if you're a small, sedentary woman for whom it would not be a large deficit, is that it is really difficult to get appropriate nutrition from so few calories. It requires very careful attention to both micro- and macro-nutrients and there is very little room for error or for treats, and that can get very wearing after a while. If a 1/2 cup serving of quality ice cream or a flavoured latte is 250 calories and you are on 1000/day, that means if you want just one, you only have 750 calories for the whole rest of your day, and that is going to be incredibly difficult to get appropriate nutrition from.

From a purely weight-loss perspective, if your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is, say, only 1600/day, which is not uncommon from a small, sedentary woman, then 1000/day wouldn't be much more than a pound a week loss. However, trying to do this and also take care of your nutritional needs for your health, rather than just your weight, and get enough vitamin, minerals, protein, and fat is going to be really challenging.

Unfortunately, women who are short/relatively light are better off either creating a larger deficit through exercise or resigning themselves to a slower rate of loss. It's just one of those things, along with never getting to eat as much as our larger friends, that we have to live with.

tinkerbellang83 · May 2018

If your BMR is 1427, your NEAT maintenance at Sedentary per MFP's settings is 1783 (BMR x 1.25), at 1200 calories you'd be in a deficit of 583 calories per day, which should give you an average of just over a pound per week loss.

At the stats you are likely to be based on your BMR/ comment about being 4 inches less than average you shouldn't be aiming for more than 1lb per week loss, as you're not far from a healthy BMI range.

If you aren't losing weight, you probably aren't logging accurately:

drockncrisso · May 2018

Got tested- looks like I have hypothyroid- MD is prescribing meds.

TynaBaby17 · May 2018

I plateaued for 3 weeks. A fitness trainer friend recommended adding BACK 200-300 calories a day fr a week. She said sometimes the body gets tired of being in deficit for so long and can hold on to weight harder and adding back calories jump starts hormones to trigger weight loss again.
I added back in 250 calories a day for a week and after that started loosing again. I lost 3.5 pound sin the next two weeks.

It sounds like woo, I agree, but it worked, so maybe try it, I don't know. Health Science is always kind of bogus lol

drockncrisso · May 2018

I’ve heard this before. It sounds too good to be true! I mean- I HATE eating around 1200. Lol, but considering how many people are telling me to up my calorie intake, I guess I should try it for a week, I certainly won’t mind the extra food

and clearly week after week after week of low low cal isn’t working.

heybales · May 2018

TynaBaby17 wrote: »

I plateaued for 3 weeks. A fitness trainer friend recommended adding BACK 200-300 calories a day fr a week. She said sometimes the body gets tired of being in deficit for so long and can hold on to weight harder and adding back calories jump starts hormones to trigger weight loss again.
I added back in 250 calories a day for a week and after that started loosing again. I lost 3.5 pound sin the next two weeks.

It sounds like woo, I agree, but it worked, so maybe try it, I don't know. Health Science is always kind of bogus lol

The hormones will get messed up being in a deficit for too long, and eating at maintenance or bunch of carbs can help with that - whole thread on refeeds for that matter.

What happened for you probably is body was under stress from extreme deficit, and slowed itself down, which is first response of adapting. Increased stress also water weight.
That made you burn less, so less deficit, and increased water.
More food unstressed and lost water weight, and made you more active.

It's not that it's holding on to weight harder, not sure where that idea comes from. Even the hormone changes are about possibly making you eat more, or move less, to compensate.

MJsStory · May 2018

drockncrisso wrote: »

Got tested- looks like I have hypothyroid- MD is prescribing meds.

Make sure your doctor checks your vitamin D levels. Most doctors don’t and your body can’t process the thyroid hormones prescribed without it.

My doctor has me on 1000-1100 calories each day. It is easily sustainable for me as I have a lot of food allergies that mean what I am not allergic to is typically lower in calories. I can go up to 1400 calories on special occasions. My doctor tracks my micros and macros, does blood work, and we watch how I feel to make sure it works for me. My body just runs a little differently so we adjust. Our end goal is to increase my exercise and this increase my calories along with it. It’s been a slow process but for the first time since my thyroid diagnosis I am losing weight

Why 1200 minimum??

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