1200 calories: How does that work?

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  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
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    Sometimes if I go over I'll log on another day so that I technically under eat the following to make-up for over eating. If it's only like 20-60 calories, it really doesn't matter. You are burning cals throughout the day doing simple things like walking and standing.
  • ThereAreManyNames
    ThereAreManyNames Posts: 54 Member
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    fb47 wrote: »
    ThereAreManyNames wrote: »
    https://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/a19543462/sylvester-stallone-rocky-diet/
    I finished reading the article on Sly Stallone, even he said it was stupid and dangerous, so I don't understand why you had to say "Side note: Sly Stallone ate around 1100 cals to lose weight back in his prime." like it's nothing. He himself said it was dangerous to the point that he "would get so lightheaded and exhausted while filming boxing rounds that he’d go to a corner and literally do a handstand to get blood flowing back into his head." (quote from the article).

    I assume you didn't mean to quote me, as I'm not the one who said that.
  • fb47
    fb47 Posts: 1,058 Member
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    ThereAreManyNames wrote: »
    fb47 wrote: »
    ThereAreManyNames wrote: »
    https://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/a19543462/sylvester-stallone-rocky-diet/
    I finished reading the article on Sly Stallone, even he said it was stupid and dangerous, so I don't understand why you had to say "Side note: Sly Stallone ate around 1100 cals to lose weight back in his prime." like it's nothing. He himself said it was dangerous to the point that he "would get so lightheaded and exhausted while filming boxing rounds that he’d go to a corner and literally do a handstand to get blood flowing back into his head." (quote from the article).

    I assume you didn't mean to quote me, as I'm not the one who said that.

    You're right, it was pinkyrose something. My message still stands, but not at you, more towards the person (pinkyrose) who mentioned Sly Stallone's 1100 calories diet.
  • PixelPuff
    PixelPuff Posts: 901 Member
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    I'm 5'2" on the dot, 101lbs average daily, about 14-15% bodyfat.

    1200 is a very important number for me... xD; My TDEE is only just over 1400. Honestly, I do still track what I eat, just very loosely. No weighing - my guesstimating is pretty spot on. So far, I've maintained my weight for a year. I do change my guesstimates day-to-day based on if I lost or gained a few pounds (never more than 4), change my diet if I'm getting super bloated, etc.

    Note; Yes, my doc okay'd this weight for me. I have an extremely small frame of 28"-23"-30".
  • PowerliftingMom
    PowerliftingMom Posts: 430 Member
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    Doing 1200 calories for over a year did some damage to my metabolism. Took me months for my body to recover. Now 2000 is my maintenance and 1600 is my deficit
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Caralarma wrote: »
    If i eat more than 1200 I don't lose weight

    How accurate is your logging of that 1200 calories? Are you using a food scale?

    Yeah - I was thinking this. That VAST majority of women can eat more than 1200 and lose weight. Maybe not as fast as we like, maybe not when eye-balling portions, but it can be done.
  • NettaMD26
    NettaMD26 Posts: 5 Member
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    It doesn't really matter, if you're varying just by a few. All of our intake and exercise are estimates anyway, and our bodies don't have a clock that clicks over at midnight to figure out how much you ate one day vs. the next.

    It can be dangerous (unhealthy) to undereat all the time (that's why the 1200 warning exists), but a little above or below doesn't matter that much. What matters is the overall pattern you set: If you eat fewer calories than you burn, on average, over quite a long period of time, you will lose weight.

    Just get close to your goal most days, and you'll be fine. But don't try to lose more than about 1% of your body weight per week (that's undereating) and more slowly is even better if you have only 25 or so pounds left to lose to your final goal weight. And, if you let MFP calculate your calorie goal, eat back at least some of your exercise calories (most people start with 50%). Monitor your results over 4-6 weeks, then adjust your calorie goal based on actual results.

    Best wishes!

    Is it ok if my calorie goal is 1200 and i get close to it everyday? For example 1147 out of 1200 or 1160 out of 1200?
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,131 Member
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    Gonna leave this one here....

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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,080 Member
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    NettaMD26 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    It doesn't really matter, if you're varying just by a few. All of our intake and exercise are estimates anyway, and our bodies don't have a clock that clicks over at midnight to figure out how much you ate one day vs. the next.

    It can be dangerous (unhealthy) to undereat all the time (that's why the 1200 warning exists), but a little above or below doesn't matter that much. What matters is the overall pattern you set: If you eat fewer calories than you burn, on average, over quite a long period of time, you will lose weight.

    Just get close to your goal most days, and you'll be fine. But don't try to lose more than about 1% of your body weight per week (that's undereating) and more slowly is even better if you have only 25 or so pounds left to lose to your final goal weight. And, if you let MFP calculate your calorie goal, eat back at least some of your exercise calories (most people start with 50%). Monitor your results over 4-6 weeks, then adjust your calorie goal based on actual results.

    Best wishes!

    Is it ok if my calorie goal is 1200 and i get close to it everyday? For example 1147 out of 1200 or 1160 out of 1200?

    Sure. But don't lose weight too fast - if, after a month or so, you're losing too fast, eat more. :)
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    pinksunnyrose wrote: »
    My bmr is 1186 at 5”3 so I have been eating around that much to lose weight the past 6-7 months.

    Side note: Sly Stallone ate around 1100 cals to lose weight back in his prime.

    Actors and other professionals are able to do this as they have entire teams of medical and fitness professionals monitoring them. The average person takes on a good deal of risk attempting to do this themselves.

    Note he also fought Apollo Creed and a good portion of the USSR. You going to attempt that?
  • DomesticKat
    DomesticKat Posts: 565 Member
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    I'm short (5'1") and at the top of a healthy BMI range. I'm not young. I'm losing vanity pounds at this point. I am also active. MFP estimates I can lose a half pound a week at 1750. In reality based on my own actual data collection and food log (yep, I use a food scale for everything) I can lose a half pound at about 2000 calories a day. If I did absolutely nothing besides sit in my bed with a bed pan under me, I could subsist on 1200 calories a day.

    I think there are a lot of reasons women choose 1200 calories. A few of them include compensating for inaccurate logging and eating more than they think, and being impatient with too aggressive of a deficit (goodbye, muscle, hello higher body fat at a healthy weight). Which is a great way to yo-yo since you're essentially starving yourself and can't stick to it for the length of time necessary to lose the weight. You don't get more street cred for sticking to 1200 calories a day when it isn't appropriate for you. And it's really only appropriate for a small percentage of women who are very short, completely sedentary, and old.

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