1200 calorie diet

Is anyone else having a hard time managing a 1200 cal/day diet? I seem to be hungry all the time and have a hard time hitting my daily macros (30g fiber, and 60 g protein) and stay within 1200 calorie limit. I can eat a ton of vegetables and then I am hungry and hour later. I am 5'2-1/2" and need to lose 30 lbs.

Replies

  • LaurenMT96
    LaurenMT96 Posts: 184 Member
    My diet is around 1200-1300 cal 4 days per week, on these days i manage 90 - 110g of protein, message me if you like.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    If you are hungry that soon after your meals then try adding some protein and fat to them to go with the veggies.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    Don’t be afraid to eat more when you are hungry. Finding more ways to increase your protein likely will help. Greek yogurt is your friend on protein. I personally don’t care for the texture of it eating it straight, but I have found using it to cook with helps a lot in my protein goal. I don’t worry about fiber as much, but I do try to keep my macro percentages in balance.
  • smolmaus
    smolmaus Posts: 442 Member
    5'2" here also, I can do 1200kcal/ day but it's not nice and I can't do it for very long before I snap and eat anything that isn't tied down. There's virtually no room for "fun food" in 1200kcal and I don't think there's a lot of people who can keep going that way for any real length of time.

    Think about just eating more, is my advice. You could try for more protein, I find that keeps me satisfied, though of course everyone is different. You could benefit from some more fat. Have a play about and see, that's a great benefit of a food diary, spotting patterns.
  • Running2Fit
    Running2Fit Posts: 702 Member
    I generally eat between 1200-1300 calories a day (workout days are different). Learning how to time my meals was important. It’s different for everyone but I typically have a big breakfast and dinner with a small lunch. Carbs are important for me to stay full.

    If you are really struggling though, don’t be afraid to up your daily calories. Yes, you may lose more slowly but it will be more sustainable and lead to more long term success.
  • brynna24
    brynna24 Posts: 7 Member
    i also get 1200 cals a day. i am 5'4'', 130-135 lbs, give or take. i'd like to be at 120, but i am more concerned about muscle building and flab reduction. i exercise about 6 days a week, anywhere between 300-600 calorie burn. should i be eating my activity calories plus my 1200 calories? so, 1800 calories with exercise or so? i heard somewhere you need a 1000 calorie defict to lose weight...not sure exactly what i should be doing. any advice would help.
    also, to add on to the hunger issue with 1200 cals...i dont find myself hungry. i eat a lot of protein, and eggs. lots of leafy greens and fruit. if i feel hungry, i have a handful of almonds and water. :)
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    Are you set to 2 lbs per week? With 30 lbs to lose, 1 lb is more realistic. Also remember you are supposed to log your exercise and eat back at least some of those calories. Losing faster doesn't help if it makes you miserable and you quit.

    I was never able to go much lower than 1500 on a regular basis
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    LaurenMT96 wrote: »
    My diet is around 1200-1300 cal 4 days per week, on these days i manage 90 - 110g of protein, message me if you like.

    What happens on the other 3 days?
  • I am hoping eventually my body will adjust to less calories If I up my protein I seem to go over 1200 calories (even with eggs, fish and chicken). This diet certainly doesn't leave any room for wine or "fun foods". Going to try the sugar free jello when I get hungry.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    i eat 1200 a day (or thereabouts) eat what i want (make it fit in my calorie goals or just be over) and have lost 120 pounds.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    edited January 2019
    Are you logging your exercise and eating those calories too?

    I’m an inch and a half taller than you and 1200 NET is where I am to lose less than a pound a week. But I NET 1200-meaning I log my exercise and eat those calories. So I’m eating an average of 1600 or so.
  • No I haven't been eating back my exercise calories. Due to some spinal stenosis, I am having to ease back into exercise. So not enough yet to eat back. Working up to it.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    what rate of loss did you select?
  • endermako
    endermako Posts: 785 Member
    Your rate of loss per week is probably too high. Change how much you want to lose per week and you can eat more.
  • I chose a 1lb/week weight loss and it comes up 1210 calories/day
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Is anyone else having a hard time managing a 1200 cal/day diet? I seem to be hungry all the time and have a hard time hitting my daily macros (30g fiber, and 60 g protein) and stay within 1200 calorie limit. I can eat a ton of vegetables and then I am hungry and hour later. I am 5'2-1/2" and need to lose 30 lbs.

    https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/

    Also, your calorie target is before exercise...if you exercise you get to eat more.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    I chose a 1lb/week weight loss and it comes up 1210 calories/day

    I would recommend choosing a slower rate of loss so you can eat more. Try 0.5 lb/week, and make sure you're using a food scale to measure all your food accurately.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited January 2019
    NM
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    Is anyone else having a hard time managing a 1200 cal/day diet? I seem to be hungry all the time and have a hard time hitting my daily macros (30g fiber, and 60 g protein) and stay within 1200 calorie limit. I can eat a ton of vegetables and then I am hungry and hour later. I am 5'2-1/2" and need to lose 30 lbs.

    Yup! That's why my base before exercise to lose 1/2lb per week is 1360. With exercise, it's more like 1600/1700. Much less of a struggle.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,160 Member
    No I haven't been eating back my exercise calories. Due to some spinal stenosis, I am having to ease back into exercise. So not enough yet to eat back. Working up to it.

    How long have you been at this? How much weight have you lost so far?

    With 30 pounds to lose, 1 pound a week would be the maximum I'd suggest trying to lose in your circumstances, especially if you can't exercise much. (I say the exercise part not only because you aren't "earning" exercise calories for improved satiety, but also because exercise helps avoid unnecessarily larger amounts of lean tissue (like muscle) loss alongside fat loss. If you can't do the exercise, it's doubly wise IMO to be conservative on the weight loss rate.)

    You might even want to consider 0.5 pounds a week, frustrating though slowness can be. A weight trending app would help you visual that slower weight-loss trend, once you got a month or so of daily weight data into it (talking about Libra for Android, Happy Scale for iOS, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account, Weightgrapher, others).
  • AgileK9
    AgileK9 Posts: 255 Member
    It's hard! As a 49 year old woman who is 5'3" and 160, my TDEE is only 1450 ish as sedentary. So MFP doesn't even go low enough to get a full 500 calorie deficit. At 1200 cal/day without exercise I'm at 250 deficit per day which is a half pound a week. I hate days that I don't exercise because I do need to eat 1200 calories and it is so hard. I work out just about every day to some extent, even if it's just a walk so that I have exercise calories to eat back. It's slow going but otherwise it's ridiculously hard to stay at 1200 per day IMO. Even eating back the exercise calories, it's still a rate of 1/2 pound a week loss.
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 989 Member
    I'm 5'2 and want to lose another 20lbs. I tried playing around with my settings a few days ago on MFP and, no matter what weight loss I selected, I still got 1200 calories. Similar to AgileK9, my TDEE is 1400, so to truly give me a high enough deficit for weight loss, I'd have to be below 1200 calories a day - which isn't going to be allowed.

    I go to the gym or do a lot of walking to give me more calories, which makes it easier to come up with something appetising for lunch and dinner. I eat as close to NET 1200 as I can but, even on days when I eat more, my NET is typically not above 1400. I also pay more attention to my NET figure for the week rather than on a day-to-day basis. And I don't try too hard to meet my macros, although I steer towards more protein with my meals and less refined carbs.

    nationalvillage, if you're easing back in to exercise, start tracking whatever exercise you do and eat the calories; you'll find it far easier to manage. There have been various posts on here for low calorie snacks and foods, so maybe search for those posts too.
  • AnnPT77 wrote: »
    No I haven't been eating back my exercise calories. Due to some spinal stenosis, I am having to ease back into exercise. So not enough yet to eat back. Working up to it.

    How long have you been at this? How much weight have you lost so far?

    With 30 pounds to lose, 1 pound a week would be the maximum I'd suggest trying to lose in your circumstances, especially if you can't exercise much. (I say the exercise part not only because you aren't "earning" exercise calories for improved satiety, but also because exercise helps avoid unnecessarily larger amounts of lean tissue (like muscle) loss alongside fat loss. If you can't do the exercise, it's doubly wise IMO to be conservative on the weight loss rate.)

    You might even want to consider 0.5 pounds a week, frustrating though slowness can be. A weight trending app would help you visual that slower weight-loss trend, once you got a month or so of daily weight data into it (talking about Libra for Android, Happy Scale for iOS, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account, Weightgrapher, others).

  • Thank you!
  • AgileK9 wrote: »
    It's hard! As a 49 year old woman who is 5'3" and 160, my TDEE is only 1450 ish as sedentary. So MFP doesn't even go low enough to get a full 500 calorie deficit. At 1200 cal/day without exercise I'm at 250 deficit per day which is a half pound a week. I hate days that I don't exercise because I do need to eat 1200 calories and it is so hard. I work out just about every day to some extent, even if it's just a walk so that I have exercise calories to eat back. It's slow going but otherwise it's ridiculously hard to stay at 1200 per day IMO. Even eating back the exercise calories, it's still a rate of 1/2 pound a week loss.

  • I am in the same situation-the slow weight loss is extremely frustrating. A lot of hard work with very slow results.