1200 calories and 10,000 steps: does it work for you?

Hello MFP friends!
Question to all of you, do any of you follow a 1200 calorie plan and do at least 10,000 steps a day? If you do, do you see any weight loss? How quickly or slowly did the weight come off?
I look forward to hearing about people's experiences. Thanks! šŸ˜Š
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Replies

  • Vb1965
    Vb1965 Posts: 4 Member
    Iā€™m trying that right now - a week in - no results yet
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
    I suggest you set up your stats in MFP, choose an appropriate weekly goal depending on how much you need to lose. For most people, 1 lb week is a good place to start. Set an appropriate activity level. Sync your tracker if you have one. Get a digital food scale, weigh and log everything in detail. Eat back about half you exercise cals.
    This is s more reliable approach to wright loss than picking random calorie goals and step goals. Just sayin.
  • panshee
    panshee Posts: 24 Member
    Since April 1st (11 weeks ago) I've been following this pretty consistently and have lost 13lbs so far. Sometimes go up to 1400 on days when I need it. I exercise "formally" 3x a week and in between try to get at least 10K steps through light exercise, mostly walking/small home elliptical. I'm 5'. My diary is open if you want to friend me.
  • sandimorrison52
    sandimorrison52 Posts: 2 Member
    MFP has me at 1200 calories per day. As a retired person with a varied schedule I usually manage 7,000 steps most days. I found the more I exercise I do (to "buy" more calories to eat), the hungrier I become, so looking to make some changes. I tried upping my calorie allowance to 1300 but my weight has stagnated and I still have 10# to go.
  • New_me_19
    New_me_19 Posts: 40 Member
    I'm on 1800 cal daily walk avg 10k-13k daily and im loosing
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited June 2019
    Hello MFP friends!
    Question to all of you, do any of you follow a 1200 calorie plan and do at least 10,000 steps a day? If you do, do you see any weight loss? How quickly or slowly did the weight come off?
    I look forward to hearing about people's experiences. Thanks! šŸ˜Š

    1200 is the default minimum for women, so unless you are very petite, or you are mis-counting calories in you will see weight loss. The minimum calorie goal is to help you get adequate nutrition.

    1200 is "assigned" based on your weekly weight loss goal. Tall women and short women alike can receive 1200 calories (before exercise) if their goal is aggressive enough.

    How quickly you will see weight loss depends upon how much weight you have to lose overall.

    People with less than 10 pounds to lose can reasonably expect to see 1/2 pound a week......with accurate food logging. 2 pounds a week can be a reasonable goal if you have more than 75 pounds to lose.....again accurate food logging will be key.

    A couple of good threads.......

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1
  • staticsplit
    staticsplit Posts: 538 Member
    I maintain on around 2200 calories, so a 1000 calorie deficit is too aggressive for me. I try not to go below 1500, but usually if aiming for weight loss I'm at 1700-1800. I usually hit 10k steps, but also do yoga, weight lifting, and sometimes things like HIIT or barre/pilates.
  • LittleLightShine
    LittleLightShine Posts: 123 Member
    I do intermittent fasting and eat 1000-1200 calories a day and walk an average of 11,000 steps a day. I am short. 5'1. That being said, during my time of weight loss I have gone on vacations and participated in holidays and other family events along the way. I am living my life and would say 80% of the time since I started I stick to 1000-1200 and the steps. I have lost an average of a little over 1lb a week if you divide out where I started. Slow and steady. I have only lost .2 muscle according to my Tanita scale.
  • jamkojak
    jamkojak Posts: 1 Member
    I have been eating 1200 calories per day walking average of 14,000 steps and have lost 4-5 lbs in three weeks. Be honest with your food tracking!! I also walk 2-3 miles (fast pace) per day, yoga 2-3 times per week and this gives me a few extra calories to play with!!
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,668 Member
    Over the years, I tried eating 1200 calories several times. I never lasted more than a week eating that little. When I started MFP, as an older mostly sedentary woman I was given 1200 calories as my goal to lose weight. That actually worked for me, but only because I could eat back all my exercise calories, which added another 500-700 per day, which is a much more reasonable level of eating for me. If you are really walking 10,000 steps a day, then eat back those calories, so your 1200 becomes 1600 or so. It is much more sustainable.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,285 Member
    Hello MFP friends!
    Question to all of you, do any of you follow a 1200 calorie plan and do at least 10,000 steps a day? If you do, do you see any weight loss? How quickly or slowly did the weight come off?
    I look forward to hearing about people's experiences. Thanks! šŸ˜Š

    I typically eat around 1500-1800 per day (1350 plus half my exercise) and walk at least 2 hours daily. I don't count steps, but it's around 10 kilometers. Over 2.5 years, I've dropped 108lbs.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,023 Member
    1200 calories and 10,000 steps would be unnecessarily aggressive for most people, including smaller older women. But if you aren't using a food scale and consistently vetting the database entries you're using, you might need to log 1200 cals to actually eat the 1500-1700 that would be more reasonable. The key is how fast you are losing weight, and that would depend on your height and current weight, the more weight you have to lose, the faster you can safely lose it.

    I'm not sure what you're stats are or whether you're just starting out or not, but I'd advise not starting at 1200. If you're getting 10,000 steps per day, set your activity level appropriately and eat the calories mfp gives you. Better to start out slow and have to drop your calories a bit than to start out under eating and hit the wall before you figure it out. Just my opinion.

    I try to get 8,000 steps per day. I'm maintaining on 1750-1800 and I lost weight eating 1500ish.
  • starpoweractivate
    starpoweractivate Posts: 14 Member
    Thanks for everyone's input. Much appreciated.
    Obviously, doing 1200 cals on 10k steps is not meant to be a long term solution. It would be for like 4-8 weeks to really get a positive jump start on the weight loss. I am also very knowledgeable of nutrition, so I'm not worried about not getting the proper nutrition for my body. It's not like I'm going to eat 1200 calories of fiber one brownies or whatever. Again, thanks for all your input. šŸ˜Š
  • I have only started logging my food and walking/steps on this site and notice at despite rarely eating 1200 calories and walking over 10,000 steps a day, I have not really lost any weight. I did lose weight about 2 months ago, 4lbs but then gained it again. I work on a ward, so my job can be very active but gained weight whilst taking steroids for bells palsy on 2 occasions. I want to lose weight steadily but safely. I do not deliberately eat below 12000 but do not feel hungry most of the time. Any help would be appreciated.
  • Courtscan2
    Courtscan2 Posts: 498 Member
    I'm pretty short (5'4) and over 40, and 1200 would be way too aggressive for me, I can't imagine how lethargic/ill I would feel on that little. I lose on between 1500 - 1700. I exercise 4- 5 days a week, but have a sedentary office job, so am not overly active many days. If you are legitimately only eating 1200 a day, you'll lose weight quickly whether you are walking 10,000 steps or not, but you'll probably feel awful eating that little whilst reasonably active.