UK women on 1200cals

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Iwanttobetheoldme
Iwanttobetheoldme Posts: 53 Member
in Motivation and Support
Looking to connect with you!

My stats:
<5ft
9st
Goal: 8 st (pre pregnancy weight)
Daily cals: 1200
Exercise: 2 x 20min home DVD. Or a 3 mile walk instead of the DVD. Eat extra 150 cals these days.
Shape: Apple
Weakness: Choc/cake/bread/sugar

Finding it hard to relate to some of the foods on other diaries & especially as others have more generous calorie allowances being taller! Looking for ideas/tips/general support to stay within 1200 cals as the past few days I’ve been slipping & having around 1400.

I’m friendly :)

Replies

  • Tanya_Clair
    Tanya_Clair Posts: 31 Member
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    Hey! I am now transitioning to maintenance but I was at 1200 calories for a while. If you have a sweet tooth, two things I would recommend are low calorie hot chocolate, you can buy ones for around 40 kcal a serving and the Fibre One chocolate brownie squares are awesome, quite small but only 87 kcal and reaaallly yummy!
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
    edited September 2019
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    When you don't have much to lose 0.5lb /week is ideal.
    Wishing you all the best for on your weight loss goal - slow and steady wins the race.
    1400 should still see you lose weight. The MFP way is to eat back your exercise calories so 1200 plus exercise would still mean loss.

    We all have foods we love and they're usually the calorie dense ones. You can still have them but they need to fit into the calorie goal.
    Save 100 cals a day for that little chocolate hit - e.g two finger Kit Kat / Milky Way/ Cadbury Freddo bar etc
    I find an apple sliced with some peanut butter is very satisfying - and more filling than the chocolate but sometime we just need a fix :D
  • Iwanttobetheoldme
    Iwanttobetheoldme Posts: 53 Member
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    Thanks! Unfortunately I don’t lose at 1400 :(

    Hot choc is a good idea now we’re going into Autumn!

    I eat boiled eggs & light babybel for easy snacks
    Greek yog & raspberries mushed up as a pudding!
    Greek Yog & cinnamon sprinkled on

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    Aww ok, I know when we're petite the calories in to lose is lower :/ I'm 5ft 2 and find I can lose 0.5/wk eating 1600 gross cals as I'm active. (although I've been in maintenance for 6 years)
  • Iwanttobetheoldme
    Iwanttobetheoldme Posts: 53 Member
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    I tried slimming world but it didn’t work! I still can’t understand how it works for others the amount of calories they eat!
  • Iwanttobetheoldme
    Iwanttobetheoldme Posts: 53 Member
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    I know more exercise would get me more calories. But just noooooo!
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    charl152526 wrote: »
    I know more exercise would get me more calories. But just noooooo!

    I know, its not always easy fitting in extra exercise either.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    charl152526 wrote: »
    I tried slimming world but it didn’t work! I still can’t understand how it works for others the amount of calories they eat!

    Because when we don't have a lot to lose the calories are paramount - if we take in more than we burn, we don't lose. SW have far too many free foods, except NO foods are calorie free so that catches up eventually.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    I can't help you with 1200 cals, but maybe this will help you slowly bump your CO up a little and get things moving easier:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1
  • Iwanttobetheoldme
    Iwanttobetheoldme Posts: 53 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    I can't help you with 1200 cals, but maybe this will help you slowly bump your CO up a little and get things moving easier:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1


    Thanks, I do try to take the longer route/take the stairs etc.

    I know these are excuses but I’m so so tired. I work full time (desk job) with a 2 hour round driving commute (thanks to our great Motorways) and have 2 small kids (10m & 3)

    Obviously my time is majority work, nursery drop off/collect, evenings are the usual baths, bedtimes, dinner, house work, prep lunches

    I either walk or do the home DVD on a Sat & Sun morning before they get up (much to my dismay!) and then the weekend is the usual swimming lessons, family, kids parties, house work etc.

    I would rather restrict more cals than add any more exercise ‘to do jobs’ for now! Our youngest is teething & waking in the night so maybe when I sleep more I’ll change my mind?! I’ve never even been to the gym!

    I’ve been 8st my entire life so even though I know 9st isn’t huge, those extra pounds (plus stretched skin/body changes from babies) look very prominent on me being 5ft! I can’t afford a new wardrobe & cant yet fit in any old clothes so I’ve got to lose it!

    A lot of the calculators confuse me. MFP set to 1200 for 0.5lb loss per week. Some others online went less than around 1050. Even if I switch from lightly active to medium it doesn’t give much extra cals. I always eat back which I guess if I could avoid that would help but exercise seems to increase my appetite a lot?

    I loved the idea of SW - eat as much fruit, ‘free’ yoghurt & boiled eggs as you like. But how on earth this works for people I don’t know.
  • MySlimGoals
    MySlimGoals Posts: 750 Member
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    Hi,
    I'm in London. I'm 5'6 and I am 116kg. I'm doing 1200 calories and I am losing a small amount most days. I haven't been doing much exercise. I'm hoping to get down to 100kg by Christmas before I ramp up the exercise. I've pulled muscles repeatedly previously so I'm a bit wary especially if I feel them twinge while I'm walking around. This month I want to reach 113kg.

    I started this a month ago at 121.7kg and so I've lost 5.4kg so far. I've been feeling fine until about 4 days ago when I caught a cold. Continued to stick hard to the 1200 plan but have been feeling sooo hungry at night which is strange as I wasn't before. Not sure if the cold medication has something to do with that.
  • Iwanttobetheoldme
    Iwanttobetheoldme Posts: 53 Member
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    MySlimGoals wrote: »
    Hi,
    I'm in London. I'm 5'6 and I am 116kg. I'm doing 1200 calories and I am losing a small amount most days. I haven't been doing much exercise. I'm hoping to get down to 100kg by Christmas before I ramp up the exercise. I've pulled muscles repeatedly previously so I'm a bit wary especially if I feel them twinge while I'm walking around. This month I want to reach 113kg.

    I started this a month ago at 121.7kg and so I've lost 5.4kg so far. I've been feeling fine until about 4 days ago when I caught a cold. Continued to stick hard to the 1200 plan but have been feeling sooo hungry at night which is strange as I wasn't before. Not sure if the cold medication has something to do with that.

    Hey, thanks for your reply. Emotions & energy levels definitely affect my hunger. Even the weather affects me! Maybe if you’re run down & feeling a little under the weather/tired you’re craving more calories for energy? If I’m tired I crave sugar for example.

    Although I would have thought you being so tall you could have a much much higher calorie allowance? I’m only on 1200 cuz im so short & to loose 0.5lb per week. Where did you get 1200 from?
  • MySlimGoals
    MySlimGoals Posts: 750 Member
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    charl152526 wrote: »
    MySlimGoals wrote: »
    Hi,
    I'm in London. I'm 5'6 and I am 116kg. I'm doing 1200 calories and I am losing a small amount most days. I haven't been doing much exercise. I'm hoping to get down to 100kg by Christmas before I ramp up the exercise. I've pulled muscles repeatedly previously so I'm a bit wary especially if I feel them twinge while I'm walking around. This month I want to reach 113kg.

    I started this a month ago at 121.7kg and so I've lost 5.4kg so far. I've been feeling fine until about 4 days ago when I caught a cold. Continued to stick hard to the 1200 plan but have been feeling sooo hungry at night which is strange as I wasn't before. Not sure if the cold medication has something to do with that.

    Hey, thanks for your reply. Emotions & energy levels definitely affect my hunger. Even the weather affects me! Maybe if you’re run down & feeling a little under the weather/tired you’re craving more calories for energy? If I’m tired I crave sugar for example.

    Although I would have thought you being so tall you could have a much much higher calorie allowance? I’m only on 1200 cuz im so short & to loose 0.5lb per week. Where did you get 1200 from?

    It recommends 1200 to me as I have a very sedentary lifestyle. I want to change that but feel it's best I lose a bit first. Whenever I pull the muscles in my legs it is a real step back for me and can take months to get right again.

    I find also I do lose well on 1200 so I'm happy with that and I'm good at sticking to stuff if I'm motivated. Feeling motivated right now so should be able to carry this through until Christmas at the very least.
  • swiftyl
    swiftyl Posts: 37 Member
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    Hi ya, I'm UK and on 1200 cals. I'm 5ft 6 (and a bit!) and have around 90lbs to lose in total. Have sent you a friend request, Diary not open but happy to share ideas. I do very low level walking every day, around about 3miles, so about 300 cals burn. I don't eat back all my exercise calories. Many posts will tell you, that you must, but I'm a huge advocate for working out what works for your body - for mine it seems to like around 1300-1400 cals per day to see regular losses. I'm mainly veggie (as wanted to eat less fat and more veggies) so diet is mainly quorn meals with veggies, don;t eat breakfast (never really have done) but also have a packet of quavers most days, and chocolate (areo mousses are good). For me its just consistency of logging everything. I have occasional off plan meals, but try not to let it stretch into 1 after another. Cutting out alcohol (almost completely) had been a huge help. Otherwise its just keep plugging away at it. Good Luck.
  • Iwanttobetheoldme
    Iwanttobetheoldme Posts: 53 Member
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    Nice to connect :) I’ve cut out all alcohol except for special occasions now & feel better for it!

    I hate seeing how many ‘empty’ calories are in my daily chocolate & cocoa but I’m struggling to drop them. It’s my treat I look forward to! I’d love to cut them out and swap them for something more filling but don’t have the willpower! Although now I am trying to just have a square or 2 of chocolate (instead of the bar) and just 1 cup of cocoa instead of 2 or 3!

    My diary is open. Pretty boring but you can see the sort of meals I eat consists of lots of fruit & veg. Plus a meat/protein

    I’m not sure if fruit is good for weight loss or not?
  • MySlimGoals
    MySlimGoals Posts: 750 Member
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    charl152526 wrote: »

    I’m not sure if fruit is good for weight loss or not?

    Fruit has worthwhile health benefits and the sugar in fruit is fructose instead of refined sugar. So it is a bit better than your average sugar and I've been told is not absorbed and turned into fat as readily. I often try to have two pieces of fruit a day and just ignore that I've gone slightly over my sugar goal because of it.

  • 3mm4_j0
    3mm4_j0 Posts: 8 Member
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    I've been following slimming world and make these egg, ham and spring onion muffin type things, they're great for snacking on, also look up the baked oats and nutella recipes online, a lot of slimmers with sweet a tooth are going nuts for these recipes at the moment!

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