This 1200 calorie thing is driving me up a wall

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Replies

  • mpdpratima
    mpdpratima Posts: 42 Member
    OK I am stumped! I have been faithfully logging all my food and keeping it to 1200 calories a day, with up to 1 to 3 hours of exercise a day. I am eating the calories I earn with all that exercise. I figure my metabolism needs reving up. I am NOT losing. Help.
  • Love_Conquers_All
    Love_Conquers_All Posts: 211
    OK I am stumped! I have been faithfully logging all my food and keeping it to 1200 calories a day, with up to 1 to 3 hours of exercise a day. I am eating the calories I earn with all that exercise. I figure my metabolism needs reving up. I am NOT losing. Help.

    oh my, with 119 lbs to go you are by far NOT eating enough fuel for your body Hon! When you set up your MFP stats... and you possibly put in 1 1/2 to 2 lbs weekly loss....what did MFP give you as daily calorie allotment. Your body needs enough fuel to simply function on, let alone workouts and such.:flowerforyou:

    Perhaps check out how you calcuted and see what it then shows. Feel free to post again so we can be sure you're getting in enough fuel to keep your body healthy and moving in the right direction:wink::happy:
  • kimss
    kimss Posts: 1,146
    My fitness pal put me at 1300 but that seems very little and I haven't lost a thing. I went to a bmr site and it said over 2000. I don't know what to do at all.

    what's your bmi?

    what is your height, weight, and activity level?

    Remember this, any website is only going to recommend based on "educated guesses". You may need to do some tweaking to get the numbers right for you. Don't be afraid to play a little bit with your calorie amounts, distribution, and macro nutrient percentages. this site (like me) isn't a god when it comes to calories, everyone is a little different. What works for me, may be a tiny bit different from what works for you, and so on and so forth.

    Ugh, I guess the first step to recovery is admitting my faults so here goes:
    BMI...38
    Height...5'6
    Weight...237
    Activity Level...I put sedentary because I'm a student
    I'm only 20 so I'm hoping I'm fixable. The other problem is that I have cerebral palsey so I can be limited when it comes to fitness. My left arm doesn't really do what it's told because I'm so weak from never using them.
    I changed my goals from 2 pounds per week which left me at 1300 cals to 1 pound per week which is 1800 cals...I just don't know.

    Your young and you have time, go with the 1lb loss per week and don't be so hard on yourself. give yourself time to adjust . I'm assuming your CP doesn't effect your legs? if not? get some walking in. My 14yr has CP and she is just a monster to try to get working out. I'm hoping that will change as she gets older. I'm happy to hear your ready to start moving towards a healthy life. You have just as much ability to lose weight as anyone else, "as you know, "you just might have to find your own way of doing it. also, look into your school for a fitness/nutritionist program, I'm sure you can find some good advice and help there. good luck sweety and keep the faith, I'll send you a prayer for luck and strength.
  • mpdpratima
    mpdpratima Posts: 42 Member
    The BMI calculation says I need 1700 plus calories a day. Are you saying adjust this up? Doesn't the site make the calculations for you depending on your weightloss goals per week?

    In the past, the only way I have ever lost weight (and I have lost a ton) is with extreme low carb and mega exercise. I know I can't sustain this lifestyle, so am trying the more balanced calorie approach.

    I even tried juicing and going total vegetarian, but only gained weight and felt terrible. I think my body type requires a lot of protein to maintain my blood sugar.

    Any ideas? I really appreciate any help I can get. I was once a size 7 and in the best shape, I want to get back to at least a 12 in this lifetime!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    in serious need of a thbumpphotobucketcaza_roll.gif
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    in serious need of a thbumpphotobucketcaza_roll.gif

    definately :ohwell:
  • krizrose
    krizrose Posts: 35
    Thanks....got it
  • mandyfaith
    mandyfaith Posts: 14
    thanks, (course, I'm a guy so...calling me girl made me sad.) :laugh:
    [/quote]

    ha ha ha this made me pee a little
  • astridfeline
    astridfeline Posts: 1,200 Member
    thanks for reviving this post :happy:
  • GiGi76
    GiGi76 Posts: 876 Member
    bumping for later!!! and i completely agree with you.... 1200 isnt enough for anyone!!! I try for 1400-1600 a day plus i eat back most of my exercise calories!!!

    Just realized how old this post was!!! But its a good one that everyone needs to read!!!
  • keith0373
    keith0373 Posts: 2,154 Member
    Definately eat the exercise calories if your goal is that low. That being said, my wife is 5'2 and 112 now and has trouble getting to 1200 in a day. Now that we are in maintenance mode and have been at this for month, we are used to the small portions of good food. You will get there if you work at it.



    We started march 23rd 2010:

    Her stats then. 5'2 150 34c-33-42 size 10 pants,medium or large shirts
    Her stats now 5'2 112 33b+(or c-)-25-33.5 size 0 or 2 pants,small shirts


    My stats then 5'8 228 16 neck 43 waist 42 hips 46 chest pants 38/29 shirts x-large
    My stats now 5'8 160 15 neck 33 waist 36 hips 42 chest pants 32/29 shirts medium
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 22,249 Member
    I nominate this for the "Best Bump of the Day."

    1,200 calories is nothing but a big, huge red flag to me — one that says, "I put in the maximum weight loss per week, and this is the lowest the calories would go."
  • keith0373
    keith0373 Posts: 2,154 Member
    I agree with pjilly. There is no reason to set it to two lbs a week until you are used to reduced calories unless you are a workout fiend. If you are doing 1200- 1400 calories of exercise a day, the calories become much more managable.
  • SaraTN
    SaraTN Posts: 536 Member
    You can figure it out on your own with the help of an online calorie burn calculator - won't be exact because it doesn't account for body mass, hormones, etc. just considers your gender, weight, height and age. There's about 20 different things that factor into your Resting Metabolism (RMR*) and can make 2 people who are the same gender, weight, height and age have extremely different results. *RMR is part of the equation for figuring how many calories you should eat.....

    1. How many calories do you burn with your RMR + aerobic + anaerobic activity per day?

    Answer: Here's a nice calculator that gives you 4 categories to choose from for your anaerobic activity plus a place to put in what you burn per day in added exercise .... www.nutritiondata.self.com/tools/calories-burned

    Some examples of occupations for figuring your anaerobic activity level:
    Construction Worker, Landscaping, etc. would be very active
    Nurse, Massage Therapist, etc. would be active (on your feet a lot)
    Desk job would be somewhat active
    Sedentary would be someone that just lies there and does nothing but minimal bodily functions

    2. How many lbs. do you want to lose a week? Healthy rate of loss is no more than 2 lbs. a week.

    3. What should your calorie deficit per day be to lose your "blank" pounds a week?

    Answer: Multiply lbs. you want to lose per week (#2 above) X 3500 = Calorie deficit needed per WEEK to lose that # of lbs. Now divide this number by 7 and that is the calorie deficit you need per DAY to lose those that # of lbs.


    4. OK Now we can plug everything into the following formula and figure out what "X" (number of calories to eat) should be.

    "X" (number of calories to eat) minus Total # of calories burned per day = Your target daily deficit

    Example:
    Calories burned per day per the website = 2306
    Target lbs. to lose per week = 2
    2 X 3500 = 7000 (weekly deficit needed to lose 2 lbs. per week)
    7000/7 = 1000 (target daily deficit needed to lose 2 lbs. per week)

    Plug it into the formula..
    x - 2306 (calories burned per website) = -1000
    x = 1306 target calories per day to lose 2 lbs. a week with my current active level (Resting Metabolism + Aerobic activity + Lifestyle/Anaerobic activity
  • 03221961
    03221961 Posts: 17 Member
    I was on weight watchers before and ate more than 1200 calories that amount is to low . If you are exercising you can eat more calories personally I think 1500 cal is a good amount for anyone needing to lose 20 pounds or more i ate this amount on weight watchers and lost 23 pounds so relax up your calories and eat healthy,
  • sgssmile
    sgssmile Posts: 62
    I am also 5' female 124.4 lbs. over 50 yrs. old; without exercise I have to be below the 1200 calories or I don't lose anything. I typically stay around 800-900 calories a day. No it is not fun but I have alos learned to not waste those precious calories on empty ones such as a pepsi (my favorite). I sit at a desk most of the day so I am not very active unless I actually exercise. I have lost 16 lbs and have 4 more to go for my goal, it has taken me over 4 months and I have been very diligent. I think in time everybody finds out what works best for them, but I do agree that it is hard to eat healthy below 1200 calores. Now if I could just figure out how to grow 6 more inches I think my problems would be solved!

    Susan:wink:
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
    bump
  • Gettinfit2
    Gettinfit2 Posts: 254 Member
    Yeah, 1200 calories is hard. I keep headaches and feel light headed. However, 1500 to 1700 seems good. On exercise days I get really hungry, I have to be closer to 1700.
  • bam237
    bam237 Posts: 2
    1200 is crazy, so its motivation to work out. If you burn 400 calories working out you get 1600 to eat, it makes it easier. I will work out more if I know I can get a snack out of it.
  • rfialkiewicz
    rfialkiewicz Posts: 183 Member
    I'm 5'0" and I should weigh 120 and even then my BMR is 1350. Nobody should be doing 1200 or less. If your BMR is more, eat more. If you're having headaches or feeling light headed IT'S NOT A GOOD THING. Eat more!
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    this post is so old. LOL. MFP was a different (much smaller) community when I wrote it.

    Just to be clear, I'm not against someone being at 1200 if that is RIGHT for them, but it's "right" for a lot fewer people than one would think. That's basically my only main point.
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
    Bump for my Topics - Thanks Banks!
  • redhottxozk
    redhottxozk Posts: 28
    glad i read this because i am totally not eating enough...
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    bump
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    can you say OLD post. This is so old it's from when I used to be Banks1850 (yes, that is me!)
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    smiley-dance011.gif bump bump bada bump, ba dump bump bump bump
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