I find it hard to stay at 1200 cals a day! Help please!

Is 1200 your daily goal for calories? It may be that your body needs more calories than that to function. You will still lose weight if you increase it a little bit. 1200 is the bare minimium for any weight loss program.

Eat back your exercise calories. You should be netting, at least 1200. I also like to zig zag my calories. If I go 2-3 days without working out and hit pretty low, I up it for a couple days and go over on purpose. It helps me from binge eating.

If you are working out--eat some/all of your exercise calories back. Days where I am hungry, I snack on lean protein or heavy-on-the-fiber food, and that helps.

If you're working out, you can eat more food to balance out the extra calories you earned.
Otherwise you're burning those extra calories and putting yourself under the 1200

(Example: If you eat 1200 but burn an extra 200 calories above your normal daily life, technically you're only having 1000 calories)

http://www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/ <- this is helpful

If you eat really clean it is easier to stay at 1200.

I find it hard too! That's why I exercise and eat back my cals!

I agree with others that you may need more than 1200 calories, and that you should eat back your exercise calories--at least some of them, anyway!

Also make sure you're getting plenty of protein and fiber to help you feel more full. Healthy fats do the same thing, too--peanut butter, nuts, dark chocolate, seeds, and pesto are all great things to add to your meals to help you feel more full longer.

I'm having the opposite problem..I'm having a hard time meeting my 1200 cals a day goal....I eat breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner, sometimes after dinner snack. I also workout most days and hardly ever net unless I eat something really high in fat and calories for one of my meals. I know I'm supposed to be netting 1200, but I don't want to force myself to eat when I don't feel hungry.

The cleaner you eat, the easier it should be for you to eat plenty to make you feel satisfied and stay within calorie range.

Seriously, I can net 900 calories and feel stuffed just by eating clean (you know, when I actually DO it....lol).

Up your fiber and protein. Protein makes you fuller as the same for fiber. I don't like fiber myself because of the side effects but protein is nice. You can get protein in drink / powder form.

Exactly. I find that I can have 2 hard boiled eggs for very few calories and I feel fuller longer than if I ate a serving of pasta.

Try balance you intake by breaking your meals up as follows
200 calories for breakfast
100 calories for morning snack
400 calories for lunch
100 calories for afternoon snack
400 calories for dinner

Also when I do 1200 calories I eat back a portion of my exercise calories to be sure I feel satisfied.

Is that total calories or net? I eat around 1800 total calories on average, I think, or about 1300 - 1600 net. On 1200 total calories I'd be hungry.

I have a friend who is losing weight under a doctor's superviison. Her advice on exercise was "Don't exercise more now than you plan to for the rest of your life."

I understand the "eating back the calories" but be realistic with it for the long run's sake. We're all in this for the long run. We don't want to put the hard earned weight loss back on, that's for sure.

I went down from a 1600 to a 1200 diet. It took me one week to fully acclimate.

I agree with the others about eating more fiber. Also, try to cut out the snacks if you can, or just eat fruit for lunch if possible. My brother in law does this and is slim; always has been. If you consume two eggs for breakfast, you are golden until lunch. The fewer times you sit down and eat, the less calories you'll have the opportunity to consume.