1,500 calories a day

This is very strange for me, I eat roughly 3 meals a day and I seem to average 1100 and have to make up the next 100 with snacks that I wouldn't normally eat?

And just to show that I'm not under-eating I'll write out yesterday which was pretty average:

Breakfast
2 slices wholemeal bread, toasted with butter
banana

Lunch
Jacket potato and cottage cheese with chives
1 slice of garlic bread

Dinner
Linda McCartney Vegetarian Lasagne

Snacks
Go ahead - fruit bakes - rasberry

That totalled 1,317 but only because I added in the go-ahead and garlic bread to up it... I do roughly 600 cals of exercise a day (I walk a LOT haha)....

I think you might be able to eat more if you eat totally healthy foods, I'm always full

Or it could be because I'm a 5ft2" female haha. 1500 would be a food-overdose for me I think. So far 2lbs lost in my first week so it's going well

i would suggest looking into eating higher calories but healthy foods. if you eat 1200 calories and burn 600 calories, essentially, it's the equivilant of eating 600 calories and doing nothing.


The problem with low calorie is muscle sustainment (which in turn means maintaining your metabolism). On lower calorie diets and huge deficits, you tend to lose muscle mass as a part of your weight loss. Is this an issue, well maybe not at first, but as you age, you inevitably lose more muscle (natural progression of life). Less muscle means slower metabolism. Which means you are more susceptable to gain weight (this is one reason people cycle in weight loss).

Also, once people hit their weight goal, what is the next step? In many cases it's definition and tone. Well not you have to gain all the muscle back and do one of two things. 1. Turn fat into muscle (this can be difficult to do a one for one). 2.. Gain weight to gain muscle mass to form definition (makes a lot of people freak out).


The science is there. And really you need to look at what your true end state is. Is it definition or do you really only care about a number on the scale?



Some stuff to think about.

Low calorie works however I question if any of us can sustain it for long term. Use it as a tool but eventually you'll need to find a better way to eat.

1200 cals... is a DIET. not a lifestyle change. You can make a lifestyle change, but eating 1200 a day shouldn't be it. The quality of your food should be. Cals NEED to go up to maint every couple of months to give your body a break.

Diet is the sum of food consumed by a person

im on 1200 kcal also... its about losing weight, isnt it?

I need 2.500 kcal each day to be alive and do my normal stuff
I eat 1.200 kcal each day
=
Deficit: 1.300 kal/day

Since 1 Kg of fat = 7000kcal --> I am losing 1.3 kg each week


Once i'm done... ill have to eat the same thing i need to live: 2.500kcal No more no less!! (actually 2.400 because of the 5kg less i would have)

I call it a lifestyle change because i'm eating healthy and in a controlled manner :P

My loss has slowed (and stalled a couple times).. One question i have is- how long do you stick with a increase to see if it is working? a week, 2 weeks, a month?
I did make the mistake of sticking with the 1200 for a while. I felt deprived and it no longer made sense once i realized my bmr was higher than that ( i felt deprived because i was! ) I'm currently aiming for 1400, but i've been thinking of increasing that.

Are you adding in your exercise calories?

MFP has set me at a little over 1300 calories. But, I am at the gym 6x per week of which 3 -4 workouts include a decent level of cardio.

After adding in my exercise calories I am hitting 1800 - 2000 calories consumed per day gross. Doing my best to keep the net at the recommended 1300.

Seem to be working as I am pretty consistent with the 1-2 lbs lost per week.

When i can work out, yes i add them back in. It's pretty minimal though most the time ( starting slow with 20 minutes a day, since i was pretty much NOT active at all up to this point due to fibromyalgia. )

MFP gave me 1200 because I'm 5'2 and wanted to lose 1.5 lbs a week. I'm sure it would give me more if I were taller or male. My understanding is there is some customization based on age, height, starting weight, etc.

I'm only 5"3 and I thought about it long and hard and concluded that trying to stick to anything lower than 1,500 would mean miserable days ahead for me as food plays a huge part in my enjoyment in life.

So I opted for the slow, steady 1lb a week weight loss plan incorporating more exercise than originally intended meaning more food!

I very often go over my 1500 but the exercise makes me appear under. Which all in all works for me.

1200 is before exercise and I do eat back some of my exercise calories. I guess it doesn't bother me because I don't eat a lot of calorie dense foods on a regular basis. I love salads, fruits and vegetables. I eat lean meats like chicken, fish, shrimps, lean pork and lean beef. I do eggs, low fat cheeses, almond milk and skim milk. I don't deny myself anything so if I want cake, I eat cake but just a serving and not the whole thing. Sometimes, usually when TOM visits I want pasta, bread and cookies. I may be close to maintenance then but I usually drop 2-3 lbs the week following a kinda high day. If I really want something extra I will hop on the treadmill to "earn" it. Your body has to get used to a reduction in calories just like it previously got used to a surplus.

Low calorie works however I question if any of us can sustain it for long term. Use it as a tool but eventually you'll need to find a better way to eat.

1200 cals... is a DIET. not a lifestyle change. You can make a lifestyle change, but eating 1200 a day shouldn't be it. The quality of your food should be. Cals NEED to go up to maint every couple of months to give your body a break.

Ah to be tall or male or young. I am none of those so I need less calories. My maintenance calories since I work a desk job will be 1500. To lose weight 1200 calories is a reasonable amount per day. Yes I exercise almost daily so can eat those calories and darn I am hungry when I exercise so need to. However on days I do not exercise I need to keep my calories low. This for me is a lifestyle change not a diet. I recently upped my calories to 1300 per day plus exercise calories to see if I can break through a plataue.

Don't pick on us short, female, old people because we can only have a limited amount of calories so we don't get fat!

1500 calories isnt that much. I eat 2600 calories and i still lose. Its really based on your basal metabolic rate and the amount of energy you expend throughout the day including exercise.

Yes your BMR. How we all burn calories is dependent on individual factors. It is difficult to compare one's calorie needs to another's.

Age, gender, height, body size, and daily activity levels must all be accounted for in the math to determine your calorie needs. Then your deficit based upon your weight loss goals is factored into determining what your daily NET calorie target is.

You may start out wanting to lose 2 pounds per week. Over time you may find yourself wanting to lose 1/2 pound per week and continue to count calories indefinitely. This is where I'm at now. Hopefully I can meet my body fat % goals at some point and change my goal to 0 pounds per week.