How is 1200 Calories working for you?

i was able to do it for awhile few months.. but now it just doesnt feel like im eating enough food im always hungry

I started out doing the 1200 calorie goal and it quickly taught me to make better choices if I didn't want to feel like I was starving all day. LOL Fruits, veggies, and lean meats. No more drive-thru. Or at least far better choies the rare times that I *do* go to a drive-thru (grilled chicken sandwiches or salads instead of burers, fried chicken, fries, etc). It's also gotten me more interested in cooking so that I can create dishes that fit into my calorie allowance but aren't totally boring. Yes salads and grilled chicken are great but you do need variety. The 1200 calorie goal also motivated me to exercise, since when you exercise the site automatically tells you that you've 'earned' more calories for the day, meaning I can either have higher-calorie meals or add in extra snacks. I don't usually eat 'all' of my exercise calories, I normally eat somewhere between 25%-75% of what I burned. Just depends on how I feel that day. Some days I do go a little bit over but those days are balanced out by the ones where I go under. These days I normally eat closer to 1400-1600 depending on how much I exercised that day. I'm still on the 1200 'plan' but I exercise more regularly so I get to eat more.

I've been doing great on it! I never feel deprived, and some days I even have trouble eating all 1200! I also do not eat back my exercise calories. I "stretch out" the calories by having 5-6 200 calorie meals. I also try to plan out my day the night before so I know if I need to cut something out or maybe I can add a desert one night! If you feel hungry, you may want to up your calories. You just need to find what works for YOU!

I HATED being on 1200 a day. I was hungry, freezing cold and grouchy the whole time (about 3 months). I don't know how anyone does it for longer than that.

i'm at 1270... works out well enough for me. there are days i feel deprived... but i just try to do some walking or exercise or something on that day

1500 was hard 1600 is much more doable. 1200 is starvation diet for me :ohwell:

^^This. I failed miserably at 1200. Switched it up and I intake more like ~1800-2000 now. And I'm 5'3", 128ish lbs. (SW 132ish)

HI, I am on 1200cals and have been for the last 2 weeks. Recording everything has helped me and as I loved bread but it has made me realise I was eating way too much of it. You will soon get to know what you can have and how to spread things out so you manage your cals properly. I have 100lbs to loose so I have just told myself get used to it if you want to loose this weight.!! If you have something you really want and it takes you over just watch what you eat at other meals or the next day. x Changing products to lite and low-cal really has helped. All the best with your journey. Babz.xx

I burn about 1200 calories a day during workouts. It's working out pretty good for me!

Oh, that's not what you meant.

Personally, I love working out because I get to eat more food!

So my base 1200/1300 cals works out great since I can easily bump it up to 1700/1800

I think if I had to stick around 1200 I would start fantasizing about biting the heads off of small animals. I don't think it's healthy to eat that low, it screws up your metabolism. You can starve yourself into skinny, but what's the prize? Being stuck at a super low maintenance intake because you're a waif. Work hard, get lean, and EAT.

I've been doing 1200 calories for almost a year and it's working for me. Sometimes I feel hungry but now if I eat more than 1200 calories a day I feel gross and bloaty.

The biggest problem I had with 1200 was that I always felt like I had to stay UNDER it. Even though eating 1203 calories, for instance, is just fine, psychologically, didn't want the negative red numbers. It made me obsessive. I could stay under no problem on days I exercised and earned more calories, but it made me not want to take rest days because I wanted to be able to eat more. Several weeks, maybe a couple months, with no rest days, is not good.

The second problem was that I did better netting around 1400-1500. I'm glad I realized early on that I could eat a lot more and get the same, or better, results.

When I first started this adventure in June, 1200 calories was out of the question. I would have been starving. I think I started out with 1800 in order to lose 1 lb per week. I am down to 1500 and for some reason, I feel like this is more than enough. The only time it becomes an issue is on nights when I go out to the pub because beer and stout are pretty calorie-rich. (as is most alcohol).
I hope this doesn't change, but for the past week or so, I have found myself consciously eating enough calories, because with the food choices I have made, I am getting plenty to eat at around 1100 calories. That ain't enough so I have to make sure I eat a little more to put me over the top. This usually includes one of my most beloved foods: Ginger snaps.

I would like to know how long 1200 calorie people stuck with their diet and what their results were in the long term?

Anyone reach their goal with 1200 and what happened then?

As you get closer to your goal, 1200 is it for you. I lost my weight eating whatever was appropriate to lose 1 pound a week. Now that I'm like 3lb from goal, 1200 is what's appropriate for losing 1lb a week. It's not awful, but as I said previously, it does keep me motivated to exercise harder because I like booze and sugar so much.

I did 1200 calories for 7 months. The result was lost of muscle so I had to put myself at maintenance for 2 months, start strenght training. Right now I am back at 1200 calories but it's only for 2 weeks at a time in order to lose fat then back at maintenance.