consuming only 1000 calories a day??

nikkimee
nikkimee Posts: 44
edited October 4 in Introduce Yourself
Hi.. I have taken down my calorie intake from 1200 a day to 1000 a day.. I have a normal breackfast, a small snack and a shake for lunch and again a very small snack and then my dinner.. Is this safe?? I would love to lose the exess weight i have gained by at leat January or early february???
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Replies

  • Dexy_
    Dexy_ Posts: 593 Member
    If you want to lose weight and 1200 isn't working for you, up your intake don't lower it. Your body is probably starved.
  • healthyliving_girl
    healthyliving_girl Posts: 290 Member
    It's not the best way to treat your body. It will put your body into starvation mode and more than likely make it more difficult to lose weight, if not now, then for the long term.

    I suggest eating at least 1200
  • CindiBryce
    CindiBryce Posts: 438
    Hi.. I have taken down my calorie intake from 1200 a day to 1000 a day.. I have a normal breackfast, a small snack and a shake for lunch and again a very small snack and then my dinner.. Is this safe?? I would love to lose the exess weight i have gained by at leat January or early february???
    How much have you lost on 1200 calories so far? I suggest calorie cycling, meaning altering your daily calorie intake everyday, but keeping the weekly average 1200.
  • ammbbbeeeerrrrr
    ammbbbeeeerrrrr Posts: 70
    I was consuming that much a day and i'd get lightheaded and very dizzy because i'd exercise and burn a lot off but i didnt have enough nutrition in my body. I now eat anywhere from 1100-1300 a day and i've been fine.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    pretty good way to send your metabolism to the ****ter, which is in direct odds with what you're trying to accomplish.
  • CronoCX
    CronoCX Posts: 59 Member
    I really wouldn't do a 1000 kals thats sounds a little dangerous being that anything below 1000 kals puts your body in starvation mode I would try like other people have said upping your calories or cycling them which means 1 day u eat 1200 cals next day you eat 1400 then back to 1200 and so forth.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    Unless you are about 4'8'', then that is not enough calories for you. Is it so important to lose by a certain day that you are willing to make yourself sick to do it?
  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
    Dis order of eating won't help.
  • jetscreaminagain
    jetscreaminagain Posts: 1,130 Member
    Umm... add exercise?
  • adjones5
    adjones5 Posts: 938 Member
    On a good day I eat 2.5x that amount.
  • charityateet
    charityateet Posts: 574 Member
    On a good day I eat 2.5x that amount.

    Yep, I eat about 1800 cals a day and burn at least 500.....on days I workout harder (pretty often) it's crazy hard to get 2000+ in but I do it. 1000? Nope, that wouldn't work for me at all.
  • lawmama_
    lawmama_ Posts: 103 Member
    1000 calories a day is not a good idea. It'll put your body into starvation mode and you probably won't see any significant weight loss because your body will be holding on to any calories you actually do eat. No woman should ever eat below 1200 calories - It's just unsafe. if you're having trouble losing weight or plateau. Try kicking your workout up a notch and doing something different.
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
    On a good day I eat 2.5x that amount.

    Yep, I eat about 1800 cals a day and burn at least 500.....on days I workout harder (pretty often) it's crazy hard to get 2000+ in but I do it. 1000? Nope, that wouldn't work for me at all.

    Heh heh me too - I ate at least 1700 calories a day and its normally around 1900-2000.

    Sure you CAN starve yourself skinny - but you'll look like crap. Seriously. You know what's awesome? I wear the same size right now at 174 that I did when I was 150. You know why? Because combining diet and exercise is the secret to a good LOOKING body.

    And you cannot exercise on 1000 calories per day. Cannot. I'm serious. Unless you are insanely obese or insanely tiny. you need to eat more than that if you want to have a strong healthy body.

    People look at me now and I think I weight 140-145. When I tell them I weight 174 they are blown away. And I am still losing weight steadily eating 1800-2k calories a day.
  • Cathleenr
    Cathleenr Posts: 332
    Hi.. I have taken down my calorie intake from 1200 a day to 1000 a day.. I have a normal breackfast, a small snack and a shake for lunch and again a very small snack and then my dinner.. Is this safe?? I would love to lose the exess weight i have gained by at leat January or early february???


    who advised you to do that?
    and why?
    and how much weight are you trying to lose...not that that makes a difference in the net calories you consume per day. you have to eat food in order to provide nutrients to your body so it can do what its sposed to do all day long.
    what does your exercise program look like? that is where should look first: burn the calories you ARE eating rather than reduce what you take in, at least by that much.
  • mrshickey
    mrshickey Posts: 239
    I eat less than 1000 cals , however I am at home unable to exercise at the mo due to an operation- im sleeping longer (due to painkillers and antibiotics) so i cant eat all my cals or id be stuffing my face, lol. ive been eating this way for a few weeks now, still losing weight. however i know once in up earlier and out and about il need to up that to keep me functioning. I dont use 1200 as a 'magic' number, if i feel fine at 1100 il stick to that, but i would suggest if u are hungry- eat, even if it takes u over 1000 cals,its your bodys way of telling u it needs more. occasionally ive eaten 1400 cals which is alot more than usual but it rarely has a negative effect. also, if u are planning to exercise, maybe eat 1500 cals and burn some off, i would say thats a better way of doing it
  • wisebadger53
    wisebadger53 Posts: 382 Member
    Limiting caloric intake has never worked for me in the long term. When I have done this and lost a lot of weight quickly I always gained it all back, and always a bit more as well. Now I have been consuming between 1150 and 1450 calories a day, and don't eat any more on days that I exercise so I can benefit from the extra calories I burn off. This seems to be enough to keep me from feeling hungry, and I have plenty of energy too. The key for me is not to eat only "diet" foods, but to eat pretty much whatever I want and limit the portions. This helps to avoid the feeling that I am depriving myself of anything, and gives me an occasional treat to satisfy my sweet tooth. It still takes willpower, but for me it's easier to eat less of what I want than to eat more of what does not really appeal to me. Good luck with achieving your goals!
  • kandrews24
    kandrews24 Posts: 610 Member
    Unlike most folks on MFP, I don't have a problem with consuming 1000 calories per day under certain circumstances, namley because Weight Watchers (who have lots of doctors on staff and who don't want to get sued) take folks down as low as 1000 calories per day WHEN THEY ARE VERY CLOSE TO GOAL.

    It doesn't appear that you are close to goal. So to me, that is not a good idea for you at this time.

    It is a better idea to gradually decrease calories as you slim down (and/or increase exercise) to keep your weight dropping.

    Starting out with such a low calorie intake leaves you no room to improve down the road and thus in your case, I agree with most of the responses you've received.

    If you were not losing at 1200 calories (for over 4 weeks) and you just started out, there is likely something not right. Go back to basics: measure what you eat, write it all down, up protein, lower sodium, eat lots of fruits and veggies, drink your water.

    If you've been dieting for a long while and you just hit a stall, then I agree that increasing calories can help get things going again.

    Good luck. Stay sane. Stay healthy. Don't give up. Whatever you do, you have to be able to do it for the rest of your life. No point in losing and then gaining back, right?
  • Uerzer
    Uerzer Posts: 273
    I eat less than 1000 cals , however I am at home unable to exercise at the mo due to an operation- im sleeping longer (due to painkillers and antibiotics) so i cant eat all my cals or id be stuffing my face, lol. ive been eating this way for a few weeks now, still losing weight.

    If you don't need extra cals after an operation, infection and other stress, just to repair your body.... can you please tell your surgeon? I assume he will be interested in publishing your case.
  • claire_xox
    claire_xox Posts: 282 Member
    Give it a try :) make sure the 1000 cals you eat are smart though. Trade the 300 calorie pb&j sandwich for a 100 calorie apple and you probably won't notice a difference in hubgar or energy :)

    I aim for 950cals a day myself abc I know there's a lot of people on here that disagree with that but if you think about it 1200 is AVERAGE minimum. If a 250lbs 6"2 woman ate that as her lowest no one would care, but for a lighter, shorter woman falling short of 1200 is still considered a diet sin on mfp.

    Try the lower cals for a week, just be smart about what actually makes up those calories so you don't get cravings or malnourished :)
  • MIMITIME
    MIMITIME Posts: 405 Member
    I always say why make it harder than it has to be. When you click for the day on your food diary, this site warns you when you eat less than 1200 calories that you are not eating enough. If you click on the Tools tab and calculate your BMR, it gives you a good estimate of how many calories your body needs to breathe, etc if you did nothing but stay in bed all day. It will be more than a 1000 calories so I do believe the theory that you can put your body in starvation mode.
  • claire_xox
    claire_xox Posts: 282 Member
    I always say why make it harder than it has to be. When you click for the day on your food diary, this site warns you when you eat less than 1200 calories that you are not eating enough. If you click on the Tools tab and calculate your BMR, it gives you a good estimate of how many calories your body needs to breathe, etc if you did nothing but stay in bed all day. It will be more than a 1000 calories so I do believe the theory that you can put your body in starvation mode.

    exactly, and my BMR given to me is less than 1200 cause I'm a shorty and currently at a low weight.... but my cals still default to 1200. So hers might too.
  • mrshickey
    mrshickey Posts: 239
    I eat less than 1000 cals , however I am at home unable to exercise at the mo due to an operation- im sleeping longer (due to painkillers and antibiotics) so i cant eat all my cals or id be stuffing my face, lol. ive been eating this way for a few weeks now, still losing weight.

    If you don't need extra cals after an operation, infection and other stress, just to repair your body.... can you please tell your surgeon? I assume he will be interested in publishing your case.

    ??? not quite sure what u mean or if u r just being sarcastic? i didnt say i didnt need the calories, i just couldnt eat them all as i wasnt up much in the day to eat them all. but i did say in the rest of my post that id need to up my calories eventually.
  • grrrlface
    grrrlface Posts: 1,204 Member
    I eat an average of 1000cals a day but only because my BMR is very low and the days I exercise I find it hard to eat back without being stuffed. I'm losing weight but I'm also listening to my body.
    I wouldn't recommend to anyone to eat 1000cals a day unless it's what your body can work with. If you're starving yourself I would eat what you're comfortable with instead. Don't make yourself miserable!! It'll make it harder!!
    Add more exercise first and then consider looking at your intake! :)
  • julz5150
    julz5150 Posts: 25 Member
    I just started a group fro people eating under 1000 calories a day if anyone wants to join so we can all support each other in our limited calorie intake... :smile:

    Here's the link to the group:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/2169-the-1000-calories-or-less-team
  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
    no such thing as 'starvation' mode. this is a diet myth.

    that being said. i hope you didnt just pull 1200 out of diet myth air. You really need to go on your BMR and activity level when deciding how much to lower your calorie intake.

    the facts..going too low on calories will cause your body to catabolize muscle or lean body mass along with the fat. this is unhealthy. if you really want to lose weight faster or whatever, try upping your exercise, not lowering your calories (at least to that extreme)
  • PetitePerfection
    PetitePerfection Posts: 199 Member
    First try going up a bit. I started at 1200...then 900..then 700.. Then 200-300. I think you get it, but the frustration of not losing combined with a few other factors led me into an eating disorder that nearly took my life. I later found out the reason I wasn't losing on 1200 was because it was too LITTLE. I currently aim for 1700/day and plenty of exercise and have been losing some of the excess weight I gained throughout recovery.....so lowering isn't always the answer. Try upping it first and that, combined with more exercise will probably do the trick. Unless of course, you're just really short
  • ElisetheQ
    ElisetheQ Posts: 58 Member
    Yes, there is such a thing as 'starvation mode.' Do some research.

    That being said, here's a great link describing a great way to lose weight without cutting out so many calories:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

    Good luck!
  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
    I just started a group fro people eating under 1000 calories a day if anyone wants to join so we can all support each other in our limited calorie intake... :smile:

    Here's the link to the group:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/2169-the-1000-calories-or-less-team

    This is insane! Why promote something so terrible?
  • Smokey19
    Smokey19 Posts: 796 Member
    I was told not to go below 1200 calories a day...my body needs that much just to function. If you want to lose weight exercise more, is what I am doing. That way I'm burning more calories.
  • tammy510
    tammy510 Posts: 32
    You can eat as low as 1000 calories a day. I am getting close to my goal and my doctor put me on it. Everyone is different so you have to try it and see if your body will accept it or reject it. The one thing the doc told me was that people will drop their calories and not take a multi vitamin. That is where some of the trouble begins he said. So make sure you are getting a good multi vitamin to help your body get the vitamins it may miss from the lower calories. Also, if you notice on all the weight loss calculators, the less you weigh the less it takes to fuel your body! When I was over 250 I ate almost 1800 calories and lost weight, now if I did that I would be right where I started again.
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