Is eating 1200 too little?

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iwannabe105lbs
iwannabe105lbs Posts: 4
in Introduce Yourself
Hi, all. I'm new to MyFitnessPal so let me give you some background info: i'm 18 & weigh roughly 140lbs. My overall goal is to get down to 105,but I'd love to even ben 120 soon. According to the site, I'd be 120 in 10 weeks if I ate 1200 cals a day, is this true? What if I exercised? Would I need to eat more if I exercised?

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  • Ian214
    Ian214 Posts: 36 Member
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    Yes your "net calories" have to be minimum of 1200, so burn 200 cals and you should eat 1400 cals to get a net rating of 1200,
  • KavemanKarg
    KavemanKarg Posts: 266
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    It is relative to your body weight so not really seeing that as some magic number you have to worry about going below.

    Try it out and see how you do.
  • skierxjes
    skierxjes Posts: 938 Member
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    Eat at LEAST 1200 a day. Eat back exercise calories. Drink lots and lots of water.
  • ljb04
    ljb04 Posts: 1 Member
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    If you exercise you get more calories- just keep up with how many calories you burn and then add that to your daily goal
  • ladyulliman
    ladyulliman Posts: 3 Member
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    The cool thing about myfitnesspal.com is that if you log your exercise, it will automatically calculate that into your daily calorie goal. So if your base goal is 1200 calories per day and you burn 100 calories today (and log it here) you'll earn 100 extra calories to eat.

    I've read that women shouldn't go below 1200 calories per day. When you do, you'll start losing muscle mass. So be sure to get you're required calories in!
  • cppeace
    cppeace Posts: 764 Member
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    It's really a person by person basis. I'd say put it at 1250 to give yourself some wiggle room.. Never be more than 100 under 1200... Make healthy choices and eat back at least 1/3 of exercise calories. :) all my opinion though
  • Sp1nGoddess
    Sp1nGoddess Posts: 1,138 Member
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    You should exercise and eat back your calories. 1,200 is the estimate of what you would burn if you did nothing but lay around in bed all day. This is a great link to explain how MFP works. Good Luck!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits
  • sunshinesonata
    sunshinesonata Posts: 241 Member
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    Yes your "net calories" have to be minimum of 1200, so burn 200 cals and you should eat 1400 cals to get a net rating of 1200,

    You say that Net has to be at least 1200, but what if you can't eat that much?? Especially if you're excercising lets say, 700 calories a day. Then what do you do?
  • jenalderman
    jenalderman Posts: 411 Member
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    Remember that WHAT you eat matters too. Give your body lots of lean protein, fiber and veggies. Get the leanest look possible at whatever weight you happen to be at the time. I look better now at 145 than I did at 125 in my twenties. Then I would eat 1400 calories worth of sugar and fat every day.
  • woou
    woou Posts: 668 Member
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    You say that Net has to be at least 1200, but what if you can't eat that much?? Especially if you're excercising lets say, 700 calories a day. Then what do you do?

    Maybe a smoothie with some calorie dense foods in it like an avocado, bananas, nuts, etc...?

    I actually question this 1200 cals minimum myself, but I need to do some more research into it at school. In my college nutrition class, a low cal diet is considered unhealthy, and a 1200 cal diet is definitely a low cal diet. I'm thinking about adjusting to eating at least my BMR. I'll lose slowly, but it's healthy. It's amazing how much abuse our bodies can take.
  • tmoya
    tmoya Posts: 5 Member
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    I have taken several courses in this over the last year and a half and I don't agree with Myfitnesspals logic of eating your exercise calories. If your normal daily activities calories burned is 1900 and you want to loose 2 lbs per week that can me done by burning 1000 more per day. That shouldn't be done all by diet. You should never consume less than 1200 calories per day! But if you reduce your calorie intake by 500 calories (now 1400) and burn 500 calories in exercise. You then have your 1000 calorie deficit to get your weekly 7000 calorie deficit which equals to 2 lbs. If you eat your 500 calorie exercise calories then you have reduced your deficit to 500 calories per day and will reduce your weekly loss to 1 lb per week. Personally I keep my calorie intake at about 1400 unless I am burning more than a 1000 calories in exercise that day, then I up it to 1600-1800 calories depending.
  • Barribomb
    Barribomb Posts: 284 Member
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    Such an informative thread, so glad I came across it. Thx everyone for the info! Helps this newbie a lot!
  • stayxtrue
    stayxtrue Posts: 1,190 Member
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    Yea as others have already stated it is not too low. Just make sure you keep to it.
    Mine is set to 1200 calories as well, however I go to the gym for weights in the morning at 5.30 before work then I also go for a run after work, So i usually get an extra 600 calories that I can eat a day. So if you dont exercise to just remain at your 1200.

    I have been saying that I would lose weight for months, but never actually did it! in the last 3-4 weeks I have lost 5kgs! and I am rarely hungry! its awesome!
  • foremant86
    foremant86 Posts: 1,115 Member
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    I have taken several courses in this over the last year and a half and I don't agree with Myfitnesspals logic of eating your exercise calories. If your normal daily activities calories burned is 1900 and you want to loose 2 lbs per week that can me done by burning 1000 more per day. That shouldn't be done all by diet. You should never consume less than 1200 calories per day! But if you reduce your calorie intake by 500 calories (now 1400) and burn 500 calories in exercise. You then have your 1000 calorie deficit to get your weekly 7000 calorie deficit which equals to 2 lbs. If you eat your 500 calorie exercise calories then you have reduced your deficit to 500 calories per day and will reduce your weekly loss to 1 lb per week. Personally I keep my calorie intake at about 1400 unless I am burning more than a 1000 calories in exercise that day, then I up it to 1600-1800 calories depending.

    the part that you are missing is the fact that MFP already factors in a calorie deficit for however many pounds you say you want to lose a week based on your BMR, So when you don't eat back your exercise calories you are creating an even larger deficit and that is not good for your body and it will not help your weight loss.
  • focused4health
    focused4health Posts: 154 Member
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    How to best say this.:cry:

    if a consumption of 1200 calories leaves you feeling satisfied why force more? If you do moderate excercise and burn a couple hundred calories and dont feel hungry why force yourselfvto "eat back the calories" If you dont feel hungry after your three square meals, have a drink of water and relax without the thought of food on your brain. If you feel hungry after excercise sure eat back...if not why?
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
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    OP, you lack the fat mass to choose the 2 lb per week option-that's ideal for those with 80+ lbs of fat to lose. With your goal of 30-35 lbs, choose the 1 lb option. When you progress and only have 10 lbs left to lose, reset to 0.5 lb per week. The logic behind this is that the body is only capable of pulling a limited amount of calories from fat per day. The less fat mass results in less fat being burned which explains why fat loss slows down as ones weight decreases.

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