1200 CAL/Day

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lhines27
lhines27 Posts: 2
in Food and Nutrition
So...I'm new here. Hi! :) Just a quick question...that I'm sure I could Google, but if I'm going to try to use this site to really benefit me then I wanted to post my question here. I'm trying to keep my calorie intake to 1200 calories a day. Is there anyway to figure how long it would take to lose a certain number of pounds based on a 1200 calorie/day diet?

Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    You need to know your TDEE first. Google Katch-McArdle or other maintenance caloric estimation tools and go from there.

    Additionally, if you are nursing that baby I would urge you to rethink your caloric intake.
    Lastly, even if you are not nursing that baby, I would urge you to rethink your caloric intake unless you're 4'5".

    Not trying to be a pecker, we just have had a lot of nursing mothers who seem to think 1200 calories is in the best interest of their milk supply.
  • lhines27
    lhines27 Posts: 2
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    Not nursing and I am taller than 4'5"! Haha...Thanks for the advice!!
  • _tiifyjo_
    _tiifyjo_ Posts: 118 Member
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    You need to figure out your bmr, I think that's what it is called. There is a tool for it in the "Tools" section. That will tell you how many calories your body needs just to be you, if you did nothing all day. For the sake of this example we will say mine is 1600 calories, if I eat 1200 and do no workout for the day, then I have a deficit of 400 calories for that day. That is 2,800 for the week. There are 3,500 calories in a pound. So for that week I would burn more than half a pound, but not a whole pound. So it will depend on your bmr and if you work out. Hope that helps.
  • goldfinger88
    goldfinger88 Posts: 686 Member
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    There are all sorts of calculators online. I know in my case I should love 1 pound a week on 1200 calories. However, I won't go on a 1200 calorie diet. It's just not enough calories as far as I'm concerned. If your body goes into starvation mode, you'll gain more. Well, that didn't answer your question. You'll have to input your weight, age, etc and then it's just a guess. Didn't the MFP app tell you? I was thinking it does.
  • _tiifyjo_
    _tiifyjo_ Posts: 118 Member
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    Additionally, if you are nursing that baby I would urge you to rethink your caloric intake.
    Lastly, even if you are not nursing that baby, I would urge you to rethink your caloric intake unless you're 4'5".

    Are you saying that 1200 cal is too few of calories for someone not nursing and taller than 4'5"? Just curious. Because I am not nursing, not even a mom, and am taller than 4'5" but according to MFP, I should be eating no more than 1200 cal.
  • 6packngunz
    6packngunz Posts: 6
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    Gotta figure out your daily intake needs. going lower than your body needs could hurt more than help.
    Cut maybe %20 of your max daily intake. i would not go lower.
  • TheCats_Meow
    TheCats_Meow Posts: 438 Member
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    ^bump to come back later^
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    You need to figure out your maintenance calories which is NOT BMR. It is the BMR times some multiplier. MFP uses a multiplier that doesn't include exercise, other sites do include exercise. This is why you should eat your exercise calories when using MFP's numbers.

    Once you have your maintenance you subtract 500 calories a day to lose a pound a week. Unless you are obese I would not recommend trying for more than a pound a week. If you have less than 20ls to lose you should try for a half pound a week.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    Are you saying that 1200 cal is too few of calories for someone not nursing and taller than 4'5"? Just curious. Because I am not nursing, not even a mom, and am taller than 4'5" but according to MFP, I should be eating no more than 1200 cal.

    The 4'5" was partially intended for humor but also to make a point. However it is my belief that for the majority, 1200 is too low and not sustainable long term.
  • AngC333
    AngC333 Posts: 11
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    I am 5 ft tall and am on a 1200 cal/ day plan. In the beginning I was doing what I could to stay as close to or under 1200 cals/ day. I am also finishing Nursing school and spending 4 days a week in the hospital moving like crazy. I noticed that in the beginning when I was keeping my cals on the low side I was starving and not loosing. Now I am keeping it to at least 1200 and am averaging about 1-2lbs a week. I've lost a total of 21 lbs in almost 100 days. Clinically its also not very healthy to loose more than 2 lbs a week.

    I hope this gives some kind of insight :) Keep it up!!
  • ElPumaMex
    ElPumaMex Posts: 367 Member
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    I agree with Sidesteal:
    You should not just set a caloric intake of 1200 at random.

    Use the tools at this site to get an approximate idea of the target calories per day (BMR calculator):
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

    Also: it is important that you set a realistic goal on the pounds per week you want to lose.
    A rule of thumb is that 1 pound per week is a very good target that will not stress your body and you can easily achieve.

    By the way, a pound of fat is about 3300 calories.

    So let's put all this in numbers: (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/my_goals)

    Let's say that your BMR number comes up to 2070 calories per day (this is how much I burn every day given my size, no exercise, etc)
    From normal daily activity (no exercise), my actual estimate on burn per day is 2540 calories.

    Therefore, the calorie deficit is (2070-2540) or 470 calories that I will burn per day.
    Calorie deficit totals for 1 week = 470 calories x 7 days = 3300 calories

    So this means that I will lose one pound per week.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    BMR shouldn't be used to calculate what you eat. It has to be multiplied by your activity multiplier, then you subtract a deficit from that. BMR means very little by itself. The BMR tool is pretty useless.

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