Why 1,200 Calories Per Day Never Works

Options
2

Replies

  • LilMissFoodie
    LilMissFoodie Posts: 612 Member
    Options
    It largely depends on how you define "works".

    Absolutely. I often hear people talk about all the diets they have tried and which ones 'worked' for them. As far as I see it if you've regained the weight, it didn't 'work' for you.
  • goldfinger88
    goldfinger88 Posts: 686 Member
    Options
    Actually, the doctor didn't say to increase your calories. He said decrease them. And on the videos he explains why. I'm neither agreeing or disagreeing with him. But his point is interesting one. Like he says, anyone can lose weight on 1200 calories a day. That's not what he's really talking about if you watch the videos.
  • grannygethealthy1111
    grannygethealthy1111 Posts: 422
    Options
    It worked for me. I have lost 103 pounds. I am 20-months out and still going strong. Every BODY is different and we all have different requirements. For example, patients with PCOS are often put on a caloric restriction of 1000 calories per day. We each have to find what works for OUR body and not listen to blanket statements telling us we HAVE to eat more than 1200 calories per day or we HAVE to eat back our exercise calories.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
    Options
    Of course it depends o the individual... smaller people and less muscle dense people need less and so do more sedentary people!

    Not always. I am considered "smaller" and I need far more calories than most women my size. At 145lbs, I should be consuming in the 1500-1800 range for maintenance. I am netting 2300-2500 and maintaining. So, again.. it all depends on your body.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,121 Member
    Options
    Well said, everyone. 1,200 works for many. It does not work forever or for every one.
  • woou
    woou Posts: 668 Member
    Options
    I wouldn't say 1200 NEVER works...1200 will never work for me but that is because of my physical activity, lean muscle mass and fitness goals. I can't/refuse go below 1700. Some people metabolic rate is lower or some people can handle large deficits.

    Nice to see more people being open to the idea that what works for them may not be what works for everyone else. :flowerforyou:
  • ZeroTX
    ZeroTX Posts: 179 Member
    Options
    I love all the real-world, measured testimonies proving wrong the people who like to think they know everything. Some people would say (incorrectly) that you have to get exercise to lose weight. In my months of doing MFP, I've only done deliberate exercise ONCE, and only for an hour of mild activity.... yet I've lost 31 pounds on MFP and 42lbs since June, all just based on adjustment of caloric intake, portion sizes, etc.

    Additionally, I just did a full physical last week, and all my blood work numbers came back healthy, including my CHOLESTEROL which has gone down to normal range (LDL still a little high, so working on that).

    There isn't one true fact that is necessarily true for everyone....
  • RonKay
    RonKay Posts: 85 Member
    Options
    bump
  • Victoriav99
    Victoriav99 Posts: 260 Member
    Options
    I've been eating an average of 1200 calories a day and work out at least 5 times a week. I've lost 10 lbs. It works for me.
  • lijparsons
    lijparsons Posts: 258
    Options
    I don't think anyone is actually getting the point of the videos. Perhaps no one watched the whole thing. He is NOT saying 1200 does not work. He is saying it DOES work. His point is, that when people say it is not working for them, it is because they are not counting their calories correctly. My problem with this guy is that he does not state HOW we could be making such a huge error. So, I can only assume he is implying that we are all idiots who don't know how to read labels and measure food and log it.
  • patricia184
    patricia184 Posts: 49 Member
    Options
    Thanks for the video! I need the info!

    bump
  • tillmanlady
    tillmanlady Posts: 139 Member
    Options
    For example, patients with PCOS are often put on a caloric restriction of 1000 calories per day.

    I have PCOS, was DX'd 10 yrs ago and was never told to live off of 1000 cals
  • LilMissFoodie
    LilMissFoodie Posts: 612 Member
    Options
    I don't think anyone is actually getting the point of the videos. Perhaps no one watched the whole thing. He is NOT saying 1200 does not work. He is saying it DOES work. His point is, that when people say it is not working for them, it is because they are not counting their calories correctly. My problem with this guy is that he does not state HOW we could be making such a huge error. So, I can only assume he is implying that we are all idiots who don't know how to read labels and measure food and log it.

    Another possibility is that you are eating a lot of processed foods or for example foods from restaurants with calorie counts where the calorie counts will be estimations or averages. Not just processed foods really, also for example 'a medium banana'. Estimating calories accurately is actually really difficult. Or he could be saying that people cheat more often than they admit to themselves!
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    Options
    It largely depends on how you define "works".

    Absolutely. I often hear people talk about all the diets they have tried and which ones 'worked' for them. As far as I see it if you've regained the weight, it didn't 'work' for you.

    ^ This is one very big aspect and I agree with you.
  • jayliospecky
    jayliospecky Posts: 25,022 Member
    Options
    Did anyone note the part at the end of the video where he recommends to some patients that they aim for 700 calories per day, (because he thinks they will eat more like 1500 because they calculate calories so inaccurately)? I don't know if I would trust what this guy says. That seems like a very tricky road to go down...what if he gave that advice to someone with anorexic tendencies, who actually is extremely accurate at counting their calories?

    Personally, I think if you're not sure if you're counting accurately, you should weigh and measure your food. That seems like more sound advice to me.
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
    Options
    Of course it depends o the individual... smaller people and less muscle dense people need less and so do more sedentary people!

    Not always. I am considered "smaller" and I need far more calories than most women my size. At 145lbs, I should be consuming in the 1500-1800 range for maintenance. I am netting 2300-2500 and maintaining. So, again.. it all depends on your body.

    I'm exactly the same, but my dad just reckons I must misjudge all my calories, just as (I gather from this thread) the doctor in the video says people are doing in the opposite direction. Whatever. What actually counts is finding what works for you WHETHER OR NOT you are counting accurately. I wouldn't want to restrict myself to eating solely what can be easily measured, so I'll just go with the way it works for me.
  • inammorata
    inammorata Posts: 80
    Options
    Been averaging 1200 calories per day...lost nearly 30 lbs since June.
  • ZeroTX
    ZeroTX Posts: 179 Member
    Options
    I watched the video just now. The guy is kind of a douche, I think. He essentially calls you (us) stupid and tells us to psych ourselves out since we're too stupid to count accurately.
  • vanessaclarkgbr
    vanessaclarkgbr Posts: 765 Member
    Options
    I wouldn't say 1200 NEVER works...1200 will never work for me but that is because of my physical activity, lean muscle mass and fitness goals. I can't/refuse go below 1700. Some people metabolic rate is lower or some people can handle large deficits.

    Nice to see more people being open to the idea that what works for them may not be what works for everyone else. :flowerforyou:

    Definitely agree! Like it.

    1,200 working fine for me on a rest day, eating back most of my exercise calories or saving for a spike otherwise. That's just me.
  • NatalieWinning
    NatalieWinning Posts: 999 Member
    Options
    This, quote below is my opinion. Other than people's body mass and food needs may be factor to consider.

    I also believe you need to accurately log and eat back those exercise calories. I have a HRM and I stayed within a hundred or so for a year of that goal. It worked great. Until I got more muscle mass and then I needed a little more. So toward the end I lowered my goal to losing slower and eating more. The closer I got the slower it was. Patience. The MFP maintence goal is also working unless I'm exercising a whole lot (then I need a couple hundred more).

    I also worked with a guy (a nurse) that spent 30 minutes telling me all the ways fatter people with more fat in their diet are happier and healthier. Skinny people on low cholesterol are depressed. So, people like to say what they would like to believe. Convenient for them. Not necessarily truth.
    His video should be called "1200 calorie diets work, but people don't track thier food accurately"

Categories