1200 cals per day is not working for me!

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  • fakeplastictree
    fakeplastictree Posts: 836 Member
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    I did 1200 net for about a year. I was always hungry, grumpy and extremely tired. A friend of mine (engineman312) suggested I up to 1400 calories net. I was freaked out because I have been doing 1200 for so long. But I don't feel so horrible all the time. Granted I did lose weight on the 1200 calories but I stopped losing for a few months and have finally started to see it come off again. So I suggest upping you calories about 200 per day for the net and you'll notice a difference in about a week or two. I didn't gain weight initially or anything either.
  • SOOZIE429
    SOOZIE429 Posts: 638 Member
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    You need to eat your BMR in cals.

    Why is that? I've never read that before and I'm curious. Maybe that's what I'm doing wrong. I can't imagine eating 1500 calories and losing weight.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    1200 calories usually wont work for anyone!
    Have your numbers run or goto fat to fit radio and do the military calculator and BMR tool!
    When you see numbers like 1600-2000 dont be surprised!

    Add me for support if you need it!
  • kfins911
    kfins911 Posts: 26 Member
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    Ok here is my experience:
    For four weeks I was eating 1200-1300 cals a day with a couple cheat days but I was also working out everyday one day off. I did not loose 1lb in that 4 weeks but rather I felt bloated and larger than I normally felt. On top of that TOM was not showing for 2.5 weeks he was late. I have never been late like that so I was concerned called doc and they said it was my body not getting enough fuel I needed to eat more. So last Thursday I did not workout and I ate 2100 cals Friday morning 1lb loss. Friday I did not workout and I ate 1800 cals, Saturday morning 0.5lb loss. Saturday no workout ate 1700 did not weigh in Sunday but Sunday I ate 1600 cals and Monday TOM shows up (usually I gain 5lb when TOM visits) but this time it showed only a 2lb gain so I am excited to see what I weigh after TOMs visit. So for me eating more was a must.
    I think I will do the zig zag method and eat between 1600-2000.
  • tiabirdie56
    tiabirdie56 Posts: 4,043 Member
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    1200 calories works for me, but I have to do it the way I understand. I had stalled on losing weight because I was burning more calories than I could eat back to reach the 1200. I have recently set my calories to 1600. That is 500 calories below my total daily energy expenditure. I only want to burn 1750 to 3500 calories more per week, so I had to dial back the exercise. I've dropped 2 lbs since changing my approach a week ago. MFP really does this for me, but my old school way of not thinking about net calories works better for me.
  • SOOZIE429
    SOOZIE429 Posts: 638 Member
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    1200 calories usually wont work for anyone!
    Have your numbers run or goto fat to fit radio and do the military calculator and BMR tool!
    When you see numbers like 1600-2000 dont be surprised!

    Add me for support if you need it!

    Thanks for the tip on fat to fit radio. Great site. Although you were right. It's tells me to eat 1700 calories to reach my goal weight. I don't understand how that is possible. And it really doesn't explain why. 1700 is a lot and I'd be nervous to eat that much.
  • havalinaaa
    havalinaaa Posts: 333 Member
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    MFP settings had me eating less than my BMR (1350 is what it had for 1 lb a week weight loss, my BMR is 1360). I recently bumped it up to just below maintenance (1800) and plan on eating at that level every day, regardless of exercise (if I do a crazy amount of activity in one day, I will let myself eat more if I feel like it, otherwise I'm trying to stay within 100 of that 1800 goal). I've been doing it for nearly two weeks now and never saw a weight gain, I'm actually down half a pound from when I started. I'm switching gears entirely and starting to focus mostly on strength training, getting over my fears of the weight room. It helps that I sort of despise most cardio.

    I didn't slowly work up to the new number, I did it all at once. I was expecting a bump in weight but happily I never saw one. I am SO much happier eating more, it was difficult the first few days to eat that much but I quickly got into the swing of things. I stress so much less about eating now, and I find it much easier to meet my macros. Things were just too complicated for me, so I ultra-simplified. I'm giving it two months before I declare it good or bad.
  • tiggerdug
    tiggerdug Posts: 67 Member
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    ive just joined and my goal is meant to be 1200 a day, tho i took it that I should eat more but excercise to meet this goal, and if I had a day where I did not excercise at all if aim for 1200.
    Am I right? I lost weight at first but now it seems to be going back on and im hungry.
  • Hollie_downunder
    Hollie_downunder Posts: 192
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    Thanks so much for your advice everyone, i think i have gone on far too long with the scales only slowly going down, then a touch up, then down again! ARGH! :)

    For those who asked, 1200cals is what MFP set for me as i had it on the maximum weightloss with sedentary lifestyle as i have a desk job (but then again no car so i walk pretty much EVERYWHERE!)

    So it seems i have been way off the mark for so long, time to mix it up and hope for results!
  • WilliamsPeggy
    WilliamsPeggy Posts: 440 Member
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    Yes. I bumped mine to 1300. It's working.
  • djdelano
    djdelano Posts: 30
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    Hi

    I just did a quick poke over to that BMR on fit2fat. 72" 201 goal to weigh 195

    This is me: Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 3021 Calories per day.

    That's insane, if I ate that many calories, even considering the exercise, I'd be GAINING a pound a week.

    your results may vary, but that is WAY WAY WAY too much for me.

    -D
  • Hollie_downunder
    Hollie_downunder Posts: 192
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    Woah! yeah thats huge, i don't think it would be possible for me to even eat that many calories per day, unless all i was eating was mcdonalds.. and we dont want that! haha
  • Almiel
    Almiel Posts: 61 Member
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    Thanks so much for your advice everyone, i think i have gone on far too long with the scales only slowly going down, then a touch up, then down again! ARGH! :)

    For those who asked, 1200cals is what MFP set for me as i had it on the maximum weightloss with sedentary lifestyle as i have a desk job (but then again no car so i walk pretty much EVERYWHERE!)

    So it seems i have been way off the mark for so long, time to mix it up and hope for results!

    If you walk everywhere, then change your settings to lightly active, and see how that goes for a few weeks. I, like other responders, went from 1240 up to 1490 and started losing weight again.
    Another thing I do is I to make safe counts. I usually log a little more calories' food and a little less burned calories, even though is it not true. It gives me a safe zone.

    Anyone, would like to comment my strategies that wrote above. Opinions are welcome.

    On the latter, that is good for sure! Most people forget they are burning calories even when not exercising. For example, I burn about 1.5 cals/minute sitting at my computer. So after I exercise, I multiply the minutes by 1.5 and subtract that from my calories burned. E.G. Yesterday I did circuit training. My HRM reported 275 calories and it took 35 minutes. 35 x 1.5 = 52.5. To make it easier, I just knocked 50 calories off and reported 225 calories burned.
  • lupa01
    lupa01 Posts: 162 Member
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    I'm set at 1200 calories and it works fine for me, probably because I work out almost everyday and eat back some of my exercise calories. I usually average around 1400 but on the weekends around 2000. I do, however, burn more calories on Saturdays and eat back almost all of those calories because it is my "cheat day". I've been on MFP for about two months, and have weighed myself twice. The first month I lost 13 pounds and the second month I lost 6 pounds. I have lost more inches since my last weigh in, but will not weigh again until the end of this month. I guess it works for me because I rarely eat the 1200 calories! I eat all day long, drink lots of water, I never feel deprived, and the weight is literally falling off! With all that said, try eating back some of your exercise calories. Depending on how many calories I burn, I usually eat back around 200-300 of them, except on "cheat days".lol I hope you find balance and what works for you, blessings to you on your journey!;-)
  • yankeedownsouth
    yankeedownsouth Posts: 717 Member
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    1200 doesn't seem to be working for me either, although I do eat some/most of the calories I burn while exercising. I lost the first few weeks, then I've been gaining/losing the same pound repeatedly the last two weeks. I'm starting to wonder if 1200 is just too low or if I'm struggling because I only have 10 pounds to lose. I've thought about upping my calories a bit, but I'm afraid to gain back the whopping three pounds I've managed to lose...
  • hnsaunde
    hnsaunde Posts: 757 Member
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    I started doing the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, and at the same time increased my calories to 1500 per day. For 30 days, I didn't eat more than 1500 regardless of how much I exercised (, and I made sure that I was eating healthy foods, and I didn't drink alcohol. I lost about 3 pounds but dropped a dress size. I had plateaued for about 3 months, and the switched helped me drop more weight while toning.
  • jovz10
    jovz10 Posts: 531 Member
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    1200 calories usually wont work for anyone!
    Have your numbers run or goto fat to fit radio and do the military calculator and BMR tool!
    When you see numbers like 1600-2000 dont be surprised!

    Add me for support if you need it!

    Thanks for the tip on fat to fit radio. Great site. Although you were right. It's tells me to eat 1700 calories to reach my goal weight. I don't understand how that is possible. And it really doesn't explain why. 1700 is a lot and I'd be nervous to eat that much.

    don't eat your exercise back though... i think 1700 for gross not net.... that's my goal right now... 1750 (maintain weight) but net 1300cal/week after exercise (1293cal BMR)
  • disappearingact206
    disappearingact206 Posts: 33
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    I have found the the recommendations on MFP can sometimes be WAY too low.
    my trainer informed me that you should be eating 10x your weight in calories a day.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Options
    1200 calories usually wont work for anyone!
    Have your numbers run or goto fat to fit radio and do the military calculator and BMR tool!
    When you see numbers like 1600-2000 dont be surprised!

    Add me for support if you need it!

    Thanks for the tip on fat to fit radio. Great site. Although you were right. It's tells me to eat 1700 calories to reach my goal weight. I don't understand how that is possible. And it really doesn't explain why. 1700 is a lot and I'd be nervous to eat that much.

    Nutrients for your vital organs!
    If you are seriously obese then eating closer to BMR is healthy to a point.
    Your body will fuel itself with your fat essentially burning it off.
    But if you arent obese then you are robbing vital nutrients from bital organs ie: Brain, liver, kidneys, heart...etc.
    Its similar to you trying to run a marathon with a belt around your chest restricting how deep your breaths are while sprinting!

    the trick is staying at 1700 calories with well balanced macros for 2 weeks to see the difference!
    Can you do it?
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
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    Hi,

    What this shows is how different people are.

    I'm at 1870 Calories per day. I'm 6'2 and now 201 lbs.

    I workout at least 4 times a week, and often burn 500-800 calories per day. I'm losing very slowly.

    I'm actually stunned that some of your are losing weight at 1300/1400/1500 calories without vigorous workouts.

    As I've mentioned before I often don't officially track sat/sun but I consiously add up the calories to about 200-400 excess cals.

    If you are able to eat that much food and maintain, or lose, be HAPPY, because there are many of us who are very jealous!

    I predict my next weigh in when I finally get to 195 MFP will reduce me under 1800. Goal is 190 by end of February (going on a cruise)

    -D

    I am totally with you! I lost 0.6lbs a week on 1200 cals plus eating back half my exercise cals. Now I am maintaining on 1500. I only get to eat 1800 if I do an hour of aerobics or circuits! 2000 if I run 10k.

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