I really can't grasp this...

Ok, I get the science behind it and I've read articles like the popular one titled "obesity at 700 calories"... But when I continuously see people on the forums saying how hard it is to eat 1200 calories a day and that they just can't possibly eat that much, I have to say it never fails to baffle my mind. I could easily put away 3,000 calories a day if I could. I just love to eat. That is all.

My heart goes out, but I am here to connect with can-do people who are as determined as I am to reach these goals.

Not wanting to sound rude, but that in itself is false. I have a naturally small appetite and even on days that I am trying to splurge (like today) I have a problem eating 1200 calories a day. I have my fiance on here monitoring it because 1) I am not lying and 2) I do not have an eating disorder. I just do not get hungry that often. I joined MFP not knowing that and it has been a shock to know that on days like today where I had both arbys and in - n - out that I stilll needed to eat when I got home to hit that minimal mark. I was 145 when I started losing weight and am now at 129 at 5'7''. I am still in my healthy weight range so that is not classifiable as an eating disorder. As long as someone is still in their healthy BMI and does have that issue of not having a large appetite it is not right to judge them just because you think that they don't need to lose weight. I know that there are people on here with legit ED's but it is not right to make a generalization that either these people are liars or have a disorder. You don't know everyone on this site and that comment did not need to be made in multiple threads (Skinny People Dieting thread). The judgmental generalizations are not needed. Just sayin.

Sorry OP for getting off topic.

Eating disorders have nothing to do with how much you weigh.

I am aware of that. I was simply giving a rebuttal to the comment of because you struggle to eat 1200 calories a day means you are either lying or have an ED. I am a 8 year recovered bulemic myself so that generalization bugs me.

Just clarifying. You said "I am still in my healthy weight range so that is not classifiable as an eating disorder." I just didn't want to see someone with an ED trying to use their weight as an excuse for their behavior.

Ah, very true. I didn't word that sentence well. I agree with you. Thank you for catching that.

Not big into cheese either - it makes me feel sick.The bread dip sounds yummy though. I grew up in a family that ate out constantly (which is where the original weight issue came from) and now that I am trying to be healthier I am becoming the one who cooks and trying to learn what works best for what is like earning a second bachelors for me. That's why I bug my health nut fiance all the time. :blushing:

I so agree with you. It's all about cooking or, in my case, relearning to cook. I like lentils and rice together (as in stuffed pepper with…) and the calories add up pretty fast. I have also found I prefer feta cheese to regular cow cheese. You need very little and it doesn’t have the same texture but loaded with nutrients. I'm trying to eat clean so avoid the "manufactured" chemical food like products on the market these days.

I really can't grasp how people can put down thousands of calories in a single day.

^^This statement is no worse than some of the comments I've read on this thread.

feta is the crumbly type cheese, right? lol

edit: I have google. I can look it up. Sorry.

Yes, crumbly, and salty. It's a Greek brined cheese. Really good on, well, everything. :laugh:

Yup, that's the cheese that goes on gyros. Love that stuff.

edit: that's the good cheese that doesn't make me feel icky.

I eat bacon and eggs for breakfast most days, fruits and salads etc for lunch, cheese, I love my steak and homemade gravies, tons of vegies etc.

I am lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant and I find it really hard a lot of the time to get 1200 NET calories a day. Heavier exercise days I really do struggle to eat enough. My daily intake will end up being around 1300 - 1500 usually which is still pretty hard for me to reach.

And the days that I spend doing art and drawing my appetite disappears because I am so focused and I am just not hungry/forget to eat. I also usually have to send a fair bit of time preparing my meals so I can't usually grab something quick and easy but I have started hard boiling eggs and keeping lots of nuts around to give me a better option rather than only grabbing an apple.

I cook everything from scratch, dont eat a lot of grains anymore and very little diary.

Not everyone can be generalised. Take away a lot of processed food and it can be hard.

Ok, I get the science behind it and I've read articles like the popular one titled "obesity at 700 calories"... But when I continuously see people on the forums saying how hard it is to eat 1200 calories a day and that they just can't possibly eat that much, I have to say it never fails to baffle my mind. I could easily put away 3,000 calories a day if I could. I just love to eat. That is all.

My heart goes out, but I am here to connect with can-do people who are as determined as I am to reach these goals.

I think a lot of people, even with the use of a diary, aren't completely honest with what they eat. I work with a lady when I was at Wendy's who was morbidly obese. She claimed she was so big because she worked such long hours and was only able to eat one meal a day-yet she constantly made sandwiches and got soda and candy from the gas station next door. Her mindless snacking throughout the day added on so many calories it was hard for her to keep track of it all. And I think we've all had days where we eat less than usual, some days I get sidetracked, or like Thursday at work I didn't get to eat until about 3am because of paperwork etc we had to deal with. And like you said there are also the extrememly thin types who have no business being here trying to lose weight (being healthy they do obviously), and also, I feel like some of these people want attention when they post that they 'can't possibly' eat so many calories. But for the overweight people who say they can't possibly eat that much, I'm willing to bet it's a lie.

feta is the crumbly type cheese, right? lol

edit: I have google. I can look it up. Sorry.

Yeah it is. My husband is turkish and they have feta running through their veins so I can share some recipes with you! It really goes well in egg omelet for example.

I don't eat 1200 calories a day, because I do not eat my first meal unitl 2:30 or 3:00 in the afternoon. If I took in that many calories after losing the weight I have by lowering calories and fat consumption I would gain it all back.

How do you know that?
I lost 28lbs by regularly eating 800-1200 cals between 8pm and bedtime. I'm not much of a daytime eater either so I have a lot of cals leftover for when I'll really enjoy them.

This is my background -- so that you have a little understanding of those of us who struggle to find 1200 calories.

I have fought with ED for almost my entire life -- starting when I was 13. It became bad when I was a teenager -- all that I would eat were crackers and applesauce while simultaneously dancing in a ballet company and running track and cross country in high school. It was in that time that became afraid of food. My coaches became concerned and sought treatment for me. The ballet director called me fat (5'8" and 108lbs). I was forced to quit dancing.

It was during my pregnancies that I allowed myself to eat, as the food wasn't for me, but for the baby. I gained weight and then couldn't lose (because my metabolism was soooo screwed up).

Now, 20 years after high school, I am finally attempting to deal with this in a healthy manner. Last summer when I was first trying to lose weight, I was eating about 500 calories a day. I was *terrified* of food. My partner encouraged me to join MFP so that I could be healthy and lose weight (she's on here). When I started tracking calories, I was only eating 500-700 a day. Now I struggle to get to 1200, but I graze and seek food until I get to that (at minimum). I can be seen standing at the refrigerator and doing math in my head to find the healthiest calories. She wanted me to see that my fear of food was bad.

The sad thing is that she's a chef and I am a baker. I was afraid to do anything more than taste any of our food (a teaspoon of this or that would be my only "meals"). I learned recently that it is not uncommon for people with ED to work in the food industry -- we are around food, but train ourselves to not want any of it (I can backe all day and not have a taste quiet easily).

It is a mindset (for me). I now try to see that food is healthy and can help me, rather than it being the enemy. So, struggling to get to 1200? yes. Some people are here to lose weight and cut calories, while some are here to change how we see food. I am trying, but it hard to train your body and mind to change in this way.

It's easy to eat 3,000 cal's a day when you're eating crap and junk food. That's why we're here trying to lose weight. Not hard to understand that eating crap all the time means we're all 30-50-100 lbs overweight.
Eat sensible HEALTHY food - and it's easy to be at 1200 cals a day.
I eat sensibly, I'm not hungry, and at times I have to eat my extra frozen banana at night to get close to 1200.
Check out my dairy and you'll see - I eat oatmeal in the morning, I have hot apple cider more for warmth mid-morning.
I eat a Heatlhy choice lunch, some pop chips for salt/crunch and fruit in the afternoon.
I usually have a chicken salad, or some meat w/ vege or pasta and vege.
For desert I eat 1-2 frozen bananas.
I don't eat candy/sweets, I don't eat bread (becuz I really just don't care for it). i cut out the white sugar and white flower.
What's left? A lot of stuff that's just low cal. You can eat a head of broccoli and cauliflower and barely hit 500 cals.
Some days I'm just so busy at work that I don't have time to eat big meals, but I try and eat decent stuff.
Add a 1-hour workout, and suddenly I'm 600 calories short. I just can't find 600 calories to eat just for the sake of eating.
No mystical science to this, no bafflement - it's just what it is. Not eating cheeseburgers, fries, chocolate, or fast food.

I don't find it that hard to eat under 1200 calories in a day. First off, I don't feel hungry that often. When I'm studying with people they all are like "I need to go take a break and get some supper because I'm hungry" and I didn't even start feeling hungry at all. Sometimes the only thing that reminds me to eat is a bad headache. I'm trying to eat more, but I have a really hard time eating my 1600 calories a day. I think that if you've never been in the place of someone who's tried so hard to restrict calories for a long time you don't understand what it's like. I know when I was 8 I could eat 3 big helpings of mashed potatoes with gravy and not give it a second thought. I knew what it was like to eat 3000 calories a day. I used to drink lots of milk, but now the thought of 2 cups of milk and all the calories in it just scares me. I am trying to gain weight again so I've been trying a lot harder to drink more milk and eat cheese and almonds and stuff, but it can be hard when you get into a bad habit.

Ok, I get the science behind it and I've read articles like the popular one titled "obesity at 700 calories"... But when I continuously see people on the forums saying how hard it is to eat 1200 calories a day and that they just can't possibly eat that much, I have to say it never fails to baffle my mind. I could easily put away 3,000 calories a day if I could. I just love to eat. That is all.

This is such a crock. The only people not eating the 1200 calorie minimum are people who may have mild to serious ED. I've rarely seen an overweight person from consuming under 1000 calories a day. They are overweight because they OVERATE.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

To each their own...

It's easy to eat 3,000 cal's a day when you're eating crap and junk food. That's why we're here trying to lose weight. Not hard to understand that eating crap all the time means we're all 30-50-100 lbs overweight.
Eat sensible HEALTHY food - and it's easy to be at 1200 cals a day.
I eat sensibly, I'm not hungry, and at times I have to eat my extra frozen banana at night to get close to 1200.
Check out my dairy and you'll see - I eat oatmeal in the morning, I have hot apple cider more for warmth mid-morning.
I eat a Heatlhy choice lunch, some pop chips for salt/crunch and fruit in the afternoon.
I usually have a chicken salad, or some meat w/ vege or pasta and vege.
For desert I eat 1-2 frozen bananas.
I don't eat candy/sweets, I don't eat bread (becuz I really just don't care for it). i cut out the white sugar and white flower.
What's left? A lot of stuff that's just low cal. You can eat a head of broccoli and cauliflower and barely hit 500 cals.
Some days I'm just so busy at work that I don't have time to eat big meals, but I try and eat decent stuff.
Add a 1-hour workout, and suddenly I'm 600 calories short. I just can't find 600 calories to eat just for the sake of eating.
No mystical science to this, no bafflement - it's just what it is. Not eating cheeseburgers, fries, chocolate, or fast food.

No cheeseburgers or chocolate?? That makes me sad.