Anyone else on 1200 a day?
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I am working with a personal trainer. I told her I would "like" to lose 5lbs/month. She told me to keep my calorie count under 1,400/day and close to 1,200 is better.0
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I realize you can add in exercise to get to more calories, but sometimes it gets really hard to find that time (I travel for work). The most frustrating thing though is when I eat just under 1200 calories and then I get the warning note that I could send my body into starvation mode. A little wiggle room (no pun intended) would be nice......0
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Yes, but once you add exercise then your calorie goal goes up. So, I typically walk 4miles a day at a very brisk pace (4.5-5mph) and that gives me an additional 341 calories.
this^
but I don't walk everyday and not as fast. I really enjoy the work out calories that are added. And if I don't have any and go over by a couple hundred I still seem to lose, though obviously not as fast but I still lose. Some days are easier than others.
The extra calories are a great motivation to exercise.
Deb0 -
I think the basics really matter such as the bread, the butter and the milk you are eating! Skimmed milk is the way to go but make sure you are getting all your vitamins through a supplement. If I do that... condiments as I call them dont take up too many calories! I also try to eat very little processed foods and find this also helps!! Had a vegetable curry the other day and I was so full!! 1200 really seems to be working this time round!!
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I have been working with 1200 cal a day for a few months now. I find it not too difficult - I have four meals/snacks at around 200 cal. each, a bigger dinner and herbal tea with stevia to curb the sweet cravings. You just have to avoid the wasted calories (juice, lattes, diet sodas, ect.) - Also, removing bread from my diet helped. The calories form wheat products add up pretty fast. I'll make a sandwich using rice cakes or wraps using romaine lettuce. It's worked for me!0
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bump0
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When I joined MFP last year and I was completing my goals it worked out my BMR, I have a sedentary job (I.T. in an office) so when I wanted to lose 2 lbs a week, the best it would do me was 1.3 lbs for 1,200 cals. I did this and did lose 19 lbs doing it but I found it difficult to stick to and when I did eventually fall off the wagon I fell off in style and put it all back on over 2-3 months plus an extra 3 lbs for fun.
Now I have adjusted my goals so that I want to lose a more realistically sustainable 1 lb a week. I don't want to feel I'm on a diet or I am depriving myself of any sort of food as that's when I get the chance for treat I would go mad and binge big time. I now have 1,440 cals a day and have more energy and am therefore exercising more. It's early days (11 days in!!) but I think that long term this is something I can see working.
I found that with 1,200 cals a day if I even went 25-50 cals over it goes red and psychologically then you feel you've failed, whereas in reality you have still created a deficit of about 600 cals for the day and therefore still on track to lose weight. "Failing" day in day out got to me. Now I have 1.440 but don't go over it and feel like I'm actually achieving something every day.0 -
When I joined MFP last year and I was completing my goals it worked out my BMR, I have a sedentary job (I.T. in an office) so when I wanted to lose 2 lbs a week, the best it would do me was 1.3 lbs for 1,200 cals. I did this and did lose 19 lbs doing it but I found it difficult to stick to and when I did eventually fall off the wagon I fell off in style and put it all back on over 2-3 months plus an extra 3 lbs for fun.
Now I have adjusted my goals so that I want to lose a more realistically sustainable 1 lb a week. I don't want to feel I'm on a diet or I am depriving myself of any sort of food as that's when I get the chance for treat I would go mad and binge big time. I now have 1,440 cals a day and have more energy and am therefore exercising more. It's early days (11 days in!!) but I think that long term this is something I can see working.
I'm with franny. Same lifestyle etc - 1,200 does work well for me as far as loss goes but I find it HARD!! More motivation to exercise, but I've had to up it a few times because to be honest - for me, it's not enough to keep me happy! :-)0 -
I just started 7 days ago, 1200 a day. I lost 4 pounds my first week!!!!!! I am so excited! I have asked my sister and a friend to join me with MyFitnessPal. Let's go everyone, keep it up for YOU. Love yourself.0
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add a workout to your plan........ the longer the better. you can get an addl 500-700 cals to "eat" lolol0
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Are you exercising? I have been on my diet, 1200 cal. now for 5 full days and have lost 3 pounds. I never exercised before on other diets I did, but this time I wanted to try it. It truly works. I feel better in just 5 days. I can't wait to see how I feel in 2 weeks.
Don't give up, and don't cut your calories. You need to feed your body for you to lose. Good luck!0 -
Me too, I'm on 1290 per day and at first I thought that was low but now with exercising, I'm having a problem eating that much....I seem to have a deficit each day, at first it was alot so I now I make sure I have a few snacks(fruits and veggies) and although I still show a deficit, it is much lower.0
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1200 calories isn't low? I barely manage to hit that target everyday & I eat loads.
A messed up metabolism would indeed cause that.
I said I eat loads of food & barely manage to reach 1200 calories, that has nothing to do with my metabolism, it has to do with the kind of food I eat, I eat low calorie filling food.
And a messed up metabolism would make that low calorie filling food feel like enough.
If metabolism is moving along at a good clip, you can eat the most fluffy stomach stuffing items that are low calorie, and as soon as it empties and your body realizes it needs more calories to feed muscle, grow hair/nails, fight off infections, ect, you'd be hungry again.
It's exactly why you'll see the comments from time to time, "I'm eating what you are eating and can't get buy below 1400/1600 without feeling starving" and the other info is about the same.
A normal day for me is something like this: a yoghurt & a piece of toast with butter for breakfast at 235cals, a large Chicken salad with dressing for lunch at 206cals, a bag of snack a jacks at 108cals & an apple at 45cals for snack then a large plate of veggies & Chicken for 270, that's all filling & all under 1200cals.
If you eat the right foods you can have bigger portions & stay full without going over your 1200 calorie goal, it's not rocket science.
Also, what is the whole point in complaining about the 1200 calorie limit? It's called a diet for a reason.
I've been on here for a week eating approx 1115 calories a day & I've lost 9lbs, you might think 1200 is too few calories, but it'[s a diet & it works, it isn't starvation, starvation diets are anything below 700 calories.0 -
I have no issues with the 1200 a day, most of the time.
I've really reworked how much I can eat by doing the research into really low cal meals. I never really feel hungry so it works.0 -
A normal day for me is something like this: a yoghurt & a piece of toast with butter for breakfast at 235cals, a large Chicken salad with dressing for lunch at 206cals, a bag of snack a jacks at 108cals & an apple at 45cals for snack then a large plate of veggies & Chicken for 270, that's all filling & all under 1200cals.
If you eat the right foods you can have bigger portions & stay full without going over your 1200 calorie goal, it's not rocket science.
Also, what is the whole point in complaining about the 1200 calorie limit? It's called a diet for a reason.
I've been on here for a week eating approx 1115 calories a day & I've lost 9lbs, you might think 1200 is too few calories, but it'[s a diet & it works, it isn't starvation, starvation diets are anything below 700 calories.
That is excellent food selection, and indeed can stay full I'm sure.
The warning, which is what several on here are doing that might be viewed as a complaint, is that too many are not aware of what happens on low calorie diets (around or below 1200), and ones speaking from experience share either the lack of continued success, or what happens eventually, or the discouragement that comes when that happens.
For instance, to think after a week that 9lbs is anything but water weight is misinformed, which you may realize. You could very easily be at lessened glucose stores, and as such less water is retained, and you will weigh less. Until you eat that one piece of chocolate cake that ways 10 ounces, and you gain 2 lbs the next day somehow.
And as long as you don't need those limited glucose stores for energy, you may be fine.
The problem comes not from a calorie count below 700 (though that is easy to recognize), but a deficit large enough between eating calories and expenditure calories that your body goes into the same exact mode, slowing down metabolism and sparing the fat for what the body thinks must be happening.
So if you came into the diet with decent metabolism because you haven't been dieting, and make a huge deficit, metabolism is going to lower to match what you are feeding it.
If you came into the diet with a messed up one because of previous dieting attempts, and are now trying to throw in exercise regularly for example, metabolism may slow even more.
Not complaints, warnings and concerns from many that have seen what happens, and the discouragement that undoubtably occurs as things seem to stop working out.0 -
I have been on 1200 a day for 6 months and Im not hungry. Everyone is different.0
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I am, and at first the number seems low, but if you are choosing healither, lower calorie foods you can actually eat quite a bit. It can also help you deal with portion size as you do not want to blow all of your calories on one giant helping of one thing. I am very new myditness pal and have not been under for the majority of the time but it is helping me think about what kind of calories you are eating.0
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My Net Consumed Calories for a day are 1200 calories also. At first when I say that I was like you. I couldn't fathom how I would only eat 1200 calories, but it says Net, which means that you can eat 1500 calories, as long as your burn 300 calories that day so at the end of the day I had hit 1200 calories for the day. At least that is how I understood the fine print.0
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I have my goal set to 1 pound a week to give me some wiggle room but most days I try to hit around the 1200 net calorie mark. With exercise this means I can eat over that usually. The days that I don't exercise (Sundays) I at least try to stay within my full 1 pound calorie limit which is 1580.0
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I'm on 1200 calorie as well; you get use to it. Just try to fill yourself up with fruits and veggies thats low in calories but high in fullfillment.0
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It also helps me that most of the time my breakfast is only 102 calories. I have a cup of black coffee and a cottage cheese double and it holds me over until lunch just fine. I much more enjoy lunch and dinner so I save my calories for those meals. Every now and then I'll have a bigger breakfast and go lighter later but 9 times out of 10 the low cal breakfast works best for me.0
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I've been on 1400 for 2 months and 1200 for 2months...I only missed 2x. Once on Thanksgiving the other on Xmas. Some days are definitely easier than than others but I generally do ok. I wouldn't say my diet is particularly restricted either....my diary is open.0
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^^^^^^^^^^^I am so tired of seeing threads on1200 calories, it's horrible to watch people starve themselves with this arbitrary number that someone has told them. Learn what is good for you, go see a doctor, a sports nutritionist, a personal trainer or a kinesiologist . Trust me if you tell them your on a 1200 calorie a day diet and exercising they will be tell you to stop immediately and eat more healthy food and bring those calories up! But with all there are exceptions you may be 4'5" and 1200 is TDEE/BMR that you can live with. Depriving your body of calories will cause your metabolism to crash, don't fool yourself into thinking any other way please. At the end of the day ask yourself this question.
Do I want to by skinny but unhealthy or do I want to be fit and healthy. Dropping weight on a scale doesn't mean your getting healthier! It's part of the process yes but will happen naturally as your body exchanges body fat for muscle and your metabolism improves with proper nutrition and exercise. There are no quick fixes.
Using myself as an example, this site was telling me I should be netting 1500calories a day but turns out my BMR is 2213 calories a day minimum to live. I was creating a metabolism crushing 700 cal deficit every day!
THIS!
It's sad to see people programming themselves to fail.
I just don't get it.0 -
I'm on 1,200 a day and I like it I always have extra calories left over at the end of the day and I'm not starving. I've been on MFP for a little over a week now and I'm already down about 6lbs. Feel free to add me if you like 0
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Yes, I'm on 1200 a day and have a penchant for wine! So it's difficult. I find that when I want more food, I write on my blog (http://www.fortyforty.co.uk/#/blog/4559231165). More protein helps, but you get a bit fed up of it. I've found that by having fruit in the morning, and then quite a large lunch, I can just about manage on 1200 a day. I can't believe the lady who has lost 51lbs so far. Bloody well done - that is truly amazing!!!0
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I started just over a week ago and I'm also on 1200 a day. I find with burning just over 300 calories in working out, I have been under for the past week...and I have lost almost 4 lbs! I'm not starving, and I feel better knowing exactly what I'm consuming. At first I thought it was too little, but my body adjusted rather quickly...though I don't think I was too much above that anyway before starting. Everyone is different...do what works for you, whether it's 1200 or more. If you're losing what you want to lose and staying healthy, that's all that matters. 0
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That's mine as well. I don't think it's working for me though, I over eat then feel terribly guilt afterwards.0
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I'm at 1330 a day.. Can't imagine when it gets to 1200!0
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Yup.. I am0
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