Who has only 1200 calories per day?

Mine has been at 1200 since I started, and, with my exercise calories, I eat just fine. I notice I have more food entries than most of my pals. I exercise almost daily, so I generally have extra calories I can eat. As much as possible, I stick with high-volume, low-calorie foods, so I'm rarely hungry. If I am hungry, I'll grab a piece of fruit, a few nuts, or a cheese stick. In the beginning, I found it hard to net close to 1200, but I've gotten much better.

Edit: I'm 5'5", 140 lbs., working to get to 130 lbs.

MFP sets mine at 1200, but my own calculations say I should be at 1300. So I've got it set to 1200, but I'm still happy as long as I'm under 1300.

That's for weight loss. When I've reached my GW, I'll increase to around 1800 to maintain.

I have that set as my base, but I usually have exercise calories to add to that, and I eat them back. When I don't have exercise calories, I'll usually go over for a day, because I've found that going over every week or two seems to help speed up my weight loss (been losing or maintaining for 5 years now). So, I have it set to 1200, but almost never eat that little.

When I first set up my MFP app I was at 1280, then I lower it to 1200 because I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week, but after a few days I was starving at the end of the night and even more hungry earlier in the morning. I felt weak and had little to no energy to bust out my long usual workouts, now I'm up to 1420

I think it depends alot on your size. The bigger and taller you are, the most calories you are "allowed". I'm only 5ft 1 and on days I don't work out, I'm only allowed 1200 calories. If I work out, I eat most of them back and still lose weight.

MIne is set at 1200 as well... I am 5ft 4, 69kgs (151lbs) and am trying to get to my goal weight of 62kgs (136lbs). I was alot heavier and lost alot before going on Holiday in September but since coming back and Christmas and all that, I have put about 4kgs back on - so now trying to get that off, plus get to goal.

I work in an office all day but I do try and go to the gym everyday and I don't eat back my excercise calories.

1200 doesn't seem much, but there is actually quite alot you can eat in a meal, I have started making a great veggie bolognaise which is low in calories, but really fills you up

It was easy with workout calories, but now even if I don't eat back all my exercise calories, or even if I do, I seem to be stuck at 216. It's driving me nuts. Plus my knees are starting to tell me to chill. So I'm seriously considering a few days of being relatively sedentary with 1200 being the max. The only way I can see to do that is lots of coffee and missing two meals out of my three. Not a good thing for a lifetime, but if I try it for a few days maybe it'll kick start me back to losing again, along with yesterday's 2000 calories + feast of shame.

Don't skip. You'll feel awful! I'm set at 1200 because of my job (desk jockey). Eat a lot of fiber filled meals! Yesterday for lunch, I had a salad of spinach, carrots, celery, ground flax, and crumbled cheddar cheese with a touch of dressing for under 200 calories. I had a cup of tea (with a touch of honey) and an apple with it for 250. For dinner, to add a filling touch, I added an extra 1/2 cup (for a full 1 cup) french cut string beans and it was only 10 calories! Plan and you can do it!

I always eat more than 1200.....my problem was lack of exercise. It's motivation for me to pick up my workout activity, and it works! For me, anyway.

MPF set mine too...I usually do go over especially when I do workout! I don't limit myself on what I eat only on how much I eat...I know that I do sometimes go under but it's a rarity. My BF says I need to eat around 1500 but even that's a lot for my height of 5'1"!!!

I'm 6 ft 4 in / started at 334 / have targeted 1200 cals since oct 14 / lost 51 lbs so far / exercise daily and eat back the cals sometimes but not all / THIS WAS DR. DIRECTED / I have a moderately active lifestyle

I have mine set to 1420 and there are some days where I am hungry if I don't work out and others I am full and barely make my limit. I think it truly depends on what you eat and your lifestyle. Remember something that has a lot of fiber in it will be more filling than something that doesn't so you need to look at all of that. If your body is hungry it may be it didn't get enough and you need to give it a little more. Of course I say this in reason.

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I always see people who have their calories set on 1200 per day. Why so low?

I weigh 160, am 5'5", and have mine set at 1600. That's without eating back exercise calories. I have my settings on lightly active, as I am a teacher. I generally exercise 5x/week. I could NOT get by on 1200 calories per day.

How do you all do it?

Discipline and only eating when you're hungry not eating when you want to try this and that and knowing what foods will give you the biggest bang for your buck nutrition wise.

My first post! Hello all! One week newbie here!

Wow, eating right is amazingly difficult after so many years of gluttony. So far I've found this site to be fun and informative, though just about as tedious to get used to. It's main job, however, has been to make me fully aware of what is going into my body; eye-opening, to say the least! To me, MFP seems like a very good tool to see just what your body is getting, and how to juggle it around to balance it throughout the day.

I am 5'4" and 197 lbs, and want to lose about 50 lbs. I'm sedentary and chose 1lb. a week to lose, because that's what my doctor recommended. MFP put me on 1390 calories. I've yet to start exercising, and I don't understand what everyone is talking about "eating back exercise calories". QUESTION: Can someone explain please?

What I do understand is that everyone's plight is going to be different, because everyone's body is different - not just height and weight, but metabolism and general health. Willpower is another thing that will differ. Give each other slack and support, I say, because we are all in the same 'general' boat here!




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I began at 1500 calories per day and slowly decreased it to 1200. As you lose weight and continue on, you will find that you aren't as hungry as you might be right now at this stage in your weight loss.

Honestly, it depends on the person. If you are losing and happy with 1600 per day, then eat 1600 per day. As for me, I would have great difficulty trying to eat 1600.