is 1200 calories ok for my age and weight?

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Kromero09
Kromero09 Posts: 36
in Health and Weight Loss
MFP made my goal of calorie intake of 1200. im 20 yrs old and weigh 204 and i just started my MFP 5 days ago and ive been working out for 3 days so far. ive been trying to keep my calorie intake under 1200 im just wondering if this is healthy? please i need everyones advice and if youre a professional, please do. i know i can eat way more than that even tho thats not healthy. there are 440 calories in a double cheeseburger from mcdonalds and i know i can eat that large fries and a drink. i havent ate that tho, im just saying. so please feel free to answer my question and look at my profile. thanks!

Replies

  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
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    Are you eating your exercise calories?

    Eating substantially under 1200 calories and not eating your exercise calories is not healthy.

    If you are going to eat 440 calories, I'd go for a grilled boneless skinless chicken breast with some rice and vegetables.
  • Kromero09
    Kromero09 Posts: 36
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    Are you eating your exercise calories?

    Eating substantially under 1200 calories and not eating your exercise calories is not healthy.

    If you are going to eat 440 calories, I'd go for a grilled boneless skinless chicken breast with some rice and vegetables.

    yes im eating some or most of my excersize calories. thats what im supposed to do, right? because you need some of those calories back that your body loses. since i just started, im on the eliptical for 2 miles at the gym. i will increase my distance this week. boneless chicken with rice and veggies sound good! so is this correct? more insight please. thanks
  • Crystal_Pistol
    Crystal_Pistol Posts: 750 Member
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    I'm hungry on 1200. I weigh 197 (down from 218) and my minimum calories a day is 1600. I eat 2000+ calories on workout days. I eat back ALL of my exercise calories. I eat a wide range of foods, both healthy and unhealthy and I'm still losing. My advice would be to just not let yourself be hungry to hit a low calorie number. You can lose weight without wanting to eat your arm off.

    This is a forever thing for me so I have a rule that I won't do anything that I struggle to maintain. I would QUIT trying to eat 1200 calories, so I don't.

    Things I do:

    1.Eat at 40% carbs-30% fats-30% protein. I randomly chose "the zone." I don't have the book and I've never read it, this just works for me. I am SERIOUS about hitting my protein macro specifically.

    2. Drink water

    3. Cardio a minimum of 2 times a week for at least 45 mins, interval style

    4. Strength training (full body) 1-3 times a week

    5. Log EVERY BITE I eat. I use a food scale.

    6. I wear a HRM to avoid overestimating my exercise calories burned.
    Good Luck!
  • chickybuns
    chickybuns Posts: 1,037 Member
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    It depends how it's working for you. I would for sure eat all of your exercise calories back, because you need that fuel. But you should remember exercise gym machines are not always 100% accurate. But if you're doing this, losing weight, and you have enough energy then it's fine. If you're low on energy, bump up your calories a bit. Remember, you're losing weight with any deficit, but if 1200 is too hard for you, it's better to increase calories and stick with it rather than fail.
  • petreebird
    petreebird Posts: 344 Member
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    I was on the 1200 calories too and I'm 123 down from 128. When I started working out I found myself starving!! So I went and changed my goals and figured out my maintenance calories. That way I get now am at 1390 calories (still hungry some of the time) but I know that 1640 is my maintenance, so I try not to go over this at all or by too much.

    Don't be hungry, if you find yourself hungry and weak ( I did) up your calories a bit.

    Just my personal experience.

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  • Kromero09
    Kromero09 Posts: 36
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    I'm hungry on 1200. I weigh 197 (down from 218) and my minimum calories a day is 1600. I eat 2000+ calories on workout days. I eat back ALL of my exercise calories. I eat a wide range of foods, but healthy and unhealthy. I'm still losing. My advice would be to just not let yourself be hungry to hit a low calorie number. You can lose weight without wanting to eat your arm off.

    wow good job on losing weight! in a way, i think my body is getting used to it. i used to eat no breakfast a lot of fast food, overfill my plates, drink hardly any water. i go to school so i try to get in a bowl of cereal at least for breakfast. and ya ive been learning how many calories are in a certain item at a certain fast food restraunt. so cheeseburger plain plz as a snack, not everyday. so what are you trying to say? that im doing ok? cuz the first day was hard and im on day 5 now. i ate 2 scrambled eggs, a peice of wheat toast plain, and a small cup of milk and im fine right now. i notice its small meals that keep it at under 1200 calories.
  • Kromero09
    Kromero09 Posts: 36
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    It depends how it's working for you. I would for sure eat all of your exercise calories back, because you need that fuel. But you should remember exercise gym machines are not always 100% accurate. But if you're doing this, losing weight, and you have enough energy then it's fine. If you're low on energy, bump up your calories a bit. Remember, you're losing weight with any deficit, but if 1200 is too hard for you, it's better to increase calories and stick with it rather than fail.

    im starting to feel fine with the 1200 calories. usually after working out which is about after 830 pm cuz of work, i eat a bowl of cereal, sometimes i add a granola bar with it and drink some water. i dont feel ''low on energy''. its just at first i still felt hungry. i think im getting used to eating less cuz i would eat way more than 2000 calories a day. MFP made me realize that...and when my jeans started feeling hella tight.
  • WonderKP
    WonderKP Posts: 146 Member
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    no matter what your size or age, don't try to go under 1200 cals!! That puts body in starvation mode!
  • Kromero09
    Kromero09 Posts: 36
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    no matter what your size or age, don't try to go under 1200 cals!! That puts body in starvation mode!

    so youre saying 1200 calories is bad for me?
  • WifeMomDVM
    WifeMomDVM Posts: 1,025 Member
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    If you feel hungry - up the cals a little maybe 1400-1700 - you should still lose quite easily at this deficit, based on your current weight. You can always slash more calories later if you get stuck (and then cycle back up but that's another post for another day).

    If you find you are getting hungry make sure you are eating plenty of both FIBER and protein. Track those on your diary. You want to eat 1 gm of protein per lb of lean body mass - so for you, maybe 125 grams a day or so? Just a guess. Fiber - try to get 35 grams a day or more.

    Take a peek at my diary today if you need ideas. :)

    And as another poster said - water, clean eating, heavy lifting, cardio and consistency - you'll get there.
  • Crystal_Pistol
    Crystal_Pistol Posts: 750 Member
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    I am just saying that "okay" is relative to you. You need to be honest with yourself and if you are hungry, EAT MORE! When you work out, you NEED to eat more to fuel the body. I found that 1200 calories (I actually tried it at first) made me lethargic, gave me headaches, and made me irritable. I don't believe in drastic calorie drops. If you were eating 3000 calories a day before you started MFP (just estimate what you were doing), dropping 1800 calories to 1200 calories is nuts. I might drop to 2000, master that, 1800, master that, and continue until I got comfortable and knew I could stick with my choices. None of this will matter if you go insane in the beginning and totally quit, so make small changes towards your ultimate goals.

    I personally think there is no reason for anybody to eat less than 1200 calories, but that is just my opinion. You mainly have to do what works for you. I've found what works for me largely through trial and error.

    PS- I eat cheeseburgers for breakfast sometimes. I ate a bag of Ghirardelli chocolate squares on Thursday. I still live, I just don't do it every day. My goals- hit my macros and eat at a deficit more days than not.
  • Kromero09
    Kromero09 Posts: 36
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    I am just saying that "okay" is relative to you. You need to be honest with yourself and if you are hungry, EAT MORE! When you work out, you NEED to eat more to fuel the body. I found that 1200 calories (I actually tried it at first) made me lethargic, gave me headaches, and made me irritable. I don't believe in drastic calorie drops. If you were eating 3000 calories a day before you started MFP (just estimate what you were doing), dropping 1800 calories to 1200 calories is nuts. I might drop to 2000, master that, 1800, master that, and continue until I got comfortable and knew I could stick with my choices. None of this will matter if you go insane in the beginning and totally quit, so make small changes towards your ultimate goals.

    I personally think there is no reason for anybody to eat less than 1200 calories, but that is just my opinion. You mainly have to do what works for you. I've found what works for me largely through trial and error.

    PS- I eat cheeseburgers for breakfast sometimes. I ate a bag of Ghirardelli chocolate squares on Thursday. I still live, I just don't do it every day. My goals- hit my macros and eat at a deficit more days than not.

    so far i been doing a decently. i think its just finding foods to eat around the house since my mom mainly cooks mexican food which is fatty and greasy. i have some of the chocolates ive only eaten 1 so far. i only like the dark chocolate ones. i think that if i dont excersize ill feel hungrier. but when i do excerzise and i gain those calories back, i feel fine. i worked out last night then ate some of the taco bell fresco menu with water and a granola bar, and was fine after that.
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
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    What are your goals set to lose per week? 1200 seems low! Mfp already includes deficit for you to lose your chosen amount per week assuming you do not exercise, therefore of you exercise you need to eat back these calories so your NET cals are 1200. It's not recommended to create too big a deficit and lose more than 2lb/week.
    I'm 223lbs, I get 1740 plus exercise cals to lose 1lb week / 1240 plus exercise cals to lose 2lb week. I exercise an average of 500 a day so get to eat 1740 to lose 2lbs. This seems to be a good level for me, I am consistently losing each week and do not feel like I am 'on a diet'!
  • Kromero09
    Kromero09 Posts: 36
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    What are your goals set to lose per week? 1200 seems low! Mfp already includes deficit for you to lose your chosen amount per week assuming you do not exercise, therefore of you exercise you need to eat back these calories so your NET cals are 1200. It's not recommended to create too big a deficit and lose more than 2lb/week.
    I'm 223lbs, I get 1740 plus exercise cals to lose 1lb week / 1240 plus exercise cals to lose 2lb week. I exercise an average of 500 a day so get to eat 1740 to lose 2lbs. This seems to be a good level for me, I am consistently losing each week and do not feel like I am 'on a diet'!

    i want to lose 2 pounds a week. well i havent reached 500 calories yet! so far its like 220-250 calories i burn...but i do eat some of those calories back. can you explain more what the deficit means?
  • Kromero09
    Kromero09 Posts: 36
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    well everyone i just changed some of my goals. i got a new calorie intake i believe its about 1270 a day because i plan to excersize about 5 times a week ( i go to college so that kinda gets in the way). but since im paying for the anytime fitness membership i plan to use it as much as i can and reach my goals. you guys are really motivating me by the way, and i hope everyone reaches their goals and beyond. thats what we need is to motivate and support each other. we all have a reason to be here asking for help. so far the main things ppl tell me is portion control, excersize, water, and dont eat too much fast food. but im still gunna try to make it at 1200 calories a day or a few calories over it. any advice is still welcome.
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
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    Calculate your bmr in the tools setting. This is the number of calories required just to keep you alive. Mfp calculates your goal by multpilying this by your activity level. this gives the amount of calories required to maintain your current weight. You can check this In the goals section, change setting to 'maintain' and write down the number.
    To lose or gain one pound of fat you have to create a deficit / surplus of 3500 calories per week / 500 per day, so to lose 2lbs a week you take 1000 off the 'maintain' figure which will be the number Mfp gives you if you set your goals to 2lb. This assumes you do no exercise. If you exercise 250 per day then you should be eating 250 in addition to the figure Mfp gives you.
    As your weight decreases, Mfp will not give you a goal below 1200 as this is unhealthy, so you will lose slightly less per week, until when you are near goal weight it will be 0.5 lb per week.
    Eating too little does not mean you lose more weight. The reason it is important to not go below your net calorie allowance is that if you create a too large deficit, your body will burn muscle as well as fat. As you lose muscle, your bmr will reduce and your body will burn less calories, making it harder to lose weight, and easier to gain weight.
    If you add weight training to your exercise, this will build muscle which has te opposite effect.
    Hope this helps x
  • mellymclaughlin
    mellymclaughlin Posts: 29
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    My allowance recently recalculated from 1250 to 1200. I think it's enough but you have to be careful as if you eat one bad thing during the day (ie, a Mcdonalds burger) then a large amount of your allowance is gone quickly and then you either continue eating and go past your allowance or try and punish yourself which is also not good. This is what I find anyway!

    I think the key is to just completely cut off bad food intake until you are in a routine and can live off 1200 without feeling hungry or lacking in energy. There will come a point when you think less and less about the number because it's amount of food you are use to eating but it's tough to get your body to adapt to that figure when it's been used to eating a lot more.
  • Kromero09
    Kromero09 Posts: 36
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    My allowance recently recalculated from 1250 to 1200. I think it's enough but you have to be careful as if you eat one bad thing during the day (ie, a Mcdonalds burger) then a large amount of your allowance is gone quickly and then you either continue eating and go past your allowance or try and punish yourself which is also not good. This is what I find anyway!

    I think the key is to just completely cut off bad food intake until you are in a routine and can live off 1200 without feeling hungry or lacking in energy. There will come a point when you think less and less about the number because it's amount of food you are use to eating but it's tough to get your body to adapt to that figure when it's been used to eating a lot more.

    ok i didnt really understand what the guy above you meant, but what youre saying is easier to understand. i feel like after these 5 days of watching what i eat, my body is getting used to it. im not eating fast food or large portions of food and drinking lots of pop. so youre right when you say you can live off 1200 calories without feeling hungry

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