The 1200 Calorie Diet

I have been double posting to this site with a friend as I continue my weight watchers program. I have used WW before and successfully. As others have stated, when I get busy and or lazy and don't pay attention to what I eat and stop exercising things change.
I do not believe in the "eat you calories back", philosophy. I use exercise to my advantage, working out more to burn more calories and loose weight faster. NO I am not a do or die fanatic.... but if it's nice outside I will choose a leisurely walk over a TV program... yes after I have done my cardio for the day.
Not sure 1200 is a good number for Everyone, depends on you height / weight / BMI ect.... like every thing about this site accept
the "Eat back you calories" thing. I am 5 ft 2 in and small framed, If I swim I can furn between 5 hundred and 700 calories a day, if I ate them back it would be like 1700 to 1800 calories a day.... I believe that is how I got here to begin with.

My rule of thumb... I'm not tired, I'm not sick, I eat three meals and one or two healthy snacks a day, stay on a balanced program and it works very well... loosing approximately 1 to 2 pounds a week safe and healthy rate of loss.
I will not be eating back every exercise calorie can't support that based on my own personal experience with weight loss.

If you're eating 1200 calories a day but you're working out hard core.. how could your metabolism possibly slow down?

Very easily.

You have how many hours of the day NOT working out? That is when your body is now going in UNDERdrive to compensate for lack of energy to supply what it needs, and what you are doing to it.

And the workout is hard core compared to what exactly?
Because the HR is high? That's going to happen as you have less muscle trying to perform the same level of work you used to do.
Because you sweat as much? Heart is probably under tremendous load, and lot of heat generated breaking down muscle to get to the amino acids to make glycogen to feed rest of the muscle, and more importantly your brain.

[quote

humm hello I have been on here for a year...i just thought you were rude with your picture of the Trekkie have some compassion...btw my doctor advise me to stay on a 1200 to 1300 calorie diet it works for some and not others...she was just asking a question no need to be a smart *kitten*.....done!

Relax! I help more people than hurt.
And I dont understand why someone would want to eat 1200 calories a day and possibly slow down metabolism when you could eat up to 2k a day and still lose weight the healthy way.
Thats all.
=D

If you're eating 1200 calories a day but you're working out hard core.. how could your metabolism possibly slow down?
I eat LESS than 1200 calories a day and NEVER eat back my work out calories and I've lost A LOT of weight.

Ever seen a fat anorexic person?
Didn't think so.
[/quote]

Anorexia is bad, just so you know...

bump - want to read the rec'd websites later

humm hello I have been on here for a year...i just thought you were rude with your picture of the Trekkie have some compassion...btw my doctor advise me to stay on a 1200 to 1300 calorie diet it works for some and not others...she was just asking a question no need to be a smart *kitten*.....done!

Relax! I help more people than hurt.
And I dont understand why someone would want to eat 1200 calories a day and possibly slow down metabolism when you could eat up to 2k a day and still lose weight the healthy way.
Thats all.
=D

If you're eating 1200 calories a day but you're working out hard core.. how could your metabolism possibly slow down?
I eat LESS than 1200 calories a day and NEVER eat back my work out calories and I've lost A LOT of weight.

Ever seen a fat anorexic person?
Didn't think so.

What you are doing IS classified as an eating disorder. You are eating less than what is required and constantly burning the calories you DO eat to result in a negative calorie deficit. This is a great way to ruin your internal organs as well as your reproductive system. Take it from someone who has "been there, done that" for four years straight. Thanks to eating less than 1200 calories and never eating back excessive exercise calories, I now suffer with a thyroid disease and premature ovarian failure. I am 24 and going through what a middle aged woman should be going through; menopause. You are only damaging your body in the long run. One day, you will understand what we are preaching. No one can force you to change but we are encouraging you to change for your own benefits. You will not be able to continue eating this way for the rest of your life. Why not learn to balance everything with a higher caloric diet?

I started a little over a week ago on 1200 calories and I'm already down 8lbs. It may just be water weight, but it's pretty motivating!

it's all about what your BMR is at. From there - you can have a 500 to a max (i believe) 1000 deficit, but 1200 is the very loweest you should ever go.

I'm 5'8" 144lbs and at 1200 cals, it's less than a 500 calorie deficit (very very generally speaking, you'll lose 1 lb after a deficit of 3,500 calories). So even at the lowest possible amount, i can only lose less than 1 lb / wk. But on my workout days - like today - I'm eating 2,000 calories.

figure out your bmr first. like others said - there is no "1200 calorie" diet.

No, BMR is your basal metabolic rate. This is the number of calories they would feed you if you were in coma, just to keep your bodily functions operating. Breathing, heart, organs, brain.

You should never eat less than that, because your breathing, heart, organs, brain, need that much energy to survive, never mind fueling your day to day activities and working out.

You need to figure out your TDEE, total daily energy expenditure to factor in the movement you do to figure out the number of calories you need to maintain weight. Then you want to create a deficit of that number by 15-20% for healthy weight loss.

Will you lose weight if you eat less than BMR? Yes, but not healthily, your body cannot do that long term without damaging it.

The OP is 5'8" and 230-ish. Her BMR is certainly going to be more than 1200 calories per day and that will be unhealthy for her to go that low.

p.s. - listen to Dan. And he was not trying to be rude, he spent a lot of time replying in this thread because he cares about people enough to want to try to educate so they don't do damage to themselves.

I have done this before and my weight melted off of me. I had lost 40 lbs in 2 months! My key was less sodium. I watched my sodium and sugar intake because those two things seem to be what makes me gain my weight. Add lemon juice to your water since this helps with the water weight. I am currently back to doing this diet again and on my 2nd week approaching my 3rd... so far I have lost 4 inches in my waist and 3 inches in my hips!!! Keep it up... you are going to look amazing on your wedding day!!!

humm hello I have been on here for a year...i just thought you were rude with your picture of the Trekkie have some compassion...btw my doctor advise me to stay on a 1200 to 1300 calorie diet it works for some and not others...she was just asking a question no need to be a smart *kitten*.....done!

Relax! I help more people than hurt.
And I dont understand why someone would want to eat 1200 calories a day and possibly slow down metabolism when you could eat up to 2k a day and still lose weight the healthy way.
Thats all.
=D

If you're eating 1200 calories a day but you're working out hard core.. how could your metabolism possibly slow down?
I eat LESS than 1200 calories a day and NEVER eat back my work out calories and I've lost A LOT of weight.

Ever seen a fat anorexic person?
Didn't think so.

No, I've never seen a fat anorexic person.
I've never seen a NOURISHED anorexic person, or for that matter a mentally sound anorexic person.

It's called a disorder for a reason. Although your comparison to a 1,200 calorie diet with no knowledge of what you may be doing to your body, and anorexia, is accurate-- People with anorexia don't CHOOSE to be the way the are.

You're choosing it.

From what it sounds like, you're advocating anorexia and if that is the case, I can quickly & without guilt dismiss your opinion.

Enjoy your bliss, sweetheart.

I lost 60 pounds in about five and a half months a few years ago. It required about 2 hours a day at the gym--one devoted to intense cardio, the other weight training--and it's actually shocking how easily it came off. It depends on the "kind" of weight you have, I guess...mine was all from medication. I didn't eat a very well-balanced diet like I do now, though, so you're probably in the better boat. It's definitely doable. I'm on the 1200 calorie diet, too, and I've lost 5 pounds in two weeks. Not without a lot of exercise, though. By the way, I was 183 when I lost the 60 pounds; I am 107 now. So it is possible to keep it off.