The 1200 Calorie Diet

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.

actually - what dan said. the 20% deficit is a much better figure than a straight caloric #

I am on the 1200 calorie diet in hopes of losing 30 pounds by my wedding, April 21, 2012! Has anyone been successful losing that much so quickly? I am about 5'8" and I started in at 230 before Christmas and am currently at 213.5! I really want to look confident in my wedding gown. I do exercise 2-3 times per week. Walking on the treadmill, recently started doing Zumba, and I occasionally lift 5 pound weights for upper body toning. I eat healthy calories only and with nutritional value.

If you only have so much time, don't waste it on 5lbs on upper body toning, I'm guessing you mean the arms. You want weight loss first, and the biggest muscles in your body burning fat 24 hrs day will be the most impact. Your bicep and tricep are not those biggest muscles. As you loose weight, you can add those in later.

Since you are mainly relying on diet then, and not massive amounts of exercise, you must nail some figures as best as possible. And increase your daily activity from parking farther, taking stairs, walking around office frequently, ect.

And you probably don't want your metabolism slowing down right now, making it harder to burn. Because even more muscle, operating slower, doesn't help. And I'll bet you are heading in that direction eating so little.

So here is a suggestion that may just apply to many on here.

Several places for inaccuracies that if they all go one direction, could have your calorie goals higher than they should be.
Or if they all go the other direction, having the goal way lower than it should be. Which is the other reason for not seeing advancement.

But it could be your BMR estimate by MFP is wrong.
Which means your calculated maintenance calories based on that is wrong, and if the wrong activity level, even more wrong.
And then your exercise calories could be way off if not using a decent HRM estimate.

So suggestion:
Confirm your BMR using another respected formula, which requires bodyfat % and is more accurate.
Get a better estimate of daily activity for the maintenance calories.
Do your math for weight loss to get your daily calories.
Update MFP.
Figure out if exercise calories is way off.

Here is site for getting your body-fat %. May not be super accurate, but the estimate is good enough for use in calculations.
The plus here is, you record these measurements in MFP as additional things to track and see positive progress.

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/cbbf/

Take the results over to here after noting them.

http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html

Change height to BF in the calculator, and the Katch-McArdle formula is used for BMR.
Do NOT include exercise in the levels and time of activity, because you'll still enter that into MFP and it will credit you, but really thing about your normal average daily activity levels and time outside exercise.
Now you have a better BMR figure (keep that in mind because you should not eat below that ever) and more importantly, maintenance calories.

Now do the math from those maintenance calories just like MFP does on it's estimate.
500 cal/day is 1lb week. Add 250 to that figure depending on being realistic. Even 10% of maintenance is recommended sometimes.
So take that calorie figure from the maintenance calories - and there is your goal calories.
This should NOT be below your BMR figure. You should never eat below what your body requires for basic life, unless you just want to slow your metabolism down and make weight loss harder.
If it is lower, your goal calories can be your BMR, but you would be better served sticking to 10% in that case.

Now you can enter that figure in MFP Goals manually. Don't worry about the figures on the right now, but may be interesting to see how it compares to that formula.

Now go to Enter Weight, and Add additional measurements for what you took for the body fat %.

Now eat back those exercise calories, and use a cheap HRM to get some sort of decent estimate.

Do this all over again in a month. And progress beyond the scale can be seen now too.

Example here. (30 yr old female, 180 lbs, desk job - not me)
Body fat% calculated - 32%
8 hrs resting, 15 very light, 1 light
BMR - 1572
Maintenance - 2162
Goal weight loss weekly - 1lb, 3500 calories, 500/day
Goal calories - 2162-500= 1662 daily (just above BMR, so would have been unrealistic to attempt 2lb/weekly).

Any exercise gets logged, and manually corrected by HRM estimate of calorie burn.
Extra food eaten is snack before and after workouts that are balanced carb/protein, with extra protein afterwords.
Want to feed that muscle, since that is what will help it grow, and burn fat 24hrs a 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.

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.

Ever see a strong, fit, healthy anorexic person?
Didn't think so.

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.

Ever see a strong, fit, healthy anorexic person?
Didn't think so.

Exactly. Think that an anorexic person could go back to eating 2,000 calories and not put on fat? No, because they have slowed their metabolism.

Continue to eat that little. Continue to lose muscle mass and slow your metabolism.
Some of us like to promote eating more to lose.
I am a great example. 5ft2 with a TDEE of 2250 calories on a REST DAY.

Hi, MFP started me on a 1200 a day!! I excercise 7 days a week for at least 30 minutes but I've been putting in more than that!! I started November 28, 2011 and as of today I have lost 17 pounds. I've been losing between 1.60-2 pounds a week as projected by MFP. I eat my 1200 calories and sometimes go over. I lost 17 pounds in about 2 months so if I keep going the way I am I will lose another 17 pounds possibly more in the next two months, which would put me at 34 + pounds. So I'm sure if you keep going the way you are going, you will lose the weight with no doubt. You are eating healthy and drinking that water and that is a PLUS!! You can do this with no problem and look AWESOME on your wedding day!!! I'm cheering for you. Be blessed!

Me? Rude? Nah!
If anyone reads any of the forums before posting they can see a lot of posters talking about how to diet and how not to diet.
Going into a life change shouldnt be done blindly!
You should research and get all the proper info before cutting calories way too low.
You spend any time on these forums and youll see 100 forum posts about "1200 calorie diet yaddah..." a week!

If you want a sustainable diet you need to eat the proper nutrients and work out.
Period!

My Picard pic got your attention though didnt it?

Agreed. A 1200 calorie diet is not a sustainable life change. It gives quick, but short lived results. Been there and done that way to many times and I always wind up back where i started in the end.

Hi, MFP started me on a 1200 a day!! I excercise 7 days a week for at least 30 minutes but I've been putting in more than that!! I started November 28, 2011 and as of today I have lost 17 pounds. I've been losing between 1.60-2 pounds a week as projected by MFP. I eat my 1200 calories and sometimes go over. I lost 17 pounds in about 2 months so if I keep going the way I am I will lose another 17 pounds possibly more in the next two months, which would put me at 34 + pounds. So I'm sure if you keep going the way you are going, you will lose the weight with no doubt. You are eating healthy and drinking that water and that is a PLUS!! You can do this with no problem and look AWESOME on your wedding day!!! I'm cheering for you. Be blessed!

the human body can only lose so much fat so it metabolizes damaged proteins for fuel.

Damaged proteins=lean mass btw.
Damaged proteins is abundant in people who overtrain.
So lets say you are hardcore because its January and youve decided to lose ALOT of weight and you want to workout every day.
So you stress the muscles and you feel the burn day after day after day and you lose weight.
All you are doing id tearing down muscle fibers day after day.
Damaged proteins.
If you arent getting at least 2 rest days then your body is most likely catabolizing your damaged muscle for fuel because you dont eat enough.
So if you were to ever "Fall off the Wagon" You would gain the weight back AND have a lower lean mass.
A word of caution...slow and steady wins this race sister!

Unless you are already in an athletic state and training for the marathon the best thing you can do for yourself is eat right, sleep right and work out 3-5 times a week with 2 rest days.

We have the EXACT same wedding day and weight loss goal! I am also getting married on April 21, 2012 and want to lose about 30lbs before than. Although I'll be happy with 20, or enough to fit into the wedding dress I have hanging on my door at home that is just a bit too small and the zipper won't do up!

I have a higher than 1200 calorie day though... I find I will not lose at that low and it causes me to be a bit different of a person.. I need more food than that. Don't go too low or exercise too much as it's not all that healthy.

1200 calories per day does not even support your body systems. You will not achieve the result you want doing it this way.

Once you lose the water weight you can start losing some fat, some muscle.....yea.

I've done the 1200 calorie thing and I can't maintain it. I workout 5-6 days a week (cardio & circuit training) and need to eat more (1400 is probably best for me.)

I agree with the others, it's not about the wedding day and what you look like. It's about how you feel and the marriage you have in front of you. But, I do think adopting a healthy lifestyle is important!!!

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.

Hang on, just getting a pen and paper.
So....anorexia is GOOD now?
*takes notes*

There is no FAST way to properly lose or gain weight. Extremes will not only keep you far from being optimal, but will also make it a lot tougher to stick to the "diet".

Make it a lifestyle change, make small adjustments, stay true to yourself and most of all stay consistent.

107lbs? How tall are you? How low do you want to go?