Can you eat too little to lose weight?

Thanks

Is that 1200 before exercise? So effectively 1200 of actual food calories?

I would like to know the same thing. Is that before exercise?

If your goal is 1200 calories and you gain 200 in excercise calories you should eat 1400 hundred calories

Like a couple of you have posted, I too want to know that if I eat 1200 calories and burn 400 calories am I suppose to eat 1600 calories? If I continue to only eat 1200 will that impact my weight loss? I once heard that you want to burn whatever you're taking in for the most effective weight loss, if that's the case then I can eat 1200 calories and burn 1200 calories and be even at 0 for the day without eating any more right???? Otherwise I find it to difficult to eat that many calories and feel like I'm going to lose the weight I need to.

I have a related question. Well, it's the same question, but for really short people.

I lose weight fine when I can do cardio, but for the last 4 weeks, I haven't been able to (doctor's orders, surgery, etc).

My general doc once told me that due to my height (5'0") it was totally fine for me to eat 900 calories a day when dieting. When I do cardio and burn 300, I lose weight easily eating 1100. Without cardio, I don't lose weight unless I'm in the 800-900 zone. And then I stall. No matter what I do, I can't lose weight with no cardio. If I eat 1100+, I gain, period.

So I know 1200 is false in my case. That said, lower calories seem to stall me out anyway, so I'm not sure what to do til I can exercise. It's very frustrating. I've been stuck for the majority of the time I haven't been able to exercise.

I have mild hypothyroidism on top of being short. My free T4 is in the low-normal zone, TSH always seems to be above normal. SAD.

yes! My partner was 24stone when i met him and simply because he has started eating MORE he has started losing weight (down to 20 stone now)

If you eat 1500 calories and burn 700 calories, you're only giving your body 800 calories to live on which is not enough for it to function normally. This is especially true if you're working out since you're probably not getting enough healthy carbs and lean proteins to repair itself. I'm not a trainer or a nutritionist and I'm sure there are plenty of people on these boards who can give you the scientific info to explain it, but I do know from low calorie diets I've tried in the past that going that low will tank your metabolism eventually. Sure, everyone is different, but this is one of those rules that is pretty universal. And when you tank your metabolism it takes a long time to correct the damage. No more fad diets for me for this very reason. I also know that if I don't have the right mix of healthy carbs (fruit, whole wheat pasta, brown rice) and protein, I cannot finish my workouts at the same intensity level and often my recovery takes days longer.

I also am a big believer that not all weight loss is created equal. I don't want to see the scale drop this week if it means losing muscle mass to achieve weight loss because I didn't feed and hydrate my body properly.

I do think that not every person is created equal though. What works for one person might not work for someone else. Do your own research, talk to your doctor, look into finding those good proteins, carbs, and fats that will give your body the necessary nutrients and calories to achieve the right balance.

Some of you have it all wrong. Point blank eat your exercise calories back. If not all, eat at least 50% to 75% back. If your goal is set to 1200 then that is your goal for weight loss. You don't have to workout to lose weight. You just have to eat in a deficit. Working out is going to give you more calories to work with so you are not feeling deprived at a sucky 1200 calories. Not eating exercise calories back and being under 1200 net is not good for your health and does not provide your body with enough fuel.

To lose weight you have to burn more calories than you're consuming. So everyone who says they eat 1200 calories, burn 600, and then consume 600 more to make up for it won't result in weight loss. The entire process of calories and weight loss is simple math. Calories consumed - calories burned = energy used as fuel for the body. Calories burned equals how many pounds you will lose. The average person exercising regularly with a healthy diet needs 1200 - 1400 calories. This figure INCLUDES the calories you should be burning. People who are lethargic and do not exercise regularly do not need to consume 1200 calories a day. Yes when you exercise you will burn calories you have consumed...that's the entire point.

I realize this thread is ancient but I just still felt the need to say... you must have worked really hard to be this wrong about everything.

This qualifies as the single worst piece of advice I have ever seen someone post on MFP and is pretty much antithetical to ehat you should actually do to lose weight healthily.

It's excellent advice. It's just missing an inverter or not gate after it.