1200 too low?

So far I'm on week 3 of my eating plan. Lost 4 pounds so far. I keep being told that I should be minimum 1500 being male. I've been finding that I've been eating between 1100 and 1400 each day and I get through fine. I have more energy now than I did before the lifestyle change. I've been doing a fitness boot camp twice a week and maintaining the calories.

I think the trick is to just make sure you have alot of water and eat plenty of veggies and fresh fruit. Veggies don't contain too many calories, yet can be quite filling.

The first week I was pretty much hungry all the time, but your body adjusts to the lower amount of food fairly quickly.

Ya, your body adjust by lowering the metabolism from where it was to what it has left over to work with now.

Congrats, your BMR and free calorie burn every day has just been lowered, and since metabolism is the basis of ALL your daily activities burning calories, those aren't as much either.

You now have a smaller deficit than you really think you have. Start exercising more without feeding the workout, you'll have even less, which means it will go even slower, which means even less deficit.

That is how you stall.

This can happen to men too:

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A similar case study was published by Jampolis (2004).
A 51 year old patient complained of a 15 lb weight gain over the last year despite beginning a strenuous triathlon and marathon training program (2 hours per day, 5-6 days per week).

A 3 day diet analysis estimated a daily intake of only 1000-1200 Calories.
An indirect calorimetry revealed a resting metabolic rate of 950 Calories (28% below predicted for age, height, weight, and gender).
After medications and medical conditions such as hypothyroidism and diabetes where ruled out, the final diagnosis was over-training and undereating. The following treatment was recommended:

Increase daily dietary intake by approximately 100 Calories per week to a goal of 1500 calories
32% protein; 35% carbohydrates; 33% fat
Consume 5-6 small meals per day
Small amounts of protein with each meal or snack
Choose high fiber starches
Select mono- and poly- unsaturated fats
Restrict consumption of starch with evening meals unless focused around training
Take daily multi-vitamin and mineral supplement
Perform whole body isometric resistance training 2 times per week

After 6 weeks the patient's resting metabolism increased 35% to 1282 Calories per day (only 2% below predicted).
The patient also decreases percent fat from 37% to 34%, a loss of 5 lbs of body fat.

Jampolis MB (2004) Weight Gain - Marathon Runner / Triathlete. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 36(5) S148.

I just downloaded the this app and also starting at 1200... cant lie its alittle hard. But to meet my goal i feel like i have to stick with it including the workouts i do.

I just downloaded the this app and also starting at 1200... cant lie its alittle hard. But to meet my goal i feel like i have to stick with it including the workouts i do.

Are you sure? Looking at your picture and ticker you don't have much to lose. You would be better served by having a lower pound per week loss rather than a larger one. This chart someone else put together should be helpful. Also, other than for people who are obese, eating below your BMR quickly becomes counter productive.

Here is a chart that suggests what your weekly weight loss goal should be depending on how much you have to lose.
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.


1 lb a week is 500 calories less per day. So .5 would be 250 less, 2lbs would be 1000 less, etc.