Anyone on 1200kcals a day?

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  • lowry12
    lowry12 Posts: 74 Member
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    i personally set my goal at 1200calories daily but on days i work out which is any where from 5-7 days a week depending on my mood lol i also burn alot of calories just for instances today its almost 6pm and im sitting on a net calorie of -1400 calories now grant it i havent eaten dinner yet but still wat ever i do eat it isnt going to be anywhere near that and im in the negatives for net calories probably 4-5 days a week im also 5'11 and drink 12 glasses of water a day plus take a green tea supplement but i just started the green tea and ive lost 9lbs since being on here but a total of 19lbs in 3 wks so its working for me im not hungry all the time and im not tired and sluggish either so this is working for me right now not saying it would work for every1 u need to listen to your body thats wat i was told by a nutritionist as long as im not feeling tired and drained all the time i can keep it up but if i notice a change then thats when i need to be eating sum of those burnt calories back other then that i would never dream of eating up those burnt calories
  • Warley_x
    Warley_x Posts: 62
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    Its a British thing, thats what's quoted on all of our food labels and it's just how we say it, nothing to do with metric etc.
    1200K cals? What is the K for? Is that some metric thing? If not, that is like 1,200,000 calories. Not nit picking, just curious.
  • kat5556
    kat5556 Posts: 164 Member
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    Thanks Kat. I have other motivation pics, that's just my fav! How much have you been able to lose being on 1200kcals and walking?

    I've always walked but just began the 1200 calories 4 days ago. I haven't weighed myself again since I began. I'll weigh in again sometime next week and post.

    BTW, this is me and my motivational picture from when I was at my ideal weight. I'm 11 pounds heavier now. I have another pic loaded at my current weight. Even though it's just a face shot you can see the extra chin! LOL
  • jdploki70
    jdploki70 Posts: 343
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    So by the time all here are at their goal weight, I will still be working on mine. Congrats you got there first no problem, because when you go to your maintenance calories, and gain back the weight, I'll be reaching my goal and you might reaching your goal,
    why would we gain back the weight on maintenance calories ?

    I'll give an example.
    My BMR is 1439 my TDEE is 2300. So if I ate at a 15% cut I would be eating 1955. Losing weight slowly. When I reach my goal I go back to maintenance, which isn't much more. I would still keep the same activity level.

    however I ate 1200 calories a day and reached my goal, and then went to maintenance I would be increasing my calories by 1100 a day, That calls for a huge weight gain. So then I go back to the lower calories and the cycle begins again.
    Sorry, but that is flawed logic. You don't set your BMR, for the most part, nature does. It's based on height, weight, and age, not on the amount you eat or the amount you should be eating. The only thing you control is your activity cycle.
  • zukkiz
    zukkiz Posts: 362 Member
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    So by the time all here are at their goal weight, I will still be working on mine. Congrats you got there first no problem, because when you go to your maintenance calories, and gain back the weight, I'll be reaching my goal and you might reaching your goal,
    why would we gain back the weight on maintenance calories ?

    I'll give an example.
    My BMR is 1439 my TDEE is 2300. So if I ate at a 15% cut I would be eating 1955. Losing weight slowly. When I reach my goal I go back to maintenance, which isn't much more. I would still keep the same activity level.

    however I ate 1200 calories a day and reached my goal, and then went to maintenance I would be increasing my calories by 1100 a day, That calls for a huge weight gain. So then I go back to the lower calories and the cycle begins again.
    Sorry, but that is flawed logic. You don't set your BMR, for the most part, nature does. It's based on height, weight, and age, not on the amount you eat or the amount you should be eating. The only thing you control is your activity cycle.

    So true, I was wrong on my example. Forgot about numbers going down. Don't know what I was thinking

    This thread:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/609772-anyone-lose-50-or-better-doing-em2wl?page=1#posts-8765572

    Has a better explanation.
    Once again I'm sorry for my flawed logic.
  • BlowYourMind
    BlowYourMind Posts: 162
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    I used to weight EXACTLY like you, at the same height. I had an eating disorder...ate about 700 calories and working out for about an hour or two everyday and lost about 15 pounds in one and half months. Since last year I still go through the mental struggle but luckily I had began to learn where real weight loss and muscle building came from and it was eating the 1,200 calories and exercise calories. Afterwards I even raised the calories to 1,400 and incorporated protein into my diet. I'm still trying to lose the last layer of fat but it feels MUCH more possible when my head isn't foggy. You should do 1,200 for the initial weight loss but for the last few pounds raise the calories. You're weight loss goal is very reasonable so try it out. Make sure you're trying your best to maximize those 1,200 calories, in other words, eat foods that fill you up those most with less calories. I could have a banana that fills me up, or a stupid 100 calorie snack pack (which is better for desert.. :p ).
  • wftiger
    wftiger Posts: 1,283 Member
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    I am on 1200 per day and exercise at least 30-60 mins (walking, elliptical, strength train) per day. I eat no exercise calories back.

    I also low carb/high protein to prevent as little muscle loss as I can.
  • imchicbad
    imchicbad Posts: 1,650 Member
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    see my blog on TEDEE. I HAD THE SAME 1200 CALORIE STARVATION DIET.
  • jossmatthews
    jossmatthews Posts: 2 Member
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    Great info! Thanks!
  • Snookie2u
    Snookie2u Posts: 10
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    I see people saying "bump" on here, what does that mean?
  • OccupyFitness
    OccupyFitness Posts: 147
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    I see people saying "bump" on here, what does that mean?

    "bump" means they want the topic to show up under "My Topics" or they want to push it to the front of the community threads to get more posts about it.
  • TheLongRunner
    TheLongRunner Posts: 688 Member
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    I'm also from Australia! But Perth :)
    My advice would be, if it's working for you, then it's right.
    If you're losing weight, feeling good etc on 1200 cals a day, keep at it!
    If you're not getting the results you want, try upping your cals a bit.
    Just play around until you figure out what works best for you
    :)
    Good luck!:flowerforyou:

    This! I think you gotta find what works for you. I have had great success on 1200 calories for most of my journey. Some others have had less success with this amount of calories. Do what makes YOUR body lose :smile:
  • flawedshot
    flawedshot Posts: 2
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    I do 1200 cals a day. Its fine as long as you eat filling foods like veggies, but don't starve yourself. I eat 1200 and if my body is telling me I'm still hungry, I'll eat a small snack (30-100 calories) to fill up my stomach. I do 30 minutes a day.
  • mel128
    mel128 Posts: 81 Member
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    Bump
  • susan1arnold
    susan1arnold Posts: 5 Member
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    This is to temp666777. What kind of yogurt do you buy? Do you add anything to it? Thanks!! :wink:
  • wobblychopz
    wobblychopz Posts: 13 Member
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    Hi Everyone, :flowerforyou: I've just joined tonight! I'm on roughly 1500cals/day but over the past few days this week I haven't been able to reach that, sitting around 1200. I'm from Australia, Far North Queensland and finding this site a little difficult to complete my exercise plans using miles instead of klms, and consistently converting pounds to kilos. But I'm persisting! Anyone else in the same boat?

    *you can chnage the settings from mile and pounds to km's and kg's.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    So heres the thing. If you want to support your knees then you need muscle mass and eating at 1200 calories a day will not support muscle sustainment and while you will lose weight, you will lose muscle. If your body isnt getting enough caloris and doesnt have enough fat stores then it will release cortisol to protrect your organs. In turn this will protect body fat and increase muscle loss.


    So how does one lose fat without losing muscle? Simple, you eat around 20% below tdee. And you figure out your tdee by estimating your bmr, multipling i with a lifestyle factor (including exercise) and then cutting 20%. Will you lose weight slower? Probably, but you will be able to improve your strength which will provide better support to your joints and ligaments.
    Thank you for your thoughts & advice. That last picture link is very interesting, what type of foods do you have to eat for that though? I'd find it difficult to eat that many kcals in a day! Yes overall I would prefer to be toned thin not thin thin but I wanted to drop weight first (while building my knees) to start toning after I've got my weight/fat to where I want it.x
    how on earth is 1200 calories starving yourself?! lol

    It is providing inadequate nutrition to build muscle and a healthy body. That's the definition of starvation.

    no it's not. for someone who isn't that tall, or active, 1200 calories a day is plenty.
    sure, it's not a lot of calories, but it provides adeuqate nutrition if you're getting it from the right foods - not if you're getting it dfrom icecream and chocolate.


    1200 calories won't even feed your metabolic rate. So if you are only eating 1200 calories and your body needs 1300+ calories to run your metabolic rate, guess what your body will do... will it repair your muscle or run your organs?




    OP, do you want to lose fat or muscle? Muscle is what makes you look like the person in the photo. If you want to cut fat, you need to eat more. What you should do is estimate your TDEE and then cut 20%. YOu do this and start doing heavy weight training (which you can do while injured as I did it with a tore MCL), your bod will cut fat. And to add a cookie on top, here is a response from a person I am working with. She lifts 4 days a week, 36 years old and eats 2100 calories on workout days and 1800 on non workout days.


    "I just wanted to thank you for your help. You helped me a few months back and I just wanted to give you an update on my progress. 12 weeks ago I started at 154 and 28% bf. I got my bf remeasured last Friday and it was 24%. But I only lost 1 pound. It is crazy to me but I have learned to ignore the scale. You were right that keeping consistent and not giving up my body would finally adjust.

    Thanks again for your help!

    Stephanie"


    So you want more proof. Now lets look at a girl who gained 20 lbs of muscle and eats 3000-4000 calories a day. Below is a link.

    http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/


    And to add a little more icing on the cake, HMMM, I love cake, we have the below.


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392784-skinny-fat-vs-fit-photo?hl=skinny+fat
  • JBsCrazyGirl
    JBsCrazyGirl Posts: 337
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    I am also 5'4" and on a 1,200cals a day.
    I am 166lbs.

    Most days I find it difficult to reach 1,200, even before exercise calories. Which i do not eat most the time. Many, many many people are not in favor of this, but it comes down to what your body is telling you.

    Mine tells me,

    Eat when youre hungry
    Exercise when you can.
    Drink water
    And eat breakfast.

    I am losing about 1.5-2lbs a week

    If I start to feel crappy,
    I will eat more, but so far,
    I am fine.

    good luck to you, and finding something that works :flowerforyou:
  • lissaann22479
    lissaann22479 Posts: 163
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    I'm on 1200 and I'm finding it just fine. I cut sugar and white flour out of my diet and I find that I don't get terribly hungry. I don't formally eat my exercise calories back, but I think a few glasses of wine when I go out / at the weekend probably takes care of them. After the initial two weeks of high losses, I've settled into a 1lb a week which is about right if I do my BMR / TDEE numbers.

    Isn't the girl in the pic Kate Moss? I don't imagine she's lifted anything heavier than a champagne glass in her life.


    I agree.
  • susanp15
    susanp15 Posts: 25 Member
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    First, I'd change my inspiration to something or someone that's not airbrushed. :) I'm on 1200 calories too and it's not easy but is very do-able with good choices. Some days I go over just a bit but then exercise (walking) to counter the calories so it all balances out at the end of the day.

    Totally agree!
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