Why is 1200 the magic number.............?!?

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  • tabulator32
    tabulator32 Posts: 701 Member
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    Gotta draw the line somewhere, folks.

    Its the same type of mentality as the folks that make the BMI chart and designate where the green sections go on the chart.

    Its all an average. Its not perfect for everyone, although not perfect for everyone, they have to draw the line somewhere.
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
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    No doubt this has been asked before, but why do I see so many people saying that they only eat 1200 calories per day, and that 1200 is the optimum number of calories to eat in order to lose weight?!?

    Not to appear sarcastic here but if somebody who is trying to lose weight tells you that he/she cannot eat more than 1200 calories per day, take it with a grain of salt. If that were true then how did they became overweight in the first place. Unless you're a very small woman, 1200 calories is way too low for both men & women. With my 5'2' height & 120 pounds, my BMR alone is at 1315 cals & putting me at 1,200 calories/day diet won't do good for my body. The downside of this site is that it doesn't account the individual's body when you want to lose 1 lb/week. Perhaps you can get away with it if you're severely overweight or obese but otherwise you should go with your BMR when calculating the minimum amount of calories you need to eat. Which is why when I was trying to lose weight, I didn't set my goals fo 1 pound/week because that will give me a 1200 cals/day which is too low.
  • snowbike
    snowbike Posts: 153 Member
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    Its a generic limit on calories before major sacrifices in muscle mass occurs. More than 2-3lbs a week lost generally are muscle mass losses.

    Say you need 2200 cals to stay the same. But eat 2 X 3500 cals less a week ...
    (2 X 3500) / 7 = 1000
    2200 - 1000 is 1200 cals.

    Anyway, its really hard living on a 1000 cals drop in food cals. Its much easier to eat 500 less and exercise 500 more.

    Even at normal levels the body burns 60% fat , 40% muscle, but weight training can stick it back to more 80/20.

    Throw some carbs back in about an hour before exercise can help this even further.
  • catfyson
    catfyson Posts: 26 Member
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    My goal cals is 1200 and admittedly yes, I set 2lbs per week loss and sedentary. HOWEVER, I wanted to experiment with this amount and it has paid off. I do not feel hungry on this cal amount, and still manage to eat 3 sensible meals and fit in snacks into this cal amount. My exercise changes week by week as I do not always have time for the gym, but if it works, it works. I am losing weight, but at a sensible pace where I'm not finding myself feeling weak or anything! In fact, my weight yo yo's a bit but generally I am pretty darn impressed.

    So, 1200 is working for me, and may well be working for many others. We're all different.
  • Jordant107
    Jordant107 Posts: 218 Member
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    My goal cals is 1200 and admittedly yes, I set 2lbs per week loss and sedentary. HOWEVER, I wanted to experiment with this amount and it has paid off. I do not feel hungry on this cal amount, and still manage to eat 3 sensible meals and fit in snacks into this cal amount. My exercise changes week by week as I do not always have time for the gym, but if it works, it works. I am losing weight, but at a sensible pace where I'm not finding myself feeling weak or anything! In fact, my weight yo yo's a bit but generally I am pretty darn impressed.

    So, 1200 is working for me, and may well be working for many others. We're all different.
    What's your height and weight...............?? I would assume that you would be a fairly small frame to be able to achieve this..........?!
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    I set 2lbs per week loss and sedentary
    These settings give many people a 1200 goal, as 1200 + 1000 = 2200 estimated TDEE, divide 1.2 = 1833 BMR will catch a big part of the audience.
  • Poods71
    Poods71 Posts: 502 Member
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    I picked the sedetary setting because sadly it is true and I am quite short at 5ft 2 1/2 inches, so I got 1200. I do try to do the odd bit of walking when I get the chance and eat back most if not all of the calories I burn. I would love to be able to eat more calories as at dinner time I have to eat different from my husband so as not to go over. I am not starving or anything and eat a good variety of food but I worry that if I go over what I am eating just now I will not lose or start to put on as I am only losing about 1/2 a week at the moment.
  • Poods71
    Poods71 Posts: 502 Member
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    That should say 1/2lb a week at the moment lol
  • vwtorres1
    vwtorres1 Posts: 2 Member
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    What is BMR?
  • Poods71
    Poods71 Posts: 502 Member
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    What is BMR?

    I wasn't too sure about that either, so I Googled it lol. It means Basal Metabolic Rate, it is the amount of calories you burn during rest. That's what Wikipedia says anyway lol
  • jfan175
    jfan175 Posts: 812 Member
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    1200 is the default minimum on MFP for the aforementioned safety issues. All new people here select "2lbs per week" as their desired weight loss goal, and MFP defaults to 1200 if your daily caloric requirement for this 2lbs is actually less.
  • inkandsheep
    inkandsheep Posts: 101 Member
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    I selected 1 pound a week loss as a goal to start with and MFP still gave me the 1200 as what I should be getting in net calories.
    I'm just over 5ft2 and was 141 lbs to start with, and have a sedentary job that involves mostly sitting down.

    I've lost 5 pounds so far in 6-7 weeks - the weight is coming off slowly but it's coming off. I'm now back in the jeans that inspired me to go on this diet when they were too tight in April!

    I eat healthy meals and haven't felt hungry or had cravings. Most days I do some exercise and then eat back the calories, so I'm not actually eating just 1200 per day!
  • Kybelle132
    Kybelle132 Posts: 71 Member
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    When your eating a lot of healthy and whole foods, lots of beans nuts fruits and veggies you can get a lot out of 1200 cals...Its deff not for everybody but hey its working for me....
  • Kybelle132
    Kybelle132 Posts: 71 Member
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    And I also plan to start upping my cals slowly as my weight comes off.. something I can live with in the future...
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    No doubt this has been asked before, but why do I see so many people saying that they only eat 1200 calories per day, and that 1200 is the optimum number of calories to eat in order to lose weight?!?

    It is not about "calories" as everything is an estimate...........no one is exact.

    It should be about the QUALITY, not the QUANTITY. But since people are hung up on numbers and such they created an arbitrary number where the "professionals" think someone should be.

    It is hogwash as no one used to count calories and such and people weren't overweight either. It IS all about the QUALITY of the food you eat.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,683 Member
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    Because 1200 is considered the minimum amount of calories a day and most people who are uneducated on how the body works will pick it since they think that by eating the minimum they will get the highest and fastest weight loss.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer/Group Fitness Instructor
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • amnski
    amnski Posts: 251 Member
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    Regardless of your weight loss requirements, 1200 cals/day is the lowest you can conceivably go on a 'balanced' diet and lose weight while remaining healthy - in other words, if you eat fewer than 1200 calories/day you will always be missing out on vital vitamins, minerals or will be in protein deficit ..... any of which will have repercussions for your health in the long run. If you have loads of weight to lose it's absolutely ok to go more slowly and eat MORE calories - but never FEWER! Having said that, it's not ALL about the calories - you can eat 1200 cals/day of carbohydrate and you'll end up very ill, too :( It's all about knowledge and balance. I hope that helps.

    ^^^^^This!!! Quality is key. Unfortunately, people do not do their research and take advice from people who not only are uneducated themselves, but have not achieved long-term, healthy weight-loss that has stayed off. I also think it stems from the fact that people want something NOW and don't want to wait. Did you gain those 60, 70 (however many) pounds overnight?! NO!! So, I think people need to stop thinking that the weight can fall off faster than they put it on. After two kids and overcoming the "starve myself to lose weight" mentality, it hurts me to see so many women doing such harm to their bodies :cry:
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    My goal cals is 1200 and admittedly yes, I set 2lbs per week loss and sedentary. HOWEVER, I wanted to experiment with this amount and it has paid off. I do not feel hungry on this cal amount, and still manage to eat 3 sensible meals and fit in snacks into this cal amount. My exercise changes week by week as I do not always have time for the gym, but if it works, it works. I am losing weight, but at a sensible pace where I'm not finding myself feeling weak or anything! In fact, my weight yo yo's a bit but generally I am pretty darn impressed.

    So, 1200 is working for me, and may well be working for many others. We're all different.

    A car can work and travel on dirty mis-gaped spark plugs, dirty air filter, wrong gas type, ect, and get you around.

    Could it be better? Sure.

    The fact it's sensible, I'm guessing that means slow, weight loss probably has no relation to having a smart deficit, but rather just what the body was forced into doing with the deficit it's been given.
    It can work, but it likely could be better if desired.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    I picked the sedetary setting because sadly it is true and I am quite short at 5ft 2 1/2 inches, so I got 1200. I do try to do the odd bit of walking when I get the chance and eat back most if not all of the calories I burn. I would love to be able to eat more calories as at dinner time I have to eat different from my husband so as not to go over. I am not starving or anything and eat a good variety of food but I worry that if I go over what I am eating just now I will not lose or start to put on as I am only losing about 1/2 a week at the moment.

    And what does the math say the weight loss should be, if you really had the deficit as your Goals page shows?

    Because excellent example, your slow weight loss probably has nothing to do with selecting 1/2 lb loss weekly, but rather what you have ended up with for other reasons.

    And really, I hope you aren't eating back ALL the calories you burn, that would mean you can't lose weight. Like eating back cleaning the house or washing the kids or doing dishes or cooking. That's the wrong idea of eating back calories.
  • chantels1
    chantels1 Posts: 391 Member
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    1200 is for OVER ACHIEVERS!!! People want to lose as much weight as possible, as quickly as possible, and most Doctors recommend not going under that number. Well that is fine is you are my sized, but for 300 lb people that is not enough calories to get out of bed during the day! 1200 calories is the KEY TO FAILURE! Eating that little will lead to tiredness, lack of energy and hunger. At first you will be sustained by your mental drive & the scales because you will drop fast, but over a few weeks at this rate, your body will adapt, and you will stall on the diet, which cause most people to quit! It's a form of crash dieting, and I don't recommend it. But I will get off my rant now.

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