Under 1200--- how do ye do it? o.O

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HeatherLeahxx
HeatherLeahxx Posts: 156 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been taking in about 1200 calories a day for the last two months. And it has left me soo weak, starving, exhausted, dizzy.....

Alot of people on this that I have come across are actually surving on 500calories a day....AND LESS!.....As well as exercising on top of that!.......Alot of people are fasting, or doing liquid fasts etc......I've no interest in doing this to get the record straight......

I'm just wondering how in god's name do these people have the energy to live???:huh:

It is seriously boggling me :noway: :huh:
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Replies

  • HeatherLeahxx
    HeatherLeahxx Posts: 156 Member
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    *surviving...... before any grammar nazis attack me
  • ShaeSweetie
    ShaeSweetie Posts: 156 Member
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    Maybe your not meant to take in just 1200? and if you exercise you should eat back those calories! sometimes MFP doesnt give you the right calories...they gave me 1300 to start but that was wayyy to low for me..especially since i was doing insanityy...i think you should properly calculate your daily needs and then up it a little if you need to..im not eating 1600 calories..much better for me and im still losing weight
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
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    People who are taking in 500 calories generally have an eating disorder. It's not something you want to strive for.

    I did 1200 for a while and did all right. Then I increased it because I wanted to, and felt even better, and still lost the weight I wanted to lose. Eat more. Your body will thank you.
  • toysbigkid
    toysbigkid Posts: 545 Member
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    eat! Increase your calories per day, eat healthy foods for those calories. Your not eating enough if your hungry all the time.
  • now_or_never12
    now_or_never12 Posts: 849 Member
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    Those who take in much less than 1200 are probably used to it now. When you constantly take in too few calories in a day your metabolism will slow and therefore you aren't as hungry as you should be.

    If you are feeling weak, tired, etc it's a sign you should try eating more. 1,200 is far too low for most people.

    I was set with 1,250 cals a day... it wasn't nearly enough so I bumped it up to 1600 and am feeling great and still losing.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    At 20 and 5'8", 1200 calories isn't enough. Have a look at TDEE and the Eat More to Weigh Less group.
  • HeatherLeahxx
    HeatherLeahxx Posts: 156 Member
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    What I mean is by my post is......How are these people surviving on just a few hundred calories a day alone??? when I am here so weak and exhausted after only eating 1200....

    I'M JUST ASKING A GENERAL QUESTION! Nothing about myself ha..... As in like noone should be able to get through every day just taking in like 500cals
  • aliceallure
    aliceallure Posts: 16 Member
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    Prehaps it is to do with what your eating? I used to eat a good 3000 odd calories a day. I switched to healthier foods, like salads, soups, less red meat etc and now i struggle to eat my 1200 calories!
    Check out the food and nutrition board, it does has some good suggestions.

    Also remember the 1200 is the net calorie intake, therefore if you exercise and burn of 200 calories you can eat 1400. It sets that as a target as thats the lowest you should go to maintain healthy weight loss. You can up it, as long as it is lower than the calories you need per day (mines about 1800) You will loose weight :)
  • HeatherLeahxx
    HeatherLeahxx Posts: 156 Member
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    i think it's just what you and your body is used to. i mean i would have died on 500 a year or 2 back, but now that's like a big eating day to me :/ and yeah unhealthy i know don't yell at me guys

    someone who actually knows what I mean haha ...so its a matter of like training your body??

    *DISCLAIMER*....I'm just curious! No plans on dropping my intake incase I get abused to fook
  • stephyy4632
    stephyy4632 Posts: 947 Member
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    What I mean is by my post is......How are these people surviving on just a few hundred calories a day alone??? when I am here so weak and exhausted after only eating 1200....

    I'M JUST ASKING A GENERAL QUESTION! Nothing about myself ha..... As in like noone should be able to get through every day just taking in like 500cals

    the body is using itself to work breaking down its a disorder and not something they can do forever its a sad ending if they try
  • ashshields12
    ashshields12 Posts: 54 Member
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    I have been on a 1200 calorie diet for 12 weeks now, I am not hungry at all actually struggle to eat the 1200 some days. I workout 6 days a week, sometimes twice a day and dont increase my calories if I work out.... Maybe its the foods that you are eating that are making you feel like 1200 isnt enough? what does your diary look like? what do you allow for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and snacks?
  • HeatherLeahxx
    HeatherLeahxx Posts: 156 Member
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    I have been on a 1200 calorie diet for 12 weeks now, I am not hungry at all actually struggle to eat the 1200 some days. I workout 6 days a week, sometimes twice a day and dont increase my calories if I work out.... Maybe its the foods that you are eating that are making you feel like 1200 isnt enough? what does your diary look like? what do you allow for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and snacks?

    Just put it on public now incase u want a look :)
  • AprilOneFourFour
    AprilOneFourFour Posts: 226 Member
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    By being older / shorter / lighter to start with.
    Or not exercising much.

    I eat 1200-ish and I find it very do-able, but I eat very heathy foods and I cook / make nearly everything from scratch. So I might have Greek yogurt and fruit, or Bircher Muesli, or smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Homemade soup, or Greek / tuna / chicken salad for lunch with lots of raw veg, and a casserole, stir-fry or burger for dinner. There's even some cals left for the odd glass of wine or piece of chocolate or ice cream.

    That might sound like a nightmare if you're teenaged / early twenties / a beefy bloke, but for an older woman, it's absolutely fine.
  • HeatherLeahxx
    HeatherLeahxx Posts: 156 Member
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    http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/554/facepalm.jpg
  • leslisa
    leslisa Posts: 1,350 Member
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    I'm 42 yo, 5'1" @ 135 lbs with diet/exercise controlled blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes on 1000 cals a day diet to lose weight (per docs order before anyone starts in about starvation mode crap).

    Well, here is a typical day for me:
    Breakfast:
    Cheerios (100 cals) or kashi 7 grain puffed (75 cals)
    Milk (1/2 cup) 45 cals i think
    Sometimes (depending on my time crunch) 1/2 cup of fruit (25 - 50 cals)
    Vitamins and supplements: Centrum for women under 50 with iron, 2 fish oil pills, 1 osteo bi-flex, and 1 aspirin

    Snack : 6 - 8 almonds (42 - 56 cals)

    Lunch:
    Broccoli or lettuce and tomatoes and tuna (or chicken or turkey) (100 - 125 cals)
    Maybe a fruit salad with almonds or walnuts and some coconut? (100 - 125 cals)
    Oriental veggie salad with some cheerios for crunch (100 - 125 cals)

    Snack: 6 - 8 almonds (42 - 56 cals)

    Dinner:
    Chicken or turkey or tuna (100 - 180 cals depending on rest of meal),
    veggies (20 - 80 cals),
    2 slices wheat bread or wheat bun or arnold flat roll in rye, wheat, whatever (100 cals).
    Condiments I might add: Salsa - homemade or jarred (20 - 40 cals), mustard (0 cals), Fage plain yogurt (70 cals), sugar free jams and jellies (10 - 40 cals), creamy cheese wedge (35 cals).
    Spices: Zippo cals (no salt)
    1 cup milk (85 or 90 cals)
    Still feelin' hungry? Salad with tomatoes, radishes, onion, and maybe some parm or fresh fruit (10 - 100 cals)
    Desert: 60 or 80 cal yogurt with redi-whip

    After dinner snacks (depending on cals left over =):
    Popcorn (100 cals)
    1/2 fiber one bar on top of 60 cal sugar free pudding (130 cals)
    Sugar free jello and redi-whip (45 cals)
    Graham cracker with redi-whip in sandwich frozen (75 cals)
    More milk (love my dairy!!)
    Carrots (sweet and awesome)
    Fruit (sweet and awesome) sometimes with yogurt, sometimes without
    1/2 cup sugar free sorbet or sherbert
    ETC.

    I actually eat quite well. I can't say I never go to bed hungry but I can't say I never go to bed completely full either. It depends.

    And though the doc did not recommend a cheat day, if I do everything I am supposed to do, I take either Sat or Sun as a cheat day and eat 600 more cals that day.

    Cheers!!:bigsmile:
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
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    What I mean is by my post is......How are these people surviving on just a few hundred calories a day alone??? when I am here so weak and exhausted after only eating 1200....

    I'M JUST ASKING A GENERAL QUESTION! Nothing about myself ha..... As in like noone should be able to get through every day just taking in like 500cals

    They're surviving, but they're not healthy. It takes a lot of punishment for a body to actually stop living.
  • ashshields12
    ashshields12 Posts: 54 Member
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    I have a look at your diary, I guess some of your choices might not be that clean. but you are doing a good job for you age :-) if you wanna chat about clean food choices ideas etc you are welcome to add me :-)
  • fudgebudget
    fudgebudget Posts: 198 Member
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    You can survive on very few calories - of course it's not healthy, but people do it. It's always kind of boggled my mind how some ballet dancers eat almost nothing and manage to dance all day long - some of them will even eat non-food items to quell hunger (cotton balls, etc). But, at the same time, while we're accustomed to seeing that physique while they're dancing, taken out of context they tend to look like famine victims (...because they kind of are).

    Anyway, the human body is a crazy thing that is made to survive a lot. It can survive 500 calories a day.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    I've been taking in about 1200 calories a day for the last two months
    Really ? I must be reading the wrong diary as you've been over 2000 a couple of times and I've not seen it below 1300.

    I can eat less than 1200, at least while I have the fat reserves to go at and provide the difference. I don't eat a lot of carbohydrates that are here and gone in a flash though, so choice of foodstuff is relevant as well as calories, and I'm not hungry.

    People can fast for days, the hunger goes away fairly quickly, does require a fat store to go at - someone looking to lose 100 lbs has 350,000 calories on tap so any "logic" about calorie deficiency goes out of the window with the obese.
  • hbuckholz
    hbuckholz Posts: 5 Member
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    Once you start eating a lower amount of calories, your body gets used to it. I keep a lower than 1200 diet usually unless I'm in a sports season, then my body needs more energy for how active I am. It's just like if you start out eating 2000 a day and work back to 1200, your body is trained to want as many as before. You get accustomed to it if it works for you. Some people just need more to function in a healthy way.

    It also depends on what kind of calories. If you eat 500 empty junk food calories a day, you'll be thin but not healthy at all. If 500 calories was packed full of protein, whole grains, and fiber, its at least better for your body. You can manage your body at any caloric intake, really, but too low is dangerous and so is too high. The body can usually adjust itself pretty well to either for a while.

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