how do i do only 1200 calories? freaking out!

Options
123457

Replies

  • krystyleee
    krystyleee Posts: 219
    Options
    My intake is 1,210. I find it easy on days when I exercise because if I burn 500 calories, technically I can eat 1,700 calories and be at my goal. On those days I usually have a higher calorie breakfast, and lower calorie lunch and dinner. And I go to sleep not long after I eat dinner (maybe an hour or two) that way I never get hungry enough to snack.

    On days I don't exercise I have low calorie meals throughout the day. Breakfast usually consists of fruit and I do have to be careful on those days. However I try to exercise 5/7 days of the week. I only drink water, too (or once in a while a diet soda) so no calories come from drinking which is good.

    But it depends, if you're still uncomfortable and no even losing eating so little calories a day then I would go back up a little. You don't have to eat at 1,200 cals to lose weight! It takes time getting used to.
  • linochka1969
    linochka1969 Posts: 136 Member
    Options
    FEEL FREE TO ROAM MY DAIRY
  • vtpixie
    vtpixie Posts: 39
    Options
    OP.
    What are your stats?
    What if I told you you could eat way more and lose weight?
    What if 1200 calories actually sets you back by up to a year on your journey?
    What if in 2 weeks you could lose all water weight possibly dropping inches of your belt by eating closer to 2k a day.
    Or
    Hit search in the forum and type "been on 1200 and not losing" and see what I mean.

    If interested I will do custom numbers.
    Post:

    Age
    Height
    Weight
    Body Fat%
    How often you work out

    Age: 33 almost 34
    Height: 5' 1.5"
    Weight: ~135 +/- 1-2lbs
    Body Fat%: 29.6% (according to your military BF%)
    How often do you work out: Just getting back into it so trying for 3-5X/week. Currently 1-3x/week
    Katch-McArdle: 1303 calories
    TDEE: 1563.3 calories

    Roughly how many calories should I take in? MFP says 1200 as well.
  • kab161
    kab161 Posts: 5 Member
    Options
    It takes getting use to. You have to adjust your eating habits and your portion sizes. I successfully lost 35 pounds in 7 months eating HEALTHY foods on a 1200 calorie day diet. I am 5'4 and went from 158 to 123. It CAN be done. You just need to get as much bang for your buck when it comes to nutritious options. Eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Try to eat every 3-4 hours to keep from getting hungry and speed up your metabolism. Stick to it and the weight WILL fall off! Goodluck!
  • vtpixie
    vtpixie Posts: 39
    Options
    OP.
    What are your stats?
    What if I told you you could eat way more and lose weight?
    What if 1200 calories actually sets you back by up to a year on your journey?
    What if in 2 weeks you could lose all water weight possibly dropping inches of your belt by eating closer to 2k a day.
    Or
    Hit search in the forum and type "been on 1200 and not losing" and see what I mean.

    If interested I will do custom numbers.
    Post:

    Age
    Height
    Weight
    Body Fat%
    How often you work out

    Age: 33 almost 34
    Height: 5' 1.5"
    Weight: ~135 +/- 1-2lbs
    Body Fat%: 29.6% (according to your military BF%)
    How often do you work out: Just getting back into it so trying for 3-5X/week. Currently 1-3x/week
    Katch-McArdle: 1303 calories
    TDEE: 1563.3 calories

    Roughly how many calories should I take in? MFP says 1200 as well.

    Sorry...exercise: I try to walk 5 days a week during lunch hour for 30 minutes. I do several stand up exercises while at work (leg lifts, standing crunches, etc.). I'm trying to bike ride at least 1-3x/ week (so far saturday and monday recently). I plan on playing frisbee golf at least 2-3x.week as well as kayak either on lake or white water 1x over weekend.

    I am trying a 14 day trial pass at local gym - did aquatic sculpt class last night and may try zumba tonight. Also trying to do at least 1 workout video 1-3x per week.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Options
    OP.
    What are your stats?
    What if I told you you could eat way more and lose weight?
    What if 1200 calories actually sets you back by up to a year on your journey?
    What if in 2 weeks you could lose all water weight possibly dropping inches of your belt by eating closer to 2k a day.
    Or
    Hit search in the forum and type "been on 1200 and not losing" and see what I mean.

    If interested I will do custom numbers.
    Post:

    Age
    Height
    Weight
    Body Fat%
    How often you work out

    Age: 33 almost 34
    Height: 5' 1.5"
    Weight: ~135 +/- 1-2lbs
    Body Fat%: 29.6% (according to your military BF%)
    How often do you work out: Just getting back into it so trying for 3-5X/week. Currently 1-3x/week
    Katch-McArdle: 1303 calories
    TDEE: 1563.3 calories

    Roughly how many calories should I take in? MFP says 1200 as well.

    Sorry...exercise: I try to walk 5 days a week during lunch hour for 30 minutes. I do several stand up exercises while at work (leg lifts, standing crunches, etc.). I'm trying to bike ride at least 1-3x/ week (so far saturday and monday recently). I plan on playing frisbee golf at least 2-3x.week as well as kayak either on lake or white water 1x over weekend.

    I am trying a 14 day trial pass at local gym - did aquatic sculpt class last night and may try zumba tonight. Also trying to do at least 1 workout video 1-3x per week.

    Get into that gym and lift weights.
    Continue the walking.
    www.stronglifts.com for more info on what types of lifts to do.
  • munny_p
    munny_p Posts: 73 Member
    Options
    Stay busy and drink lots of water. I was always guilty of boredom eating. I am doing 1200 lately and I am always satisfied. You can check out my food diary if you want. I think I have had one cheat day in 2 weeks, otherwise I stay at/near 1200.
  • k1mcat
    k1mcat Posts: 68
    Options
    bump
  • MFPBrandy
    MFPBrandy Posts: 564 Member
    Options
    The target MFP set for me is 1200 calories a day, and if I don't indulge, I don't have a problem hitting it (on most days) -- the key is lots of veggies, not processed foods. Veggie dishes (where the primary ingredient is veggies, not a few veggies with pasta) are filling,nutriend-packed & low-calorie. But I do like to indulge, so I usually go over 1200 and "buy back" calories through exercise so I can enjoy my chocolate, etc.
  • uprightashley
    uprightashley Posts: 39 Member
    Options
    I've been doing it and I don't feel a strain. I just exercise in the morning and eat back most of my exercise calories. Sometimes I'll leave a couple hundred. As long as your not eating high calorie items you should be okay. I try to keep breakfast at 130, and lunch and dinner no more than 350 cals. That leaves the rest for snacking. I also log my food prep and cleaning as cardio if I've really done it vigorously. You can do it.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    Options
    i just refigured my calories from 1370 to 1200. i'd like to speed up my weight loss a bit. i was figuring 1 lb. a week now i'd like to try to lose 1.5 lbs. per week. the prospect of trying to stay at 1200 calories sounds so difficult. anyone have any advice? thanks

    My advice would be to go back to the 1370.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Options
    Its astounding at how women think of food.
    You guys could be eating up to 1600-22-- daily and losing weight but instead youd rather help each other eat 1200 cals.
    The eating back calories at that point is crucial.
  • FitBunnyEm
    FitBunnyEm Posts: 320
    Options
    i eat roughly 1200 cals easily....check out my diary if you like. its not that difficult. good luck x
  • RobynMWilson
    RobynMWilson Posts: 1,540 Member
    Options
    1200 cals is too restrictive for any adult and may actually end up hindering your weight loss efforts...
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    Options
    If you don't think you can do it, just stay at a higher calorie intake. Losing a little slower isn't a big deal.

    You could try some of these suggestions here, though. More veggies, or exercising a little more so you can eat that back. I eat a lot of veggies at meals to fill me up.
  • faulc133
    faulc133 Posts: 5
    Options
    My wife is on 1200 cals a day and I'm on about 1500. Its possible to do, so long as you eat plenty of vegies as your main meal componants. We rarely feel hungry now, however it was rather annoying for the first week or so. Your body just has to get used to it. That being said, exercise and eating those calories back is most likely the better way to do it. its much more fun that way.
  • BubbleGumKisses
    BubbleGumKisses Posts: 156 Member
    Options
    My diary is also open and I have been hitting around the 1200 cal mark you can take a look at it for some ideas as well-- Its about choices for me...sure I can have pringles with my turkey burger but will those few thin little chips for 160 calories fill me up as much as cup of baked spaghetti squash or steamed broccoli that has WAY less calories? NO way.. in fact I can eat BOTH the cup of broccoli and the cup of squash with my turkey burger and still be LESS then what those few pringles would have been..and feel FULL and satisfied


    YES
  • rmac18
    rmac18 Posts: 185 Member
    Options
    i just refigured my calories from 1370 to 1200. i'd like to speed up my weight loss a bit. i was figuring 1 lb. a week now i'd like to try to lose 1.5 lbs. per week. the prospect of trying to stay at 1200 calories sounds so difficult. anyone have any advice? thanks

    My daily goal is 1290 (which for me is 2 lbs a week) and I can't do it unless I exercise. What works for me is to make sure that every day I I exercise so I can gain back at least 300 calories and 5 days a week I try to be over 600 exercise calories. That allows me to eat around 1,800 which feels good to me. I have found that on the days when I exercise less then I'm typically less hungry so it works out. Also while I try to hit my daily number it's really the average over time that matters. I'm going to have days where I'm over and days when I'm under, for me I try to make sure my weekly average is where I want it to be. That is easy to see on my iPhone MFP app but doesn't work so well on the web interface or at least I can't figure out how to make it work reliably. If I hit my weekly number then pretty consistently I will lose 2 lbs a week. Good luck
  • vtpixie
    vtpixie Posts: 39
    Options
    OP.
    What are your stats?
    What if I told you you could eat way more and lose weight?
    What if 1200 calories actually sets you back by up to a year on your journey?
    What if in 2 weeks you could lose all water weight possibly dropping inches of your belt by eating closer to 2k a day.
    Or
    Hit search in the forum and type "been on 1200 and not losing" and see what I mean.

    If interested I will do custom numbers.
    Post:

    Age
    Height
    Weight
    Body Fat%
    How often you work out

    Age: 33 almost 34
    Height: 5' 1.5"
    Weight: ~135 +/- 1-2lbs
    Body Fat%: 29.6% (according to your military BF%)
    How often do you work out: Just getting back into it so trying for 3-5X/week. Currently 1-3x/week
    Katch-McArdle: 1303 calories
    TDEE: 1563.3 calories

    Roughly how many calories should I take in? MFP says 1200 as well.

    Sorry...exercise: I try to walk 5 days a week during lunch hour for 30 minutes. I do several stand up exercises while at work (leg lifts, standing crunches, etc.). I'm trying to bike ride at least 1-3x/ week (so far saturday and monday recently). I plan on playing frisbee golf at least 2-3x.week as well as kayak either on lake or white water 1x over weekend.

    I am trying a 14 day trial pass at local gym - did aquatic sculpt class last night and may try zumba tonight. Also trying to do at least 1 workout video 1-3x per week.

    Get into that gym and lift weights.
    Continue the walking.
    www.stronglifts.com for more info on what types of lifts to do.

    I do lift weights, just not regularly. I will check out his program at www.stronglifts.com. IN the mean time...I get that 1200 calories is too little, but should I be aiming for 1303 or 1563 calories or something else? COnfused.
  • Xaav
    Xaav Posts: 2
    Options
    carrots. sometimes i replace meals with a carrot or two. They are sweet and fill you up have a glass of water beforehand, great as a snack when peckish as well. only 30cal each!

Categories