Will I really lose on 1200 a day?

Let's put it this way. If you gain on 1200 a day because your body has gotten used to less, the weight gain will be temporary and you will start losing again eventually and you will be healthier.

The major exception to this would be if you are 4'10" with hypothyroid. In which case 900 calories wouldn't be that bad.

Your body will go into starvation mode if you don't eat enough - I've been there and it's really hard to get your body back in tune. I have a slow weight loss but the scale keeps moving. I've lost 15 lbs. since the first of this year. I used another site before this one - that's why it only shows that I've lost 8 lbs. Good luck!!

Actually 1200 is the least you wanna go if you do not workout.Anything less will put your body into starvation mode, which means when you do eat it will send more calories to be made as fat versus if you were eating healthy. At 900 you will lose some fat (mostly muscle) and it will eventually stop because your body cannot take it. If you start taking in 1200 you might start to gain, but don't worry this is normal because your body is transitioning from not thinking it is starving anymore. Once it has sufficient energy, it will start to lose fat again. Also, if you are exercising you should eat more than 1200 so your body doesn't go back to starving.

After 8 years of having anorexia and bulimia, i know the effects of not getting enough vitamins, protein, and calories.

Let's put it this way. If you gain on 1200 a day because your body has gotten used to less, the weight gain will be temporary and you will start losing again eventually and you will be healthier.

The major exception to this would be if you are 4'10" with hypothyroid. In which case 900 calories wouldn't be that bad.

This sounds right to me.
Do some strength training, and some cardio, have fun, laugh, enjoy yourself... I am glad to hear you are doing it this way- it is so much healthier and, in my opinion- (having done it by starving myself in the past), EASIER.

I am at 1350 a day and I am losing weight. I am sure that you will lose weight at 1200. Don't deprive your body of the nutrients it needs. And make sure you are drinking your water. Also, make sure you go see your doctor. It's the right thing to do when you start a weight loss program.

Are you exercising?

there are people on here losing weight at 1800+ a day!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can calculate how many calories you need a day. It will be roughly your weight * 10 + (20-50% of your weight depending on the level of activity, normal activity would be somewhere in the 20-30 range) That's a rule of thumb, but if you google the "metabolic rate calculator," you will find a few different ones. Once when you see the ball park figure, you can adjust week to week until you get the results you want. I used this and I consistently lost about 1-2 pounds a week, my wife has used this and lost about 3 pounds a week, since March I've lost 37 pound and she's lost 50 pounds. One caution here, your metabolism changes depending on what you eat and the type of activity you're engaged in. When I started in March I needed about 1600 calories to get the 1-2 pound loss a week, and I ate 6 meals a day (healthy food low on glycemic index) and now my metabolism speed up so much that I can barely keep up with 2400 calories a day. I have also been weight lifting, but I am just saying this as an example how nothing is set is stone and there are many variables there. If you don't eat healthy food, there is no amount of cutting that will keep you feeling full and make you lose weight.

I couldn't survive on 900 a day! I'm 5'2", currently maintaining after losing 3 stone. I've stopped logging what I eat and while I don't pig out, I don't deprive myself at all.
I took up running and I now have to make an effort to eat more some days in order to maintain (I know, it's a hard life).
As ocukor1 says, keep tabs on your metabolism and have a look at a metabolic rate calculator. When I started my super scales said I had a metabolic age of 46. Now it's 26.
Good luck!

I'm in the same boat, I usually eat about 950 a day sometimes more and work out every day, mostly cardio. I've been doing this for about 3 weeks and have lost 8lb but I'm getting worried as people keep telling me I'm eating far too few cals, starvation mode etc so I'm contemplating increasing my calorie intake but am worried I'll gain- thanks for posting ,this thread has helped !

You will lose weight, just slower. Don't worry about "starvation mode," the phrase has been beaten to death around here.

This. Your body will adjust. Be patient

i have a goal set to 1200 a day, to lose about 2 pounds a week. I set this for myself because i NEED to see results to stay motivated. Once i lose a little, i will slow it down. Im NEVER on goal.. always under, and i still lose weight, however i do make sure that my body is getting the nutrition it needs to stay healthy! I love my body by vi shake mix! You should check into a protein shake mix for little calories to help you get the nutrition you need, if you are concerned about that! i think you are doing great!!

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the lack of angry 'starvation mode' comments!

Just in reply to some of what has been said: I don't feel like I've been starving myself at 900 - I eat good, filling food like scrambled eggs, fruit, chicken, roasted veg, salad, soups etc and never really feel hungry... but I do crave junk like pizza, burgers and chocolate. Eating 1200 today felt like a lot but thats just because of what I've been used to.

I exercise 4 or 5 times a week, a mixture of swimming and elliptical with some strength training. Apart from this exercise I am utterly motionless most of the time - I'm a student on summer holidays for 4 months and tend to just sit around waiting to go to the gym. So I burn a lot of cals at the gym but I don't think I burn much else the rest of the time which was why I initially ate so little!

Thanks again for all of your advice - I will stick to 1200 from now on. Out of interest, what should I make up the extra 300 cals with? Today I did it with snacks, but should I have bigger meals instead?

Back when I was fit/seeing a personal trainer and nutritionist regularly, they told me to eat more smaller meals. I'm 5'5", and at the time I weighed somewhere between 160 and 180. I was instructed to eat smaller meals about every 3 to 4 hours during the day. This week I went back to that philosophy, and I feel much better than when I was eating three larger meals a day...meaning that I feel more efficient, but I'm eating a lot less calories because of the types of things I'm filling up on. Feel free to add me