How do people cope on 1200 calories p/d?!

I have 1200 cal /day and normally do well. You can do it!!! Keep at it, youve come to far to stop now!! DONT GIVE UP!!!

Exercise is always a good idea, and the days that I DO go over and hit 1400 or even 1600....those are days I have some "earned" calories.

Also, I waste almost zero calories on beverages. I drink black coffee with no sugar and water all day, every day. (with the occasional exception like the Corona I've already logged because I'm going out with a friend tonight) lol

I just had a look at a few days of your diet and your eating far too much sugar which will make you hungry. Ditch the low fat for full fat and eat a lot more fruit and veg and home made foods. A lot of what you eat is also high in salt that you need to reduce.

FAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU FAT

SUGAR MAKES YOU FAT.

if you do a little exercise each day you can eat more preventing you from getting hungry.

Sadly your diet does not seem to be very nutritionally sound. You need more vitamins and minerals from fruits and veggies also nuts should not be your only source of protein, you just variety.

Goos luck.

The closer you get, the more you can eat, generally. You're on the right track. Don't give up now!

Once upon a time, I gave up on trying to lose weight and picked "sedentary maintenance" calories.
My body was like, "Oh, that's cool" and dropped a few more pounds almost immediately.

The first day I logged my foods, I wanted to lose weight as quickly as possible so I set my goal at 1200 calories per day. Trouble was, I was halfway through the day when I decided to start and had already put away 1100 calories by 3 or 4 o'clock. (I ate TONS of bread, cereal, and fruit, which although not necessarily junk food, adds up the calories quickly).

So, I had 100 calories left for dinner. Lucky for me, my husband wasn't home that night so he couldn't make fun of my dinner. I made scrambled egg whites and had like 9 large shrimp, cold. I went 50 calories over so I hopped on the treadmill until the readout reached 50 calories (I understand that the readout is not always accurate, but hey, points for trying right?).

Anyways, the best way to stay within 1200 is to cut out most grains. I know, that's not popular around here, but most breads, cereals, and pastas pack a LOT of calories. Have eggs for breakfast with fruit or veggies. For lunch, have salads with chicken or shrimp (I think a 3 oz chicken breast is around 100 calories. It's totally bland, but it's food, right?). For snacks, have carrots and celery and if you use any kind of dip/hummus, just put a tiny speck on each vegetable. I eat asparagus, squash, and zucchini cold and plain every day. For fruits, try to stick to berries and citrus instead of apples and bananas, which are like 100 calories each. A can of tuna is only like 100 calories- I have that for lunch a lot. I also have scrambled eggs for dinner every time my husband works late or is out so he won't make fun of me. Sweet potatoes with cinnamon are also a great, filling snack.

If you stick to just lean proteins (tuna, chicken, turkey, shrimp, egg whites) and vegetables and just 1-2 servings of fruit a day, you can eat a LOT and still be under your calories. I think one egg's worth of whites are like 20 calories. A cup of broccoli is 33 calories. 9 large shrimp is around 100 calories. A cup of strawberries is around 50 calories. It's doable.

First off inner fat girl...I love your user name! I say all the time that I'm 500 pounds at heart. Secondly, I commend you for wanting to eat more than 1200 calories and not restricting yourself as much. However, you should really increase your protein. By doing that you may feel full longer.