1200 cals this way works...
Replies
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I found this site cause I love to eat, not to starve!0
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I would rather eat my 1200 calories worth of healhy foods then 1800 worth of crap. I usually eat between 1200-1400. Depends on the day.
I love reading that someone HAD to have icecream/fastfood/chips/candy etc. because they would have been under their calorie goal otherwise. I refuse to feed myself if I am not hungry or if I have to resort to junk food to add calories. I also refuse to go hungry and I have no issues going above 1200 if I need to.0 -
I eat 1200...for breakfast. That's a light day.
Eat like a bird, look like a bird.0 -
The problem with not eating enough is a large % of your weight loss will come from lean muscle, not just fat. Higher protein will help but not eliminate the loss of lean muscle.
^^ this is actually very accurate.
If there is fat to burn, your body burns mostly fat and yes some lean muscle too. I've reduced my body fat from 25%-21% eating approx. 1200 calories, 95% clean, lifting heavy weights and having a cheat day twice a month.
There are folks who swear by starvation mode and folks that call it a myth. When I researched the subject, the opinions were 50/50.
The human body can only burn so much fat in a day.
And while fed will normally burn glucose.
So the question I have is if you can get the same results eating at a slight deficit and thus not having such a negative effect on hormones used for fat loss....why 1200?
I have women who are short, 4'11"-5'3", who eat in excess of 1800+ cals a day and workout 3x a week losing fat and not having issues with plateaus.
I see hundreds of forum threads a month about 1200cals and plateaus....so why would you want to give up vital nutrients in hopes of losing fat faster than you could eating at say 20-30% below TDEE?
This isnt some cookie cutter program.
It should be based around actual data like age, height, weight and body fat.
Short?
Tall?
Medium?
Doesnt matter.
I've come to a point where I can look at a woman and tell how much she should be eating by height, weight and age.
I've never come to 1200.
When i plateau ir begin to starve i'll look u up. Thanks for being a "pal". Btw..did u read the disclaimer?
Hezz
As long as you are Getting stronger or maintaining strength and have a lot of fat, you'll do fine for a while.
The problem is if you start to hit a wall strength wise then you are probably losing too much LBM.
I have clients losing plenty of fat at a slight deficit.
The plus side of eating higher cals as opposed to the cookie cutter 1200 is that you won't have to make up for lost LBM.
Take for instance SuzieQ who diets down at 1200 and loses 35lbs.
She's lost a good amount of weight and has also lost a lot of lean tissue.
She will at some point have to make up the lost LBM in order to not look skinny fat.
Now she's eating above TDEE to make it up and when you eat above TDEE for an extended period you add fat as well.
If she were to take a slower approach she would maintain LBM and even though the pounds aren't coming off as fast her diet length is essentially the same as the crash diet above.
Am I painting a good enough picture?
From an evolutionary standpoint the human body doesn't want to lose too much fat too fast.
Instead it turns to metabolically active tissue under immense stress.
In this case when you cut calories and add exercise causes immense stress.0 -
I eat over 3000 calories per day.....Before I read anybody's comments. I check their ticker..lol
When a program works, keep punching.
I lost an average of .73 lbs per week, and I believe slower weight loss is optimal.
It's not a race.
Good Luck!
Excellent!!
it's taken me six years so far to lose 80lbs and I am not done yet - it's a life long change for me and losing slowly means I will keep it off and have less loose skin than I would have had if I lost it all too quickly. Having said that, my portion sizes have changed considerably over the years and most days I eat around 1100-1200 calories without getting hungry - my meals are split into 5 to 6 small meals a day.
I think low cal diets stifle metabolism.
And you may lose weight, but why eat so little?
Anyway, my diary is open; check out how things could be. It's really a choice. I love to eat well and see no virtue in what I call hunger diets.
And at my size, 1200 calories for you would be more like 1500 for me...STARVATION!
I'd be eating less than half of my current food intake and getting less results.
That does NOT compute.0 -
^^^^^^^^I eat 1200...for breakfast. That's a light day.
Eat like a bird, look like a bird.
THIS0 -
^^^^^^^^I eat 1200...for breakfast. That's a light day.
Eat like a bird, look like a bird.
THIS
Since I I.F. I'll be eating breakfast and lunch together....what.....1400cals?
*shrugs*0 -
That's a LOT of meat!!!
So, I don't eat meat, and it's really easy for me to stay full on less than 1200 calories a day.0 -
The problem with not eating enough is a large % of your weight loss will come from lean muscle, not just fat. Higher protein will help but not eliminate the loss of lean muscle.
^^ this is actually very accurate.
If there is fat to burn, your body burns mostly fat and yes some lean muscle too. I've reduced my body fat from 25%-21% eating approx. 1200 calories, 95% clean, lifting heavy weights and having a cheat day twice a month.
There are folks who swear by starvation mode and folks that call it a myth. When I researched the subject, the opinions were 50/50.
The human body can only burn so much fat in a day.
And while fed will normally burn glucose.
So the question I have is if you can get the same results eating at a slight deficit and thus not having such a negative effect on hormones used for fat loss....why 1200?
I have women who are short, 4'11"-5'3", who eat in excess of 1800+ cals a day and workout 3x a week losing fat and not having issues with plateaus.
I see hundreds of forum threads a month about 1200cals and plateaus....so why would you want to give up vital nutrients in hopes of losing fat faster than you could eating at say 20-30% below TDEE?
This isnt some cookie cutter program.
It should be based around actual data like age, height, weight and body fat.
Short?
Tall?
Medium?
Doesnt matter.
I've come to a point where I can look at a woman and tell how much she should be eating by height, weight and age.
I've never come to 1200.
When i plateau ir begin to starve i'll look u up. Thanks for being a "pal". Btw..did u read the disclaimer?
Hezz
As long as you are Getting stronger or maintaining strength and have a lot of fat, you'll do fine for a while.
The problem is if you start to hit a wall strength wise then you are probably losing too much LBM.
I have clients losing plenty of fat at a slight deficit.
The plus side of eating higher cals as opposed to the cookie cutter 1200 is that you won't have to make up for lost LBM.
Take for instance SuzieQ who diets down at 1200 and loses 35lbs.
She's lost a good amount of weight and has also lost a lot of lean tissue.
She will at some point have to make up the lost LBM in order to not look skinny fat.
Now she's eating above TDEE to make it up and when you eat above TDEE for an extended period you add fat as well.
If she were to take a slower approach she would maintain LBM and even though the pounds aren't coming off as fast her diet length is essentially the same as the crash diet above.
Am I painting a good enough picture?
From an evolutionary standpoint the human body doesn't want to lose too much fat too fast.
Instead it turns to metabolically active tissue under immense stress.
In this case when you cut calories and add exercise causes immense stress.
I work out... and workout hard..with a trainer 3 days a week. I appreciate ur opinion. Hop on down to Bham work out with me. Check my b4 and after pics. Measure my lbm, bf%, measurements etc. Catch me 10 yrs from now and see that I'm still lean mean awesome and even sexier. I got this.
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Tomorrow is my 1 year anniversery here, and during that time I have kept my goal at 1200. Seems to be working for me. :happy:
I have not been hungry, I don't feel weak, I eat what I want and when I want. I do not 'deprive' myself. I try to work it in, or work it off.
So, you do what works for you. You and only you ( and your doctor) need to decide what is right for you.
Wishing you continued success in your journey to an healthier life. :flowerforyou:
Congrats on 1 year and a great success! (and your dog is adorable).0 -
How, when your body is about 46% fat, like mine, can mostly lean muscle being burnt on a 1200 diet with exercise? I can't fathom it..0
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How, when your body is about 46% fat, like mine, can mostly lean muscle being burnt on a 1200 diet with exercise? I can't fathom it..
The more fat you have, the more fat you lose.
You are in a unique window of opportunity where you can actually create LBM within a deficit.
It's only done with weights though so take advantage while you can.
The leaner you get the more lean mass you can burn while dieting down.
It becomes more of a hormonal game as opposed to cals in vs cals out.
This is where you see people becoming skinny-fat.
OP I'm proud of your results and I'm glad that you've allowed your body to metabolically slow down and this allow 1200cals so be sufficient.
My point is just because it's worked thus far doesn't mean it's the right way to diet down.0 -
Apologies if im confused.. but i beleive what the previous topic was addressing is people who consistently have UNDER 1200, not having a go at people who are on a 1200cal diet.0
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To the OP, congrats for keeping your cals healthy! I can't do 1,200, it's just too low for me. But I'm glad you're doing it the healthier way versus eating 1,200 cals of crap.0
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1200 Calories has been working for me!0
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^^^^^^^^I eat 1200...for breakfast. That's a light day.
Eat like a bird, look like a bird.
THIS
Well... I'm far from looking like a bird. But i no longer look like a fat ugly gorilla. I dont wanna b skinny i wanna b fit and toned and i will b and am getting there. love beefy boys btw!! 0 -
How, when your body is about 46% fat, like mine, can mostly lean muscle being burnt on a 1200 diet with exercise? I can't fathom it..
The more fat you have, the more fat you lose.
You are in a unique window of opportunity where you can actually create LBM within a deficit.
It's only done with weights though so take advantage while you can.
The leaner you get the more lean mass you can burn while dieting down.
It becomes more of a hormonal game as opposed to cals in vs cals out.
This is where you see people becoming skinny-fat.
OP I'm proud of your results and I'm glad that you've allowed your body to metabolically slow down and this allow 1200cals so be sufficient.
My point is just because it's worked thus far doesn't mean it's the right way to diet down.
Thanks.0 -
Where do I find this 300 cal double chz burger??? That would be an awesome find.0
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The problem with not eating enough is a large % of your weight loss will come from lean muscle, not just fat. Higher protein will help but not eliminate the loss of lean muscle.
^^ this is actually very accurate.
If there is fat to burn, your body burns mostly fat and yes some lean muscle too. I've reduced my body fat from 25%-21% eating approx. 1200 calories, 95% clean, lifting heavy weights and having a cheat day twice a month.
There are folks who swear by starvation mode and folks that call it a myth. When I researched the subject, the opinions were 50/50.
The human body can only burn so much fat in a day.
And while fed will normally burn glucose.
So the question I have is if you can get the same results eating at a slight deficit and thus not having such a negative effect on hormones used for fat loss....why 1200?
I have women who are short, 4'11"-5'3", who eat in excess of 1800+ cals a day and workout 3x a week losing fat and not having issues with plateaus.
I see hundreds of forum threads a month about 1200cals and plateaus....so why would you want to give up vital nutrients in hopes of losing fat faster than you could eating at say 20-30% below TDEE?
This isnt some cookie cutter program.
It should be based around actual data like age, height, weight and body fat.
Short?
Tall?
Medium?
Doesnt matter.
I've come to a point where I can look at a woman and tell how much she should be eating by height, weight and age.
I've never come to 1200.
Not sure how you an look at a woman and tell how much she should be eating, but if that is true, it's a gift. I eat at least 1200 calories a day, I net less than that on heavy workout days because if I'm not hungry, I won't eat more just to get to "eat more".
Like yesterday, I suppose I could have thrown in an extra steak, or a couple of chicken breasts but why?0 -
How, when your body is about 46% fat, like mine, can mostly lean muscle being burnt on a 1200 diet with exercise? I can't fathom it..
The more fat you have, the more fat you lose.
You are in a unique window of opportunity where you can actually create LBM within a deficit.
It's only done with weights though so take advantage while you can.
The leaner you get the more lean mass you can burn while dieting down.
It becomes more of a hormonal game as opposed to cals in vs cals out.
This is where you see people becoming skinny-fat.
OP I'm proud of your results and I'm glad that you've allowed your body to metabolically slow down and this allow 1200cals so be sufficient.
My point is just because it's worked thus far doesn't mean it's the right way to diet down.
Doesn't mean it's the wrong way either.0 -
For the 1200 cals: What's calorie plan once you're done losing? Continue eating 1200 into perpetuity for fear of gaining again?
If someone told me that upon reaching my goal weight of 120 lbs that I would have eat 1200 cals for the rest of my life, they would get punched in the face.
I reach my goal weight about 6 months ago, and I still eat right around 1200 clean calories a day and approx. 1/2 of my exercise calories. Feel great. If your body does not respond well to 1200 calories, eat more.
I very rarely see anyone at 1200-1300 calories a day criticizing those that eat 1800-2000+ a day. I may have never seen it here.
But wowza, the fights that go in the other direction.
When someone asks for advice re: a plateau, it's great when folks give advice in either direction. When someone doesn't ask for advice, they're not asking for advice, not sure why some folks are so judgemental about it. Makes me think they wish they could eat less, truthfully.0 -
Nicely put, OP.
I aim for 1300, usually end up around 1250.
I find it odd that people claim to know that every single female needs to eat 1200 calories each day in order to live...
Also, I burn around 250 a day, I dont do anything major. So if I eat 1250 calories in a day and then go on my elliptical at night, the food I ate that day just leaves my entire system? So really I'm only eating 1000 calories? I dont think so, I ate what I ate all day, it's still in there! Lol. I eat like you, i'm satisfied all day because I eat every few hours. I'm not going to eat more after I'm full, just so I can reach a certain number of calories.
I've lost over 55lbs this way. I've seen a few doctors and they also say it's fine. Some people need more, some people can do with less. Your body will tell you if its not enough0 -
Hello! Very new to the diet, started on Monday, I've been on 1200 calories a day and feel really good! So good in fact that I feel I must be totaling up my calories wrong! For instance tonight (day 4 of my diet) I had a small bowl of beef, potato, carrot and cabbage soup and I was stuffed and felt guilty about it!
Today I had:
porridge with semi skimmed milk
Beef nd vegetable stir fry with fried rice
1 piece of toast and jam
Beef, cabbage, carrot and potato soup
Am I eating too much?0 -
I had to make myself eat vesterday, Vegetables are terrible!
I hate it when people say were deliberately starving ourselves. I didnt know that 3 full sized dinner plate meals, including a drink would only come to 700 and something cals.
(which then shows why I ate a bar and some fruit)
people need to get over themselves, its no them eating it so they can deal.0 -
Of course you will lose, you are in a deficit. The problem is 1200 cals and exercising is like eating less than 1200. On days you burn 400 calories, if you only eat 1200, it is the same as eating 800 cals (1200-400) on days you don't exercise. 800 calories is not enough for anyone, even if you are short. (I am 5'6" 136, and I eat 2000+ calories)
The problem with not eating enough is a large % of your weight loss will come from lean muscle, not just fat. Higher protein will help but not eliminate the loss of lean muscle.
This is very true. I to was on 1200 cal diet working out 5-6 x per week. I wasn't getting much definition. I wasn't feeding my body properly and I was always hungry.
Same here. After adding more calories I went down in weight again. With 1200, either man or woman, you will soon reach a plateau or go up in weight.0 -
My main concern with calorie restrictive diets has to do with how people respond when a)their bodies plateau and b)they switch to maintenance. I see a lot of threads by those who plateau and their solution is to cut calories even more. Furthermore, once they reach maintenance, they experience weight gain so they return to their previous intake. In short, they become prone to eating disorders and have a very difficult time adjusting to and continuing maintenance.
If people choose to restrict their calories to such a degree, it isn't all that bad if its maintained for a very brief period - lets say three months at a time. However, too many people maintain such restriction for years which puts them at health risks including eating disorders, hormonal imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, etc..
Happened to me after several months on a 1200 calorie diet. So I agree with this. It's scary once you get to the point where it's okay to up your intake to maintenance. When I got to my goal weight I lost an additional 10 lbs on accident, taking my BMI down as low as 17.8, because I was so scared to changed my habits and fearful of gaining weight back.0 -
1200 worked for me.
During my journey, I started to be complacent. I fit in donuts and baked cookies in my 1200 calories, but I had plateau-ed.
I got strict again and ate more healthily and finally reached my goal.0 -
I ate 1200+exercise cals for the 1st part of my journey...worked for me Maintinance now for the past 5 months or so. 0
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If you're eating 1200 NET - you're eating back all of your calories. 1200 net might be enough if you're "vertically challenged" (as OP put it).
The end story is
FIND OUT YOUR BMR
+
Eat at least that, and eat it healthily
=
Win.
I'm not the best example right now as I've been sick for a little while, but I'll tell you that I started at 1200 when I got here (and I'm 5'6.5") and was ok, then started plateauing after I actually began to work out. Then I learned what I should actually be eating in order to function. Turns out that for me, at my height, with my body fat% and my current weight/weight loss goals, I need at least 1370 just to get up and moving in a day. I should be eating between that and 1900 depending on activity level, and yes, of course it should be "good" calories (and lots of protein)!
That's ME.
Learn about YOU.
And good luck. Congrats to OP eating more healthily!
:drinker:0 -
Of course you will lose, you are in a deficit. The problem is 1200 cals and exercising is like eating less than 1200. On days you burn 400 calories, if you only eat 1200, it is the same as eating 800 cals (1200-400) on days you don't exercise. 800 calories is not enough for anyone, even if you are short. (I am 5'6" 136, and I eat 2000+ calories)
The problem with not eating enough is a large % of your weight loss will come from lean muscle, not just fat. Higher protein will help but not eliminate the loss of lean muscle.
This is very true. I to was on 1200 cal diet working out 5-6 x per week. I wasn't getting much definition. I wasn't feeding my body properly and I was always hungry.
Same here. After adding more calories I went down in weight again. With 1200, either man or woman, you will soon reach a plateau or go up in weight.
Well, it's been almost 7 months for me at goal weight, lifting heavy, and lost a pound. Body fat is 21%. Let's revisit this 6 months from now.0
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