I do less than 1200 a day but I am under the care of my doctor so it's a bit different than your plan I think!
Doing a low calorie diet can be a bit dangerous if you aren't getting enough nutrition/vitamins/energy so just keep that in mind! A lot of people on this site and myfitnesspal.com actually find that by eating more than 1200, they actually lose more weight eating more! It sounds crazy but the proof is out there to see with our own eyes!
Good luck with your weightloss, hope to see you post here often!
Thanks for your reply, ye iv done some research into it so im trying to make sure I still get all the nutrition that my body needs. Thanks for the advice about eating more, I feel less guilty about going over now!
Shonarr - how much do you weigh? If you are already very light... 1200 might be ok. But if you're not...there's probably very little benefit in going very low calorie.
I'm not counting calories, as I'm doing the Dukan Diet which is a low carb, low fat plan. But I like to track my food in Fitday and in reality, I average about 1000 calories a day. I've lost 14 lbs since January 6, and the last time I did this diet, I lost about 65 lbs in 6 months. (My fault for not staying on it, not an issue with the diet itself!) I feel great and while I haven't been to the doctor since I started, the last time, all my numbers looked great.
So depending on what you eat, I think you can definitely do 1200 or even lower and lose weight. But I would not continue with anything that leave you feeling weak or tired.
So depending on what you eat, I think you can definitely do 1200 or even lower and lose weight. But I would not continue with anything that leave you feeling weak or tired.
Exactly this, well said April Snow! I think for someone not following a real plan, it's very important that you choose wisely for your 1200 calories. You can lose weight on more but if you have your heart set on trying 1200, make it the best 1200 calories it can be! Lots of lean meat and green veggies will go a long way!
You can lose weight in the short term and medium term by severely restricting your calories. Using online formula (and guessing your age) I calculate your BMR at just under 1600. That's what you need to exist - even if you never got out of bed all day. You can then use another formular (Harris-Benedict) to calculate how much you need to maintain based on your activity levels. Obviously these are all crude calculations - and if you have more muscle than fat you'll burn more and vice versa. So your unique BMR may be a little higher or lower.
It's my personal belief that when you eat well below your BMR then sooner or later you'll go into starvation mode and muck up your metabolism and then you've done more harm than good. You'll lose, but you'll lose muscle as well as fat as your body starts to use up muscle for energy. But even more than that...it's miserable! Hungry, weak, unhappy and harder to get your essential nutrients if you're not on a well calculated plan. It's harder to stick with it if you're miserable. Don't fall into the trap that you don't deserve to be thin if you're not suffering. You don't have to punish yourself for gaining weight.
But also as long as you're creating a reasonable calorie deficit you WILL lose weight. And you don't need to go VLC to get a calorie deficit.
For myself, I want to make a genuine lifestyle change NOW and not at some future point when I'm maintaining - and I have no desire to live on a restrictive and low calorie diet. I want to eat healthful and enjoyable food at an amount that will fuel my body at a healthy weight for me. Right now I want to eat healthful and enjoyable food at an amount that will fuel my life and help me to get to that healthy weight.
I'm 5.2andabit and I've been warned against going below 1200 calories as my body would think that it is being starved and try to cling on to all the fat that it can!
You can lose weight in the short term and medium term by severely restricting your calories. Using online formula (and guessing your age) I calculate your BMR at just under 1600. That's what you need to exist - even if you never got out of bed all day. You can then use another formular (Harris-Benedict) to calculate how much you need to maintain based on your activity levels. Obviously these are all crude calculations - and if you have more muscle than fat you'll burn more and vice versa. So your unique BMR may be a little higher or lower.
It's my personal belief that when you eat well below your BMR then sooner or later you'll go into starvation mode and muck up your metabolism and then you've done more harm than good. You'll lose, but you'll lose muscle as well as fat as your body starts to use up muscle for energy. But even more than that...it's miserable! Hungry, weak, unhappy and harder to get your essential nutrients if you're not on a well calculated plan. It's harder to stick with it if you're miserable. Don't fall into the trap that you don't deserve to be thin if you're not suffering. You don't have to punish yourself for gaining weight.
But also as long as you're creating a reasonable calorie deficit you WILL lose weight. And you don't need to go VLC to get a calorie deficit.
For myself, I want to make a genuine lifestyle change NOW and not at some future point when I'm maintaining - and I have no desire to live on a restrictive and low calorie diet. I want to eat healthful and enjoyable food at an amount that will fuel my body at a healthy weight for me. Right now I want to eat healthful and enjoyable food at an amount that will fuel my life and help me to get to that healthy weight.
This is a learning process but I somehow think I agree with u , I have been at 1200 or less and have completely stalled. And what will happen when I go into maintenance. I don't do it purposely but have found my calories ending around 1000 a day. By the time I realize it, since I input mfp at night I feel it is too late to eat again. I also create a bigger deficit by working out. I bought protien shakes to try and up my cals but it constipated me and I hated the feeling. Well I am going to try my best to aim for around 1400 now.
Oh I don't think my calories were this low when I started and I was losing but eventually it becomes easier to be satisfied with less food, therefore I end up eating less without meaning too.
Last year I lost 5 stone between mid June and mid December averaging around 750 calories a day (no exercise at all other than walking my dogs). This was after consultation with a doctor and after my bmi went over 40. I would not suggest that it is a sensible way to lose weight but it worked for me to initially reduce my bmi to 30. I am now not calorie counting but am eating sensible portions of healthy foods with the odd treat thrown in here and there with an average of 30 mins exercise a day. I am eating how I intend to eat for the rest of my life. Only been doing it 4 weeks but after the initial first couple of weeks woosh of Christmas weight coming off I am now dropping between 0.5 and 1kg a week which is a much more sensible rate of weight loss (before I was dropping 1.5 to 2kg most weeks).
One word of caution is that dropping weight at a regular rate of more than 3lbs a week can trigger gall stones. I read some research that suggested this happens in 25% of people who lose weight quickly. I have just been diagnosed with them and it is agony and I am most likely going to have to have my gall bladder removed now. Something to think about if you do decide to go below 1200.
from my own experience, eating too little and exercising more didn't help..
I eat between 800-500 and do one hour exercise..(mostly cardio)..
I lost 10 pounds in three months, and now I'm not losing weight at all..
I'm trying not to go under 1200 and doing some gradual changes..
hope I can see some changes in the scale
You're not losing weight anymore because your body holds on to every calorie you take in. Your body is afraid it won't ever get enough calories that it needs to survive.
It's like Leaves said, it thinks you're starving it, so it won't give up the calories so easily. Your body feels deprived.
That's also why, if you stop dieting and you eat normal again, it keeps holding on to every calorie intake, and you'll gain all the weight back.
I think 1200 is really the minimum.
What helps for me personally is, eating 1200 for about 5 to 6 days, and then having one day where I eat a little more (around 1600) to speed up the metabolism. It makes me lose weight faster.
A few weeks ago I started eating 1,200 cals but lost nothing for 2 weeks, even though I walk 5 miles a day and do interval training on the treadmill. Since Fri I have upped to about 1,800 cals and lost 2lbs. It's so hard eating much more than I would like, but I think for my activity level I have to. It's making me fed up though because 1,800 ish is what I used to eat before I made an effort to lose weight, so I feel like I'm back at that point again.
newbie! anyone else doing a 1200 or less diet?
