I'm new here but not new to calorie counting. The first two times I used calorie counting successfully I had just had a baby and quickly lost the weight with out exercise. The first time I dropped 60 lbs in 8 months and the second I dropped 50 in 6 months. I did this by eating 1200 calories a day.
Now I'm a little heavier starting out again and was wondering if it was realistic. This time I have about 70 lbs to loose and will be training for a 5k.
I heard something about your body getting used to a specific number and then you stop loosing? Is that true when your also exercising?
i suppose it depends on you. for me, its not sustainable and after a month i start getting hungry and cannot sustain 1200 calories and give up, gain back whatever i lost and then some and then start again. i decided this time that slower but steady will win the race.
if it's only 1200cals a day make sure it's all from healthy food.. that's what I do when I can only eat so much, I try to make whatever I do eat healthy; I don't know if it helps with the preventing starvation mode or plateaus and such, but hopefully it helps.
1200 is too little for me, especially because I've been exercising almost every day. My max (Unless it's a weekend cheat day) is 1550. Normally I eat around 1400 a day.
I set my calorie counter upper limit at 1200, fully knowing that I prefer getting more like 1500-- that way I feel I still have wiggle room and normally allow for 1500 anyway. 1200 is too low when I'm running. That just what works for me.
I aim for between 1200-1500 every day and that works for me, I never eat exactly the same amount of calories day after day, otherwise I get bored and want to break the diet
Thanks everyone!
3cats- Thats a great idea!
I think I'm going to aim for 1400 and try to get up switched up so my body doesn't used to it. On the days I need more, I'll have that cushion.
It's really up to you. I think the don't-go-under-1200 is a good rule for the general public, but really, our bodies are tougher than we give them credit for. Many people can function just fine and healthy on under 1200cal. BUT, we do need fuel to thrive, and since the absolute minimum calories that are healthy is so different for everyone, I think it's a good safe rule to stay at 1200cal and above. For the average woman, 1200cals of healthy whole food (healthy fats, complex carbs, lean protein, abundant fiber, etc) is plenty of nutrition.
That said, if YOU are comfortable at 1200cal and it's something that YOU can sustain and feel good on, then that's wonderful, you just found out what works for you. It certainly wouldn't work for everyone, and it might work wonders for many others. If it's working for you, go with it. If not, switch it up.
Here is a weird and maybe related question... My scale at home, (this weird little gadget that measures fat, muscle, water, bone, etc) tells me that my daily intake, to maintain my weight is about 1400 calories. (This without exercise, just to maintain a rather sedentary lifestyle...)
I'm on a 1200 calorie diet right now, although I never hit the 1200 with the exercise. I've only lost 4 pounds in the last 17 days though, but it's what myfitnesspal actually estimated considering my weight, height and net calorie intake.
Somedays 1200 calories is NOTHING, others it's loads of food... I've found it depends on the day and not particularly on the food... Some days I hit the 1200 calorie and don't feel like I ate anything special, others I'm on 800 and not hungry at all when I go to bed...
Personally I feel it's better to have a consistent lunch and afternoon snack and a small soup for dinner than to do what I did yesterday:
I had a 50 calorie lunch (yes, it was a smallish green salad, no dressing) and it took me 30 minutes to eat it, I wasn't really enjoying and I just chewed and chewed because it wasn't really going down... I wasn't hungry until about 2 hours later when I had an apple... Another 2 hours after that went by.
By 7 pm I was really hungry and ended up eating a pretty big dinner, because I just really craved "delicious food"...
Won't be going for the 50 calorie lunches again, I think that made me feel "food needy" in the evening.
I feel I could live on a 1200 diet long term, on a weekly basis that is... So that means that there will be a 2000 calorie day somewhere, and several 900 days in between. It depends on what you eat I guess, I've gone green and lean, and I'm adapting really well, don't really miss the carbs as much as I have before (like on the South Beach Diet), having said that I still eat carbs several times a week: oatmeal and weetabix.
If you are fulfilled and still have energy to work out and go about your life... why not? If you start to stall and aren't well within your weight loss goal, you might want to consider googling calorie shifting
Is 1200 a day good for long term?
