Have a cheat day? I mean if there is at least one day where I am making up for the calories on that one day? I don't mean I will go and eat an entire large pizza and 12 donuts in one day...but what I mean is let's say i eat 1138 one day...on the day that I cheat I will most defenitely make up for the lack of calories(to get to 1200) on that day? Am i making any sense here??

I am just taking a shot in the dark here, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the consistency being better fuel for your metabolism.

Who says it won't work? I'm pretty sure many, many people do exactly that plan and it works for them just fine.

I've done that before. It didn't work for me long term, because the cheat meals were often nutritionally void and left me hungrier than the low cal days, leading to several cheat days in a row...

Thanks for the responses all! I know (as for me ) that I will have no problem sticking to a calorie controlled eating plan of 1000-1200 per day and having that one day where I can pretty much eat what I want and then get right back on plan with no problem! I HAVE done this before(years ago) and it was great because it always gave me a reason to do great during the week...stay on plan and know that at the end of that week I can have that cookie! I believe this would be the absolute best plan for me to follow! I will let you all know how I do!

that is (in a very basic general sense) what people at already very low body fat percentages do to drop more fat
Why even ask since you obviously already know that it DOES work, for YOU at least

It wouldn't work for ME because "cheats" only set me up for cravings. I end up eating even more. It makes getting back on track really, really hard.

I guess the reason WHY i am asking is because I read soooo much about this starvation mode thing...i didnt know anything about that back when i initially did this type of dieting(probably about 3-4 yrs ago) I lost ALOT of weight and quick! BUT like I said the thought of placing myself into "starvation mode" and not losing was not something I had heard about like I do now! That is the reason for my question! soooooo several years ago I actually probably took in 1000 calories or less per day! Had a cheat day and lost no problem!!

I was a 1,200 a day calorie eater and counter... I lost weight... I cheated here and there on the weekends and in my mind made up for it...but in the long run my body was just hungry and ravenous... I have done the math...with my workout schedule and daily life I burn over 2,000 calories a day... I wasn't fueling my body and it was shutting down...my hair was falling out, my skin became super dry, I was exhausted and moody and got really bad migraines... This is something that recently happened

I wont say it doesnt work... I'm just saying there are better ways to go about it and be healthy.

I think that 1,200 calories is for someone who doesnt work out and who doesnt want to lose weight...

My body began holding onto everything... mathmatically I should have been losing...but I wasn't losing at all... I've bumped up my calories and have seen the scale be nice to me...

do what works for you...this is just my experience and believe me I'm pretty experienced lol

I think going under 1200 is just too low. The lack of nutrition could catch up with you and I'd rather be a little larger than lose my hair- the difference between 1200 and 1000 calories is a lot IMO, it could be the difference between getting ill and losing your hair or being healthy.

That being said for me going that low doesn't work. I end up ravenous and grumpy and usually get headaches- doing my 1300-1500 (when I don't work out) still works for me and upping to 1600 when I do workout helps.

It's really hard to get enough nutrients at 1000 calories. For many people it isn't like low nutrients affects them immediately and drastically but it all adds up over the years.

You'll want to make sure that your body is fueled enough for your workouts, too - rather to lose slowly and healthfully than to be unhealthy but losing faster. Think of what's IN our bodies - heart, organs, etc., not just the outer shell everyone else sees.

Make sure you count calories on your cheat days. It's shockingly easy to eat 5000 calories in a day without realizing it, especially if you are trying to "fit in" all the things you craved all week. You don't have to "go crazy" and eat 12 doughnuts: a latte and pastry for breakfast (600), a fast food lunch (1000) and a decent dinner out (1500) with 2-3 margaritas (1200) and you are there. That's 4300 calories without even any snacking or dessert.

1200 is not a magic number. It really, really depends on your age and activity level, along with current weight.

I do think you want to cultivate a healthy relationship with food, and that starve-binge-starve is not healthy. For me, it's much better to have a day-to-day that I like enough that I don't need frequent "days off". To me, needing frequent days off means that I am pushing myself too hard.