Sorry to post this depressing, well, post. Have been trying to stick to a 1200 calorie a day diet and have been told by a friend that it's not good enough. Have been looking at photos of Mary Kate Olsen, Kate Moss, and other thin girls and have not felt that I've done my best to live up to them. So, have been discouraged. Am obese but want to be thin but it's so hard to live up to society's standards!!. Sucks, eh? Well, no matter.

Anywhere the wind blows . . .

Rottie, I don't know if you read the replies to your introduction post, or maybe it was on the 40-somethings forum, but you are not alone. Lotsa fat chiks here and we all work together to support each other. You sound like you are feeling really down right now. Chin up if you can.

1200 calories is really low from everything I've heard/read. You don't show your height or weight or say how much exercise you do, but you almost surely need more caloriess than that just to breathe all day. Honest! And you need to be able to eat enough to sustain your activity level and your nutrient needs, etc. Not to mention finding an eating plan that you can live with and even if you say yeah, I'd rather have a twinkie than a cucumber, at least you can stand to make the right choice and maybe even have an occasional splurge. You DO NOT have to starve yourself to lose weight. Why not try to find foods that you like and make a meal plan for yourself around 1600-1800 cals a day. Spread those calories out all day long so you never feel ravenous. Add a little bit of activity beyond whatever you are already doing. Not training for a marathn, but just maybe 10 extea minutes in a day. Try that for a couple or three weeks, then see what works and what doesn't. Don't give up. It takes time to figure out the way that works best for YOU.

You can do it!
Barb

It is dangerous to eat lower than 1200 a day. Go to the calorie counter thread and you will see tons of posts that all atest to this.

I eat almost 2000 a day and am losing pretty steadily.