1200 calories is insane

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been watching what I eat and exercising but not losing weight. I started to more precisely measure today and put in a calculator which suggested I limit my food to 1200 calories. That is so little food! I've had breakfast and lunch so far and I only have 350 calories left in the day. This isn't going to work!

FTR here is what I ate:

Breakfast -- 2 cups of coffee with a little half & half, a whole wheat English Muffin with a fried egg and a thin slice of cheddar
Lunch -- 2 slices of provolone, about 2.5 ounces of turkey (rollup style with everything but the bagel seasoning -- no bread), 2 clementines, water

How is that 850 calories already (according to my fitness pal).

There's no way I'll be able to maintain 1200 calories....

What you’ve eaten so far should be more like 650 calories

[Anonymous]

I've gone in and out of 1200 calories for about 8 months now and it's not too bad. Sometimes I go over and sometimes I even go under but it's averaging out fine.

This is my menu today, so far:
breakfast - 10 almonds and 1/4 cup blueberries, coffee and almond milk (I eat light before I go to the gym)
protein shake with almond milk, post gym

lunch - 1 cup chili with diced sweet onions. One orange

snack - 1 oz goat cheese with ryvita crackers

dinner - 4 oz pork chop, a ton of broccoli

snack - light and fit greek yogurt

I'll still have 300 calories left over and haven't decided what do with them yet. Note: I use my walking calories (but not my weightlifting calories for convenience reasons) and I walk about 10k steps a day.

I weigh 117 lbs so I'm sure this is harder if you are bigger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And that’s why I’m overweight.

Also, switch a hard-boiled egg out for a fried one and get rid of breads, rolls, and wraps.

Is this for more density? Or because the egg may have been fried in oil/butter?

[Anonymous]

5'3" woman and every diet I have ever done (including WW) has me at 1200 per day as well. Bulk up meals with more veggies, drink more water, and do your best.

[Anonymous]

How tall are you, OP? Age, and are you male or female, small or large framed? That will help determine your calories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5'3" woman and every diet I have ever done (including WW) has me at 1200 per day as well. Bulk up meals with more veggies, drink more water, and do your best.

Yup. Short person here and every plan puts me at 1200 to “lose”.

[Anonymous]

Eat plants. You're going to starve trying to eat low calorie portions of no vegetables.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eat plants. You're going to starve trying to eat low calorie portions of no vegetables.

Yep this. Ops diet is baloney and no wonder she is hungry! Try this:

Breakfast- oatmeal and honey or two eggs plus coffee
Lunch- giant salad with palm sized portion of protein
Dinner- oven roasted veggies with a palm sized portion of protein

Make sure you drink enough water, and snack on raw veggies or some fruit.

Also if you exercise you can log that and you’ll be able to eat more that day.

[Anonymous]

I will double down on what several PPs said above. The problem is that your diet is crappy… 1200 calories is tough but most importantly it is not doable if you don’t eat loads of veggies. That’s it, no more secret than that.

You want to keep your usual protein, cheese, carb sandwiches but just cut the portions/ calories = you will end up with almost nothing to eat.

A 300- 400 cal lunch = big ass salad with spinach, veggies, brocolis, tomatoes, green beans and a tea spoon of olive oil + one palm size protein (grilled chicken, salmon steak, 2 eggs, sardines etc.). That will fill up your stomach and still allow you to stay in the 1200 cal program. Be super careful About the dressing and don’t add buttered toast…

[Anonymous]

Trainer and nutritionist here - no one should be eating a 1200 (or less) calorie diet unless they are under the supervision of a physician. Also, carbs are not the enemy. I’m so tired of reading this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will double down on what several PPs said above. The problem is that your diet is crappy… 1200 calories is tough but most importantly it is not doable if you don’t eat loads of veggies. That’s it, no more secret than that.

You want to keep your usual protein, cheese, carb sandwiches but just cut the portions/ calories = you will end up with almost nothing to eat.

A 300- 400 cal lunch = big ass salad with spinach, veggies, brocolis, tomatoes, green beans and a tea spoon of olive oil + one palm size protein (grilled chicken, salmon steak, 2 eggs, sardines etc.). That will fill up your stomach and still allow you to stay in the 1200 cal program. Be super careful About the dressing and don’t add buttered toast…

And to add : I regularly go on 1200 cal diets to avoid weight creeping. It requires discipline and can easily be ruined by WEs, restaurants, alcohol etc… if you don’t compensate the cheat days it won’t work. If you do it well though, it works. But as others said on this board, to lose weight the dirty truth is you need to accept a bit of discomfort, learn to live with a slightly empty stomach sometimes etc.. if that is not worth it that’s ok, but that’s what it takes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've gone in and out of 1200 calories for about 8 months now and it's not too bad. Sometimes I go over and sometimes I even go under but it's averaging out fine.

This is my menu today, so far:
breakfast - 10 almonds and 1/4 cup blueberries, coffee and almond milk (I eat light before I go to the gym)
protein shake with almond milk, post gym

lunch - 1 cup chili with diced sweet onions. One orange

snack - 1 oz goat cheese with ryvita crackers

dinner - 4 oz pork chop, a ton of broccoli

snack - light and fit greek yogurt

I'll still have 300 calories left over and haven't decided what do with them yet. Note: I use my walking calories (but not my weightlifting calories for convenience reasons) and I walk about 10k steps a day.

I weigh 117 lbs so I'm sure this is harder if you are bigger.

You have an eating disorder and need to get help. If you know the number of almonds you ate today and are measuring blueberries, your eating is really disordered.

[Anonymous]

Yeah…eating a bunch of bread and cheese and stuff fried in butter will eat up your calories pretty fast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And that’s why I’m overweight.

Also, switch a hard-boiled egg out for a fried one and get rid of breads, rolls, and wraps.

Is this for more density? Or because the egg may have been fried in oil/butter?

Latter. Fried is not a concept someone trying to stick to 1200 calories should be using.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've gone in and out of 1200 calories for about 8 months now and it's not too bad. Sometimes I go over and sometimes I even go under but it's averaging out fine.

This is my menu today, so far:
breakfast - 10 almonds and 1/4 cup blueberries, coffee and almond milk (I eat light before I go to the gym)
protein shake with almond milk, post gym

lunch - 1 cup chili with diced sweet onions. One orange

snack - 1 oz goat cheese with ryvita crackers

dinner - 4 oz pork chop, a ton of broccoli

snack - light and fit greek yogurt

I'll still have 300 calories left over and haven't decided what do with them yet. Note: I use my walking calories (but not my weightlifting calories for convenience reasons) and I walk about 10k steps a day.

I weigh 117 lbs so I'm sure this is harder if you are bigger.

You have an eating disorder and need to get help. If you know the number of almonds you ate today and are measuring blueberries, your eating is really disordered.

Eh, that’s how accurate calorie counting works. PP’s menu sounds fairly nutritious, and it’s apparently working for her.