Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread made me look into how many calories I eat. I thought I ate great....for breakfast today, I had two hardboiled eggs (one yolk), two packets of instant oatmeal. For snacks, I had a clementine, a small apple, and maybe 15 almonds. I plugged this into some website and it spit out that is over 1200 calories. If this is true, then I eat at least 3000 calories a day and I don't think I could eat less that that without struggling. I'm 6 foot, 206 right now down from 225 a year ago. I'm looking to drop below 200 and these last 6 pounds have been a struggle. I never counted calories before. I just work out and try to eat well without junk food.

huh? are you saying this is over 1200 calorie? because it's really more like 700 tops. not sure what site you used or maybe the instant oatmeal you ate is more caloric than what I assumed.

yeah, I just used the first one I saw on a search...https://caloriecontrol.org/healthy-weight-tool-kit/food-calorie-calculator/

If my memory serves my correctly, it said that the eggs were like 350, the instant oatmeal was like 350, and then almonds were like 300, and then the orange and apple. I have no idea. I hope the website is wrong. : )

Anonymous wrote:This thread made me look into how many calories I eat. I thought I ate great....for breakfast today, I had two hardboiled eggs (one yolk), two packets of instant oatmeal. For snacks, I had a clementine, a small apple, and maybe 15 almonds. I plugged this into some website and it spit out that is over 1200 calories. If this is true, then I eat at least 3000 calories a day and I don't think I could eat less that that without struggling. I'm 6 foot, 206 right now down from 225 a year ago. I'm looking to drop below 200 and these last 6 pounds have been a struggle. I never counted calories before. I just work out and try to eat well without junk food.

huh? are you saying this is over 1200 calorie? because it's really more like 700 tops. not sure what site you used or maybe the instant oatmeal you ate is more caloric than what I assumed.

This thread made me look into how many calories I eat. I thought I ate great....for breakfast today, I had two hardboiled eggs (one yolk), two packets of instant oatmeal. For snacks, I had a clementine, a small apple, and maybe 15 almonds. I plugged this into some website and it spit out that is over 1200 calories. If this is true, then I eat at least 3000 calories a day and I don't think I could eat less that that without struggling. I'm 6 foot, 206 right now down from 225 a year ago. I'm looking to drop below 200 and these last 6 pounds have been a struggle. I never counted calories before. I just work out and try to eat well without junk food.

Keto is really the only diet you can do that doesn’t feel like deprivation. You just have to white knuckle thru the first week when you still get hindry and want carbs. Then you don’t even want it anymore. The water loss first week is a huge motivating factor too. No watching calories.

I use the MyFitnessPal app. I started at 220 as a 5'10" male and indicated that I have a desk job (i.e., inactive) and input that I wanted to lose 1.5 lbs a week. Based on this information, the app suggested 1560 calories per day. However, let's say that I work out and expend 500 calories. The app adjusts and indicates that I should eat 2000 calories that day.

So far so good. I'm down 10 lbs already and it hasn't been too difficult. Mostly small adjustments for my diet (e.g., no cracker / chip snacking, smaller portions, cut out sweets).

I would die on 1500 calories a day. I’m 5’4” and 132 pounds. 47 years old.

I’m very active and aim for 1750 calories a day when I need to lose weight. I would probably pass out on 1200 calories a day. I don’t know how anyone can exist on so little food.

Anonymous wrote:I'm just curious. I know a lot of you can lose weight on 1200 calories a day. I do not think that is sustainable long term. So, if you lost a significant amount of weight on 1200 calories did you gain it back? How soon?

I lost 17 lbs on 1200 calories a day. I used MyFitnessPal and Fitbit religiously. I exercised a lot. I would say my discipline was med-high. It took about 8 months. I thought I would keep it off because I was doing things right not starving myself. I got to the point where exercise gave me a high. Then fate intervened and I had a death in my nuclear family. That was a year ago and I gained it all back plus a few more. I still walk a mile a day but don't count calories at all and do no other exercise. So on top of being heartbroken I am now fatter than ever and feeling hopeless, discouraged and depressed. I have to start all over again.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1500 calories would be a cheat day for me.

do you have a metabolic issue? are you 4 feet tall? are you constantly losing weight? because if the answer to the above is no then you are in fact regularly eating more calories than 1500 and averaging more than 1500/week.

If I track religiously (weigh and count every calorie) i can lose eating 1700-1800. I use to thing I couldn't lose unless I ate 1400 or less, but the truth was when I ate that way I was more prone to overeating which meant I averaged more calories overall and thus never lost weight despite thinking I was cutting calories.

Good for you. Every body is different.

I did 1400 a day and lost a pound a week for a total of 8 pounds. It was durable, but I couldn’t sustain it over the summer because of vacations.

Not sure what your stats are but 1500 is doable if you are exercising. I'm 5'3 120 pounds and run regularly. Some days I eat 1300 calories, some days I eat 2000 calories. I don't eat the exact same amount of calories everyday but average 1500 to 1700 daily. It all works out.

Anonymous wrote:I am 5’5” and was 160 lbs 1.5 years ago. I did a “5 small meals a day” routine, staying under 1250 calories total (so each meal/snack was 250 calories give or take, and I would eat every 2.5 hours at 8:30am, 11am, 1:30pm, 4pm, and 6:30pm). Within 3 months I was down to 140 lbs.
That being said, I had a horrible diet before that. Think pizza, beer, ice cream, and eating a ton (borderline bingeing / not giving a f*ck), so for me to actually really trim my food intake down was a severe change.

I kept with it for another 6 months, but slowly started not giving a f*ck anymore, and have since gaine most of it back. I’m getting married in June so I started back up with it this week and am doing great. I don’t really consider it a crash diet, but basically I’m just reeling in my bad behaviors.

Ummm...it’s a crash diet. If you lose the weight quickly only to gain it back again quickly then it’s a crash diet. If you want lasting results you need to do something that you can stick with for the long-term.

I am 5’5” and was 160 lbs 1.5 years ago. I did a “5 small meals a day” routine, staying under 1250 calories total (so each meal/snack was 250 calories give or take, and I would eat every 2.5 hours at 8:30am, 11am, 1:30pm, 4pm, and 6:30pm). Within 3 months I was down to 140 lbs.
That being said, I had a horrible diet before that. Think pizza, beer, ice cream, and eating a ton (borderline bingeing / not giving a f*ck), so for me to actually really trim my food intake down was a severe change.

I kept with it for another 6 months, but slowly started not giving a f*ck anymore, and have since gaine most of it back. I’m getting married in June so I started back up with it this week and am doing great. I don’t really consider it a crash diet, but basically I’m just reeling in my bad behaviors.

I’m losing steadily at 1500 with only walking for exercise. I’m 5’3 and 180

Anonymous wrote:I am using the lose it app and it has me at about 1300 per day. When I add in exercise, it brings my allotted calories up. When you are talking about 1500 calories a day, are you including exercise?

In other words- is it "cheating" to allow myself 1600 calories if I run a few miles?

God I hate getting old. But better than the alternative...I guess?

You mean dying young? Yeah, probably.

Anonymous wrote:I am using the lose it app and it has me at about 1300 per day. When I add in exercise, it brings my allotted calories up. When you are talking about 1500 calories a day, are you including exercise?

In other words- is it "cheating" to allow myself 1600 calories if I run a few miles?

God I hate getting old. But better than the alternative...I guess?

I don't count my exercise unless I really burn a lot of calories, like after a 10 mile run. But I also don't eat 1300 calories. I aim for 1600 and can lose at that if I am consistent and accurately tracking.

I find that most women who think the can only lose on 1300 calories a day are most likely eating more calories than they think. It tends to be a cycle of under eating for a few days, eating more one day, restricting again and then eating more on weekends. So overall they are averaging out to eating more than those 1300 calories.