Calculators also told me to stay around 1200. No thanks! I did weightwatchers, down 15 pounds in about five months.

I’ve been doing 1200 calories for almost 3 months and I’m not hungry. I think your issue is that you’re expecting to eat smaller portions of very calorie-dense foods (like a breakfast sandwich), which isn’t an approach you can take when you only have 1200 calories to budget.

I also love cheese, but have moved towards pre-portioned servings, like those snack packs of mozzarella, Babybels, and Laughing Cow wedges. And your serving for the day is just one, not three. If you like dairy, eat a serving of nonfat Greek yogurt instead - it’s much more filling. The unflavored Fage 0% is good and the individual cups are 90 calories each. You can eat bread and carbs, but go for a smaller serving size. I eat open-faced sandwiches or half a sandwich (so 1 piece of bread) instead of using two slices. I also like low-carb or whole-wheat tortillas. Trader Joe’s has mini ones that are 45 calories each.

Basically, you need to eat more vegetables and things like beans and soups, which are low-ish in calories but fill you up a lot more than bread and cheese do. I know some people need to eat breakfast, but I’ve never been a breakfast person and usually do a small-ish lunch (250-300 calories), which leaves me room for a pretty normal unrestricted dinner. And I usually do a big portion of veggies at dinner, so naturally eat a bit less of the starch and meat. Drinking a lot of water and tea during the day also helps.

A typical day looks like this:
- Black coffee
- Lunch: Wrap with cheese and cucumber on a low-carb tortilla (~130 calories) or half a can of tuna with cucumber slices, or some beans with a low-carb tortilla on the side (the ones I get are 90 for a serving plus 45 calories for the tortilla) or a cup of soup (about 100-150 calories) or a veggie burger patty with no bun (150-200 calories).
- Dinner: Standard meal that everyone is having (800 calories), though I usually will fill half my plate with roasted veggies. I eat pasta or potatoes or whatever starch is on the menu, but take a smaller serving than I used to and don’t get seconds. In the past few days, dinner has been chicken kabobs, several days of leftover prime rib from Christmas, and salmon. I try to eat about 6oz of protein but will have more if I feel like it.

I don’t snack, but sip on warm water and tea throughout the day. This also leaves me some room for treats if I want them - I had a latte the other day and have had a mini ice cream cone (the ones from Trader Joe’s are really good and are only 70 calories each) a few days this week. I’m not a snacker or a dessert person, so this is enough for me. Eating like this has helped me get from 125 to 115 in just under 3 months, which is pretty quick considering I’m fairly short.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Cool story bro. I’m one of the posters above who suggested keeping to 1200 by eating a ton more veggies. I had 10 pounds of pregnancy weight to lose and my fitness pal told me 1200 calories a day and made adjustments for exercise. I stuck to it and lost about a pound a week and then went back to eating a maintenance amount of calories. What, in your opinion, should I have done differently? I am 5 ft 2 btw.

DP.

You could add 300 calories to your diet and some moderate exercise ( 30 minutes a day?) And lose .5 pounds a week.

1200 calories is insane! You can do it no doubt, but very few have to do this to lose weight. You certainly don't(even though it seems like you are doing a better job than OP at making the calories nutrient rich).

If one is doing this, one has to eat very clean. With this little calories, there is little room for junk. Oherwise one would not consume enough vitamins and minerals. OP is not properly nourishing her body at the moment( where are the vegetables?) She has no business eating only 1200 calories a day.

Who wants to take 20 weeks to lose 10 pounds though? At the time it was worth it to me so people would stop asking me if I was pregnant. I was eating a ton of veggies and didn’t really feel hungry between meals after the first week. It was worth it for me to just get it done.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Cool story bro. I’m one of the posters above who suggested keeping to 1200 by eating a ton more veggies. I had 10 pounds of pregnancy weight to lose and my fitness pal told me 1200 calories a day and made adjustments for exercise. I stuck to it and lost about a pound a week and then went back to eating a maintenance amount of calories. What, in your opinion, should I have done differently? I am 5 ft 2 btw.

DP.

You could add 300 calories to your diet and some moderate exercise ( 30 minutes a day?) And lose .5 pounds a week.

1200 calories is insane! You can do it no doubt, but very few have to do this to lose weight. You certainly don't(even though it seems like you are doing a better job than OP at making the calories nutrient rich).

If one is doing this, one has to eat very clean. With this little calories, there is little room for junk. Oherwise one would not consume enough vitamins and minerals. OP is not properly nourishing her body at the moment( where are the vegetables?) She has no business eating only 1200 calories a day.

My 1200ish calorie days for losing weight:

Breakfast- nonfat plain Greek yogurt with berries OR egg white omlette with TONS of veggies, usually onions and peppers and broccoli and zucchini (whatever I have in the house) or just with spinach. Sometimes I dump tomato salsa on at the end

Lunch veggie salad with lean protein (baked chicken or chick peas). Veggie salad means greens (usually spring mix, sometimes spinach) and veggies. No cheese, no croutons, nothing soaked/marinated in oil- just veggies (peppers, carrots, peppers, artichoke hearts or hearts of palm, mushrooms, whatever tickles your fancy). 2 T salad dressing. I pack my salads at work, and the dressing container only holds 2 T.

Snacks could be pickle wrapped in a slice of smoked turkey breast, apple, hard boiled egg (ideally fruit or veggie + protein)

Dinner - lean protein (fish, baked chicken), comes carb (sweetpotato, brown rice, quinoa), and TONS of veggies. If I am still hungry, 2nds on veggies only (if you are not hungry for veggies, you are not really hungry)

If I am still starving in the evening, or my family is eating dessert, I will have air popped popcorn.

And water, LOTS of water. At least two 32 Oz water bottles (try to have one finished by the end of lunch or afternoon snack at work)

Try WW. It will push you to eat more vegetables and other healthy, filling foods but no calorie counting.

Anonymous wrote:

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

I agree, unless your a little half & half is more like half a cup.

You're barely having any fruits and veggies. Make your breakfast sandwich open faced (so only half the english muffin), take off the cheese, and add a ton of fruit. for lunch- take away one slice of cheese and add a giant bowl of spinach leaves. you'll be saving calories and feeling more full.

Anonymous wrote:you can eat fairly normally if you avoid most carbs, alcohol, sweets and cheese. But I agree its tough.

Is that even living?

Breakfast:

Hardboiled egg and turkey bacon on avocado spread over toasted Ezekiel sprouted cinnamon raisin bread.

Cantaloupe

Coffee

Lunch:
Salad with tuna and celery sticks

Dinner:

pork chop and sweet potato

Cut out the "whites" like white rice, etc. and dairy.

Try plant based dairy substitute.

Snack on baby carrots instead of chips.

Cut back on the cheese and make a pot of vegetable soup and have a good sized portion with each meal, it will fill you up without adding many calories. Also, an apple in the afternoon helps keep feeling full between lunch and dinner. Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Would love to hear what you suggest for weight loss then…

I would suggest seeing a registered dietician who can help design a healthy diet based on your personal needs and goals. I’m the one who can help with strength and conditioning. I can offer generalized advise on healthy eating. To go beyond that is out of my scope of practice. I can say that unless you are under the care of a medical professional, you should not be eating 1200 (or less) calories per day. That kind of restriction can be dangerous. I can also say that cutting carbs is not the solution. A variety of foods in healthy portions is important. Moving your body daily is important. Eating a baked potato or a piece of bread isn’t what is making folks fat.

Ohh of course we should all see a dietician. No thank you…I lost 10 pounds for free.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Cool story bro. I’m one of the posters above who suggested keeping to 1200 by eating a ton more veggies. I had 10 pounds of pregnancy weight to lose and my fitness pal told me 1200 calories a day and made adjustments for exercise. I stuck to it and lost about a pound a week and then went back to eating a maintenance amount of calories. What, in your opinion, should I have done differently? I am 5 ft 2 btw.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Would love to hear what you suggest for weight loss then…

I would suggest seeing a registered dietician who can help design a healthy diet based on your personal needs and goals. I’m the one who can help with strength and conditioning. I can offer generalized advise on healthy eating. To go beyond that is out of my scope of practice. I can say that unless you are under the care of a medical professional, you should not be eating 1200 (or less) calories per day. That kind of restriction can be dangerous. I can also say that cutting carbs is not the solution. A variety of foods in healthy portions is important. Moving your body daily is important. Eating a baked potato or a piece of bread isn’t what is making folks fat.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/scaachikoul/1200-calorie-diet-body-week

https://hungryhobby.net/1200-too-low/

You’re not alone in thinking 1200 per day is insane. The calculator on the 2nd link actually looks reasonable.