To eat just 1200 calories a day...

[lostmyslippers]

I really really need to shift my flab!! Nothing fits me :-((
How many calories do you eat per day and what do you eat? I am trying to walk a bit more too as I hate the gym and never stick to it anyway. So I am trying to curb the calories...

Oh and sorry - one last thing. Gut microbe science is undoing most of what we thought we knew about weight loss and nutrition anyway. Strongly advise everyone to read Tim Spector’s book The Diet Myth. It’s proper science despite the pop science title. It’s on Audible if listening is easier for you.

I am 50 I weigh 10st and I am 5’2” I have a very active job and walk everywhere. If I have over 1500 calories a day I will gain weight. Yesterday I had about 3000 ( I have days like that!) if you cut out bread you will find you have many more calories to play with in your 1200 and won’t need to live in carrots.

givemesteel I waited till 12wks post birth but I’d had C-sec no2, and wanted breastfeeding really established then I used MFP app ate around 1600-1800 a day, (this dropped to 1200 as BF reduced) walked everywhere and did 30 day Shred DVD 3x a week within 6mths I lost 2stone and then another stone over the next 6mths, took me a year to lose over 40lbs, but I was super toned after....must get back on it though as 5yrs later Half has crept back on grrrrr! Even though I’m fitter than ever through running.

I would say that is 100% reasonable. The current guidelines of 2000 cals for women have been under scrutiny for ages- they are considered too high now when no one does manual labour, uses cars instead of walking etc.

In fact I live on that amount pretty much all of the time. I'm 5 3", in my 60s, so lower metabolism, sedentary desk job, ....

3 meals of 400 cals.

Mainly protein, veg, fruit, a few whole carbs.

I don't know how you all get by on that little.... I'm 5'2" and 10.5st and moderately active 45 year old..... I will lose weight easily on 2000 calories, maintenance is around 2500 and can occasionally eat 3000 with no adverse effects.... I don't have a fast metabolism and can gain weight far too easily if I overeat frequently.... my basal metabolic rate us about 1400.... so nothing weird and have previously dropped to 1600 calories a day of misery to lose a few pounds..... my weight has been pretty stable at 10.5 give or take a pound or two for 30 years....

I lose lots of weight on 1200 cal a day, I'm 4' 11"
I used my fitness pal and was honest and logged everything.
I split the calories for the day, 300 each for breakfast lunch and dinner and two snacks of 150 I drank water mostly with a few cups of tea. I like to eat my calories. Best thing was to cut as much bread and cereal as I could, still had the occasional bowl of porridge, and would eat eggs, lots of veg, I made meals from scratch like Shepards pie or chicken pie, eating a smaller portion and lots of green beans and carrots, a whole beetroot on the side etc.
I did find as I got more used to it, I was ending up with more calories left at the end of the day, which is my snacky time so I'd have treats watching TV.
My calorie count vaired from 1200 to 1400 a day. Plus I excersised a few times each week and walked more.

windows sadly there is a lot of myths surrounding thyroids and thyroxine

I find if I aim for 800 calories a day Monday - Friday, then knowing we underestimate calories I’m probably eating 1000 per day and relax on weekend.

I just aim for plenty of vegetables, pulses and berries, root vegetables and not to much bread or potato- but don’t omit them all together

Plenty of exercise and walking

When I want to lose weight I do what my granny does - 3 good meals a day all eaten at the table, with a place set for eating it.

No distractions, just food on a plate being eaten with a knife and fork or spoon. It works. (probably because you'd look ridiculous eating a bag of crisps from a china plate with a knife and fork.)

Socksey maybe because I weigh far less than that? (under 8st.) And have done all my life. I'm petite. Healthy. Normal BMI for my height. You must be a completely different build.

Good thread- thanks for the ideas!

@lostmyslippers in December I started doing tee 5:2 diet.. after struggling with my weight for years.. I've lost about a stone (might not seem loads but I feel so much for confident and I've enjoyed many takeaways and evenings eating out during that time!!) and I dont ever feel like im on a diet!

I don’t count calories but I follow slimming world and work out 4 times a week including a couple of sessions of HIIT training. I don’t believe in calorie counting and prefer to follow something that I can cook for the kids etc.

Pollyperky that would make the difference between you and me but there's another poster who is broadly my size and eating much less.... maybe my idea of moderately active is heading more towards active.... I'm also a size 12 so not massive but not ultraslim either 😁

Look into the 16:8. I've always naturally done this and been quite slim, until I got a new job where the culture was tea and scones/ bacon roll every day at 9am and my weight ballooned.

I've been actively doing 16:8 for a month now combined with 1200 cals a day and the weight is dropping off from my belly and trouser back "overspill" which is exactly where I wanted it.

The easist things for me have been to cut breakfast out completely and switch my milk and two sugar tea and coffee for herbal tea. I've banned snacks completely which was hard at first, but after reading up on the science behind it made complete sense. So if I'm craving a biscuit I tell myself I can have one after my meal, and 9/10 times I'm full from my meal so don't have it.

I've honestly found that starting the day with a carby breakfast just sets you up for hunger pangs and cravings all day, whereas now I eat 11.30-7.30 and whilst I'm hungry in the morning its not that craving feeling and it's nothing a herbal tea doesn't sort.

I'd really recommend reading up on the science behind 16:8 and also HIIT workouts, which may be better for losing fat than traditional cardio. The way my DP explained it (who is a total gym freak) is that whilst you use up cals for steady state cardio that "cal-burning mode" lasts for a few hours... but HIIT will boost your "cal burning mode" for up to days after the workout, because your body is kind of on edge preparing for the next high intensity strain. I'm sure you'll find better explainations online!

I lost a fair few stone doing 1200 calories and (I hate exercising!) it did encourage me to move more if I wanted to eat more.

It was boring at times though.

Breakfast, - porridge, bagel and cream cheese, scrambled egg whites (very low in calories) turkey bacon, egg muffin, or fruit.

Lunch - 1 roll or sandwich, fruit or vegetables, soup, crackers and dip, small handful of nuts, protein shake or a smoothie.

Dinner - Grilled turkey and vegetables, salmon and new potatoes, stir fry, chicken and veggies with a yorkshire pudding.

Tried to save extra calories for evening wine or chocolate. But that's when I started walking to work and back to gain extras. It does work in the long run and at the very least you develop better eating habits and will find better variations of meals you can swap around.

I got told in December I needed to lose weight due to high blood sugar (pre-diabetic) and DH went and was overweight. We've been cooking with the Hairy Dieters recipe books which are very good and logging food on MFP and upping exercise plus cutting down on bread especially. I'm on 1200 calories (but don't strictly stick to them) and have lost 9kg and DH has lost 7kg.

These calorie restrictions sound like basically starvation diets, are some of you that eat porridge, soup and veg not utterly miserable and constantly hungry?

Low carb with plenty of fat and moderate protein is what I truly believe will replace the current dietary guidelines eventually as it works for weight loss and even reversal of type 2 diabetes. Newer research has shown can be used in type 1 diabetics too.

I’ve lost 4.5 stone doing low carb over the last 10 months. I don’t calorie count, I’m breastfeeding and also exercise. I sometimes do 16:8 too, but not if too many night feeds as I’m then starving in the morning!

If weight loss slid I just cut the carbs back down a bit as I find I’ve often ‘relaxed’ them a bit, and it speeds up again. I eat loads of really nice foods - bacon and eggs, steak with peppercorn sauce, rack of lamb, all with plenty of veg and occasional fruit. Have no idea how many calories I eat though.

Some great ideas here. Ive been tracking with my fitbit and generally come out at 1300 cals a day. I never eat breakfast just drink coffee till around 11. The fact that there is no bread or milk other than semi skimmed to be found in my town due to the weather should probably help me cut down further

I eat loads of really nice foods - bacon and eggs, steak with peppercorn sauce, rack of lamb,

I’d hate to eat that much meat and it isn’t recommended to eat “loads”’anyway.

I’m glad you’ve lost weigh NoThigh but low carbing has not been proven to keep weight off long term. The best “diet* is to eat very little processed food and to watch portion size. And I include carbs in a well bake Andes diet. There’s nothing wrong with potatoes!

In rarely hungry, most meals have carbs, veg/fruit and protein. A thin bagel and poached egg is only about 200 calories, add in a couple of bacon medallions and that's another 100 or so. A couple of low calorie sausages is the same.

I'm cooking more but eating normal meals so it's more sustainable.

I am sure I sometimes eat this amount when I am busy. I imagine it would be hard to maintain long term. My colleague who every now and then restricts her calories ends up eating loads every few evenings because she is so hungry. Another colleague has had good success maintaining on the 5:2.

Could you consider slimming world? Several friends did it last year and I was amazed by their weight loss.

I have more or less maintained my weight for 8 years. The key for me was not drinking as much alcohol and smaller portions.

I agree with a pp that overload of carbs are now probably seen to be the primary reason for weight gain. I'm afraid I couldn't ever give them (or anything) up completely.

There is absolutely no evidence that a diet based on meat is harmful; to the contrary lots of supporting evidence of positive health outcomes on low carb diet based on fatty meat, eggs and non-starchy veg.

Plenty has gone wrong with obesity, heart disease and diabetes rates since we were all told to adopt a ‘healthy’ diet based on whole grains and fat restriction.

No there are so much misinformation in your post, I don’t have the time to respond to each thing.

But I will say, yes we all agree there is an obesity problem.
That crisis is caused by people eating highly processed foods, NOT from “whole grains and fat restriction”

NoThighGap
There's a great deal of evidence that processed meat (sausages, bacon, salami, cured meats) contain carcinogens and can cause bowel cancer.

Thank you every one for replying....some of you have given me some very helpful advice and also motivation!