AIBU to ask is it possible to stick to 1200 calories

[mumof2exhausted]

Just that really. I need to lose half a stone to get to my pre baby weight and using MyFitnessPal to track food. Do think I have been mindlessly eating and think. The app is great to log but I’m struggling to stick to this though. Food today - 1 slice of toast, 2 poached eggs and apple for breakfast, M&S soup for lunch (350 calories), quinoa with chicken and peppers, onions and mushrooms for dinner. Snacks banana, bowl of berries with Greek yogurt and handful of cashew nuts. Takes me to 1400. Have really active job and 2 young kids so need my food / energy go to gym 3 times a week. Any thoughts? Or is 1200 too low??

have larger meals and no snacks?
have a look if 5:2 or intermitted fasting would work for you.

Stop snacking.

200 breakfast 100 snack 200 lunch 100 snack and 600 dinner. Plenty of water

I think your soup is high calorie actually and the snacks are taking you up quite a few calories.

I have been using MFP too and have lost just over a stone in 8 weeks. I always have two eggs for breakfast too. I keep to 1200 calories in the week, but have leeway at weekends. I have also had a weekend off for a celebration which didn’t affect things too much!

I find it impossible. . . hence why I weigh over 12 stone.

I find it hard to stick to 1200 calories and very boring but it is the right amount for me.

1200 is doable but it can be pretty miserable ime. I've set my calorie counter app to allow me to lose 1lb per week instead , his allows me around 1550 kcals. It'll take longer but I'm far happier!

It is doable, I have been doing it for the past couple of weeks and have done it loads in the past to lose weight.

I do it in conjunction with 16:8 fasting, so don't eat breakfast and have more for lunch and dinner.

I generally find that the first week is pretty tough but then you get used to eating smaller amounts and it becomes a lot easier!

I also think for the first few days I must have some kind of sugar withdrawal as I feel horrendous, but this does subside.

I've lost 2 stone 2 lbs since the middle of january by sticking to 1200 calories.
I do 200 cal for breakfast, 250/300 calories for lunch and 500 calories for tea. I have 2 snacks a day of 100 cal. They are either mid morning, mid afternoon or late evening so 2/3 each day. The timing of snacks depends on how I'm feeling each day.

I'm surprised all that is only 1400 cals to be honest.

Ditch the snacks
for ever
only have carbs with two meals a day

its easy - its what all short slim people do

I'm surprised all that is only 1400 cals to be honest.

I agree! That sounds like a lot of food!

The banana and cashews will be the best part of the 200 you’ve gone over. Nothing wrong with snacking though. The soup is a lot though, what kind is it? Lots of M&S veggie soups will be half that. I wouldn’t need 3 snacks with those meals and I’m chubby (but short)

There’s literally no reason to be starving yourself on 1200 cals a day if you’re active. I did this and it was torture. Then I educated myself in nutrition!

I am now 140lb, 5,8”, and still losing 1lb-2lb a week by eating 1600 cals average per day and doing lots more walking. Last night I had pizza and wine.

Up your protein, count how much exercise you’re doing and don’t starve yourself!

If you’re really active 1200 might just be too low for you. Get a Fitbit and see how much you’re actually burning, then aim for a deficit from that. The 1200 number is pretty arbitrary, we’re all different sizes and use different amounts of energy.

You don’t need to get all your energy from food if you’re trying to lose sight, you need to get some of it from your stored fat by creating a calorie deficit.

If you have problems with hunger it may be that you’re eating too many carbs (you don’t say what your soup was but I can eat a whole can of fresh tomato & basil soup - 2 portions - for only 180 calories). You could drop the toast and have mushrooms with your eggs, & drop the quinoa in the evenings. Diets which are higher in protein and lower in carbs seem to be well tolerated.

You could also look at intermittent fasting, either 5:2 (5 days healthy eating, 2 days 500 cals only) or 16:8 (16h fasting each day, eating only between the same 8h window every day) - it seems to be beneficial for blood glucose regulation.

But to answer your original question - no, 1200 is not impossible. I eat between 800-1000 a day (and am training 5/6 times a week plus cycling to / from work) to lose 1-2 pounds a week. I eat between 1 & 9pm only, 4 meals of 200 calories each. Drink lots of water, decaf coffee and herbal teas in the fasting hours and after a day or so you stop getting hungry. On 1200 a day I gain weight!

@My38274thNameChange agreed - though 1200 IS alright for some. I’m 5”2 and work from home sitting down, 1200 is perfectly fine for me most days (not that I stick to it, hence chubby). It will be too little for most others.

It totally does not sound like a lot of food. Sounds like a healthy diet to me. I lost almost 2 stone in around 4 months doing 1500 cals a day.

Oh and there is nothing wrong with snacking.

No 1200 is not possible forever. Many anorexics eat this amount.

For a quick diet fine but this is highly restrictive. If you look on losertown is can predict your weight if you stick to these cals. I wonder what your tdee is op and minus 15 percent?

For me losing weight is accepting I have to feel hungry for an hour or so before each meal.
If you cannot come with any hunger pangs it is difficult to lose weight - I think.
1200 calories if more than enough if I am just at my desk.

Stop the snacks! You're eating too much at breakfast as well. It's very easy to do but just don't snack.

Incredibly important to factor in how tall you are. I have a six foot woman friend who couldn't live on what I eat, I'm 5ft 3. And if I ate what she does I'd be fat! 1200 sounds good if you're under 5/4, maybe 5/5. I lose weight on 1200.
So - how tall are you, OP?

I’m impressed by even 1400.

I used to maintain a healthy weight at around 2700/day. Fundamentally healthy stuff, plenty of veg etc, but a bit of junk food and alcohol too.

My metabolism has tanked since DD born/ BF, so now fat even on av 2000. Junk mostly eliminated, portions slashed, bloody green bloody veg in bloody everything...and I am still hungry all the time.

I can only assume your portions (eg the quinoa) are very small, as my diet is similar to yours (yes I have regular nuts too!) but I rarely get down to 1800 even without alcohol.

I agree! That sounds like a lot of food!

No it isn't. It depends on portion size but seems perfectly fine.