ggggggrrrrrrrrrr just a rant that 1200 cals a day is a fricking tiny amount

[tookoolforskool]

Its so small.

am not hungry.. just wanting to eat something that isnt salad or plain vegetables.

but after breakfast and lunch there doesnt appear to be many cals left for any kind of half decent, and still non cheating dinner.

clearly this is why im over weight.....

Are you exercising? That'll earn you some extra kcal :)

Where did you get 1200 from as a goal BTW? might be a bit too extreme, and not sustainable. Can you try say 1600 instead?

I think I would have to stick another zero on.

I'm doing 1200 calories at the moment and it is very tough!

1200 seems very very low. Are you sure that is right? Surely your body would just go into 'starvation mode'? (or is that an urban myth?)

thats what my fitness pal came up for me.
apparently i should lose something like 1.3lbs a week on that.

and i am over weight..

its just a piddly amount. 2 and abit weeks in and i want a 'proper meal'
something filling. not salad or mostly veg and a tiny amout of meat.

lunch today was 3 chicken wings ( yes, skin on, so that bumped it up) and salad.. ie no dressing. just mixed leaves, cucumber, tomatoes and a little spring onion. my fitness pal worked it out as 350 cals.
then i had 100g of pineapple, another 50 cals.

so 400 cals on a light lunch.

350 used a breakfast.
one snack

and then ive pretty not got much left.
just 150 cals or something.
what can i have for that.... air!!!! or maybe dust!
lol

Am I shit at counting or have you got about 500 calories left?

You need protein or you will never feel satisfied

Also it's dangerous not to have any protein

I have doing 1200 calories a day pretty much for 5 months now. I go to the gym 3x a week and although I don't eat more calories on gym days, I do have at least one day where I eat closer to 2000 calories.

1200 calories is what is what is recommended by myfitnesspal and tesco diets. Starvation mode is apparently under 800 calories.

But yes, 1200 is not very many. Exercising would "buy" extra calories though.

I have lost 3 stone so it has been worth it.

er. snack was a home made choc chip cookie
150 cals.

lol

probably didnt help.

so i had 300 cals left.

i pretty much want to lose 3 stone too. well done foreverona diet.

in 5 months did you not get a bit sick of salad?
or am i just being really limited with mu views of what i can have?

its just when its so little cals. i kind of want to get some kind of bulk in there to fill me up and the only way to do this, and to get any kind of plate where it looks like there is something on there... is to mostly eat salald. or veg.

chicken is protein isnt it.
shall be having 2 boiled eggs for breakfast tomorrow. salad for lunch. and the cod, baked with tomatoes and spinach and garlic.

I think the trick is not to "waste" calories on things like chicken wings, I'd go for white chicken breast. I find weight loss best if I have protein at eat meal, does mean I eat less carbs...

My 1200 calories might be used like this:

breakfast: omelette with 2 eggs plus activia fat free yoghurt
mid morning: latte with skimmed milk
lunch: tuna salad, maybe with a couple of oatcakes spread with quark.
mid afternoon: another activia yoghurt
dinner: grilled chicken breast, loads of steamed veggies, salad.

You should have protein with every meal, as it keeps you fuller for longer.

If I just had salad for lunch I would be hungry in about an hour. Carbs are the real thing to cut down on, you don't need much carbs unless you do a lot of activity

i know they werent a great choice. they were left overs. AND they had skin on.

ive been having similar to you actually. maybe with less dinner and an inapprioplate snack in the afternoon.

and im trying to eat very little carbs. bar the dorset cerals im having on work days ( 4 days a week)

I'm doing the same as you - 1200 cals on myfitnesspal.
I agree with forever. You have to make the right choices and not waste calories. It does seem like a little but when I plan right (and follow it!) I'm not hungry and do lose weight.

I try to do
200 breakfast
100 healthy snack (fruit)
300 lunch
100 healthy snack
400 dinner
100 treat/dessert

Try here for inspiration
www.bbcgoodfood.com/search.do?filterItem=cal2&keywords=&filters=course12

Good luck!

Body going in to starvation mode is definitely not an urban myth. 1200 calories is what the starving people of India have to live on. It is a freakishly low amount.

just had a very filling dinner for 250 calories:

put 1 tin of chopped tomatoes in a wok
add 1 onion, spinach, 1/2 pepper, 1/2 courgette and 100g of quorn mince.

Add some soy sauce and seasoning. Low fat protein, very very filing.

Don't need to eat salad every day, I DO eat through lots of tins of chopped tomatoes, use it to pad out mince, quorn and to vegetables.

Took also wanted to say that I really try to save 500 calories for dinner... and if you do shred, that's an extra 200 calories so that is 700 calories for dinner.

I agree with Shaxx, in how she plans her day. If you want to eat 1200 a day you can't have things like chicken wings, or a biscuit, it doesn't work. Save them for days when you do a lot of exercise....

1200 is not a freakishly low amount, starvation mode a myth esp at these levels, although the body does become more efficient.

shaxx - there are some good meals on there :) thanks.

Yesterday i ' pigged out' and went over the 1200 cals. i ended up with a grand total of 1432. which, if i hadnt of eaten the cookie i pretty much would have been ok. wasted cals. my fault.

just had greek yogurt and raspberries for breakfast.
that will hold me off till lunch when im going to have two boiled eggs and then some pineapple :)
Dinner is going to be cod baked with tined tomatos, garlic, chili and spinach. and im hoping that will be ok.... probably a handful of green beans too :)

and not a salad in sight.... im only two weeks in. just need better planning. breakfasts on the go and lunches while at work.
if anyone has any ideas id appreciate it.

This is what myfitnespal tells me to eat as well, I ignore it's target and aim for more like 1600-1700 calories which seems to be working as I'm losing the weight slowly and steadily.

This is what I have on a typical 'good' day (about 1650 calories)

Breakfast - Muesli with soya milk, glass of fruit juice (330)
Snack - oat biscuits or cereal bar (about 150)
Lunch - Pasta salad (pasta, quorn, broccoli, pesto), yoghurt, apple (550)
Snack - another couple of biscuits, small amount of dried fruit (about 150)
Dinner - Bowl of homemade soup with bread, orange, small square of chocolate. (450)

Obviously it's higher if I decide to have a chocolate bar or cake mid-afternoon! But would really struggle to get it down much/any lower without being absolutely starving. I already have quite small portions (I weigh things like 75g pasta and 50g cereal so I'm not eating more than I think). And I need the snacks as I get shaky with hunger between meals if I don't have them. Also think trying to eat less is counter-productive because it would make me more likely to binge-eat given the chance.

Maybe I'm just trying to justify being greedy, but really don't feel like I can eat any less and 1200 seems ridiculous to me.

ephiny - that looks like what I would eat if I wasn't dieting - (I was overweight from pregnancy & breastfeeding) - I have checked a couple of calorie counters and for me to maintain my target weight my limit will be around 1700 - although I'd expect to eat more some days (probably weekends) and less on others.

If you are loosing on that then great though, no need to aim lower its working for you.

You should see what I eat when I'm not dieting . It does seem to be working, though admittedly slowly (but that may be partly because I sabotage myself sometimes by having a massive binge).

I'm trying to do this as a permanent change to my eating habits, not a fixed-term diet, so it needs to be something I can keep up long term.

I'm doing under 1300 a day with myfitnesspal, too - I'm actually struggling to get upto 1300. But I'm still not losing weight

ok. today has been , so far, much better.
greek yoghurt for breakfast with raspberries, lunch was a 2 egg omlett with a slice of ham with a tiny 10g amout of cheddar on top. amd some pineapple.

and a malted milk biscuit mid morning.

BUT - i still have 610 cals left for tea. woohooo ;)

its just about planning a bit better really i supose. Ill be going way over 1200 cals sunday thought as its mothers day and we are going out for lunch. I may not log that day!!!

But i kind of think if i am for 1200.. and some days am a bit under ( think i might be today) and am over a bit some days, like yesterday... then if i do that 99.9% of the time and have one blow out day, like mothers day.. then that should be ok?

1200 cals is doable if you plan carefully. If you are short like me it is only 750 cals less than maintenance daily cals so not starvation. Under 1100 is not good though.

Either exercise to earn more - an hour of Davina aerobics earns about 300 cals for example, 20 min shred about 150 - or be more careful what you eat. Example of what I might eat:-

B: Small tin peaches in fruit juice, 1 boiled egg, slice toast (from 400g loaf) with low fat spread - 210 cals OR 4 slices streaky bacon and 1 scrambled egg - 270 cals
L: Sandwich with prawn mayo/smoked salmon, chicken and salad - 300 cals OR Soup and two ryvita with low fat spread
D: Chicken breast/lamb/beef with mashed potatoes and veg plus gravy - 500 cals OR Salmon fillet with rice and veg - 500 cals

Then you can have a small snack during the day for about 100 cals

You may want to look at portion sizes if you are struggling. Or another diet like Slimming World where you can eat a bit more :)

I was on around 1200 on tesco diets but because they gave you ideas for all your meals and snacks I found I was never hungry as the right choices had been made for me.

I lost 3 stone so it did work and I have taken alot of the principles (low GI) and use them now.

tookoolforskool - I used to have a blow out day one a week, I rewarded myself if I had lost weight that week, it was something to look forward to.