1200 cals a day ...what does it consist Of if you manage to stick to it

[Pugsrus]

I’m trying to stick to this ,and failing miserably
What does 1200 cals look like in a day ,I’m vegan ,but just want to hear how other people make this work ,so I can get ideas..
Thanks

I've managed 1200 a day easily for 3 months. I'm not hungry at breakfast so just have a yoghurt for 80-95 calories. Lunch I always have homemade soup for around 200-250 calories. That gives me plenty of calories for dinner which I try to stick to 500 calories and that's easy enough to do, plus sweet treats/snacks.

Strawberries
Raspberries
Halo top ice cream
Konjac/shiratake noodles (low cal pasta)

go the the tdee calculator and see how much of a calorie deficit you need to be in (that's you TDEE -500).

The best diet is the one you stick to. If you don't think you can sustain an 800 fast or low carb or whatever, it's not the diet for you.

I’m managing to stick to 1200.
This is the fist time this year I’ve actually stuck to a diet properly for more than one day ..the 2000 my fit bit said made me reckless and I just kept loosing count thinking I’d lots of calories..so I never lost any weight .
So far so good ,touch wood

Skyr with 25g granola and berries 275cals
Thin bagel with grilled chicken, lettuce and scrape of chilli jam 375cals
M&S balanced ready meal with extra veg 400 cals
150cal snack

I can only limit my calories if I fast - -18:6 or 20:4 . It suits me not to eat in the morning and to wait as long as possible before eating. I often don't get hungry until the late after noon anyway.

I am too ill disciplined to eat a meal with 200 calories in - once I've woken my stomach up, I can't stop! and actually I'd prefer to eat fewer nicer meals than eke my calories out with insubstantial low calorie meals through the day

Most people who need to lose weight will have a TDEE in excess of 1800 unless they are very very short and quite old
I’m 40 and 5ft7, so neither short nor old. My TDEE is 1730 calories.

It's all so joyless isn't it. I'm not having a go at all, fortunately my BMR is a bit higher so I have 1400 calories a day to play with and the extra 200 calories makes a surprising difference in the types of food I can eat. I can have a totally normal size portion of dinner with rice or pasta in the evening, for example. I really feel for you ladies. I'm sure I'll be joining you one day!

Even at 1200 I can have 75g of pasta plus a good size helping if Bolognese sauce.

Can I ask where I can reliably calculate TDEE/BMR? Thanks

I use this one. Reduce 500 a day from your TDEE to lose 1lb a week.

@Davodia

Most people who need to lose weight will have a TDEE in excess of 1800 unless they are very very short and quite old I’m 40 and 5ft7, so neither short nor old. My TDEE is 1730 calories.

Do you need to lose weight? Are you in the healthy BMI zone but you just want to?

It looks like tea and toast for breakfast, crackers or soup for lunch, pasta for dinner, fruit, lentil chips. Just small portions.

I loosely do 16:8 and don't eat after dinner at around 5pm.

My TDEE is 1680 maintenance calories. Yes, I most certainly need to lose weight, my BMI is obese. I eat about 800 calories per day at the moment, I'm never hungry, I eat nice food and I'm losing steadily.

I'm a good 60 lbs overweight - I'm not going to starve by not eating 1200 or more.

(I've had this discussion before with nutritionists and those that run certain heath groups who cannot believe that my TDEE is so low but every calculator gives the same outcome.)

DH's TDEE is much higher, he has a lot to lose but he's found he struggles to eat much more than 1500 cals per day which is way under what's he's supposed to. Neither of us has perished yet.

Ok, I apologise, I just can't get my head round it. I'm obese, 40 and 5'4 and my TDEE is 2400 with exercise 4 days a week. It's accurate too as I'm losing steadily eating 1900/2000.

@TitsalinaBumSquash how tall are you? That seems very low indeed

@davioda you must have a healthy range bmi then or certainly very close to.

Find out your TDEE, subtract 500 and make that your daily allowance. You will be able to stick to that and keep it up. 1200 is not enough for almost anyone

My TDEE is just over 1500. I have at least 2 stone to lose.

I’m trying to eat 1100 per day and usually include one fast day a week. I’ve cut out a lot of carbs which helps. I’ve lost 20lb so far.

My TDEE is 1487 apparently. I'm averaging around 1150 calories a day at the moment and I'm hungry so I don't know how you are managing on 800 @TitsalinaBumSquash. That's a starvation diet and what we used to put people on in hospital under specialist care if their bmi was about 40 and making them ill. It's not sustainable and you won't be getting the nutrients you need from that small amount of food. I'm 5'3" and weigh around 11 stone at the moment. Thanks to shielded lockdown 😩

Do you need to lose weight? Are you in the healthy BMI zone but you just want to?
I’m overweight, need to lose 4lb to be at the top of the Healthy range. But I’m big enough for my stomach to cause me pain due to flapping about when I exercise and making it hard for me to bend over comfortably. I probably need to lose a couple of stone to fix that, which takes me to the middle of the Healthy range.

@ShortieOnaDiet

Find out your TDEE, subtract 500 and make that your daily allowance. You will be able to stick to that and keep it up. 1200 is not enough for almost anyone

My TDEE is just over 1500. I have at least 2 stone to lose.

I’m trying to eat 1100 per day and usually include one fast day a week. I’ve cut out a lot of carbs which helps. I’ve lost 20lb so far.

That is extremely low. Are you very sedentary? It sounds like you need to work on raising your TDEE through movement

@Bercows - I'm only 5ft, I've put myself as sedentary he has so have fibromyalgia, lupus and HEDS and a heart valve prolapse that will need fixing one day, all of which mean I can only do very little walking (as in around my house) and even that leaves me in a lot of unbearable pain or out of breath.

During shielding I went up to the hugest weight I've ever been and could feel myself getting iller and iller, my heart would go crazy just from standing! I feel so much better working on my calories and losing weight.

When I go back the the cardiologist I want him to see I've made a serious effort to get healthier so when the time comes that I need surgery I will be in the best position to survive it unlike my mum who died in the table during a fairly common surgery (she was obese too)

I honestly eat 2 good meals a day, lots of colour and plant based foods, pulses, grains, fish, eggs etc. I drink 3ltrs of water a day and have a coffee in the morning as eating before I've woken up properly makes me feel sick.

I take a multi vitamin everyday and high strength vitamin D prescribed by the GP, my levels of nutrients and vitamins are always really low, that's not diet related they always have been.

my tdee is around 1700
middle age does this for women...

I think you need 200 cals less in middle age or something...

I wish I understood the science.

I used to be able to easily lose half a stone a week when I was a student.

Now? Lucky to lose a couple pounds per month.

@CodenameVillanelle

Yes I am usually sedentary- zoom pretty much 8-6 in current life.

I have started walking twice a day and now do 15l steps per day. If I stick to 1100 cals and 15k steps then I lose 1-2lbs a week

I'm vegan also. My goal per day is 1000 but I rarely go over 900. I naturally fell into 16:8 eating, I weigh most food and log on Fitbit daily.

11am Small green smoothie 105cals
Noon Overnight oats (30g) 165cals
3pm Soup or salad 200 cals
6pm Dinner 400-500 cals

I do drink a lot of water and a few cups of tea and coffee during the day. I have eaten like this for about 8 years, BUT during the lockdown, I have done a huge amount of baking and gained over a stone!! So I've ditched the baking, sugar, carbs and additional alcohol and I'm back to my normal way of eating. 2020 hasn't been my finest year.