Current Events > How realistic is it to only eat 1200 calories a day?

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I was thinking of trying Dr Now's 1200 calories diet, but that seems like an insanely low amount of calories to eat. Only 400 calories a meal is extremely difficult if you don't measure everything.

Ez

Dakimakura posted...

Ez

Only if I lived in North Korea

It's gonna be miserable.

Wont you just gain the pounds back the moment you stop doing this?

Personally, I could never do that. Would legit probably starve.

LightHawKnight posted...

Wont you just gain the pounds back the moment you stop doing this?

I think the goal of calorie restriction is to hold the diet for long enough that your body adjusts and you don't need to stop doing it.

It's extremely doable but you'll be miserable

Ive been trying a 1200 calorie diet for the last week and its extremely difficult. And Im a 52 woman. I limit each meal to about 300-400 calories and try to keep some for snacks. I come up with tasty food so its not miserable and bland. But its still very difficult. I cheated the last couple of days for New Years but Im back on it today. You have to be really diligent about counting calories, measuring, weighing, etc

1200 spread over 3 meals sounds frustrating. But I've done 1200 over two meals before and it's not too bad.

COVxy posted...

I think the goal of calorie restriction is to hold the diet for long enough that your body adjusts and you don't need to stop doing it.

Does that ever work? That kind of insane diet never lasts. It is better to go on an easier diet that you can realistically handle and exercise more. Such as cutting some calories, eat more veggies. Think about what you eat instead of forcing yourself into misery.

well, first off, how much are you eating now?

Achievable but very unfulfilling because your food options shrink drastically and it'll be boring maintaining that sort of diet for more than a day if you enjoy variety.

Jagr_68 posted...

Achievable but very unfulfilling because your food options shrink drastically and it'll be boring maintaining that sort of diet for more than a day if you enjoy variety.

You can eat really tasty things but you just need to be mindful of how much youre eating.

Heres an example of my lunch the other day. Around 350 calories. Ground turkey made with soy sauce and hoisin, topped with sriracha and furikake. Side of steamed rice and broccoli
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/9/3/AAdXATAACwzh.jpg

Another thing I made is BBQ pulled chicken that I eat in a half a pita with a side of veggies. This week Ill be making chipotle chicken salad and spaghetti squash bolognese. For breakfast Ill either have some yogurt, granola and berries, or egg white omelette with oatmeal. Ill snack on walnuts since they have healthy fats and are filling, Ill sprinkle some cinnamon on them for flavor. I leave room for a few squares of my favorite chocolate every night. Its a lot of effort and I have the luxury of wfh so I can take the time to meal prep.

Cleo_II posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/9/3/AAdXATAACwzh.jpg

Is that supposed to be an appetizer?

Very possible. Muy posible.

Also this depends on what you do for a living.

If you're just living day to day, 1200 should do you.

If you're doing a job that demands even moderate physical investment, 1200 might not be enough

Chill out all day

Eat slow, you'd be surprised how full your stomach gets with small portions

There's a Reddit for it, 1200isplenty

It's not bad, I've done it before when I was a teenager. You just change what you eat -- tons of veggies and protein

You can do it but it's not enough. You'll be starving yourself. Just be patient and lose weight in a healthier way, or if you're going to do this at least check with your doctor first man.

wackyteen posted...

Is that supposed to be an appetizer?

As a 52 woman its not bad but I would not recommend this diet to everyone. I dont think an average sized man should attempt it for example, its far too restricting.

3 bottles of Soylent would be easy mode. I think they even have caffeinated ones now.

I'd never be able to do this though since I'm 6'2

That's like 4 plain eggs and half a hamburger patty with nothing on it for an entire day.

DocDelicious posted...

That's like 4 plain eggs and half a hamburger patty with nothing on it for an entire day.

I don't think you know how many calories are in any of those things lol.

DocDelicious posted...

That's like 4 plain eggs and half a hamburger patty with nothing on it for an entire day.

That is around 450 to 500 calories

Assuming the eggs are extra large

Fast until dinner and eat chicken breasts with rice and various veggies, go easy on any condiments.

It's not really as hard as you're making it out to be, just takes discipline, any conditions aside.

Its kind of nonsense. I get that they are trying to lose weight, but 1200 is really low, especially when your average is 2000 for women, 2500 for men with exercise. That's the problem with these weight loss shows. They give unrealistic goals for patients. These people are losing 100 lbs in the time they should be losing 30-40 lbs. This causes many of them to rebound and rebound hard. There was a statistic brought up a few years ago that said something along the lines of most contestants on those shows end up gaining all the weight back and then some.

It's because they only focus on the weight loss, not the issues that caused the weight gain in the first place. So no, I wouldn't suggest following the diet plan. Just adjust what you eat to be healthier, and increase activity levels.

_Angel_ posted...

Fast until dinner

Bad idea. I read this causes your body to go into starvation mode and it will store even more fat than usual. Youre better off eating little snacks throughout the day instead of one big meal.

BeyondWalls posted...

Bad idea. I read this causes your body to go into starvation mode and it will store even more fat than usual. Youre better off eating little snacks throughout the day instead of one big meal.

Nah youd lose weight even doing this like 5 days a week. I did this for 2 years while working a blue collar job. It was easy to do since id only get like 3 to 5 hours sleep per night during the weekday. Wake up around 10 mins before leaving work so didnt have breakfast. My job didnt have an official lunchbreak (it was eat whenever there was down time but i never packed a lunch) and ate only dinner.

I cant imagine this being sustainable in a more comfy lifestyle tho. I was always pretty hungry. I ended up gaining around 15 to 20 pounds since I "quit" my old job. it did mess with my mental health i think.

You really just need to look up how many calories you need to consume to maintain your weight with your current activity level. There are a few calculators to help you figure it out. Then you need to deduct 500 calories a day to lose a pound a week. Beyond that is too extreme imo. With my height and being very sedentary right now, 1500 is about what I need to maintain, so 1200 is very reasonable. Ive been consuming maybe 2000 the last few months and steadily gaining weight so its hard now to reduce so much. Consuming below 1200 isnt recommended so thats what Im sticking to. I plan to incorporate exercise starting this week though.

BeyondWalls posted...

Bad idea. I read this causes your body to go into starvation mode and it will store even more fat than usual. Youre better off eating little snacks throughout the day instead of one big meal.

Works pretty well for me when I need to lose weight.

It's rough but doable. One suggestion is low fat cottage cheese for breakfast, if you can stomach it. An entire tub is really filling, 72 grams of protein, but only 480 calories.

Another suggestion is to do cardio and lifting. You can do about 500 calories several days a week. Any day you do this, you can then eat 1700 calories. I personally am less hungry with 1700 calories and a 500 calorie workout than simply limiting it to 1200.

Depends entirely on your size but its prob gonna suck regardless

If you have a sedentary lifestyle and just wait to eat before you go to bed maybe. Anyone that actually moves around will need more than that

it's not hard to do, but it's really just very low. You'll end up losing a lot of muscle.

Why 1200? How much do you weigh and what is your height?

Maybe try a 1500-1600 one first? Cuz that just seems masochistic when both would let you lose weight, just not as fast as the other.

Arcanine2009 posted...

it's not hard to do, but it's really just very low. You'll end up losing a lot of muscle.

Why 1200? How much do you weigh and what is your height?

Which I why recommend cardio and lifting and then eating more to net out at 1200. That keeps the muscle, maintains metabolism, but also loses the fat.

BeyondWalls posted...

Bad idea. I read this causes your body to go into starvation mode and it will store even more fat than usual. Youre better off eating little snacks throughout the day instead of one big meal.

Lost 90lbs fasting for 23 hours a day and eating 2000 calories during a one hour period over 9 months. Not easy or ideal, but did drop a ton of fat. Granted I started at 270 lbs at 5'7, but the whole deal with fasting is that you force your body to run out of glucose and burn fat instead. You then still eat enough to not force it to lower the resting metabolic rate, which it will do if you spread 1200 calories over three meal or multiple snacks a day.

If you eat all day you'll keep engaging your digestive system and keeping your insulin elevated by feeding all day, never telling your body to use that store of fat. What it will do instead is adjust to a 1200 calorie intake and slow down the rate at which you burn calories while not doing anything. Also means that if you start eating over 1200 calories, you'll end up gaining it all back and more, since you're body is going to be used to only 1200 calories a day.

Fasting worked for me when calorie restriction and excersive never did. It's not easy, but there are less restrictive fasting programs that will also see result.

1200 is hard. Whenever I try to lose weight I stick to 1800 and throw in some extra exercise and its worked well for me

then I stop and gain it all back and do it again lol

Depends on your gender, size and how active you are. You could only get away eating 1200 calories if it is food that is packed with vitamins and nutrients and you aren't very active at all otherwise you're going to be malnourished, especially if you are male.

I think it'll be tough, though having 1-2 main meals a day instead of 3 may help. It depends on how easily you get hungry.

I can go all day without eating much and feel just fine, so I suppose it depends on the person. I eat whenever I feel hungry, and try not to eat until I'm completely full, but instead until I am simply not hungry anymore.

_Angel_ posted...

Fast until dinner and eat chicken breasts with rice and various veggies, go easy on any condiments.

What kind of way is that to live?!

Turbam posted...

What kind of way is that to live?!

Well, the thought is that it is only temporary

People should really see how important muscle and bone density are to the human body, and not be too impatient with fat loss. I wouldn't try to go more than 1-2lbs a week of weight loss (that's a -500 to -1000 calorie deficit from the calories you need to ear to maintain your weight). Also this depends on how much body fat you have to lose as well. If you are a male and overweight to obese you can lose 2lbs a week for a while until, but not forever. Once you get down to below 20% body fat, I wouldn't go more than 0.5+1lb a week.

Things you should know about losing weight:
-you might lose more weight than expected the first week, but that's not all fat. You do lose a lot of water
-find your maintenance calories (look up online for a ballpark estimate) based on sex, weight and height and aim for 1-2lbs a week if you have some fat to lose. Be patient. You don't even have to cut 500 to 1000 from food. You can add some additional cardio to it to reach that.
-reducing your portion size is one of the best ways to reduce your calorie intake, and its healthier as well
-lift weights at least 3x a week and shift your macros.. increase your protein to match 1 gram a lb you weigh or 80% of that and cut down if the carbs.
-eat healthy overall. Home cooked food, cut as much processed and junk and sugar as possible. Increase veggies and water.
-as you lose weight, you will have to adjust your calories as it will take less energy to move them, because you have less mass. So you will need to lower your calorie amount.

You can have cheat meals/snacks occasionally. Don't need to be super strict about it. Best time to do cardio is after one.

Bonus: Track your calories on MyFitnessPal app. They really help you be more mindful and make you stay on top of your goals, as well as maintaining your weight after you lose weight.

bsp77 posted...

Well, the thought is that it is only temporary

If all you are doing is fasting/dieting then the weight loss is also just temporary in that case. You have to either burn calories or change your eating to lose weight, and all you would accomplish by making it only a temporary thing without any other changes would be to ping pong your weight around.