What I've lost....

[kitten645]

I think calorie intake has alot to do with your age and physical activity. I'd say 800 sounds way too low. There are lots of things online that can help you figure out a happy medium. Your height and how much you need to loose figure into the equation as well.

[Catty1]

1,000 is way too low IMO. 1200 is better.

[Alysser]

1200 is already to low but seems like a decent amount for you, I think 800 is ridiculous. One meal can equal half of 800 alone, so it'd be extremely challenging.

[catnapper]

Oy, I just typed out a long response to where 1200 calories go --- they add up FAST. I had a tummy virus last week and ate around 800 carlories one day, and it was mostly chicken noodle soup and dry cereal. If not for having an evil stomach, I would have been starving all day.

As it is, 1200 calories adds up to amazingly little amounts of food. I am not looking up calorie counts again, here here is a typical day for me, and I always end up around 1200 calories (give or take a few calories here or there)
Breakfast:
Bowl of cereal with half cup of milk and a banana

Lunch:
green salad with chicken and ounce of dressing (one of those little packets at fast food places are 2 ounces - I eat half the packet or less)

Dinner:
Shrimp with snow peas and rice

Snack:
grapefruit

I drink lots of hot tea, no sugar. I have 32 ounces of iced tea with one packet of sugar once a day. When the iced tea is gone, I drink water.

1200 calories are not enough calories... I am missing out on some vital nutrients. I never feel completely full, but its not distracting hunger or misery.

I'm actually aiming for 1400 calorie day while still losing weight... the weight will come off slower, but definitely still come off. I want to feel sated and happy. Right now, I eat those 1200 calories knowing there is room in case a cookie calls my name. Man, the past few weeks have been challenging because coworkers had birthdays and yummy cake has been sitting there teasing me But I know I can have a piece if I want. I've eaten pizza, cupcakes, popcorn, cookies, etc. All fit nicely into my day and logged faithfully into the tracker - all between 1200 and 1400 calories. I balanced the sweets and fats with veggies and whole unprocessed foods.


As for the 800 calories, people WILL lose weight that way, but be utterly miserable while doing it and then gain it all back as soon as they return to eating their old way.

[Cataholic]

As for the 800 calories, people WILL lose weight that way, but be utterly miserable while doing it and then gain it all back as soon as they return to eating their old way.

Nappers- I am not picking on you, but this is one of those things that gets to me ( lol, one of many). :/

A pound is 3500 calories. Those can be fat ladened, or low fat calories, 3500 calories from grapes will cause you to gain a pound the exact same way 3500 pounds of Funions will cause you to gain a pound. If one eats 3500 more calories of anything that is beyond what they need to fuel the body or service the body's needs, one will gain a pound.

Same thing with reducing your caloric intake. If one reduces their caloric intake (presumably over days since most of us do not need 3500 cals a day to maintain a -0-), one will lose weight. And, not gain it back unless that person again exceeds their caloric intake by 3500 calories. So, if one goes on a 800 calorie day 'diet', and loses ten pounds over the course of a month, and then begins eating 'normal' again (by what the body needs/expends) one will not gain weight back. If, one exceeds the body's need for food daily, then yes, one will gain that weight back. The same way one would if one maintained a 1200/1500 a day diet, and lost the weight over 6 months.

The reason it is suggested that one lose weight slowly is to help set up healthy habits. One can lose weight quickly, and keep it off. But, one has to make sure one doesn't go back to eating a bag of Funions a day. And, water weight loss isn't a true weight loss. No matter what I am doing, I try to drink half my body weight in ounces. That is a lot of water. LOL. One reason alone to lose weight...stop the dern potty runs!

1200 calories, depending on body size, doesn't seem like too little food to me. Losing weight is hard work. We eat for fifty million reasons besides hunger. To me, and for me, a 30 day intense 'diet' (lol, call it a life style change if it makes you feel better...), in which I lose 12-15 pounds is much easier for me than a one year long process.

Everyone is different, and while I am a doctor, it ain't medicine I practice. I do know that weight loss isn't rocket science, although we women tend to make it out to be. But, it is surely really, really hard. That is cause we aren't eating merely to fill our stomachs.

[caseysmom]

A calorie may be a calorie but a chicken breast is a whole lot more satisfying than a cupcake.

[Cataholic]

A calorie may be a calorie but a chicken breast is a whole lot more satisfying than a cupcake.

LOL, not to me!

But, of course, a "calorie is a calorie" has nothing to do with how nutrionally dense a food is. BUT, if I ate 2500 calories a day of baked chicken breast, I would still gain weight. That is exactly why people eating a healthy diet (but still too many calories) don't lose weight.

[catnapper]

Nappers- I am not picking on you, but this is one of those things that gets to me ( lol, one of many). :/

A pound is 3500 calories. Those can be fat ladened, or low fat calories, 3500 calories from grapes will cause you to gain a pound the exact same way 3500 pounds of Funions will cause you to gain a pound. If one eats 3500 more calories of anything that is beyond what they need to fuel the body or service the body's needs, one will gain a pound.

Same thing with reducing your caloric intake. If one reduces their caloric intake (presumably over days since most of us do not need 3500 cals a day to maintain a -0-), one will lose weight. And, not gain it back unless that person again exceeds their caloric intake by 3500 calories. So, if one goes on a 800 calorie day 'diet', and loses ten pounds over the course of a month, and then begins eating 'normal' again (by what the body needs/expends) one will not gain weight back. If, one exceeds the body's need for food daily, then yes, one will gain that weight back. The same way one would if one maintained a 1200/1500 a day diet, and lost the weight over 6 months.

Ah, not necessarily true. The human body is amazing. In our waaayyy distant past, when we were hunters and gatherers, the human body learned to live through times of drought. It reserved the caloires we ate. The metabolism slowed down. If and when we did happen to find a lot of food while we were in "starvation mode" it saved it as fat immmediately so that it could continue through the current drought.

When humans today go too low on calories, our bodies still think we're hunters and gatherers and saves every extra calorie and turns it to fat. Yes, a pound is 3500 calories, but when your metabolism is moving very slow, it doesn't burn calories the same way it would if you were,'t in starvation mode. So say I did eat 800 calories a day, I definitely would lose weight, but the moment I go back to eating 1500 calories a day, my body says "woohoo! FOOD!" and it saves it for future because its been used to me denying it all the nutrients and calories it actually needs.

I read that before and happened to be reading a book last night by Psychology Today and it said the same thing (well not word)


Ok, I also admit I'm a weee bit obsessed with things right now. Hubby is getting annoyed because I am measuring things exactly. I almost fell over when I found out how many calories were in my favorite sandwich. Its now going to be a treat for once in a while, not weekly.

[CountryWolf07]

I decided to go with 1200 calories per day. I'm amazed by how much I eat every day and NOT realize how many calories all together. Yikes. Time to change it up and eat less, smaller portions, and most importantly, healthier. So we'll see how I do!

[chocolatepuppy]

800 or 1200, I would die!!! I need energy!

[sparks19]

I actually find 1200 to 1500 calories to be quite a bit of food.

If i eat the right things and the actual proper portion sizes 1200-1500 calories gives me breakfast (usually includes an egg), lunch, a snack, dinner, and a snack or two left over afterwards. I never felt like I wasn't eating enough. it seemed like I was eating all the time lol but I was actually just eating smaller portions more often. rather than huge portions a couple times a day.