I’m not losing weight on 1,200 calories per day, should I go lower?
I’m 22kg overweight, and I’ve been trying to lose weight. I’ve been on just under 900 calories per day for about 4 days, and already I’ve felt a difference. Should I stay eating this way? (I’ve been on 1,200 for about half a year, and I haven’t noticed anything). I am also doing some exercise.
June 5th, 2010 at 10:12 am
Women are supposed to take in 1500 to 2000 calories a day, so perhaps you should stick with 1200 to avoid getting ill. Try doing more exercise, more regularly instead?
June 5th, 2010 at 11:05 am
IF you had been eating 1,200 calories a day for the last 6 months WITH exercise at least 3-5 times a week you would have lost the weight. some things may have more calories in them than you realise, unless you weigh everything out and cook it yourself you’ll never have more than a good guess at what you’ve actually eaten. if you cut down to 900 you will make yourself ill. you need to look again at what you are eating. maybe join an online weight loss group that can give you some good tips and advice.
June 5th, 2010 at 11:35 am
No, you should just increase your activity level. Going under 1200 calories can become very unhealthy.
June 5th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
You should be exercising for around an hour a day, and you should be eating around 1700 calories. Anything less and your body starts to store fat instead of burning it, you just lose muscle mass.
Stop eating refined white carbs, ie potatoes, white rice, white pasta. Eat loads of fruit/veg. Snack on nuts.
So if you want to lose weight, eat a typical meal like this;
Breakfast = Eggs, wholemeal toast, fruit
Snack = Nuts, Fruit
Lunch = Large Salad with prawns, lean chicken, tuna or tofu with pitta bread, and a piece of fruit
Snack = Glass of fruit juice, babybel, lean chicken strips
Dinner = Lean meat, for example; homemade lean mince chilli, served with brown rice, or skinless chicken breast with sweet potato mash and lots of vegetables. Fruit or low fat yogurt for desert.
Drink lots of water too and cut out caffine.
Exercise in short, fast paced bursts. A 30 minute high impact cardio workout, such as a fitness dvd or look on fitness tv on sky for some great workouts. Walk as much as you can. Try and do some strength training, lift hand weights when watching tv in the evening, do the youtube ‘8 minute Abs’ video.
People dont realise if you want to be really healthy and lose weight you need to eat the right fuel for your body, exercise for around an hour a day and the weight will drop off.
Good Luck.
June 5th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Eating 900 calories a day is very dangerous. Bare in mind that what you eat essentially becomes you. The analogy that some people use of the motor car with food being the fuel, is inaccurate since cars are not made from petrol. Scientific research shows that if you have less than a 1000 calories a day your body will start to shut down, your immune system be afffected, meaning that you can’t fight off infections as easily, your periods will be irregular and after a prolonged diet and weight loss you will start to develop a fine layer of hair covering your entire body, which is called down and features commonly in severe anorexia. Hardly the way to go just to appear slim. It is far better to be healthy and overweight then slim and sickly.
For some people losing weight is a slow process unfortunately so my advice is to continue with your current diet, increase the amount of exercise if necessary – and wait for the weight to come off slowly. Don’t try too much, too fast. This way is better because your gains (or losses) will be more permanent.
November 2nd, 2010 at 7:40 am
There is no scientific evidence that exercise in itself reduces weight. Try looking for it.
You can eat 400 calories a day providing you maintain enough protein intake (70g ?) to avoid muscle loss and get the necessary minerals and vitamins through a range of foods perhaps with supplements.
I’m not saying you should go that low, but if you’re eating 1200 and not losing then go for less than you’re eating now.
There’s a lot of tripe in the answers here – what role does orange juice have in dieting ? it’s a sugar solution !