STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

wetbandit42 · Marc Jacobs

1200 Calories... All you can eat to lose weight?

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

There's no one correct number for everybody...it depends on your calorie needs. Basically you just need to be eating less than you expend. There are all sorts of ways to figure that out, but unfortunately I don't have my calculation sheet handy. But you should be able to find calculators online. Anywho, 1200 calories would definitely be a defecit, but that seems really low. Do you do a lot of working out? The nutrition coach for my triathlon team told us that at our level of activity (6 workouts a week, between 1 hour to 3 hours each) we should only consider a defecit of 300 calories at most if we're considering losing weight.

blubirde · Chanel

Your doctor may be right about 1200 calories for you personally but she's not right if she's saying that's all anyone can eat. It's like gingembre said, it's personal to each person. If you consume 2000 calories a day and maintain (hard to imagine but it's true for some people), you would need to cut 3500 (I think that's right) calories a week to lose 1 pound of fat a week. Divide that by 7 and you'd need to cut out 500 calories a day (or burn 500 calories a day). That leaves you with 1500 calories a day, net. If you consume 1800 calories on a regular basis, that leaves you with 1300 net. See? It varies by intake amount, not some kind of set number.

Spark People has a great calculator for a calorie goal each day. You put in your weight, how much you want to lose, when you want to lose it by, and what exercise you plan on doing. It tells you how many calories you need to burn working out and how many you need to ingest each day to get to your goal weight by your goal date.

wetbandit42 · Marc Jacobs

Thanks so much for the info! I am going to check out that SparkPeople website right now.

Gigembre, no I do not work out a lot.

Drew · Gucci

I promise you that if you include cardio exercise and weight bearing exercise into your weight loss plan you will see much better results than just dieting alone, plus the health benefits of exercise even outweigh the benefits of being at a healthy weight.

carmenb513 · Coach

uh oh......My trainer has me on 1000. I don't feel like I'm starving myself. 300 cal is in protein. I'm always hungry, but I think that will never change..........I always have to be munching on something. ALWAYS. I keep snacks handy and they are always portioned..........22 lbs down 10 to go!

-- Edited by carmenb513 at 03:18, 2007-09-01

bloomie · Marc Jacobs

I am on a 1000 - 1100 calorie/day diet. I am also drinking between 50 - 67 oz of water per day and have cut down on diet sodas. That is helping with the hunger. It is hard but you get used to it.

Kitty · Hermes

Holy crap...1000 calories!? I know it's different for everyone, but that seems really low to me.

I saw a nutritionist who told me not to ever go under 1500 calories or I would seriously eff up my metabolism.

carmenb513 · Coach

bloomie wrote:

I am on a 1000 - 1100 calorie/day diet. I am also drinking between 50 - 67 oz of water per day and have cut down on diet sodas. That is helping with the hunger. It is hard but you get used to it.

SAME HERE!

I just nibble on carrots and stuff in between. About the hunger thing it's not even that I consume btw 1000- 1100 cals. I just have always been that way...always damn snackin'!
Hey I'm down 22 pounds since May without being on a Nicole Richie starvation diet. I do workout 5x a week. One of those days is spinning, the other with my trainer, and then I do cardio after our session.

-- Edited by carmenb513 at 23:26, 2007-09-01

needsfashionadvice · Kate Spade

Yikes 1000? I thought you weren't ever supposed to go below 1200, especially if you're exercising. That's an incredible weight loss though Carmen, way too go! You must be very dedicated!

I guess if you eat lots of veggies, it's possible to not feel hungry while only eating that small amount of calories.

Elle · Hermes

I seriously messed up my metabolism in high school (I was eating maybe 700? 800? calories, and working out for 3-4 hours a day), and am currently paying for it with hypoglycemia that may soon require the use of a blood sugar monitor to control. Now I could probably get by on 1,200 a day, but I don't know that I'd be able to walk very far without getting dizzy, much less take a freaking spinning class! Makes it much harder to lose weight now, because I can't just not eat - it's either eat or pass out!

So, um, don't do what I did! IMO anything under 1,000 calories a day is seriously, seriously pushing it. Trainers aren't necessarily qualified to be giving nutrition info anyway, especially not such extreme advice. Unfortunately many nutritionists aren't much better, and you have to watch out for the ones that project their own weight/food neuroses on you. You'd likely get pretty accurate calculations by doing your own research to determine how much you need to eat/exercise to lose a reasonable amount without putting your health in jeopardy down the line.

Kelly · Hermes

wow, all of these sound really low. The lowest I've heard of is a 1500 calorie diet, I think. I couldn't ever do that! But I would seriously worry about anything hovering around 1000...that's half of the standard!

carmenb513 · Coach

ttara123 wrote:

wow, all of these sound really low. The lowest I've heard of is a 1500 calorie diet, I think. I couldn't ever do that! But I would seriously worry about anything hovering around 1000...that's half of the standard!

True except my trainer and others tell me that a 2,000 cal diet is for a man.

I don't want to looka lika man (in the voice of miss swann- mad tv)

wetbandit42 · Marc Jacobs

Woah, I can't even stick to the 1200 calories, so I can't even imagine the dedication you ladies on a 1000 calorie diet must show!

I don't think I could ever go that low or I'd probably faint!

Elle · Hermes

carmenb513 wrote:

ttara123 wrote:

wow, all of these sound really low. The lowest I've heard of is a 1500 calorie diet, I think. I couldn't ever do that! But I would seriously worry about anything hovering around 1000...that's half of the standard!

True except my trainer and others tell me that a 2,000 cal diet is for a man.

I don't want to looka lika man (in the voice of miss swann- mad tv)

Not true! Women in general would need to be more active to require 2000 calories than a man would, but that's really beside the point. All that matters is calories in vs. calories out.

carmenb513 · Coach

exactly....so I would never be that active to require a 2,000 cal diet.eeeeekkkkk I'm at the gym enough as it is!

Anyway I'm keeping at my cal intake for about another month then will increase to about 1400. I don't want to lose my curves in the process......Ok call me weird but if I get a flat booty I will be REALLY SAD. lol.