I shed roughly 40 pounds through intermittent fasting. With 30 pounds to go, I’ve been considering weekly two-day water fasts, but nonetheless, I’ve never worked out how to sustain my body with only 1200 calories. Do average people excel at this?
As an experienced fitness coach, I can attest that knowing the idea of Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and its consequences for weight loss is critical. BMR is the amount of energy required by your body to perform basic processes such as breathing, blood circulation, and cell formation while at rest.
If your BMR is 1,200 calories, your body need at least this many calories each day to function effectively. However, this does not account for the additional calories burned through physical activity, which also contributes significantly to your overall energy expenditure.
Calories in/Calories out is a losing battle. If you reduce your calorie intake and do nothing else nutritionally, your body will adapt. Cut them by 500? Your BMR will shortly drop to 1060.
You will be hungry. Lethargic. As you eat, your insulin levels rise, converting any calories above 1060 into fat.
And you’ll fail. Oh, yes, you will lose weight. You will keep it off for a month. Three months. 6. Perhaps one year. Perhaps even more. But it keeps coming back.
It appears that you are unclear about several words; maybe, exploring them together can clarify things up.
The BMR is the amount of energy required to function in a day, if you did nothing but exist. So 1600 is all you need to survive!
If you consume less than 1600 calories, you will feel OK for the first week or so, but then you will lose all energy and feel dreadful [been there, done that!]. Plus, at 13, you’re still growing, which requires all of your energy!
The lowest I went and was fine with was 700; I lost a lot of weight and wasn’t hungry, but I knew I wasn’t sustaining myself. I was simply unwell.
700 calories for several months. 5 10 is now 180 something.
Ridiculous. Do not go any lower.
Stick with 1600 and train more (cardio).
Otherwise, you’ll be the biggest grouch of the day and feel like it.
Great progress! 1200 calories can be difficult to maintain. Many people thrive with 1600, focussing on nutrient-dense foods. Keep discovering what works best for you!
I’m 27 years old, 5 feet 5 inches, and I go to the gym 4-5 days a week for weight training, cardio, and 10K steps per day, limiting myself to less than 1000 calories per day and one cheat meal per week. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone, but it works for me, and I weigh 60.8K. Have extremely high energy levels and overall excellent health.
1200 for me. How long did you do intermittent fasting to drop 40 pounds?
800 appears to be the lowest I can go long term, but only barely, and I’d endure a lot of delirium, cognitive fog, and violent outbursts doing so.
I do fine at 1300-1500, but I don’t think it’s fair not to note that I take Adderall and consume a lot of coffee. They are appetite suppressants. I also work a lot, drive for two hours, and spend a lot of time with my child in the evenings, so I haven’t had much free time to eat and snack, which helps.
I’m not doing the exact same amount every day, so I can give myself some leeway. But it’s normally between 1200 and 1400. My maximum is 1500; I never exceed it. But I try to consume as few as possible. Sometimes I can get to 1100 and accomplish it.
I unintentionally did something like 1000 times, but that wasn’t good for me. I’m exclusively breastfeeding, weigh 173 pounds with a goal of 153, and eat between 1700 and 1800 calories each day.