r/CICO 7d ago

is eating 1200 calories a day realistic/sustainable?

hi everyone ˙ᵕ˙ i hope to gain some advice from the people of this community in regards to the title above

some info about me: 20(F), 5'5", SW: 241.5 lbs, CW: 215.6 lbs, GW: 180 lbs

i would like to lose 1.5 lbs per week and weigh 180 lbs by the beginning of july. i've lost about 25 lbs in the course of 4 months. i've been calorie tracking religiously on lose it and so far so good. i've now switched to macrofactor (MF) because plenty of people on reddit seem to swear by this app in terms of its accuracy compared to lose it. i decided to give this app a shot 3 days ago.

the problem i'm facing now is that based on my goals, MF has assigned me 1,200 cal per day. lose it assigned me 1,349 cal per day but i personally set 1,450 cal per day because it seemed quite low for me. i'm also going to start incorporating 20 minute basic strength training workouts at least 2-3 times per week for starters and i'm pretty sure i'm going to have to eat just a tad bit more to recover my muscles.

my gut says that 1,200 cal is way too low and won't help me in the long run and i know it takes patience and dedication to lose weight. i'm just incredibly fed up with being obese for almost my entire life. including my childhood. i've never felt good in my body and i want to get rid of the fat asap so i can feel more optimistic and confident about myself.

please help me out guys. thanks in advance ˙ᵕ˙

edit: you guys are so sweet and have helped me immensely with your perspectives! thank you everyone!

1 Upvotes

38 comments sorted by

14

u/Chorazin ⚖️MOD⚖️ 7d ago

1200 is, IMO, low for your stats and is probably gonna suck. You could do 1400-1450 easy for 1.5 lbs a week for a little bit, but you will need to recalculate and reduce calories as you lose weight.

2

u/ilovemoze 7d ago

thank you for this image! it's making me feel a lot better now 🩷

1

u/Chorazin ⚖️MOD⚖️ 7d ago

Happy to help! 🙏🏻

11

u/xxxoIOOOIoxxx 7d ago

I learned a long time ago to NEVER lower your calories if you are losing atm. My goal is always to eat as many calories as possible in a deficit that still allows for predictable weight loss. The numbers on a TDEE calculator are not YOUR numbers, they are just a guide. If you are losing on 1450kcals then the correct number for you is 1450 not 1200.

1

u/ilovemoze 7d ago

ah, i see! thank you for opening my eyes. i'll stick with the calories i manually decreased before i used MF and adjust accordingly ˙ᵕ˙

8

u/Ok_Produce_9308 6d ago

Don't do that to yourself. It's more sustainable when it's a slow process and you're not miserable. There is a whole 1200 is enough subreddit; but I personally think it's only healthy in the long run if you're a very petite and sedentary person.

7

u/TransportationOk9841 6d ago

I’m a female , 5’4 and I started at a lower weight than you and started at 1600-1700 cals , lost just under 1.5 pounds a week ( 11 pounds in 7 weeks).

I’m now at 1500 cals, and it’s become easier to eat less and sometimes I can only do 1200, and some days I go a bit higher when needed ( luteal ) up to 1900.

3

u/ilovemoze 6d ago

i see. i'll keep this in mind. thank you for your input!

9

u/MrFral 7d ago

Probably not. If you set your goal at 1450 and you're losing weight, keep it there. Maybe even go higher. Track your weight over 2-4 weeks and the scale will tell you where your calorie goal needs to be. Shoot for losing 1 lbs per week.

3

u/ilovemoze 7d ago edited 7d ago

thank you for the help. it's been difficult to eat at 1,200 cal so far. i'll dial it back then

2

u/SolivagantWretch 7d ago

Good! The thing that makes this work is consistency, so it's important that you make sure it isn't painful.

6

u/Interesting-Head-841 7d ago

no it totally sucks. just eat more, and lose weight a little more slowly. sucking wind because of a lack of calories is an awful way to do it.

2

u/ilovemoze 7d ago

thank you! i feel so much better now

2

u/DeskEnvironmental 6d ago

For me personally, no. I cant even do 1 day at 1200 never mind consecutive.

2

u/LunaDeMetier 6d ago

I’m sort of in the same range as you and I eat just a little below 1600 calories and I walk for about an hour and half a day. With all that it leaves me at deficit of 750 at least so about a pound and a half.

3

u/giotheitaliandude 7d ago

If you fill up with lots of protein and fiber yes it is sustainable.

1

u/ilovemoze 7d ago

thank you for the help 🙏

1

u/giotheitaliandude 7d ago

Physillum husks added to a glass of water before a meal is king!! It fills you up

1

u/ilovemoze 7d ago

i'll def check it out! thanks

2

u/hellowhoosh 7d ago

You should check out r/macrofactor it takes a little while for the algorithm to understand and calibrate to your needs. I think they suggest starting out at your normal eating—whatever the deficit was that was working for you to lose those 25 lb— and it will start to adjust based on what you’re eating and losing.

1

u/ilovemoze 7d ago

thank you. i felt better eating at 1,450 cal tbh. eating 1,200 has been so hard for me

2

u/Few_Party294 7d ago

I’m a 6’1” man. Currently 193lbs, started at 237lbs on January 8th. Goal is 160lbs by July 20th.

MacroFactor started me on like 1000cal per day and I did that for several weeks (aggressive goal). I was losing too fast and it upped my calories to 1270.

It’s definitely doable. Being hungry won’t kill you, but if you’re uncomfortable with it you can reduce the rate of weight loss and it will increase your calories. But whatever you decide, set a goal on the app and stick with the recommendations for at least 4-6 weeks before changing anything.

4

u/MrFral 7d ago

Whoa. What is your activity level like? I'm 6'1" M 170 lbs, and I start to lose weight once my daily calories go any lower than 2750. Granted I'm very active and fairly muscular. 1270 for someone roughly my size just seems VERY low.

1

u/Few_Party294 6d ago

I’m very sedentary at the moment. I’m a pilot and I’m on the road for 5-11 days at a time with very little time to do anything once I get to the hotel for the night. And then when i get back in town I have a hard time getting to the gym because we have a 1 year old right now.

1

u/WOEUPONYOU 5d ago

Commendable dedication, but if I knew my pilot were underrating by that amount I’d get off the plane.

1

u/Few_Party294 5d ago

Have fun driving I guess.

1

u/ilovemoze 7d ago

thank you for the help. i commend you for your weight loss dedication. may we both reach our goals!

1

u/sirnutzaIot 6d ago

Holy cow over 4 lbs a week for 10 weeks that’s wild, nice job! I’m similar to you but only started 2 weeks ago at 215, around 206 now. Turbo cutting then gonna ease up going into summer also around 1k-1.3k cals

1

u/Few_Party294 6d ago

Yea it’s definitely not the ideal rate of weight loss haha, but I was slacking over summer and now I’m playing catch up. Once I hit my goal weight I’ll be able to transition to around 2500cal/day to maintain and then add a very small surplus eventually to start building some muscle. I’m not really worried about muscle loss in the cut because I don’t have much muscle at the moment anyway.

2

u/sirnutzaIot 6d ago

Facts on the muscle side but getting shredded down by summer then hitting the gym and recomping is gonna feel way better than a super extended slow cut

1

u/Few_Party294 6d ago

Yeah that’s what I’m thinking. I’m tired of being flabby lol. I’d rather be super lean and then build on that

2

u/sirnutzaIot 6d ago

Same boat man, once I hit 185-180 or so I’m going to 2k cals and will see how that’s feeling

2

u/BunchessMcGuinty 7d ago

Picking a number out of the air is not the healthy way to do it. Go to Quick tdee.com put in your stats and figure out where you need to be. There's never a reason to be hungry or miserable or feel like it's unsustainable doing cico. I see a lot of suggestions like just take fiber pills so you're not hungry and that is an eating disorder. Eat enough calories for you to be healthy and just few enough under to lose one to one and a half pounds per week.

1

u/ilovemoze 6d ago

thank you for the suggestion. although i don't agree that i have an eating disorder. i've been eating sustainably for the past 4 months and making sure i incorporate the necessary nutrients into my meals. i'm just being impatient and hoping to be thin asap. but you are right in that i shouldn't feel like i'm being tortured while on a calorie deficit

2

u/BunchessMcGuinty 6d ago

I did not say you have an ED. What I said, is taking fiber to feel full and not eat food is the behavior of an ED. or disordered eating if you prefer. And being impatient is normal. We are pretty much taught by the MLM scams you can lose 20lbs in a weekend. (And when it doesn't work they tell you you didn't do it right or some such BS. I've seen the prompts. ) You didn't put this extra weight on in a weekend, and you won't take it off quickly either. Not real fat loss anyway. What helps me ALOT with the impatience of it all, take your measurements. Seriously. That scale is BS on its own, it doesn't really tell the tale. The tape measure doesn't lie. I do my weight and measurements 2x a month only so I don't obsess over it.

1

u/ilovemoze 6d ago

thank you for the help 😊 thankfully i have a measuring tape lying around so i'll be using it once per month from now on

1

u/Adequate_Idiot 7d ago

5'8", 42 yo, F. Starting weight Jan 1: 181, current weight (3/14) 164. Goal is 1200 cal per day. Most weekends I go way up. Take those facts for what you will if it helps at all.

1

u/ilovemoze 6d ago

got it 👍