Is 1200 calories a day enough to lose weight?
The 1200 calorie diet is aimed at women. Men’s bodies require a higher calorie intake. This means that a typical woman can eat between 1200 and 1500 calories a day to lose weight. A typical male body requires around 1500 to 1800 calories a day to lose weight.
On a daily diet of 1,200 calories, almost everyone loses weight. By calculating your daily calorie goal, you can take a closer look at what your calorie content should be to set yourself up for successful weight loss. This simple calculation gives you a daily calorie goal that can help you lose a healthy 1 to 2 pounds per week. In the commercial weight loss study mentioned above, researchers observed that rapid weight loss in the first 3 months was associated with greater weight gain during the 9-month weight loss maintenance phase in all three diet groups (.
While a 1,200-calorie diet may be appropriate in certain situations in the short term, 1,200 calories is far too few for the majority of adults. And although you may experience rapid weight loss initially if you drastically reduce your calorie intake, studies show that low-calorie diets rarely help keep the weight off for good (4,. Often, healthcare providers and people who want to lose weight choose diets based on how quickly they can get the results they want, without considering the long-term health consequences of excessive calorie restriction. If you can’t weigh them, avoid eating them altogether until you reach your weight loss goal.
That’s why it’s important to choose a calorie deficit that isn’t too big and difficult to maintain. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) offers menu plans and other information about which foods to choose on a 1,200-calorie diet. Large calorie deficits not only lead to unfavorable changes that make it difficult to maintain weight loss, but can also significantly affect your emotional well-being. In another study involving 57 overweight or obese people, it was found that after a 5-week or 12-week diet with very 500 calories or a low 1,250 calorie diet, study participants regained 50% of the weight they had lost over 10 months (.
You must repeat this for weeks in a row to see changes in your body weight, which translate into physical changes in your body. People on a 1,200-calorie diet must eat nutrient-rich foods to avoid feelings of hunger and prevent malnutrition. Regardless of which weight-loss plan a person chooses, it’s important to choose a diet and exercise program that they can manage for the rest of their life. If your weight stays the same and your waist circumference drops, it’s a sign that you’re making progress in losing fat.
As long as you stick to your calorie requirements during the break, you won’t regain weight. You can’t lose weight on 1200 calories a day because you lack the progress you’re actually making. This is because low-calorie diets trigger metabolic changes that conserve energy and prevent weight loss, including increased appetite, loss of lean body mass and a decrease in the number of calories burned, all of which make long-term weight maintenance difficult (9, 10, 1).
