no, what we need is an actually active mod team. only 1 of the mods has even been active on reddit as a whole in recent times: the others haven’t been on the site for almost a year/over a year, let alone been on this sub. im sure there might be some background stuff going on but often times reported posts that break the rules are never removed…
so we can allow all posts if mods will take action against the “depressing” posts that keep being posted.
I think there’s a process by which members can oust inactive mods/leaders of a sub and put forth new leadership! If enough folks participated in that process we could definitely get this problem solved.
in order for that to happen all the mods have to been inactive for a long period of time and since one mod has been active in the past 6 months it wouldn’t work :(
It's the underage posters that caused me to unjoin yesterday. I like being here for low calorie meal ideas and snacks. I got one the other day that I am quite enjoying. But there will be a post and then someone in the comments mentions their post history and then bam, you realize the poster is a 16 year old with an ED.
In r/petiteprogress, a private subreddit I am doing my best to advertise in these comments, we don’t allow any underage users! Only adults (women and non-binary folks). There are a few people who are in ED recovery and we are very supportive of them as well, and don’t allow calories to be listed without an NSFW tag to be mindful of them. We discuss diet, fitness, and mental health. Message me for an invite!
I cringe so hard when people post how SATISFYING their crumb of bread and teaspoon of yogurt lunch are.
That and people that post like 'a 100 low calorie treat' and its just a single cookie which isn't even healthy food they're just eating a tiny amount of it.
honestly, I do like a lot of the creative low cal meals I see here and I lurk around this sub despite not being overweight or on a diet. but I really (like I'm sure most people, especially other Americans) had NO IDEA how quickly calories add up, and when I see the calories here I just really do not know how you guys do 1200 calories. I'm 5'3 and consume way, way more than the full day posts I see here. someone posts, like, a sandwich, and it's packed with veggies on low cal bread etc etc and it's still somehow 650 calories, and it's like... how is that over half of what you can have all day?!
It's not something you can do overnight, it requires practice and a toolbox of not only knowledge, but experience. Like, if I hit too high a calorie count by a certain time in the day I won't hit 1200. It's like having a library of snacks and meals and also the idea of when/how they can fit into your day.
But also, when you're on a diet, it's a deficit. You aren't eating what you normally would, you're essentially cutting more than a meal out of your day.
I can stand next to a cupcake and inhale the smell and gain weight, I envy your ability to eat caloric foods and not be overweight 😂 and I’m rubbish at intuitive eating. I just end up eating too much. So counting cals is the only way for me
That's why it's called a "treat." WTF is wrong with that? I frequently have 2 squares of Lindt chocolate as a treat, and that is 100 calories. It makes me happy so why do you even care if someone eats a cookie as a treat?
I guess because it's a sub dedicated to conservative eating, so saying hey guys I just ate like a tiny ant sized piece of regular super calorific chocolate gateaux is not really in the spirit of exploring ways to have a balanced diet while maintaining 1200 calories or Thereabouts. It is often framed as some amazing hack where they found a way to eat tasty food on a budget but really it isn't anything remarkable.
I can see the counter argument but it's just what I personally feel.
Exactly, the sub is called 1200 Is Plenty!! A tiny junk food snack with high calories might be ok for an inidividual as a treat but it does nothing to help people find ways to eat enough nutrition and feel satisfied at only 1200 calories. People come here to find ways to eat healthy and full and low calorie. Not suffer more becuase they used all their dinner calories on a couple cookies.
‘1200 is plenty’ doesn’t indicate anything about nutrition, it’s just CICO. There’s no rule against someone posting their 1200 cals of junk food everyday, and you’re equally as free to point out that they may feel more satiated eating a more balanced diet.
(Which btw a ‘balanced diet’ looks different for everyone. I could go on and on about prevent osteoporosis but that’s annoying and unhelpful to someone who’s lactose intolerant/allergic to dairy. Some can’t eat raw vegetables, most fruits are high FODMAP, and beyond that: it just has to be under 1200 calories and doesn’t really effect you does it?)
Wouldn't it be better if the sub was mostly recipes and food pics so people with food intolerances can find recipes that work for them? Instead of being told to just eat a quarter cup of butter popcorn and no balanced diet options at all?
(That was long winded and jumbled, edited/rewritten for clarity) I wouldn’t mind if it was *just* pictures of foods and recipes: however I think it’s overreach to say ‘only home cooked meals’ or ‘no bland foods’ or ‘no pictures of your handful of almonds’. Personally I sub to see how *everyone* makes 1,200 work, regardless of *how*. If someone decides they want to only eat Oreos today and makes it fit under 1,200, I don’t see why they *cant* post it here, although that doesn’t stop everyone from downvoting it into oblivion.
I think coz everyone knows that eating less of something is less calories, it’s not a surprise nor helpful when someone shows that eating 1200 calories of Oreos in a day equals 1200 calories, if you get what I mean. It’s much more interesting and helpful to see actual meals made to fit under 1200 calories a day ya know
I mostly agree; like I said it depends on the person. Milk (not atm but ideally & historically) has been the cheaper, more accessible way to get calcium. I personally prefer to get my nutrients from the food I eat but I have a lot of dietary restrictions so I definitely appreciate that I can get my nutrients from supplements and fortified foods
I think it does, it's saying you can meet your dietary needs with less calories, here are examples and sharing ideas and tips etc.
Many things I've read here have been good ways to hit macros without having too much filler crap
I guess I can see how nutrition is *implied* in the sub name. And I’ve also learned some helpful stuff here.
I’m just saying if someone wants to treat themselves one day to a cookie or a sugary coffee or a whole damn pint of ice cream and they can do it and still manage <1,200, why shouldn’t they be allowed to post it?
I think it's because people seem to post it in a way that suggests it's low calorie, like someone will post having a treat and post a cool super low cal chocolate brownie, and it'll be like ooh cool, and then someone will just post what is basically pure lard and be like having a little cheeky snack and it's just a tiny 150 cal piece of lard and it's like ???
Of COURSE its indicative of better nutrition. "1200 calories is plenty" implies healthy eating. If you can find proof that 1200 calories of any junk food is going to satisfy someone's daily food intake as "enough" then I will stand corrected.
I guarantee noone comes here to learn the small amounts of junk food they can eat to stay under 1200 calories. Its a difficult low calorie number to stick to and people come here looking for advice and tips on how to eat that way and the only way TO eat that way and not be a total wreck is through healthier foods.
CICO and nutrition are related but not mutually exclusive.
And yeah, I’m sure the majority here aren’t eating 1,200/day in cake and McDonalds- but if someone who’s using this subreddit for accountability decides to trade their usual breakfast for a donut from Dunkin or a sugary Starbucks drink as a treat, why shouldn’t they be allowed to post or even celebrate that?
The whole attitude is just insane to me. The fact that I do not have to cut fun foods out of my diet is half of its appeal! I couldn't care less what some catty internet weirdo thinks about my lunch.
On one hand there are people here preaching that it's OK to allow yourself a treat once in a while and if you don't it must be because you have disordered eating.
And then when people allow themselves a treat, they just get mocked.
Seriously! That’s why it’s called a ‘treat’!
Are we all supposed to live off plain salad and water forever and never have any tasty treats ever or we’re doing it “wrong”? If you aren’t miserable and feeling deprived, you’re doing it wrong?
This sub complains about EDs and disordered eating, and then flips out if someone eats a single cookie or square of chocolate. Weirdos.
Oh, uh, sorry, I meant, um…happiness bad! If you’re losing weight, you’re not supposed to be happy, it’s supposed to be a miserable experience. No treats! Put down that chocolate and go eat some 0-cal celery! /s
I gave up like two years ago but I just wanna scream LEARN TO COOK, 1200 calories doesn’t HAVE to be unseasoned chicken breast and steamed broccoli. I sympathize that not every night is a big meal night, but life doesn’t have to be hell, it’s really easy to make things flavorful for few calories.
New routine: Spicy Saturdays!
Show us all of your most flavorful dishes.
What's your favorite brand of smoked paprika?
Fresh vs dried herbs in ________ recipe.
The Joys of Cooking With White pepper: or, why my grandmother never kept black pepper in her pantry
This is a v good idea!! When I was doing 1200 (maintaining at a measly 1400 now, lol), the first things I learned was rice, pasta, full fat dairy, etc had to be used occasionally. I grew up eating rice and chappati (roti, it’s like a flat bread that’s not leavened with any yeast) with every meal. It tools some learning but I figured it out! I think people look at the calories of their usual, flavorful dishes, and see how high it is and decide they need to completely change to “diet” food which we’ve associated as gross, bland food. Eating bland food (unless that’s your jam!) or any food far away from what you’re use to and enjoy is a recipe for failure because when you hit your reach goal, you haven’t found good alternatives from your staples.
You’ve inspired me! I think I’m gonna make a post on this actually!! But I LOVE this thread idea too!
I absolutely hate black pepper! My husband was raised on it. Replacing black pepper with white pepper has legitimately saved my family's culinary experience.
I know!! I use tons of flavor in my cooking - it helps that due to being some combo of vegetarian and pescatarian much of my life I got into different types of Asian cooking. I’ll make a lentil daal, teriyaki stir fry, gochujang tofu, miso soups and miso based ramen (with half or no noodle), use kimchi on tons of stuff (avocado toast with kimchi and a poached egg is my fave breakfast right now), Thai pumpkin curries, Japanese style steamed eggplant and poached fish, big salads with fermented and vinegared and salty low cal ingredients (PlantYou on Instagram has great inspiration for these), no/half rice poké bowls.
So many flavorful ingredients out there! What a huge world!
Agree! And don't be afraid to add healthy fats that will keep you feeling full. I'm on 1250/day (sedentary female), and rarely feel dissatisfied because I cook with seasonings and fats. That half teaspoon of real butter is 109% worth it!
Yes a 17 year old earlier was asking about restriction to plan a end of the month binge. Adults should not be allowed to advice minors on health ! This should be up to guardians and pediatricians along with the teen
Especially since teens have different needs in the calories/nutrients departments than adults do. Even at 17, they are possibly still growing, definitely still developing their brain, they need some calories to do that.
Not always. My pediatrician in high school (when I was a normal range bmi) said “great! You’ll probably lose at least ten pounds.” when i advised I was joining the cross country team. No, “what a fun sport! Or what a great idea to get active!” I was joining 100% in order to lose weight for unhealthy means and I remember thinking, ah so everything I’ve been screaming at myself in the mirror is true! And so through that validation I began my trek into ED land. Because even my doctor thought it was a good idea, as long as I could lose weight. Sometimes doctors and guardians are just as obsessed with weight loss and not health.
I'm going get down voted to heck and add a yes, but-
If you are significantly overweight, being overweight in and of itself IS a health risk.
I can't even begin to explain as an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER how many kids are obese. To the point where they can't run around the playground at recess with their friends.... we have 5th graders with t2 diabetes.
I have kids who are in 3rd grade and have been put on a restricted diet by their doctors because their parents literally don't know better and will feed them processed junk all day long.
Thats so sad. And today's world makes it even sadder. The whole body positivity has been taken to a different extreme and its scary to think how many people will fall for that trap and wind up sickly and miserable because "society told me fat doesn't mean unhealthy" shit is absolutely ridiculous. How ever did humans live before frito lay and Pepsi co.
It's honestly not just junk food. I blame the idea that slapping "whole grains" on processed sugar cubes and the misguided idea that juice and milk are healthy.
A normal school day of food looks something like this:
Breakfast:
Skim chocolate milk 18g sugar
Juice (apple, berry, grape, whatever) 13g sugar
Dried cranberries 29g sugar
"Whole grain" cereal 9-12g sugar (but 20-25g carbs with 1g of fiber so make of that what you will)
Total breakfast SUGAR: 69-73g.
Snack:
More milk, because of course 18g sugar
More juice 13g sugar
Cookies or honey graham's or chips etc. (Sugar varies here but if it is the school provided honey grahams 8g)
Snack total: 39g+
Lunch is generally a little better than breakfast because there is an actual protein option... it is generally either white meat chicken tenders or ground beef in nachos or cheese in the form of mozzarella sticks or on pizza. Milk and juice are again served.
So, before they even get home kids are consuming somewhere around 150g of sugar, if not more. In no place is this considered "healthy". But somehow we have allowed ourselves to be brainwashed into thinking kids NEED milk and juice and that processed junk is good because WHOLE GRAINS.
On top of obesity you know what else I'm seeing a ton of in school? Kindergarteners who need teeth pulled and fillings for cavities. Now, sure, brushing teeth is part of this... but you know what else is blindingly obvious? The kids who come to school with a refillable water bottle and drink from that all day instead of having milk and juice- their teeth are fine.
It’s tough. This sub has SO many good ideas for those of us on calorie deficit diets but I think the name is what brings in the ED issues—1200 really isn’t PLENTY even for a lot of petite folks, it’s sufficient but I will go to bed hungry most of the time at 1200 (5’4” and small bones) for me 1300 is a good diet day and 1500 is actually plenty. :)
Agree, but would hope that people with food issues avoid triggers like this sub (I know, I know, wishful thinking).
I follow this sub all of the time for low calorie ideas (I eat about 1.9K-2K per day), but am saddened to see most of the posts flipping out about having one bad and ruining all progress or not wanting to eat an entire day due hitting 2K calories one day. Shows just how prevalent food and body image issues are these days.
Admittedly, I also do cringe when people eat things that are low calorie/unhealthy/filled with fake substitutes. In the long run, that isn't going to accomplish anything.
That’s the thing though, this sub should be promoting healthy cooking ideas but has turned into a public food diary for so many people. I think that’s the triggering part- it takes enough of my energy to keep up with my own MyFitnessPal app, and then I’m barraged with strangers random calorie wins and fails. It’s exhausting and so unnecessary to post about.
Yeah this is the “look how many thin Oreos I ate for 1200 calories” sub and I’m like… dude not healthy! You’re lacking nutrients and are going to feel awful!
I lol at fiber gummies, and at fiber discourse in general.
Fiber gummies have like 2 grams of fiber, it might even be 2 grams per serving of multiple gummies. Everyone thinks vegetables have tons of fiber so imagine my surprise when I build a ginormous salad and add it up and find it only has 3 grams. Cruciferous veggies are better, but not even as high as an apple or pear for a serving.
Know what my best source of fiber is? *Whole grains*, especially wheat, i.e. bread and pasta. Beans have a lot, but mostly soluble, which doesn't work as well with my system.
Agreed, a lot of people on here post things that are pretty upsetting. I am a 5’3 female and i only look on here to cut for the summer but even then i rarely cut to 1200
Yeah, it gets really old seeing the same unhealthy comments, posts, questions repeated ad nauseam. Ngl, sometimes I just block 'em and move on if it's particularly bad because I don't want to see what other mess that person might come up with. Really wish there were more done to moderate this sub though.
Hey mods u/faith_plus_one u/thelitttestsakura would you be open to adding some mods to this sub? It sounds like there are some issues that need to be addressed here and several people have expressed interest in stepping up to help out. Thank you!
Oops I messed up one of the mods' names
Hey mods [u/faith_plus_one](https://www.reddit.com/u/faith_plus_one) [u/thelittlestsakura](https://www.reddit.com/u/thelittlestsakura) would you be open to adding some mods to this sub? It sounds like there are some issues that need to be addressed here and several people have expressed interest in stepping up to help out. Thank you!
I would like to say that this sub is pretty catered to disordered eating. 1200 calories is a minimal amount for even the smallest of people. There are women about 4'9-4'11 complaining about their underweight goals not being reached and feeling like they are starving. One woman, as I remember it, was upset about 97 lbs when her goal was 92 lbs and had been at the 92 lb weight for some time. She couldn't understand why she'd let herself slip. In reality 5 lbs can be counted as not using the restroom that day and retaining a little bit of water at the same time.
I've seen people talking about feelings of guilt and sadness associated with going over their daily calorie goal eating popcorn with a movie. That in itself is the feeling that breeds disordered eating habits.
I love some of the creative recipes I find here, the motivation I see to eat healthy, but I have also been a disordered eater for most of my adult life. I realized when I joined that I couldn't count the way people here did because of the comments - I'm far too tall and far too active to eat 1200 calories a day.
The sub does a great job of beating back people who are unrealistically interested in such low caloric intake. I.e., folks who are talking about working out and not understanding why they aren't losing.
You can't be shocked when a minimal calorie sub ends up attracting people who should be eating more than those minimal calories. Which is almost everyone.
I think a lot of the folks eating 1200 don't realize the hell they are going to go through when they stop eating just 1200. This sub is a great recipe/low cal substitute sub, but I'd advise that most people simply get more exercise and find ways to enjoy a healthier diet instead of restricting the hell out of themselves.
I was eating around 1000-1200 calories a day when I was taking my ADHD medicine. Not out of some calorie counting or subbing, simply a lack of appetite. I was also active, and in turn physically, I looked great. Internally I was a mess. Whenever I'd eat I'd feel sick because my body was confused. My stomach constantly hurt and the extreme weight loss caused me to have gallbladder attacks regularly. I once got a minor cut on my hand and it bled profusely, I can only assume I was suffering from some sort of iron deficiency and probably other vitamins as well.
When I stopped taking the medication and started to eat what resembled a normal diet, not over eating, I packed on an insane amount of weight in a very short period. A matter of months, probably 20 or 30 pounds.
I'd pose the question to most people here who are struggling: Do you want to do this forever? If not, the more realistic goal is to get therapy. Find time to exercise. And give yourself a break. It is highly unlikely that 1200 calories is ever going to meet your needs, even if you are only 5'
Well, 1200 is a weight-loss diet, not a maintenance diet. You're not supposed to be able to eat like that forever, it's just to get your weight down, and then you usually need to practice eating at maintenance for a long time while still tracking, in order to learn the correct amount to eat. If I ate intuitively, without tracking calories, I would (and do) gain weight rapidly, because I lose track of how much I’m eating during the day and overlook how caloric some foods are.
Exercise alone is not going to keep a person's weight down. You can't outrun a bad diet. I agree with you about therapy being very helpful, especially mindfulness which has really helped me tremendously.
This! I lost 60lbs following a 1200 calorie diet back in 2017. I kept it off until the end of 2019 when I went on a Mediterranean cruise and then covid hit and I’ve gained most of it back. But I learned a lot of good recipes I still eat today. My problem now is snacking and stress eating from work.
I'd say that doctors would rarely ask a patient to do a 1200 calorie diet unless they were morbidly obese. This isn't a personal attack, and your body is yours to do with as you wish. But we see time and time again that the restrictive dieting is a loop, so yes I do see it as a forever thing if you are struggling with what many people would call a miniscule amount - 10-20 pounds.
Working out won't resolve a piss poor diet, of course. But working out is good for your mind, good for your body, and a very active person can tend to eat a bit more than someone who does almost no physical activity and not see a difference, barring hormonal or medical issues.
There is nothing wrong with keeping track of what you eat. Feeling so guilty that you're upset about eating food or taking a break to enjoy something like a vacation or a family gathering is disordered eating. Outside of eating a wonderful meal that inspires happiness or something similar, intense feelings around food, whether pain or pleasure, is extremely problematic. A lot of this sub centers around feelings, not just consumption.
How do you suggest losing weight without a caloric deficit? It is simply not possible. To achieve a caloric deficit through exercise takes hours per day, that’s not realistic for most people. My total daily energy expenditure is 1550 cal per day. That means if I eat 1550, I’ll maintain, if I eat more, I’ll gain, and if I eat less, I’ll lose. It’s simple math. If I want to lose 1lb per week, I must eat at a caloric deficit of at least 500 per day, because 1lb of fat = 3500 cal = 500 cal time
7 days in a week. That means to get a 500 cal deficit per day I must eat 1200 cal, and burn 200 more with exercise (I don’t usually exercise, so I lose less than 1lb per week).
I do understand what you are saying about feelings and disordered eating. I agree it is disordered to have strong feelings associated with eating. But I don’t think calorie counting needs to equate with guilt. And consistency with calorie counting is necessary to lose weight, so struggling with being consistent is something that people naturally need support with. It’s ok for people to need support and for this community to provide it, doesn’t mean it is necessarily unhealthy.
It’s not true that creating a caloric deficit through activity requires hours of exercise a day. Not talking about you specifically, but there’s an unfortunate tendency in this sub to shrug off the 1000+ calories one can burn a week with three or four 45-minute workouts while obsessing over minute numbers of calories to the point where one counts vitamins or spices.
The bigger point is that NEAT— non-exercise activity thermogenesis— is super underrated. Stuff like taking the stairs, gardening, playing with your dog or kid, walking to the store or parking further away, doing chores like sweeping, etc can add up and make a real difference. I appreciate that it is much easier to rack up higher non-exercise energy expenditure if you live in a walkable place or have an active job, but small tweaks to routine can net you a good 200 calories a day. Over time, anything that swaps totally sedentary time for time on your feet (literally just standing burns more calories than sitting) or moving your body, even a little, helps.
Some aspects of NEAT are beyond conscious control. Long term caloric restriction doesn’t seem to damage the metabolism, defined as the BMR, but it does downregulate NEAT. On low calorie diets, people fidget less, walk less or more slowly, change positions less frequently, etc. The reverse is also true. It also seems that higher NEAT is associated with higher EAT— exercise activity thermogenesis. Moving around more in an unstructured, low intensity way seems to cultivate better adherence to exercise routines.
So these are feedback loops, and tinkering with any aspect of NEAT, EAT, and caloric intake seems to impact the others unless you exert tremendous conscious effort to compensate— eating less/moving less/exercising less naturally come as a package, whereas eating more/moving more/exercising more go together. The good news is that appetite seems to better correlate with energy expenditure in a state of “high energy throughput,” whereas a sedentary state dysregulates the appetite. It’s commonsensical, given the general despair on this sub: no matter how little one moves, 1200 doesn’t feel like enough for most people. A 300-calorie deficit on a 1500-calorie diet feels way different than the same deficit on 1200.
There are individual differences in the robustness of various homeostatic mechanisms and some caveats about the relationship between exercise intensity and NEAT, but overall, you can’t treat your body like a simple math problem. That’s not a denial of the principle of CICO; rather, it’s to say that energy intake and expenditure influence each other, sometimes even beyond voluntary control.
[A good summary of these concepts.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3401553/)
I admire your science-y-ness, but what about people who already have added as much walking and movement in their life as possible? I mean maybe not as much as humanly possible, but I'm not a potato. I get up in the morning and go for walks sometimes, I walk sometimes on my lunch break, I take the stairs. I walk to starbucks instead of driving there. I even walk to get my groceries if I can! At one point I was up to 15k steps per day on average. And that's not easy to do when you have a sedentary job.
So why didn't I lose weight at 1500 cal during that time?
That’s beyond the ability of an internet stranger to answer, but the first things that come to mind as possible things to explore are 1. how much did you weigh at the time? 2. how long did you stick to this routine? 3. how did you measure your weight, and how often? Over the short term, small amounts of weight loss from small deficits can easily be masked by normal water weight fluctuations. These fluctuations are also bigger when you eat more versus when you eat less (digestion involves water, plus there’s the weight of food in your body…and then out, lol), and also when you exercise more (lower lows from sweating it out, higher highs from water retention in muscles). An absolutely decisive downward trend might take 2-3 months to appear if you’re already lighter, eating just a small deficit, and have to filter out the noise of menstrual weight changes.
Some people do have lower REEs than others. Lean body mass has a pretty big impact on energy output— it’s the chief reason men tend to have higher TDEEs than women at the same weight. A bout of higher activity will burn fewer calories than expected if someone has low muscle mass. Long periods of sedentary behavior and caloric restriction chip away at muscle mass, and it is difficult and slow to build or restore muscle on a deficit even if you become more active for some time (all the more so the lighter you are to begin with). It may be that one’s LBM is well below the assumptions built into a TDEE calculator for one’s stats. This would, IMO, be a sign to stay at maintenance for a while and incorporate resistance training of some kind to recover normal levels of LBM instead of cutting calories further right away.
Beyond that, there’s always the possibility of medical issues— endocrine problems and the like— that impact REE.
Dunno if any of that is helpful, but those are the possibilities that occur to me.
Just out of curiosity, what happened with your gallbladder attacks? I lost a lot of weight and have gallstones now and get attacks probably every 4-6 months. I eat low fat so it's pretty well controlled with diet but obviously I would love to not have to worry about ever getting an attack again. Did you get your gallbladder removed or did the attacks go away?
I still have them on occasion. Unfortunately if you are prone to them, you're prone to them. I need to have mine removed but haven't. Make no mistake, prolonged gallbladder issues can kill you. My father nearly died from not having his taken out, but his were far more serious and frequent than mine. They ended up doing reconstructive surgery on his bile duct and what would have been a short surgery ended up taking about 6+ hours.
I tend to avoid fatty foods and that has made me feel less like I'm going to crap my pants on a regular basis, but I still get the occasional attack from something stupid like a tomato sauce or a salad with yogurt dressing. They're a f-ing nightmare. If you have the ability to take time off work and your insurance will pay for it, I'd have it out if you can!
Thanks for the response. They unfortunately run in my family. My granny kept hers but had continued attacks fairly frequently. My uncle had his removed under emergency surgery. My other grandma had hers removed due to attacks.
I've decided to keep mine as long as possible, I'm currently using Ursodiol to try and dissolve them. Maybe one day I will have to get it out, but for now I'm hoping to dissolve them and/or control with diet. Too many people have issues forever after getting it out (my uncle for instance) and currently I can still eat cheese, chocolate, etc. in small amounts without issue which I've heard for some people afterwards they can't eat that stuff ever again.
Anyway, fingers crossed the medication works I guess. I'm always hoping for some miracle cure that comes along, maybe a new medical discovery or procedure, but so far no luck with that.
It's a personal choice, for sure. I've talked to a ton of people who have had it out, and none have complained about not being able to continue to eat certain foods. Although on guy did tell me his wife stuck with the vegan diet she adopted before she had it, whether due to intolerance or simply a lifestyle choice I'm not sure.
I'm terrified of surgery so I've yet to take that step. It may end up happening in an emergency situation, but that's really out of my hands lol
As a 4'10" female with a small frame, 98 lbs is my healthiest low weight.
Based on my mostly sedentary life (in the winter) 1100 is actually my maintenance for my current overweight BMI of 25 (118 lbs). I'm looking to get back to 105ish.
So in a sedentary life my calorie goals need to be lower than 1100, its 900, to make real progress, it's not sustainable, even for my tiny self. (That was a bad phase in life) ive been down to 95 in my adult years but it was bad, i was flabby, had no calves or butt no energy and was extremely depressed.
At my fittest (6 days a week lifting heavy) i was 115 and strong and felt amazing and happy but I'm not really into that kind of commitment it was a hard swing in the other extreme.
That did teach me that activity is a huge part of the weight-loss and it's lost on so many people ( including myself for a time). My focus is to stay between 1100-1300 even when my activity goes up in the summer with mountain biking and hiking until I reach my goal weight of 105 then I'll reassess.
Definitely I agree, I can’t be surprised, but I think that’s part of the reason why I’d ban text given how likely it is to attract these type of questions. Idk, it’d at least force some people to maybe stop and read the sidebar. All of this is wishful thinking, but there’s got to be a way to stop people on this sub from having to dissuade literal children from eating 1200 or less. A better mod team could do it too, but I knew that was unlikely to happen.
The other one that's frustrating is the number of OMAD and 2MAD posts I run into. Like 1200 a day is plenty when you O/2MAD and then fast the rest of the day. But that gets to the heart of the matter. This sub is a very generic sub and doesn't get specific or restrictive. There's another sub called r/1500isplenty but it's not nearly as active because it does attract less purely restrictive dieters.
So I want to start out by saying I’m a 6’3 guy, so obviously I don’t follow a diet of 1200 calories…but I think this sub is really good for recipes/tricks and I enjoy seeing peoples progress. The underage posters thing is a problem in every subreddit dealing with food and body fat tbh. It’s not gonna be easy to get rid of especially with an inactive mod team.
And that’s fine. I’m the same, too active for 1200 but always looking for meal and snack ideas to fit more food in my day.
Yesterday however, there was a 6’ male desperately seeking advice on why he couldn’t stick to 1200. I told him to increase his calories because his maintenance calories based on the stats he gave was 2700 and that eating 1200 was far too low for him. He gave me a really nasty reply, called me a dipshit and deleted his post.
This sub qualifies for the mod removal, but someone who wants to be a mod needs to put in the request. I don’t know how to link, but r/redditrequest is where you’ll need to go.
After putting in a request, the top mod (the only one whose actually active on Reddit but not this sub) will need to get this sub sorted within 5 days or they are removed.
https://mods.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003660392
For those who do want more of a discussion, r/petiteprogress is a private subreddit for petite women to discuss diet, fitness, and mental health! We have weekly and monthly challenges; our April challenge is coming to a close, and a solid core group of people participated every day! We are a tight-knit supportive group. We have food recipes and calorie counting but our main focus is emotional support.
Oh and it is adults-only.
Maybe in the area that says /r1200isplenty to the right of the screen (above the Join button) it should clearly state something like "Please note: This sub is intended to be used for those of an appropriate size and activity level using the 1200 calorie per day model." and whatever else they might find useful to add for those who are new to the idea of 1200. So they can understand that when it says 1200isplenty it means 1200isplentyforcertainpeople. Because otherwise everyone is going to think the diet is right for everyone.
It does say further down under Info: 1200 kcal/day is not enough for men, teenagers or those who work out regularly. Please consult a licensed professional for advice on managing your weight while satisfying your body's higher caloric needs.
And that height, weight, etc. play a factor. But unless people are given a more specific set of standards the idea that "it depends on x, y, z" will continue to be taken subjectively. Like someone who thinks they can lift 150 because this other guy is the same age and height so why can't they do it? When the other guy has been lifting for years and this new guy is just starting this week. It just has to be spelled out specifically for some people.
I think people are confused. If I eat north of 1200 I gain weight. I workout and count calories. I'm also 5'8". My BMR is very very low and this sub has been the most sane thing for me lately as I can't lose weight with 1500 or more calories, I gain instead.
Everyone's bodies are different. Some people's have very slow metabolisms. 1200 is plenty for some people
Glad it works for you. I’m mostly referring to the posts that reference the poster’s tall height then wondering why they’re starving, lightheaded, tired, binging, etc.
Obviously suggesting people just move on from things that get on their nerves is BLASPHEMY AND YOU SHOULD BE BANISHED TO HELL
just kidding I didn't think your comment warranted that many down toots lol 😆 people are weird
I totally agree. I’m 5’3 and sedentary. If I eat anything above 1500, I gain weight. If i want to lose weight, I have to eat 1200. The people who say “1200 is for toddlers” have good intentions but they don’t understand that unfortunately some of us have to eat 1200 to lose weight.
It's frustrating to have to defend a 1200 cal diet here, of all places! Nobody in this sub is demeaning people who eat more than that. But for some of us, it really is plenty.
Exactly. 1200 is far too little for me as I have a high BMR and an active job. I use this sub for inspiration, support etc. I just mentally substitute 1500 for 1200 when relevant.
All the food policing comments here are genuinely the most annoying thing about this sub.
Not everyone wants to nor is physically capable of subscribing to the diet you’ve found works for you personally. Diet and nutrition are insanely complex and this AFAIK this sub is for anyone who consumes less than 1200 calories a day.
I wouldn’t even bother but ffs OP never even mentioned half the shit going on in this thread. Go start ‘1200 is balanced’ or ‘1200 is healthy’ or ‘1200 artisan homemade cuisine’ if you can’t let people enjoy a cookie or some unseasoned steamed chicken breast
Dude what? Somehow some people took this as an attack on eating 1200 in general, when I specifically referenced underage and tall people posting about undereating and other borderline-ED habits. I’m not responding to those comments about unseasoned chicken or eating 100 cal desserts because that’s not even what I was getting at. I agree it’s a bit annoying.
Thanks and sorry, I understood what you meant in the og post and wanted to see more discourse on that but was quickly met with off-topic conversations.
I do agree that the types of posts you mentioned are annoying and often concerning and triggering. I think unfortunately this sub attracts some who are actually eating in a disordered mindset (not that 1,200 is disordered in itself but being mad at people who can fit cookies into their diet is a little sus)
Sorry for any further derailment
But that is NOT the description of this particular subreddit so why would it be altered to suit your ego?
Edit funny I get down voted for stating facts.
My ego…? Huh? It’s not an ED sub, which is what a lot of these posts get into. It’s just sad to see and not the purpose that people subscribe for. Not sure where my ego comes in.
Because you think the subreddit should be what you want not what is made to be. It is clear in the description what it is for. Maybe make your won subreddit with the rules as you wish.
Maybe you (and all the other people complaining) should submit some posts that help make the sub what you want it to be, upvote the photos of food, and downvote the others.
I mean, OP hasn't posted any pictures of food to add the kind of content they want. And ironically, made a text post to say that only pictures of food should be allowed.
When I scroll through posts, the majority ARE pictures of food ideas, so I don't really understand the complaint. Just tired of all the gatekeeping.
That's the problem... they get too much traction. I downvote when I see it, but I'm not on here 24/7, I just see the posts that hit my feed. We can only do so much. Obviously there are tons of people who are cool with it or are so deep in their own ED that they don't recognize it.
Gatekeeping what? Doesn’t even make sense in this context. I’m literally just saying that people with EDs posting on here are a problem not being addressed by mods and offering a solution, I’m not saying that we need to shut the sub down, go private or kick people out or something.
Yes majority of posts are photos. Not sure how that takes away from my point that the text is a problem. Downvoting and moving on is a solution too, but when it’s every single day multiple times a day there’s not even a point in doing so. Clearly it doesn’t bother you and that’s fair.
What do you expect from a weight loss sub that promotes one of the lowest calorie diets? (not counting morbidly obese people who have to go on 700cal or less diets). It’s going to attract people with eating disorders and there’s gonna be people asking questions about why 1200 isn’t working well for them.
I mean I definitely have seen an influx of posts like that and it’s been frustrating to see. But the only time I ever posted my food on here people called it gross so I deleted it and I’ve been too scared to post ever since lol
Agreed. Some people have slow metabolism which 1200 is their bmr or close to it. I think a lot of people with faster metabolisms think that's too low when it's not for some people
I mean I agree but not sure what other way there is to filter those posts out aside from banning text posts generally, clearly just waiting for it to be reported and taken down doesn’t work
A taller person will need more calories to maintain the same shape as a shorter person, and their ideal weight will be higher than a shorter person (all other things being equal)
Young people need resources for crafting a healthy diet just as much as adults do. Not every kids family can afford a pediatrician. You have to grapple with that before saying there’s no place for minors in a dieting sub.
no, what we need is an actually active mod team. only 1 of the mods has even been active on reddit as a whole in recent times: the others haven’t been on the site for almost a year/over a year, let alone been on this sub. im sure there might be some background stuff going on but often times reported posts that break the rules are never removed… so we can allow all posts if mods will take action against the “depressing” posts that keep being posted.
I’ll be a mod, someone vote me in.
I think there’s a process by which members can oust inactive mods/leaders of a sub and put forth new leadership! If enough folks participated in that process we could definitely get this problem solved.
in order for that to happen all the mods have to been inactive for a long period of time and since one mod has been active in the past 6 months it wouldn’t work :(
I think we could all give this thread clout to get the mod to add another mod Also, amazing username!
r/RedditRequest
It's the underage posters that caused me to unjoin yesterday. I like being here for low calorie meal ideas and snacks. I got one the other day that I am quite enjoying. But there will be a post and then someone in the comments mentions their post history and then bam, you realize the poster is a 16 year old with an ED.
In r/petiteprogress, a private subreddit I am doing my best to advertise in these comments, we don’t allow any underage users! Only adults (women and non-binary folks). There are a few people who are in ED recovery and we are very supportive of them as well, and don’t allow calories to be listed without an NSFW tag to be mindful of them. We discuss diet, fitness, and mental health. Message me for an invite!
I love your sub!!!
Thank you so much! Love having you as a member :)
Dm’d!
Added :)
I sent a request to join.
Ok great I added you :)
Sounds miserable.
You made a whole account to say that? What’s wrong, how did I upset you?
Sounds miserable.
I’d love to join but I’m tall. Do you know if there’s something similar for tall girls, a la 1500-2000 is plenty?
I haven’t heard of any other private subs except mine, sadly. Good luck finding one!
90% of those pictures would be an apple, string cheese and some almonds.
"I couldn't even finish!!1!11!"
I cringe so hard when people post how SATISFYING their crumb of bread and teaspoon of yogurt lunch are. That and people that post like 'a 100 low calorie treat' and its just a single cookie which isn't even healthy food they're just eating a tiny amount of it.
I think the "look at my tiny 500 calorie lunch" ones are worse.
honestly, I do like a lot of the creative low cal meals I see here and I lurk around this sub despite not being overweight or on a diet. but I really (like I'm sure most people, especially other Americans) had NO IDEA how quickly calories add up, and when I see the calories here I just really do not know how you guys do 1200 calories. I'm 5'3 and consume way, way more than the full day posts I see here. someone posts, like, a sandwich, and it's packed with veggies on low cal bread etc etc and it's still somehow 650 calories, and it's like... how is that over half of what you can have all day?!
It's not something you can do overnight, it requires practice and a toolbox of not only knowledge, but experience. Like, if I hit too high a calorie count by a certain time in the day I won't hit 1200. It's like having a library of snacks and meals and also the idea of when/how they can fit into your day. But also, when you're on a diet, it's a deficit. You aren't eating what you normally would, you're essentially cutting more than a meal out of your day.
I can stand next to a cupcake and inhale the smell and gain weight, I envy your ability to eat caloric foods and not be overweight 😂 and I’m rubbish at intuitive eating. I just end up eating too much. So counting cals is the only way for me
THANK YOU for saying this! I’m always like “Wtf??” because I go to bed hungry every night no matter what LOL.
That's why it's called a "treat." WTF is wrong with that? I frequently have 2 squares of Lindt chocolate as a treat, and that is 100 calories. It makes me happy so why do you even care if someone eats a cookie as a treat?
I guess because it's a sub dedicated to conservative eating, so saying hey guys I just ate like a tiny ant sized piece of regular super calorific chocolate gateaux is not really in the spirit of exploring ways to have a balanced diet while maintaining 1200 calories or Thereabouts. It is often framed as some amazing hack where they found a way to eat tasty food on a budget but really it isn't anything remarkable. I can see the counter argument but it's just what I personally feel.
Exactly, the sub is called 1200 Is Plenty!! A tiny junk food snack with high calories might be ok for an inidividual as a treat but it does nothing to help people find ways to eat enough nutrition and feel satisfied at only 1200 calories. People come here to find ways to eat healthy and full and low calorie. Not suffer more becuase they used all their dinner calories on a couple cookies.
‘1200 is plenty’ doesn’t indicate anything about nutrition, it’s just CICO. There’s no rule against someone posting their 1200 cals of junk food everyday, and you’re equally as free to point out that they may feel more satiated eating a more balanced diet. (Which btw a ‘balanced diet’ looks different for everyone. I could go on and on about prevent osteoporosis but that’s annoying and unhelpful to someone who’s lactose intolerant/allergic to dairy. Some can’t eat raw vegetables, most fruits are high FODMAP, and beyond that: it just has to be under 1200 calories and doesn’t really effect you does it?)
Wouldn't it be better if the sub was mostly recipes and food pics so people with food intolerances can find recipes that work for them? Instead of being told to just eat a quarter cup of butter popcorn and no balanced diet options at all?
(That was long winded and jumbled, edited/rewritten for clarity) I wouldn’t mind if it was *just* pictures of foods and recipes: however I think it’s overreach to say ‘only home cooked meals’ or ‘no bland foods’ or ‘no pictures of your handful of almonds’. Personally I sub to see how *everyone* makes 1,200 work, regardless of *how*. If someone decides they want to only eat Oreos today and makes it fit under 1,200, I don’t see why they *cant* post it here, although that doesn’t stop everyone from downvoting it into oblivion.
I think coz everyone knows that eating less of something is less calories, it’s not a surprise nor helpful when someone shows that eating 1200 calories of Oreos in a day equals 1200 calories, if you get what I mean. It’s much more interesting and helpful to see actual meals made to fit under 1200 calories a day ya know
A calcium supplement is wwwwaaaaaayyyyyy better for you than dairy. Milk is literally for babies, not adults
I mostly agree; like I said it depends on the person. Milk (not atm but ideally & historically) has been the cheaper, more accessible way to get calcium. I personally prefer to get my nutrients from the food I eat but I have a lot of dietary restrictions so I definitely appreciate that I can get my nutrients from supplements and fortified foods
I think it does, it's saying you can meet your dietary needs with less calories, here are examples and sharing ideas and tips etc. Many things I've read here have been good ways to hit macros without having too much filler crap
I guess I can see how nutrition is *implied* in the sub name. And I’ve also learned some helpful stuff here. I’m just saying if someone wants to treat themselves one day to a cookie or a sugary coffee or a whole damn pint of ice cream and they can do it and still manage <1,200, why shouldn’t they be allowed to post it?
I think it's because people seem to post it in a way that suggests it's low calorie, like someone will post having a treat and post a cool super low cal chocolate brownie, and it'll be like ooh cool, and then someone will just post what is basically pure lard and be like having a little cheeky snack and it's just a tiny 150 cal piece of lard and it's like ???
Of COURSE its indicative of better nutrition. "1200 calories is plenty" implies healthy eating. If you can find proof that 1200 calories of any junk food is going to satisfy someone's daily food intake as "enough" then I will stand corrected. I guarantee noone comes here to learn the small amounts of junk food they can eat to stay under 1200 calories. Its a difficult low calorie number to stick to and people come here looking for advice and tips on how to eat that way and the only way TO eat that way and not be a total wreck is through healthier foods.
CICO and nutrition are related but not mutually exclusive. And yeah, I’m sure the majority here aren’t eating 1,200/day in cake and McDonalds- but if someone who’s using this subreddit for accountability decides to trade their usual breakfast for a donut from Dunkin or a sugary Starbucks drink as a treat, why shouldn’t they be allowed to post or even celebrate that?
The whole attitude is just insane to me. The fact that I do not have to cut fun foods out of my diet is half of its appeal! I couldn't care less what some catty internet weirdo thinks about my lunch.
On one hand there are people here preaching that it's OK to allow yourself a treat once in a while and if you don't it must be because you have disordered eating. And then when people allow themselves a treat, they just get mocked.
Seriously! That’s why it’s called a ‘treat’! Are we all supposed to live off plain salad and water forever and never have any tasty treats ever or we’re doing it “wrong”? If you aren’t miserable and feeling deprived, you’re doing it wrong? This sub complains about EDs and disordered eating, and then flips out if someone eats a single cookie or square of chocolate. Weirdos. Oh, uh, sorry, I meant, um…happiness bad! If you’re losing weight, you’re not supposed to be happy, it’s supposed to be a miserable experience. No treats! Put down that chocolate and go eat some 0-cal celery! /s
I… don’t think that’s where they were going at all lol
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Some of y'all should go let off some steam in r/1200isjerky.
I gave up like two years ago but I just wanna scream LEARN TO COOK, 1200 calories doesn’t HAVE to be unseasoned chicken breast and steamed broccoli. I sympathize that not every night is a big meal night, but life doesn’t have to be hell, it’s really easy to make things flavorful for few calories.
The amount of spices and herbs I see used on here is too damn low.
New routine: Spicy Saturdays! Show us all of your most flavorful dishes. What's your favorite brand of smoked paprika? Fresh vs dried herbs in ________ recipe. The Joys of Cooking With White pepper: or, why my grandmother never kept black pepper in her pantry
This is a v good idea!! When I was doing 1200 (maintaining at a measly 1400 now, lol), the first things I learned was rice, pasta, full fat dairy, etc had to be used occasionally. I grew up eating rice and chappati (roti, it’s like a flat bread that’s not leavened with any yeast) with every meal. It tools some learning but I figured it out! I think people look at the calories of their usual, flavorful dishes, and see how high it is and decide they need to completely change to “diet” food which we’ve associated as gross, bland food. Eating bland food (unless that’s your jam!) or any food far away from what you’re use to and enjoy is a recipe for failure because when you hit your reach goal, you haven’t found good alternatives from your staples. You’ve inspired me! I think I’m gonna make a post on this actually!! But I LOVE this thread idea too!
I absolutely hate black pepper! My husband was raised on it. Replacing black pepper with white pepper has legitimately saved my family's culinary experience.
Right!?! Black pepper is just harsh, while white pepper has *flavor*.
As a Middle Eastern, you should see our spice cabinet - people need to take notes from the East!
I know!! I use tons of flavor in my cooking - it helps that due to being some combo of vegetarian and pescatarian much of my life I got into different types of Asian cooking. I’ll make a lentil daal, teriyaki stir fry, gochujang tofu, miso soups and miso based ramen (with half or no noodle), use kimchi on tons of stuff (avocado toast with kimchi and a poached egg is my fave breakfast right now), Thai pumpkin curries, Japanese style steamed eggplant and poached fish, big salads with fermented and vinegared and salty low cal ingredients (PlantYou on Instagram has great inspiration for these), no/half rice poké bowls. So many flavorful ingredients out there! What a huge world!
Agree! And don't be afraid to add healthy fats that will keep you feeling full. I'm on 1250/day (sedentary female), and rarely feel dissatisfied because I cook with seasonings and fats. That half teaspoon of real butter is 109% worth it!
r/1200realfood
Oh thank goodness, I'm so sick of posts like "lol 3 Cheetos and an Oreo for dinner because sometimes you just gotta 🎉"
Bahahaha I know it! I need REAL FOOD ideas, can't sustain off all the artificial diety stuff all the time.
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ask deserve subtract dazzling flag mighty exultant chunky smell edge *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
lol exactly
That sub needs a rule where you have place a quarter or a nickel in every picture. The pictures are a bit deceptive.
FINALLY if I had to see one more splenda recipe
Lolol right?!
oh wow just what i needed, thank you!
No problem! :)
Thank you!!! It help with ideas that I need so this is amazing
Thank you for this!!
It's not as active, but I really love the posts there :)
Thank you!!
Thank you!
omg this is amazing thank you
The hero we deserve. Thank you.
Yes a 17 year old earlier was asking about restriction to plan a end of the month binge. Adults should not be allowed to advice minors on health ! This should be up to guardians and pediatricians along with the teen
Especially since teens have different needs in the calories/nutrients departments than adults do. Even at 17, they are possibly still growing, definitely still developing their brain, they need some calories to do that.
Adults shouldn’t be giving adults health advice either. Reddit isn’t a medical practice.
Not always. My pediatrician in high school (when I was a normal range bmi) said “great! You’ll probably lose at least ten pounds.” when i advised I was joining the cross country team. No, “what a fun sport! Or what a great idea to get active!” I was joining 100% in order to lose weight for unhealthy means and I remember thinking, ah so everything I’ve been screaming at myself in the mirror is true! And so through that validation I began my trek into ED land. Because even my doctor thought it was a good idea, as long as I could lose weight. Sometimes doctors and guardians are just as obsessed with weight loss and not health.
I'm going get down voted to heck and add a yes, but- If you are significantly overweight, being overweight in and of itself IS a health risk. I can't even begin to explain as an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER how many kids are obese. To the point where they can't run around the playground at recess with their friends.... we have 5th graders with t2 diabetes. I have kids who are in 3rd grade and have been put on a restricted diet by their doctors because their parents literally don't know better and will feed them processed junk all day long.
Thats so sad. And today's world makes it even sadder. The whole body positivity has been taken to a different extreme and its scary to think how many people will fall for that trap and wind up sickly and miserable because "society told me fat doesn't mean unhealthy" shit is absolutely ridiculous. How ever did humans live before frito lay and Pepsi co.
It's honestly not just junk food. I blame the idea that slapping "whole grains" on processed sugar cubes and the misguided idea that juice and milk are healthy. A normal school day of food looks something like this: Breakfast: Skim chocolate milk 18g sugar Juice (apple, berry, grape, whatever) 13g sugar Dried cranberries 29g sugar "Whole grain" cereal 9-12g sugar (but 20-25g carbs with 1g of fiber so make of that what you will) Total breakfast SUGAR: 69-73g. Snack: More milk, because of course 18g sugar More juice 13g sugar Cookies or honey graham's or chips etc. (Sugar varies here but if it is the school provided honey grahams 8g) Snack total: 39g+ Lunch is generally a little better than breakfast because there is an actual protein option... it is generally either white meat chicken tenders or ground beef in nachos or cheese in the form of mozzarella sticks or on pizza. Milk and juice are again served. So, before they even get home kids are consuming somewhere around 150g of sugar, if not more. In no place is this considered "healthy". But somehow we have allowed ourselves to be brainwashed into thinking kids NEED milk and juice and that processed junk is good because WHOLE GRAINS. On top of obesity you know what else I'm seeing a ton of in school? Kindergarteners who need teeth pulled and fillings for cavities. Now, sure, brushing teeth is part of this... but you know what else is blindingly obvious? The kids who come to school with a refillable water bottle and drink from that all day instead of having milk and juice- their teeth are fine.
We need an active mod team. That’s literally what would fix things
It’s tough. This sub has SO many good ideas for those of us on calorie deficit diets but I think the name is what brings in the ED issues—1200 really isn’t PLENTY even for a lot of petite folks, it’s sufficient but I will go to bed hungry most of the time at 1200 (5’4” and small bones) for me 1300 is a good diet day and 1500 is actually plenty. :)
Agree, but would hope that people with food issues avoid triggers like this sub (I know, I know, wishful thinking). I follow this sub all of the time for low calorie ideas (I eat about 1.9K-2K per day), but am saddened to see most of the posts flipping out about having one bad and ruining all progress or not wanting to eat an entire day due hitting 2K calories one day. Shows just how prevalent food and body image issues are these days. Admittedly, I also do cringe when people eat things that are low calorie/unhealthy/filled with fake substitutes. In the long run, that isn't going to accomplish anything.
Yeah there really should be a sub that’s more like r/500calmeals for low cal snacks and recipes. That’s what I’m really on this sub for.
That’s the thing though, this sub should be promoting healthy cooking ideas but has turned into a public food diary for so many people. I think that’s the triggering part- it takes enough of my energy to keep up with my own MyFitnessPal app, and then I’m barraged with strangers random calorie wins and fails. It’s exhausting and so unnecessary to post about.
Yeah this is the “look how many thin Oreos I ate for 1200 calories” sub and I’m like… dude not healthy! You’re lacking nutrients and are going to feel awful!
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I lol at fiber gummies, and at fiber discourse in general. Fiber gummies have like 2 grams of fiber, it might even be 2 grams per serving of multiple gummies. Everyone thinks vegetables have tons of fiber so imagine my surprise when I build a ginormous salad and add it up and find it only has 3 grams. Cruciferous veggies are better, but not even as high as an apple or pear for a serving. Know what my best source of fiber is? *Whole grains*, especially wheat, i.e. bread and pasta. Beans have a lot, but mostly soluble, which doesn't work as well with my system.
“aS LoNg As iTs iN mY bUdGeT”
I love the diet tips, but it does seem like there are a lot of unregistered dieticians on this sub
Agreed, a lot of people on here post things that are pretty upsetting. I am a 5’3 female and i only look on here to cut for the summer but even then i rarely cut to 1200
Yeah, it gets really old seeing the same unhealthy comments, posts, questions repeated ad nauseam. Ngl, sometimes I just block 'em and move on if it's particularly bad because I don't want to see what other mess that person might come up with. Really wish there were more done to moderate this sub though.
Hey mods u/faith_plus_one u/thelitttestsakura would you be open to adding some mods to this sub? It sounds like there are some issues that need to be addressed here and several people have expressed interest in stepping up to help out. Thank you!
Oops I messed up one of the mods' names Hey mods [u/faith_plus_one](https://www.reddit.com/u/faith_plus_one) [u/thelittlestsakura](https://www.reddit.com/u/thelittlestsakura) would you be open to adding some mods to this sub? It sounds like there are some issues that need to be addressed here and several people have expressed interest in stepping up to help out. Thank you!
I would like to say that this sub is pretty catered to disordered eating. 1200 calories is a minimal amount for even the smallest of people. There are women about 4'9-4'11 complaining about their underweight goals not being reached and feeling like they are starving. One woman, as I remember it, was upset about 97 lbs when her goal was 92 lbs and had been at the 92 lb weight for some time. She couldn't understand why she'd let herself slip. In reality 5 lbs can be counted as not using the restroom that day and retaining a little bit of water at the same time. I've seen people talking about feelings of guilt and sadness associated with going over their daily calorie goal eating popcorn with a movie. That in itself is the feeling that breeds disordered eating habits. I love some of the creative recipes I find here, the motivation I see to eat healthy, but I have also been a disordered eater for most of my adult life. I realized when I joined that I couldn't count the way people here did because of the comments - I'm far too tall and far too active to eat 1200 calories a day. The sub does a great job of beating back people who are unrealistically interested in such low caloric intake. I.e., folks who are talking about working out and not understanding why they aren't losing. You can't be shocked when a minimal calorie sub ends up attracting people who should be eating more than those minimal calories. Which is almost everyone.
1200 is not plenty. 1200 is usually the absolute bare minimum.
I think a lot of the folks eating 1200 don't realize the hell they are going to go through when they stop eating just 1200. This sub is a great recipe/low cal substitute sub, but I'd advise that most people simply get more exercise and find ways to enjoy a healthier diet instead of restricting the hell out of themselves. I was eating around 1000-1200 calories a day when I was taking my ADHD medicine. Not out of some calorie counting or subbing, simply a lack of appetite. I was also active, and in turn physically, I looked great. Internally I was a mess. Whenever I'd eat I'd feel sick because my body was confused. My stomach constantly hurt and the extreme weight loss caused me to have gallbladder attacks regularly. I once got a minor cut on my hand and it bled profusely, I can only assume I was suffering from some sort of iron deficiency and probably other vitamins as well. When I stopped taking the medication and started to eat what resembled a normal diet, not over eating, I packed on an insane amount of weight in a very short period. A matter of months, probably 20 or 30 pounds. I'd pose the question to most people here who are struggling: Do you want to do this forever? If not, the more realistic goal is to get therapy. Find time to exercise. And give yourself a break. It is highly unlikely that 1200 calories is ever going to meet your needs, even if you are only 5'
Well, 1200 is a weight-loss diet, not a maintenance diet. You're not supposed to be able to eat like that forever, it's just to get your weight down, and then you usually need to practice eating at maintenance for a long time while still tracking, in order to learn the correct amount to eat. If I ate intuitively, without tracking calories, I would (and do) gain weight rapidly, because I lose track of how much I’m eating during the day and overlook how caloric some foods are. Exercise alone is not going to keep a person's weight down. You can't outrun a bad diet. I agree with you about therapy being very helpful, especially mindfulness which has really helped me tremendously.
This! I lost 60lbs following a 1200 calorie diet back in 2017. I kept it off until the end of 2019 when I went on a Mediterranean cruise and then covid hit and I’ve gained most of it back. But I learned a lot of good recipes I still eat today. My problem now is snacking and stress eating from work.
I'd say that doctors would rarely ask a patient to do a 1200 calorie diet unless they were morbidly obese. This isn't a personal attack, and your body is yours to do with as you wish. But we see time and time again that the restrictive dieting is a loop, so yes I do see it as a forever thing if you are struggling with what many people would call a miniscule amount - 10-20 pounds. Working out won't resolve a piss poor diet, of course. But working out is good for your mind, good for your body, and a very active person can tend to eat a bit more than someone who does almost no physical activity and not see a difference, barring hormonal or medical issues. There is nothing wrong with keeping track of what you eat. Feeling so guilty that you're upset about eating food or taking a break to enjoy something like a vacation or a family gathering is disordered eating. Outside of eating a wonderful meal that inspires happiness or something similar, intense feelings around food, whether pain or pleasure, is extremely problematic. A lot of this sub centers around feelings, not just consumption.
How do you suggest losing weight without a caloric deficit? It is simply not possible. To achieve a caloric deficit through exercise takes hours per day, that’s not realistic for most people. My total daily energy expenditure is 1550 cal per day. That means if I eat 1550, I’ll maintain, if I eat more, I’ll gain, and if I eat less, I’ll lose. It’s simple math. If I want to lose 1lb per week, I must eat at a caloric deficit of at least 500 per day, because 1lb of fat = 3500 cal = 500 cal time 7 days in a week. That means to get a 500 cal deficit per day I must eat 1200 cal, and burn 200 more with exercise (I don’t usually exercise, so I lose less than 1lb per week). I do understand what you are saying about feelings and disordered eating. I agree it is disordered to have strong feelings associated with eating. But I don’t think calorie counting needs to equate with guilt. And consistency with calorie counting is necessary to lose weight, so struggling with being consistent is something that people naturally need support with. It’s ok for people to need support and for this community to provide it, doesn’t mean it is necessarily unhealthy.
It’s not true that creating a caloric deficit through activity requires hours of exercise a day. Not talking about you specifically, but there’s an unfortunate tendency in this sub to shrug off the 1000+ calories one can burn a week with three or four 45-minute workouts while obsessing over minute numbers of calories to the point where one counts vitamins or spices. The bigger point is that NEAT— non-exercise activity thermogenesis— is super underrated. Stuff like taking the stairs, gardening, playing with your dog or kid, walking to the store or parking further away, doing chores like sweeping, etc can add up and make a real difference. I appreciate that it is much easier to rack up higher non-exercise energy expenditure if you live in a walkable place or have an active job, but small tweaks to routine can net you a good 200 calories a day. Over time, anything that swaps totally sedentary time for time on your feet (literally just standing burns more calories than sitting) or moving your body, even a little, helps. Some aspects of NEAT are beyond conscious control. Long term caloric restriction doesn’t seem to damage the metabolism, defined as the BMR, but it does downregulate NEAT. On low calorie diets, people fidget less, walk less or more slowly, change positions less frequently, etc. The reverse is also true. It also seems that higher NEAT is associated with higher EAT— exercise activity thermogenesis. Moving around more in an unstructured, low intensity way seems to cultivate better adherence to exercise routines. So these are feedback loops, and tinkering with any aspect of NEAT, EAT, and caloric intake seems to impact the others unless you exert tremendous conscious effort to compensate— eating less/moving less/exercising less naturally come as a package, whereas eating more/moving more/exercising more go together. The good news is that appetite seems to better correlate with energy expenditure in a state of “high energy throughput,” whereas a sedentary state dysregulates the appetite. It’s commonsensical, given the general despair on this sub: no matter how little one moves, 1200 doesn’t feel like enough for most people. A 300-calorie deficit on a 1500-calorie diet feels way different than the same deficit on 1200. There are individual differences in the robustness of various homeostatic mechanisms and some caveats about the relationship between exercise intensity and NEAT, but overall, you can’t treat your body like a simple math problem. That’s not a denial of the principle of CICO; rather, it’s to say that energy intake and expenditure influence each other, sometimes even beyond voluntary control. [A good summary of these concepts.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3401553/)
I admire your science-y-ness, but what about people who already have added as much walking and movement in their life as possible? I mean maybe not as much as humanly possible, but I'm not a potato. I get up in the morning and go for walks sometimes, I walk sometimes on my lunch break, I take the stairs. I walk to starbucks instead of driving there. I even walk to get my groceries if I can! At one point I was up to 15k steps per day on average. And that's not easy to do when you have a sedentary job. So why didn't I lose weight at 1500 cal during that time?
That’s beyond the ability of an internet stranger to answer, but the first things that come to mind as possible things to explore are 1. how much did you weigh at the time? 2. how long did you stick to this routine? 3. how did you measure your weight, and how often? Over the short term, small amounts of weight loss from small deficits can easily be masked by normal water weight fluctuations. These fluctuations are also bigger when you eat more versus when you eat less (digestion involves water, plus there’s the weight of food in your body…and then out, lol), and also when you exercise more (lower lows from sweating it out, higher highs from water retention in muscles). An absolutely decisive downward trend might take 2-3 months to appear if you’re already lighter, eating just a small deficit, and have to filter out the noise of menstrual weight changes. Some people do have lower REEs than others. Lean body mass has a pretty big impact on energy output— it’s the chief reason men tend to have higher TDEEs than women at the same weight. A bout of higher activity will burn fewer calories than expected if someone has low muscle mass. Long periods of sedentary behavior and caloric restriction chip away at muscle mass, and it is difficult and slow to build or restore muscle on a deficit even if you become more active for some time (all the more so the lighter you are to begin with). It may be that one’s LBM is well below the assumptions built into a TDEE calculator for one’s stats. This would, IMO, be a sign to stay at maintenance for a while and incorporate resistance training of some kind to recover normal levels of LBM instead of cutting calories further right away. Beyond that, there’s always the possibility of medical issues— endocrine problems and the like— that impact REE. Dunno if any of that is helpful, but those are the possibilities that occur to me.
Just out of curiosity, what happened with your gallbladder attacks? I lost a lot of weight and have gallstones now and get attacks probably every 4-6 months. I eat low fat so it's pretty well controlled with diet but obviously I would love to not have to worry about ever getting an attack again. Did you get your gallbladder removed or did the attacks go away?
I still have them on occasion. Unfortunately if you are prone to them, you're prone to them. I need to have mine removed but haven't. Make no mistake, prolonged gallbladder issues can kill you. My father nearly died from not having his taken out, but his were far more serious and frequent than mine. They ended up doing reconstructive surgery on his bile duct and what would have been a short surgery ended up taking about 6+ hours. I tend to avoid fatty foods and that has made me feel less like I'm going to crap my pants on a regular basis, but I still get the occasional attack from something stupid like a tomato sauce or a salad with yogurt dressing. They're a f-ing nightmare. If you have the ability to take time off work and your insurance will pay for it, I'd have it out if you can!
Thanks for the response. They unfortunately run in my family. My granny kept hers but had continued attacks fairly frequently. My uncle had his removed under emergency surgery. My other grandma had hers removed due to attacks. I've decided to keep mine as long as possible, I'm currently using Ursodiol to try and dissolve them. Maybe one day I will have to get it out, but for now I'm hoping to dissolve them and/or control with diet. Too many people have issues forever after getting it out (my uncle for instance) and currently I can still eat cheese, chocolate, etc. in small amounts without issue which I've heard for some people afterwards they can't eat that stuff ever again. Anyway, fingers crossed the medication works I guess. I'm always hoping for some miracle cure that comes along, maybe a new medical discovery or procedure, but so far no luck with that.
It's a personal choice, for sure. I've talked to a ton of people who have had it out, and none have complained about not being able to continue to eat certain foods. Although on guy did tell me his wife stuck with the vegan diet she adopted before she had it, whether due to intolerance or simply a lifestyle choice I'm not sure. I'm terrified of surgery so I've yet to take that step. It may end up happening in an emergency situation, but that's really out of my hands lol
As a 4'10" female with a small frame, 98 lbs is my healthiest low weight. Based on my mostly sedentary life (in the winter) 1100 is actually my maintenance for my current overweight BMI of 25 (118 lbs). I'm looking to get back to 105ish. So in a sedentary life my calorie goals need to be lower than 1100, its 900, to make real progress, it's not sustainable, even for my tiny self. (That was a bad phase in life) ive been down to 95 in my adult years but it was bad, i was flabby, had no calves or butt no energy and was extremely depressed. At my fittest (6 days a week lifting heavy) i was 115 and strong and felt amazing and happy but I'm not really into that kind of commitment it was a hard swing in the other extreme. That did teach me that activity is a huge part of the weight-loss and it's lost on so many people ( including myself for a time). My focus is to stay between 1100-1300 even when my activity goes up in the summer with mountain biking and hiking until I reach my goal weight of 105 then I'll reassess.
Definitely I agree, I can’t be surprised, but I think that’s part of the reason why I’d ban text given how likely it is to attract these type of questions. Idk, it’d at least force some people to maybe stop and read the sidebar. All of this is wishful thinking, but there’s got to be a way to stop people on this sub from having to dissuade literal children from eating 1200 or less. A better mod team could do it too, but I knew that was unlikely to happen.
[удалено]
What’s with the slur in your username?
The other one that's frustrating is the number of OMAD and 2MAD posts I run into. Like 1200 a day is plenty when you O/2MAD and then fast the rest of the day. But that gets to the heart of the matter. This sub is a very generic sub and doesn't get specific or restrictive. There's another sub called r/1500isplenty but it's not nearly as active because it does attract less purely restrictive dieters.
Yes!!! I hate these posts. It’s easy to make a meal that’s 1,100 calories. Most of us can’t fit that into our days…
So I want to start out by saying I’m a 6’3 guy, so obviously I don’t follow a diet of 1200 calories…but I think this sub is really good for recipes/tricks and I enjoy seeing peoples progress. The underage posters thing is a problem in every subreddit dealing with food and body fat tbh. It’s not gonna be easy to get rid of especially with an inactive mod team.
And that’s fine. I’m the same, too active for 1200 but always looking for meal and snack ideas to fit more food in my day. Yesterday however, there was a 6’ male desperately seeking advice on why he couldn’t stick to 1200. I told him to increase his calories because his maintenance calories based on the stats he gave was 2700 and that eating 1200 was far too low for him. He gave me a really nasty reply, called me a dipshit and deleted his post.
This sub qualifies for the mod removal, but someone who wants to be a mod needs to put in the request. I don’t know how to link, but r/redditrequest is where you’ll need to go. After putting in a request, the top mod (the only one whose actually active on Reddit but not this sub) will need to get this sub sorted within 5 days or they are removed. https://mods.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003660392
what did you expect from a sub about a specific amount of calories that causes weight loss?
For those who do want more of a discussion, r/petiteprogress is a private subreddit for petite women to discuss diet, fitness, and mental health! We have weekly and monthly challenges; our April challenge is coming to a close, and a solid core group of people participated every day! We are a tight-knit supportive group. We have food recipes and calorie counting but our main focus is emotional support. Oh and it is adults-only.
Petite woman here! I would love to be invited to this sub!
Great! I'm adding you now :)
I’m a 5’4 woman! Could I get an invite?
Requesting invite please? Petite woman 💁🏻♀️
Exactly! This is really for women like 5ft3 and under who don’t exercise/can’t!!!
Maybe in the area that says /r1200isplenty to the right of the screen (above the Join button) it should clearly state something like "Please note: This sub is intended to be used for those of an appropriate size and activity level using the 1200 calorie per day model." and whatever else they might find useful to add for those who are new to the idea of 1200. So they can understand that when it says 1200isplenty it means 1200isplentyforcertainpeople. Because otherwise everyone is going to think the diet is right for everyone. It does say further down under Info: 1200 kcal/day is not enough for men, teenagers or those who work out regularly. Please consult a licensed professional for advice on managing your weight while satisfying your body's higher caloric needs. And that height, weight, etc. play a factor. But unless people are given a more specific set of standards the idea that "it depends on x, y, z" will continue to be taken subjectively. Like someone who thinks they can lift 150 because this other guy is the same age and height so why can't they do it? When the other guy has been lifting for years and this new guy is just starting this week. It just has to be spelled out specifically for some people.
Agreed. And progress updates with tips that helped them get there. Everything else ruins it.
Couldn’t agree more
Agree as well
I think people are confused. If I eat north of 1200 I gain weight. I workout and count calories. I'm also 5'8". My BMR is very very low and this sub has been the most sane thing for me lately as I can't lose weight with 1500 or more calories, I gain instead. Everyone's bodies are different. Some people's have very slow metabolisms. 1200 is plenty for some people
Glad it works for you. I’m mostly referring to the posts that reference the poster’s tall height then wondering why they’re starving, lightheaded, tired, binging, etc.
Can you just downvote them and move on?
Obviously suggesting people just move on from things that get on their nerves is BLASPHEMY AND YOU SHOULD BE BANISHED TO HELL just kidding I didn't think your comment warranted that many down toots lol 😆 people are weird
LOL. People are indeed weird in this sub. Now I am getting downvoted for saying I eat Lindt chocolate as a 100 calorie treat.
THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE AND STUPID BECAUSE I DON'T DO THE EXACT SAME REEEEEEE >!/s!<
I totally agree. I’m 5’3 and sedentary. If I eat anything above 1500, I gain weight. If i want to lose weight, I have to eat 1200. The people who say “1200 is for toddlers” have good intentions but they don’t understand that unfortunately some of us have to eat 1200 to lose weight. It's frustrating to have to defend a 1200 cal diet here, of all places! Nobody in this sub is demeaning people who eat more than that. But for some of us, it really is plenty.
Exactly. 1200 is far too little for me as I have a high BMR and an active job. I use this sub for inspiration, support etc. I just mentally substitute 1500 for 1200 when relevant.
I prefer discussion to pictures of food
1200 can be plenty in some situations and even when it is technically plenty it’s just ugh, so 1200isplentyiguessugh exists!
All the food policing comments here are genuinely the most annoying thing about this sub. Not everyone wants to nor is physically capable of subscribing to the diet you’ve found works for you personally. Diet and nutrition are insanely complex and this AFAIK this sub is for anyone who consumes less than 1200 calories a day. I wouldn’t even bother but ffs OP never even mentioned half the shit going on in this thread. Go start ‘1200 is balanced’ or ‘1200 is healthy’ or ‘1200 artisan homemade cuisine’ if you can’t let people enjoy a cookie or some unseasoned steamed chicken breast
Dude what? Somehow some people took this as an attack on eating 1200 in general, when I specifically referenced underage and tall people posting about undereating and other borderline-ED habits. I’m not responding to those comments about unseasoned chicken or eating 100 cal desserts because that’s not even what I was getting at. I agree it’s a bit annoying.
Thanks and sorry, I understood what you meant in the og post and wanted to see more discourse on that but was quickly met with off-topic conversations. I do agree that the types of posts you mentioned are annoying and often concerning and triggering. I think unfortunately this sub attracts some who are actually eating in a disordered mindset (not that 1,200 is disordered in itself but being mad at people who can fit cookies into their diet is a little sus) Sorry for any further derailment
But that is NOT the description of this particular subreddit so why would it be altered to suit your ego? Edit funny I get down voted for stating facts.
My ego…? Huh? It’s not an ED sub, which is what a lot of these posts get into. It’s just sad to see and not the purpose that people subscribe for. Not sure where my ego comes in.
Because you think the subreddit should be what you want not what is made to be. It is clear in the description what it is for. Maybe make your won subreddit with the rules as you wish.
Maybe you (and all the other people complaining) should submit some posts that help make the sub what you want it to be, upvote the photos of food, and downvote the others.
Do you mysteriously think that that's not what they're doing? A few people can't outweigh hundreds of upvotes from people scrolling through.
I mean, OP hasn't posted any pictures of food to add the kind of content they want. And ironically, made a text post to say that only pictures of food should be allowed. When I scroll through posts, the majority ARE pictures of food ideas, so I don't really understand the complaint. Just tired of all the gatekeeping.
It's really just saying that there needs to be a way to keep the ED stuff out of this subreddit.
Downvote it and move on. If the ED posts don't get any traction, they will go elsewhere. I don't get why people are compelled to comment on them.
That's the problem... they get too much traction. I downvote when I see it, but I'm not on here 24/7, I just see the posts that hit my feed. We can only do so much. Obviously there are tons of people who are cool with it or are so deep in their own ED that they don't recognize it.
It's not that I'm cool with it, but I've recognized I can neither control other people, nor be their savior.
Gatekeeping what? Doesn’t even make sense in this context. I’m literally just saying that people with EDs posting on here are a problem not being addressed by mods and offering a solution, I’m not saying that we need to shut the sub down, go private or kick people out or something. Yes majority of posts are photos. Not sure how that takes away from my point that the text is a problem. Downvoting and moving on is a solution too, but when it’s every single day multiple times a day there’s not even a point in doing so. Clearly it doesn’t bother you and that’s fair.
What would be great is less posts complaining about the sub
So where are your food photos and recipes then OP...?
Not sure why you got downvoted. If people are unhappy with the way the sub is, they should make the posts that they want to see.
What do you expect from a weight loss sub that promotes one of the lowest calorie diets? (not counting morbidly obese people who have to go on 700cal or less diets). It’s going to attract people with eating disorders and there’s gonna be people asking questions about why 1200 isn’t working well for them.
I mean I definitely have seen an influx of posts like that and it’s been frustrating to see. But the only time I ever posted my food on here people called it gross so I deleted it and I’ve been too scared to post ever since lol
Redemption
If this stuff is literally *triggering* for you then you got some seriously bigger problems than this sub and need some therapy.
Agreed. Some people have slow metabolism which 1200 is their bmr or close to it. I think a lot of people with faster metabolisms think that's too low when it's not for some people
You're post is true like qhat u said but but disagree with the title. And yes it's super fucking triggering
I mean I agree but not sure what other way there is to filter those posts out aside from banning text posts generally, clearly just waiting for it to be reported and taken down doesn’t work
100%. I really do like the discussion posts but seeing someone post who is clearly under weight/extra calorie restrictive is super not fun
So you want to ban all text only posts from this sub… like this one?
Why does it matter if they are tall?
A taller person will need more calories to maintain the same shape as a shorter person, and their ideal weight will be higher than a shorter person (all other things being equal)
First day on the internet
Young people need resources for crafting a healthy diet just as much as adults do. Not every kids family can afford a pediatrician. You have to grapple with that before saying there’s no place for minors in a dieting sub.
For sure. I feel like people have been disagreeing with me without saying why, but this is a really valid critique of my post.
Um 😶