My 1200 calorie Diet!

[sakuradxb]

Hello everyone:

I just want to start a journal to push myself to continue what I've started doing and inspires other of starting their owns.

Just note that I've been into many many diets through out the past 6 years. I've lost around 20 kgs ever since. Now, that I could control my weight, I'm looking to lose a bit more to look in a good shape and healthy as possible.

Age: 23 yrs
Height: 160cm
Weight: 65 kg
Waist measurement: 28 cm

Ideal weight: between 55 - 60 kg
Ideal Waist: 24-26 cm
Problems: Flabby arms, kinda big thighs, waist

Why 1200 Calorie Diet?
If I go to 1000 Calorie Diet, I will face a problem not losing any weight cause my body doesn't get enough food, so I always think that when the body doesn't get enough food, it stores more, so it gets harder to lose weight.

the 1200 gives you more chance to eat well, so you body gets enough food. So even when you exercise, you won't feel dizzy. But you still can't do hard training. You have to be careful.

Day 1:

7:30am Breakfast:
- Eat whatever available; Usually bread, Honey, milk and/or Cheese. After 30 mins, a cup of green tea will do.
- Always carry my 0.5 liter bottle of water. Fill it up when needed.

1:30pm Lunch:
- 1 small bowl of Rice, 1 Fish, Salad, and Green Tea.

4:00 pm: Exercising:
- Walking = 15 mins
- Running = 15 mins
- Ab Workout = 5 mins (includes the following)
**- Lady Push-up = 30 times
**- Stomach Exercise = 50 times
**- Arm Exercise (Using Boxing Small Bag) = 50 times/2mins

6:00pm Dinner: Soup and fruits.

Snacks: Carrots, Cucumbers, Apples

That's for today.

[Trusylver]

It looks like your diet is very low in protein and only eating the absolute minimum of calories you are more likely to loose muscle than fat. To loose the "flabby arms" you have to keep all the lean muscle you can. This is the key to looking good and not just loosing weight.

Looking at your exercise, ladies pushups don't focus on the abs but are a good delt, tricep and pectoral exercise. If your doing 50 crunches ? or situps ? you are doing too many, add weight to them to make it harder and do less.

[sakuradxb]

I've noticed that myself. Actually, I usually don't feel hungry, so I'm trying to add some more food day by day.

Now I get that. I always hear that protein is good for building muscles, but I'm afraid that I will build more than what I'm really looking for. I want a natural look. But yeah, Tomorrow's menu will contain protein. I've actually avoided eating any protein for so long, I only eat meat once in a month and chicken twice a week, I focus on sea food especially fish. Before, I used to eat lots of meat, chicken..etc but my arms were as flabby as they are just now.

I usually do too much because I don't use weight at all. I depend on my body's weight because as I said, I'm afraid of building more muscles than I need to, I've seen my friend, she built more than she has to, so it looks really bad to show them off.

But I guess, I will try your idea of adding weight and doing less. That seems logical.
Thank You

[Trusylver]

You won't build muscle bulk on the calorie intake you are on at the moment, to build muscle size you need to eat a calorie surplus not a calorie deficit. for a normal person you need 1 gram of protein per kg of bodyweight for normal good health. But weight bearing exercise and protein is needed to maintain what you already have.

Just eating protein won't make you bulky

You need that lean muscle to keep your metabolism up. As you loose the fat covering your muscles you will begin to see healthy definition, don't confuse seeing definition with muscle growth.

If you loose weight without maintaining lean muscle first your metabolism slows down so you burn less calories naturally and you slow down your fat loss to the point that it becomes very easy to over eat and gain more fat than you started with. This is what happens with most fast weight loss diets (yo yo dieting)

It is possible to make your exercises harder with a little more variety without weights (just bodyweight) if you want some sugestions.

[aurora14]

Hi Trusylver and sakuradxb, didn't mean to hijack your thread but I'm very interested in the 1200-calorie per day diet thing. That's the number of calories I aim for, too. Now, I weigh considerably more than sakura (86.6361 to be exact), and I'm 57 years old, so I know my caloric needs are different.

Can anyone help me figure out exactly what number of calories is optimum for me to lose the weight and build muscle definition considering I'm weight training (with free weights and a bowflex) 3-4 times a week or more, and starting to sprint 5-6 days a week, too?

I've been that yo yo dieter for years and I'm sick of it.

I also don't think I'm getting enough protein. Any suggestions on how to really know if I'm getting the proper nutrition for my body type (where I am and where I'm going)?

Thanks!

[Trusylver]

How to Estimate Calorie Needs

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) = 24 * Weight (kg)

then multiply by activity level

Sedentary = BMR * 1.45
Light = BMR * 1.60
Medium = BMR * 1.70
Heavy = BMR * 1.88

this is an estmate of the calories to maintain current weight, age, muscle, metabolism will all change this number.

I usually calculate mine as sedentary then add my training. but remember this is only an estimate and should only be considered as a starting point.

aurora14 with your weight training you need to around 1.2 - 1.6 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight per day.