The Worst Dieting Advice: Eat 1,200 Calories a Day
You know who needs 1,200 calories a day? A toddler. It is recommended that toddlers eat 1,000 - 1,400 calories a day to maintain weight.
But a grown woman who works out, works full time, runs a household, gardens, cleans, cooks, menstruates, balances hormone fluctuation, hopes to have healthy bowel movements (this takes energy BTW) and lively romantic life… It's recommended to eat 1,200 calories a day to lose weight???
This is something I have been told to do more than once over the years, and it never worked long-term. It never worked for my clients either. And here is why:
Our body is really smart, and it’s main job is to survive. I know it can seem woo woo to talk about cavemen, but it goes back to how our body functioned before the industrial revolution. Well, way before that. We didn’t have access to food 24-7, fast food and processed food hitting our shelves. We hunted and gathered, which not only meant we had to work for our food, but we didn’t have food at all times of day. So our genes are designed to conserve energy especially when there is a significant loss.
So for example, let’s say you have been eating on average 2,500 calories a day and you workout for 45 minutes. Then you decide to go on a diet that only allows 1,200 calories. That is a significant change that will send out red flags to the brain to protect the body. The brain will then start to signal to the body to conserve energy anyway that it can.
The body will most likely signal your thyroid to slow down so your metabolism starts to wane (a method of energy conservation). When the thyroid slows the GI slows so you may even start to feel bloating or less bowel movements. This will decrease nutrient absorption, which will contribute to the slow metabolism, increase fatigue and allow for more gut issues. This isn’t your body “breaking” or working against you. It’s actually your body telling you “HEY we aren’t getting enough energy IN so we are going to conserve as much as we can for you!”
You can also see this in your workouts. If you start a new program with your diet you will burn less calories the first day than the 30th day (for example) due to your body adapting. This is what many people call the “weight loss plateau”. I also think this is why a lot of people jump from workout to workout when they aren’t seeing results. Sure, you still have to find that workout that compliments your body, schedule and goals, but it’s still something to consider when you have a weight loss plateau. Is it the workout or is your conserving energy because it’s depleted?
Let me back up and say that calories do matter for weight loss, but the amount and type make a HUGE difference. I definitely don’t mean to say you can eat whatever you want and have a healthy metabolism, but I do know the extreme diet trend doesn’t work either. What’s really interesting is that in 2023 we have to eat around 30% more food to get all the nutrients we need from our common food sources (the standard American diet) and can also be contributing to the symptoms on a low calorie diet. Not only are we depriving the body of the energy it needs, but it also isn’t getting enough nutrients. So it’s adding even more fuel to the fire. This also means we need to be pretty particular in what foods we eat since so many options are what people call “empty calories”. I don’t demonize these foods especially when I have been eating girl scout cookies every day, but knowing that calories are not created equal helps me decide what’s actually going to help me feel my best. It also helps me guide my clients.
Ok… now what?! Here are 3 things you can do to avoid bad diets, burnout and have better results with weight loss efforts:
Don’t go on a 1,200 calorie diet :) We have established why this doesn’t work. Also, studies actually show that majority of people who go on a low calorie diet eventually gain it back and sometimes more. Usually with in 6 months to a year. Many of these studies show the success from the first 8 weeks or so, but don’t highlight the follow up.
Make sure your body doesn’t have underlying conditions that weight loss could make worse. Gut infections, thyroid dysfunction, extreme hormone imbalance and adrenal fatigue. Not supplying your body with the right nutrients can amplify these conditions. I recommend getting a handful of blood tests like insulin, thyroid and hair test to see the full picture of how systems are functioning.
If you are in a good place to lose weight, go SLOWWWW. That is not what you want to hear, but think about your future self 1 year from now when you give your body time and patience versus if you crash dieted. Yes, your 8 week self might feel pretty good at first, but that is because you’re running on adrenaline and maybe lost some weight from muscle… think about the cycle you will be putting yourself on and how you could avoid it if you just took a little more time for you and your health.
