How Quickly Will I Lose Weight On 1200 Calories A Day?

. For some, this would be a 1,200-calorie diet plan. As always, you should check with your doctor first.

Losing weight depends on burning more energy than you consume, so if you vigorously exercise every day, you can definitely lose weight on 1500 calories. However, if you are sedentary, losing weight by consuming a mere 1200 calories per day might take a while.

• Eat whole foods. Whole foods, including vegetables, fruits, beans, fish, nuts, seeds, and eggs, should comprise the majority of your calorie intake.
• Cut out added sugar and fats.
• Cook more meals at home.
• Increase daily activity.
• Work with a knowledgeable healthcare provider.

These fats are found in avocados, nuts, seeds, fish and vegetable oils, according to Harvard Medical School. For a 1,200-calorie diet, you should aim for about 240 to 420 calories from fat, according to the National Academies. Since fat has 9 calories per gram, that’s 27 to 47 grams of fat.

So, if you weigh more than 110 pounds, and you’re trying to lose weight, then yes, eating 1200 calories per day will cause you to lose about 4 to 5 pounds per month, pretty comfortably. If you weigh 150 pounds and eat 1200 calories a day, you’ll also lose weight. But, you’ll be so damn hungry, it would be no fun at all.

What to do if you eat fewer calories?

If you choose to consume fewer calories than the minimum recommended amount, you may need to consider taking vitamin or mineral supplements. If you’re consuming fewer calories than the recommended minimum over the long term, be aware that you may experience muscle loss, rather than fat loss.

Based on the Dietary Guidelines standards, a moderately active person is probably burning about 140 to 280 calories each day on exercise-based activities, like walking 1.5 to 3 miles. A very active person is likely burning a minimum of 280 calories per day. This is the equivalent of walking 3 to 4 miles.

An hour of basketball can help you burn around 440 calories, while swimming can burn 510 calories. Running, jogging or cycling quickly can burn 590 calories per hour. This means that an hour or hour and a half of exercise on most days could contribute to an additional pound of weight loss per week.

However, Harvard Health states that moderate calorie reduction can be a healthy part of weight loss. A 1,200-calorie diet could be perfectly healthy for a sedentary woman, for example, as it would result in gradual weight loss. Advertisement. Read more: Easy Ways to Burn 100 Calories.

However, the weight loss you can achieve with this diet is dependent on a variety of factors, including how long it goes on. This amount of calorie restriction can be healthy for some people but might be a crash diet for others.

In fact, most Americans consume more calories than they should, which contributes to weight gain and obesity. Advertisement. If you’re consuming large amounts of calories, reducing your daily intake can easily support weight loss. However, there are also limits regarding minimum healthy calorie intake.

How long does it take to lose weight after eating a low calorie diet?

Another study in 57 people with overweight or obesity noted that after following a very low 500-calorie diet or low 1,250-calorie diet for 5 and 12 weeks, respectively, study participants regained 50% of the weight they lost over 10 months, on average ( 8 ).

Some researchers categorize low calorie diets as dietary patterns that deliver between 800–1,200 calories per day, while very low calorie diets are categorized as diets that deliver fewer than 800 calories per day ( 2.

This is because low calorie diets induce metabolic changes that conserve energy and prevent weight loss, including increased appetite, loss of lean body mass , and reductions in the number of calories burned, all of which make long-term weight maintenance difficult ( 9, 10, 11 ).

This diet is considered a low calorie diet because it provides significantly fewer calories than most average adults need to maintain their weight. Many healthcare providers, including doctors and dietitians, prescribe low calorie diets as a go-to strategy for weight loss.

Restricting calories leads to metabolic changes in your body. These include increases in hormones like ghrelin and cortisol, which drive hunger, as well as a drop in resting metabolic rate (RMR), or the calories that you burn while at rest ( 12, 24 ).

Trusted Source. ). Fueling your body with the right number of calories is essential for the preservation of good overall health.

What’s more, 1,200 calories is well under the average number of calories that most adults — even small women — need to fuel their bodies.

How many calories should a woman eat a day?

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggests that most women need between 1,600 and 2,400 calories per day to maintain weight. The more active you are, the more calories you need, but as you age, your calorie needs drop slightly.

Image Credit: istetiana/Moment/GettyImages. When losing weight, the first thing you need to address is your calorie intake. The key to weight loss is being in a calorie deficit, where you burn more calories than you consume.