Is this ok??

[atheistone]

Hi, I'm 24 y/o 5'0 SW: 75kg GW: 50 kg
I'm sedentary and I just go on walks until I hit 10k steps per day. Will I lose weight if I eat 1,200 calories per day? Thank you Would love to hear about anyone who has the same stats as me.

 

[bornmc]

@atheistone Right now, according to https://tdeecalculator.net/, your maintenance calories at sedentary are around 1,700.

1,200 calories is the absolute lowest anyone should ever go and is often very difficult to maintain over a long period of time and ensure proper nutrition. If you aim for a calorie deficit between 250 - 300 a day (so 1,400 calories a day), you can lose a KG a month, which is sustainable goal that allows you to change your lifestyle eating and moving habits so that the weight stays off and you stay healthier.

The 10,000 steps rule has been largely discredited (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...-the-10000-daily-goal-is-built-on-bad-science) but walking is always an excellent choice for better health. Introducing as much passive walking to your lifestyle as possible (walk to / from work, to / from store, etc.) is helpful. Working on walking faster and longer is also great. Generally, brisk walking has a burn rate of @ 3 calories a minute. Maybe the more you move the more interested you'll become in moving more: hiking, biking, running, etc.

I would give yourself two years to lose 25kg. That may seem disheartening, but if you're looking for a fast and temporary solution you'll just put the weight right back on faster than you lost it. Maybe set a whole bunch a smaller milestones along the way and focus not so much on the scale but on how you look and feel and, most importantly how you eat and move. Learning to eat healthier and move more as just integral to your everyday life will set you up for a lifetime of good habits!

Good luck - you got this!

 

[mikethomasahn]

@bornmc Just to add onto the 10k bit- I was obsessed with hitting this magical number, but the time it took me to hit it was time that I could have spent more effectively (ie preparing better meals, doing a higher intensity workout, and still getting to bed earlier).

Walking is great, and I do make time for it, but don’t let it eat into your day at the cost of other things that could be more impactful, especially if you’re time-poor.

 

[ahmedc]

@mikethomasahn To add onto this even more: I like to think of it as 'adding walking where sitting would have been happening'. I've been hitting upwards of 15k and 20k, but that's because I work from home and instead of taking my meetings at my desk, I've been calling in from my phone and walking during. So hours I would have spent sitting, I'm now spending walking.

But I'll always choose a HIIT workout at the gym over hitting my steps! Because the point is to be active, not to hit a random number. I try to ask myself "If I wasn't walking right now, what would I be doing?" If the answer is sitting staring at a screen, the walking is doing it's job. If the answer is "figuring out dinner for tomorrow", "yoga", or something like that, I should be doing that, not walking.

 

[rodneys]

@atheistone As someone has already stated, it is extremely difficult to maintain a calorie intake this low for an extended period of time. This is one of the reasons why sedentary weight loss has a success rate of less than 5%. Incorporating structured exercise is not only absolutely essential for long-term health, but it leads to a much more successful weight loss journey.

 

[emmalove]

@atheistone I'm 5'1 . My sw was 70kg and although I chose not to track this time around, I guesstimate to be eating around 1200 calories and lost 1 kg a week. This was also combined with my exercise calories burned which you also have to factor in. The weight your gonna lose all depends on your TDEE to begin with. The amount of calories your body burns at rest

 

[loveyhwh]

@atheistone Will you lose weight on 1200 calories a day? Yes. Will it be difficult to stick to your diet consistently? Yes. Will you gain all the weight back after your diet is over on that low of calories? Also yes. At your weight, I would recommend that you start your calorie deficit at 1950. And move down progressively from there if your weight loss plateaus. This is a much smarter strategy and will get you better results and save you time and energy in the long run.

 

[13paxi34]

@atheistone I'm 5'0 bouncing between 63-66kg for years, GW is 59 (max "healthy BMI")

Only thing that seems to work is building muscle and upping general activity level (i.e. walking -- but faster than a stroll, elliptical machine, etc.) to increase your daily calorie burn.

Otherwise, the diet is really, really hard. There's zero room for anything that isn't fulfilling your basic needs for fiber, protein, etc. You have to plan every meal like a dietician and not just "eat healthy"

I know you "cant outrun a bad diet" and "weight loss starts in the kitchen" but burning ~300 calories extra and cutting out 200 is way easier than trying to stay around 1200 a day.