Gaining weight on 1,200 calories can happen due to inaccurate tracking (hidden calories, weekend splurges), metabolic adaptation (body slowing down from severe restriction), water retention (salt, stress, hormones, intense exercise), lack of muscle mass, or underlying hormonal issues, with extreme restriction often triggering a survival mode where your body holds onto fat and slows metabolism. For most, 1,200 calories is too low, signaling starvation and causing issues like increased cortisol and fatigue, making weight loss harder.
“Everyone's body is different, but for most people, eating less than 1,200 calories a day could slow your metabolism enough to make it harder to lose weight,” says Uy. Some signs you have low metabolism include: Weight loss progress that has slowed down. You feel tired or low energy throughout the day.
If you're on a high-carb diet and eating in caloric deficit, you might still gain weight. This is because, as mentioned, carbohydrates bind with water. Carbohydrates are also typically higher in fiber, which bulks out stools, adding mass in your digestive tract, increasing your total body weight.
Most likely because you haven't been eating 1000 calories for long enough that the weight change due to the calorie deficit isn't being swamped by the entirely normal variation in weight due to transient water weight effects.
If you're not losing weight despite following a 1200 calorie diet, it could be for any number of reasons. You might be underestimating how many calories you consume, the scale might be masking fat loss or you could be eating the calories you burn from exercise.
What kind of exercise did Adele do to lose weight? Adele focused on Pilates, a low-impact, core-strengthening exercise that improves posture and flexibility. This was central to her transformation and helped her tone her body without intense workouts.
Weight gain despite eating little can result from underestimating calorie intake, consuming high-energy or processed foods, lack of physical activity, dehydration, poor sleep, or hormonal imbalances like PCOS or perimenopause.
Between 45 and 65 percent of your calories should come from carbohydrates. In a 1,200-calorie diet, that's roughly 540 to 780 calories from carbs. That equals about 135 to 195 g of carbs daily.
Consuming at least 1,200 calories per day has often been touted as the minimum for basic bodily functions and to stay out of starvation mode, but the amount is actually too low. A healthy amount of calories for adult women ranges from 1,800 to 2,400 calories per day and for men it's 2,000 to 3,200 calories per day.
Daily: The most common form of intermittent fasting is a daily fast for 12 to 16 hours. For a 16-hour fast, this would result in an 8-hour feeding window during a 24-hour period. A “16:8” fast might look like eating breakfast at 11am and finishing dinner by 7pm.
Some of the ways she's lost weight include walking, eating more protein, and medication to help with how her body processes food. Clarkson started some of these changes to her diet and exercise routines when she moved to New York City, where she hosts "The Kelly Clarkson Show."
People naturally lose muscle after 40, especially women after menopause. Because muscle burns more calories than fat, this can slow down your metabolism and make it harder to shake those stubborn pounds.
Other breakfast ideas for a 1,200-calorie diet:
Use exercise and strength training to increase muscle mass
Increasing your muscle mass with exercise like lifting weights, resistance machines, or Pilates can increase your Basal/Resting Metabolic Rate. Strength training can also help protect your metabolism following a low-calorie diet.
A calorie deficit occurs when you burn more calories than you consume, Tilton says. Your diet and physical activity levels can contribute to a calorie deficit. “A caloric deficit can be reached by consuming fewer calories, increasing physical activity levels or both,” Tilton says.
The best drink for weight loss is water since it has zero calories and can keep you hydrated. Other weight loss drinks include coffee, green tea, vegetable juice, and smoothies. If you're trying to lose weight, avoid high-calorie, sugary drinks like soda and fruit juice.