You can't lose weight on 1200 calories a day because you're no longer in a calorie deficit. Your body has adapted to what it's been doing and plateaued. If you start your diet with a 500 calorie deficit per day, your body adapts to this in various way so that over time your energy requirements are reduced.
“And then, of course, everybody's metabolism is slightly different. But the average weight loss that most people see on the 1200 calorie diet is about one to two pounds per week.”
A 1,200-calorie diet is much too low for most people and can result in negative side effects like dizziness, extreme hunger, nausea, micronutrient deficiencies, fatigue, headaches, and gallstones ( 23 ). Furthermore, a 1,200-calorie diet can set you up for failure if long-term weight loss is your goal.
They will lose weight as eating 1200 calories a day, regardless of starvation mode, will be a caloric deficit. A caloric deficit is when the body uses up more calories than the amount gained by food and thus they will continue to lose weight as long as they maintain that caloric deficit.
This is called a weight loss plateau. The initial weight loss is usually just water weight and not fat loss. The plateau is caused by loss of muscle that occurs during weight loss (if you are not working out). To counter this, you can either cut more calories or increase your physical activity.
Without enough calories, you will quickly experience feelings of fatigue. Because your body doesn't have enough calories to burn and generate energy. You've been losing hair. This is another consequence of a lack of nutrients.
One of the main reasons why burning calories through exercise may still not result in weight loss is due to overexertion, or inflammation of your body. If you exercise too hard on a daily basis, there is an excess of inflammation in your body. All the added up inflammation makes you gain more weight than lose.
Your slower metabolism will slow your weight loss, even if you eat the same number of calories that helped you lose weight. When the calories you burn equal the calories you eat, you reach a plateau. To lose more weight, you need to either increase your physical activity or decrease the calories you eat.
A 1,200 calorie diet, according to most nutritionists or food experts, is a restrictive, unsustainable, likely unhealthy diet for any adult woman.
It is commonly said that if you eat too few calories, your metabolism will slow down to a point where you no longer lose weight. Part of this is true: as you lose weight your energy expenditure does drop. However, consuming too few calories cannot and will not cause you to gain weight. This is simply impossible.
Not eating enough
Once you consume fewer than 1000-1200 calories each day, as the body attempts to prevent long term starvation, intense hunger can result.
The amount of food we consume daily has a significant impact on bodily function. Most adults need a minimum of 2000 calories to sustain metabolism, muscle activity, and brain function.
The popular weight loss app Noom brands itself as different from diets, but sets a low calorie goal. For many users, the 1,200 calories a day limit is too few and can cause side effects, a dietitian says. Symptoms of undereating can include fatigue, mood swings, brain fog, and disrupted metabolism.
As you can see, individual weight-loss experiences and time frames can vary heavily. However, most people who start dieting by cutting out a certain amount of calories each day will see results within one to two weeks, even if it's just one pound lost.
The first stage of weight loss is when you tend to lose the most weight and begin to notice changes in your appearance and how your clothes fit. It usually happens within the first 4–6 weeks ( 1 ). Most of the weight loss in this stage comes from carb stores, protein, and water — and to a lesser extent, body fat.
If you drastically slash calories and are eating a very low-calorie diet (Think: less than 1,000 calories for women and less than 1,200 calories for men), “starvation mode” can actually be starvation. Starvation from chronic undereating can be counterproductive to weight loss and dangerous to your health.
Eating too few calories can be the start of a vicious cycle that causes diet distress. When you cut your calories so low that your metabolism slows and you stop losing weight, you probably will become frustrated that your efforts are not paying off. This can lead you to overeat and ultimately gain weight.
Eating too little can stall your weight loss. If you have been eating only 1200 calories for a long time, start eating more for a few weeks to stimulate your metabolism.
You're eating too much during your eating window.
“If you end up consuming the same number of calories (or more) during your eating windows as before you started intermittent fasting, then you won't lose weight.”
You've gained muscle.
And here's an often overlooked fact: Muscle tissue is more dense than fat tissue. So as you gain more muscle and lose fat, you change your overall body composition, which can result in a higher weight, but a smaller figure and better health.
You Could Be Gaining Muscle
Losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time, also called body recomposition is quite hard to achieve, and quite a rare scenario. It is definitely possible to build muscle and lose fat in a calorie deficit, which could mean that your weight remains static or even goes up slightly.