I've been on a strict 1200 calorie diet for months with

eat at maintenance for a month then start cutting again

>>38501258

I'm probably at maintenance right now. I would probably die if I cut further!

I can't really describe how going lower on this calories is, and I've tried going 800. Some times during the day, I feel like I'm about to pass out and literally do, and end up sleeping for hours and hours with difficulty waking up.

I'm also in the "skinny fat" phase. There's love handles on my waist, and flab on my cheeks and arms. But I can run fuck fast and I can still lift fair/do bodyweight exercises. I run those 2 miles in 12 minutes.

I feel athletic. My performances look athletic. But I don't look it.

>>38501297
exercise more fucking fatass why would you starve yourself

>>38501243
dude, 1200 calories?
what are you? 4 feet tall?

>>38501297
You feel like shit, cold, tired, sleep all day, etc because your body fights against you to maintain its weight by lowering your metabolism. Eat more but switch to food that triggers less of an insulin response.

>>38501317

I'm 5'8". I started at 210 lbs and dropped to 180, but I haven't been able to progress further than that after 2 months of sameness.

>>38501305

Exercise more how? I already lift four times a week, and run every day, on top of the caloric reduction. Should I double or triple the mileage or something?

>>38501332

I actually feel great at 1200 calories. It's when I go to 800 that everything goes to hell, and it makes sense, because you can't really survive going that low.

My food doesn't trigger insulin. I don't eat carbs or sugar. It's chicken breast and broccoli to 1200 calories every day. I don't even bother with the rice.

>>38501332
replying to the only good advice ive seen here in weeks

just go on a -500 deficit.

your body doesn't respond well to any higher.

>>38501437

The problem with that is I don't know what my BMR is anymore.

When I started out, it was supposed to be at 1900. I'm doing high cardio and high resistance training, and cutting calories, but I still haven't broken down the fat on my gut and ass.

I cut out all the crappy foods and have been eating clean. The diet worked for 2 months before stopping. Even if my metabolism has lowered, which is probable, the sheer amount of exertion in the gym and on the track should count for something. But I'm not seeing it.

That's why I'm at a loss and asking for help about cheat days, to "spike" the metabolism back. I don't know if cheat is eating tons of cals or eating something different but staying under your macro.

>>38501342
if you already do all those things and you need to eat 1200kcals to lose weight then either you train halfassed or lie

>>38501332
insulin spikes dont necesarrily make you fat m8

what are your macros like OP

>>38501243
Your muscles are probably eating themselves as we speak. Try ADF or something if you're intent on losing weight super fast, or if you actually want to be healthy try this >>38501258

>>38501517
no not necessarily what does that matter.

>>38501359
You should still be losing weight anyway I'd probably just keep doing it. However nearly all your eating is protein so it actually does.

>>38501610
it matters because you said dont eat insulin triggering foods

insulin triggering foods only trigger insulin on an empty stomach by only eating that certain food. On a mixed diet where you eat regularly relatively it doesnt matter that much

Don't worry op..same boat but some reason I'm down to a 32 inch waist after 3 months

>>38501546
u shud have answered to this, op

also tell exactly what you eat. your daily diet with its timing. ill try to help

>>38501491

What you say is the exact reason I'm here. I don't really have a reason to lie to /fit/, I'm experienced enough to know when I'm lying to myself. I honestly have no explanation for this one except that I am trying to make PRs on bodyweight exercises while trying to cut fat.

But the bodyweight PRs are for CNS development, I'm not increasing my muscle mass in training them, so it doesn't seem like there's a conflict.

>>38501546

6:00 AM: two chicken breasts (~300 calories each) and a bag of broccoli

6:00 PM: two chicken breasts (~300 calories each) and a bag of broccoli

I only eat the broccoli to shit good, really. Just eating the chicken itself caused me to not shit for long periods of time, and I panicked. The fiber is essential for scraping the intestines clean, I don't care about the macronutrients in broccoli.

>>38501561

I can give it a shot, but ADF scares the crap out of me. As I've mentioned when I get low blood sugar or something, I need to sleep IMMEDIATELY. I can't do that at work. Work is the main reason I don't just go 800 and sleep all day as compensation.

>>38501666

I think, MAYBE, I'm actually at 168 lbs. But obviously the speed of loss is well lower than what it was in the first 2 months.

I've done this diet before, actually, with lower calories but less intensive workouts. I went down to 165 lbs but my PRs were far less impressive than now. That time, I could not run 2 miles in 12 mins (it would have taken me 20 minutes) and my bodyweight exercises were far less impressive. I was also tired and sleepy all the time while now I suffer from insomnia after workouts, and generally feel powerful if not for the sickening feeling there's a lump of fat on my waist.

>>38501243
check if your breath smells like acetone, if it does, start eating more. dumb ass motherfucker, going on a 1200 cal diet..

lots of shit advice itt.

>>38501332
>>You feel like shit, cold, tired, sleep all day, etc because your body fights against you to maintain its weight by lowering your metabolism. Eat more but switch to food that triggers less of an insulin response.

eat more to lose weight. yeah. great fucking idea.

op, switch to IF. 20/4 is probably ideal if you're eating 1200 calories. don't eat more, jesus christ. fuck all of you retards whose first kneejerk bullshit response to someone not losing weight is to eat more. you dumb fucks.

op listen to this guy on steroids he knows what he talks bout>>38502649

>>38502488
so, 300 grams of protein, some carbs from broccoli and maybe 30gr fat from chickens? or did u include the fat content to calories too?
anyways

you can loose the rest of the weight, by upping the carbs, and lowering the proteins, mate. 180grs of protein will be enough. add two egg yolks daily, and get the rest of cals as much as u want from carbs that comes from green vegetables. u will loose fat with this, but when u wanna maintenance, u gotta up your calories. so up the protein or carbs that time. you can also up the fat to slim down, this will work, but you will be weaker. so i dont recommend it. but it will be easy to stay slim with higher fat, than higher protein. your choice. also when u are on maintenance, i would stik to green vegies to not get flabby again. but depends on your wishes. if you want to bulk, u can use complex carbs like oats and legumes, if u wanna maintain slim with discipline up the protein, if u care more about stayin slim and eating more freely, up the fat.

>>38502649
Trip fags are always wrong

OP you really are pathetic. You need to get your shit together

>>38501243
Muscle cannibalism. You think MMA fighters at the 145 range starve themselves 365 days a year? They eat, and burn. I know it is scary to eat when you've been fat, but keep tracking - and keep working out hard.

As you add 200 cals here and there, you'll be able to lift more and do more. Turn up the intensity as your eat more food.

>>38502488
holy fuck why would you eat that much chicken are you retarded

you are literally killing your kidneys man replace some of the chicken for carbs

File: gym-skeleton-e1408530105125.jpg (59KB, 467x422px) Image search: [Google]

59KB, 467x422px

>>38501243

I have about 1600 calories a day, 200g protein every day.

I lift 3-4 times a week, jog 30 mins at 9km/h every other day.

It just werks. You're probably not eating enough 1600 isn't a lot and its the lowest I'd go.

About one a week or so I'll go over my 1600 going out to a restaurant or some shit. That day I'll beast in the gym and cardio.

I do a full body routine currently, not worth doing a split in a deficit with fat to lose.

>>38501243
reduce your caloric intake and try carb cycling
cheat days are broscience

u can try increasing your caloric intake by 200kcal for 4 weeks and then go back to 1200, just watch out on cardio and make sure your numbers are correct

besides that, just keep going. it gets harder with lower bf to the point you need to put on some muscle mass that your body lacks (more muscle mass = more calories spent) so you might want to lean bulk for a while before losing weight again.

Jesus Christ metabolic damage only reduces your BMR by maybe 20%, and that's in extreme starvation experiments. If you were really eating 1200 kcalories your weightloss would not plateau, regardless of wether you've had cheat days or not. If the plateau has only persisted for a few days then it may just be water fluctuations causing your scale weight to remain the same despie losing adipose tissue. If you really are not losing fat however then you are simply not eating 1200 kcalories. You are most likely vastly underestimating your intake which, in my experience, is always the case with retards who claim to be on these ludicrously low cal diets

>>38502649

What is the feeding cycle for 20/4? Fast 20 hours, eat normally for 4 days...?

>>38502710

I generally disregard broccoli cals as negligible.

So, would you recommend swapping out one of the chicken meals for a 600 calorie protein shake? There are carbs and fats in that.

>>38502756

Kidneys are fine. I drink a metric fuckton of water. I've never had issues with high protein.

>>38502812

Would you say I should try to force PRs on my lifts, then?

The sticky says growth and reduction can't happen at the same time, hence why I never tried to push over my maintenance lifts. I didn't want to antagonize my weight loss by trying to force muscle gains at the same time.

>>38502953

I have a scale to measure out the weight of my chicken, and I cut them down so they're 6 oz per serving.

EVEN THEN, with the massive cardio I do every day, if there's any calories I'm eating extra, it's bound to be vaporized by the cardio.

It probably works for most people, but it doesn't work for me. Note that I feel and think I'm 100% healthy. I could kick ass in athletic events. But from a bodybuilding perspective, I'm a hideous mess visually.

>>38503217
>Kidneys are fine. I drink a metric fuckton of water. I've never had issues with high protein.
eventually you will

>>38501481

go back to maintenance for a week and then lower it back.

>>38503268

well yeah, but the idea was to get off the diet once I reach my target weight (which is 155 lbs). I'm stuck still mass eating protein because I can't get there.

>>38502710
>>38503217
no. never use supplements. empty calories. also, chicken is quality protein, so stick to that

carbs and fats also are not a problem

just lower your protein intake to 180grs from chicken
two egg yolks a day
as much as green vegies u want. it will not make u fat at all. you need calories. i would also lower the activity and just do lifting.

>>38503268
fuck off pussy. that protein is nothing

>>38501342
did you even read the sticky? You're supposed to eat calories = 10x your current body weight to lose weight. you're starving yourself. eat 1800 calories.