I’m seeing such a common theme going around. I enjoy meeting new people and hearing their fitness goals and systems, but it commonly comes up that someone is on a new diet plan and is tracking their food. I love to hear that! Many times people will use My Fitness Pal and over and over again people of all sizes tell me, “I’m eating 1200 calories a day, but I seem to be at a plateau.” Let me tell you a little about what I’ve learned that is actually happening to many people following this {low calorie} route.
I know very, very few people who can eat 1200 calories a day AND do weight training (expecting to build muscle mass) AND do hours of cardio a week. You may lose a bit of water weight at first when you eat this low, but if you weigh anything over 80 pounds (that is 99.999% of you reading this), then you are sending your body into starvation mode. AND you’re likely adding in typically long cardio sessions because your mindset tells you more is more, correct? What will end up happening is your metabolism will start to shut down, you won’t lose any more weight and you’ll turn to muscle as your fuel. Many of you spend a lot of time trying to build the muscle, so why would you want to lose it? Additionally, with the ongoing cardio, you’re raising cortisol levels in your system and in the long run collecting extra fat as a result, in the abs most likely, right?
What I try to tell people is only what I’ve learned and experienced myself. You must eat to fuel your body. If you want muscle gain, 
you gotta eat. If you want to lose weight, you gotta eat. A general rule of thumb in the bodybuilding world is 15 x your current weight to maintain and 12 x your current weight to lose roughly 1 to 2 pounds per week. It can get a lot more to the point and scientific than that, but as a ball park, if you’re way off those numbers, you’re doing your body a disservice and likely headed towards a frustrating plateau. What to know to the exact amount? Use this BMR calculator HERE!
Let me give you my stats as an example. When I was ramping up towards my Contest Prep season for competing in Figure, I was taking in 2500+ calories daily and able to gain lean muscle mass. I was at that time about 137 on my 5’7″ frame when I started and ended at a very healthy 142 about six weeks in. I was lifting heavy five times a week and doing little to no cardio. I got to eat and LOVED it! It was NOT about eating anything I wanted in that 2500, but more about balance. I had a cheat meal each week and allowed myself an alcoholic beverage or frufru coffee drink each week as a treat. My ongoing day was about lean proteins such as egg whites and fish, low-sugar veggies, and healthy fats. I personally have a lot of food groups that I’m intolerant to (such as wheat, dairy, sugar, corn, soy, red meat, fruit and fruit powders, and chicken), so I have to really keep it clean 95% of the time to get the most out of my body.
Going into my Contest Prep, I followed a plan that had me dropping calories by the 150-200s about every two weeks at the 11 week out mark. So sitting at 142 pounds, I could maintain my weight at 2500 calories a day. As I started dropping and created the daily calorie deficit, my weight started to drop and so did my body fat. I had to be careful NOT to drop it too quickly (like going right from 2500 to 1400 calories) because it would have done damage to my metabolism and produced unwanted, long-term results. So, at three weeks out from the stage sitting down in the 1500 to 1600 calorie range daily, I was dropping weight nicely, but as I mentioned, we had to watch that my body did not go try to rob my hard-earned muscle for fuel instead. The only way to do that was to keep the long, steady-state cardio sessions OUT of my plan and by keeping food IN my plan. Now at 131 pounds and 1650 to 1800 calories a day, I’m pretty lean (AND hungry), but I know this is short term and for the purpose of competing. If I wanted to maintain this weight and size, I would HAVE to eat near 2000 calories a day, or my muscle would be sacrificed and my physique would start to change.
If you are someone who is eating down around 1200 calories, I encourage you to run the numbers and have a talk with yourself that it is time to eat MORE! I can talk to gals and guys until I’m blue in the face about it, but if you maintain your “I’m afraid to eat mentality”, then you need to get help with a possible eating disorder OR take a leap of faith to give it a six to 12-week try to eat more and see what your body does. Again, I’m not saying to go fast food and McD’s it up to your calories each day, but I am saying find the foods that fuel you best (ideally a healthy fat, lean protein and complex carb each meal) and see how your body responds. Your only other options are to either be content with where you are or be willing to change. The bottom line is that if you want change but you’re unwilling to actually make changes, you’re at a crossroads of miserable meets unrealistic and that’s a pretty sad place to be when you’ve got a BIG life to live! Take care of you….E.A.T!