Debbie Cousins's Journal, 26 Jan 21

Being over 60 & a retired nurse with even my little grandchildren almost totally off limits because of virus I totally understand a sedentary listing. I am to. I eat very few calories & always watch my carbs. But it’s become much easier to eat very little calories as my appetite has diminished as I ate less. Sometimes I gotta make myself eat to keep calories I am eating! It’ll work itself out. All that water you drink should also be filling you up some! Good luck🍀 

going below 1200kcal day is dangerous, and should only be done under doctors supervision. 4lbs. month max sounds better, it will take a year. if you push your body to starvation mode, you will lower your metabolism making it harder to burn fat. also after you lose it will be tough to keep it off having a low metabolic rate. as others have said go slower you'll get there and you'll be able to keep it off and you'll feel good doing it. try walking 20 min. day (100kcal.) and doing light calisthenics for 10 min. day (70 kcal.) to get started exercising not much time and easy to do it should burn close to 170kcal day. per month it adds up to 5100 kcal. 3500 kcal consumed =1lb of fat 3500kcal burned =1 lb. fat.  

You have to eat. At least 1200 calories and make them count! Protein and Fiber are the numbers you need to keep from feeling hungry. You need a way of eating that you can stick with. Eat nourishing foods that "stick to your ribs". It may take longer , but you will get there. Adding some walking and light exercise will get you there sooner. We need exercise anyways to maintain good health. My body craves exercise now. Strange but true! 

I have quite a few days of 1200 calories that you may want to take ideas from.  

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/1200-calorie-diet-review a good read. "Restricting calories leads to metabolic changes in your body. These include increases in hormones like ghrelin and cortisol, which drive hunger, as well as a drop in resting metabolic rate (RMR), or the calories that you burn while at rest (12, 24Trusted Source). This leads to greater chances of weight regain over time, as well as the vicious cycle of repeated periods of weight loss followed by weight regain that so many chronic dieters experience — which commonly leads to feelings of despair. Weight cycling is detrimental to mental health, and research has shown that repeated dieting and weight cycling can stress the heart and may lead to a higher risk of eating disorders, type 2 diabetes, and increased mortality (25Trusted Source, 26Trusted Source)."  

I am trying to add about 300 calories of exercise every day to bump up my metabolism and keep myself from going crazy with starvation! 

Starvation is not good. Try replacing one meal, per day, with some type of protein shake instead of a meal. Also, just reduce the portions your used to by less & less. Also, salads are good, but in my experience, they have more calories than the shakes.  

Drink more calorie-free liquids. They fill you up faster....for instance, water. I drink 2 7/11 cup fulls of water per day and more if I can. They are = to 6 cups.  

Nutrient dense foods. Lower calories, higher fiber will keep you fuller longer. Not a doctor can’t speculate on your calorie intake, but that’s very low. If you can add some movement to your day it’ll help keep you burning calories. 

Luv you Debbie! I want to lose wgt, too. We’re on the same path. What’s the rush? Cld you start slow? Maybe 500 kal/day? And, look at it as an avg over one week. It’s tough to give up all those kcals, right? Once you have met the 500 kcal goal (a flew weeks), reduce another 2-300 kcal. Think more about stuff like added sugar! I gotta have my martinis (@ 500+ kcal/pop!). So, I limit them to 2X/wk. my treat! Make room for treats! Otherwise, I limit the added sugar [aka alcohol!]. We can do it! Let me know. H 

debbie thank you for sharing the web site, it looks very interesting & informative. It shows for me to loose and get to goal by a date I put in, the calories should be 1200/day which if I remember was a realistic one that was suggested to me many, many years ago. I really don't like to measure & list foods but maybe that is part of my issue. I might try it, but won't promise anything :-) I ran across an old diet I used years ago, called the Mayo Clinic diet, I don't think it was endorsed by the Mayo Clinic but I think I'll give it a try for something different. At least it gives more structured meals and I think that is another thing I need.  

I agree that those calories are low and you would have to make sure the proteins are added in this. I know you are also trying to meet that challenge so I hope that you will be successful in which ever route you take. I'm wishing you all the best. 

I will check out the site that you mention alone with the one someone else mention on your comments. Take care of yourself. 

Wait I thought I saw the site in your post but I didn't , What site is that you went to? 

I used to lose 10lbs a month in 1200 calories. I wasn't very active at the time. I think 1,000 is a very low estimate.