I had steady weight loss of ~0.5kg/week on 1700cal/week at 185cm starting from 97kg down to ~90kg where i am now. I was as low as 86kg on my 1700cal/week but I wasn't training at all and was working massive hours - pretty sure i chewed up a lot of muscle mass in that time as i was making no effort to keep my protein intake up.
When i returned to real life and started training again i went up to 2000cals on rest days, 2500 on lift days and 3000 on riding days (i ride bikes - typically a ride day is 2-4hrs on the bike so very roughly 1500-3000calories consumed through exercise). i hit 200g of protein every day without fail. this is what i'm doing at the moment and my weight is steady, but my body fat is decreasing - i'm down to just a handful on the lower stomach and a thin layer elsewhere. still a few kgs to go, but pretty happy with where i am at the moment regardless.
the only measurements i have a based on my belts and they are slightly smaller now at 90kg than they were at 86, but not by much. strength and conditioning are both on the up - I have PB'd my front squat, back squat, deadlift and chin reps to failure in the last few weeks and I have PB'd my commute to work on the bike twice in the last month.
I'm doing a lean gains styled IF - i pretty much just skip breakfast, smash lunch and dinner and then stop eating by 8pm. this works for me because it prevents late night snacking and i love big meals. breakfast has never really made any difference to satiety for me so missing it is no big deal. i still fit in plenty of food type that would be considered "cheats" - i'm a fiend for nuts, nut butter, dark chocolate and home made ice cream. IIFYM FTW.
I also low carb but this is inconsequential, really. this is more of a lifestyle choice - I don't buy the lipid hypothesis and i don't like wasting big chunks of my calorie allowance on grains that don't taste good until i cover them in fat and/or protein. also, restricting my diet like this makes it more difficult for me to eat beyond my calorie limits because it restricts my access to a lot of calorie dense foods - i can pack away heaps and heaps of rice and pasta, but nowhere near as much protein so it helps me hit "full" in less calories if i structure my meals like this.
back to the original question, 1200cals is do-able, but unsustainable. I hit some pretty low points personally as a result of the potent combination of work stress, life stress, exercise deprivation, sleep deprivation and hormone imbalances due to weight loss and calorie restriction. no matter how much weight i had lost or how awesome the new me looked, there was no amount of willpower that could overcome the mess i had made of my endocrine system.
my advice:
lift heavy compounds 3 days a week.
cardio is done only because you don't have the willpower to eat to your target calories (no shit, sometimes i ride for an extra hour or so just so i can eat a whole block of chocolate in one sitting).
eat well on the days that you work out and calorie restrict on the days that you don't.
re-feed on a regular and well planned basis - unplanned re-feeds are just binges.
weigh in daily, but track your weight on a weekly average rather than individual days to cancel out the peaks and troughs of water retention, bowel movements, diuretics, etc...
track your calories and macros on a daily basis, but remember that it's ultimately the long term deficit (week to week) that matters, not the short term (day to day).
track your progress with a tape measure as well as the scales.
When i returned to real life and started training again i went up to 2000cals on rest days, 2500 on lift days and 3000 on riding days (i ride bikes - typically a ride day is 2-4hrs on the bike so very roughly 1500-3000calories consumed through exercise). i hit 200g of protein every day without fail. this is what i'm doing at the moment and my weight is steady, but my body fat is decreasing - i'm down to just a handful on the lower stomach and a thin layer elsewhere. still a few kgs to go, but pretty happy with where i am at the moment regardless.
the only measurements i have a based on my belts and they are slightly smaller now at 90kg than they were at 86, but not by much. strength and conditioning are both on the up - I have PB'd my front squat, back squat, deadlift and chin reps to failure in the last few weeks and I have PB'd my commute to work on the bike twice in the last month.
I'm doing a lean gains styled IF - i pretty much just skip breakfast, smash lunch and dinner and then stop eating by 8pm. this works for me because it prevents late night snacking and i love big meals. breakfast has never really made any difference to satiety for me so missing it is no big deal. i still fit in plenty of food type that would be considered "cheats" - i'm a fiend for nuts, nut butter, dark chocolate and home made ice cream. IIFYM FTW.
I also low carb but this is inconsequential, really. this is more of a lifestyle choice - I don't buy the lipid hypothesis and i don't like wasting big chunks of my calorie allowance on grains that don't taste good until i cover them in fat and/or protein. also, restricting my diet like this makes it more difficult for me to eat beyond my calorie limits because it restricts my access to a lot of calorie dense foods - i can pack away heaps and heaps of rice and pasta, but nowhere near as much protein so it helps me hit "full" in less calories if i structure my meals like this.
back to the original question, 1200cals is do-able, but unsustainable. I hit some pretty low points personally as a result of the potent combination of work stress, life stress, exercise deprivation, sleep deprivation and hormone imbalances due to weight loss and calorie restriction. no matter how much weight i had lost or how awesome the new me looked, there was no amount of willpower that could overcome the mess i had made of my endocrine system.
my advice:
lift heavy compounds 3 days a week.
cardio is done only because you don't have the willpower to eat to your target calories (no shit, sometimes i ride for an extra hour or so just so i can eat a whole block of chocolate in one sitting).
eat well on the days that you work out and calorie restrict on the days that you don't.
re-feed on a regular and well planned basis - unplanned re-feeds are just binges.
weigh in daily, but track your weight on a weekly average rather than individual days to cancel out the peaks and troughs of water retention, bowel movements, diuretics, etc...
track your calories and macros on a daily basis, but remember that it's ultimately the long term deficit (week to week) that matters, not the short term (day to day).
track your progress with a tape measure as well as the scales.
