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1200 Calorie Diet – The Original
The concept of the 1200 calorie diet first gained notoriety in 1918 by Lulu Hunt Peters in her book Diet and Health; With Key to the Calories. This immensely popular book set the framework for calorie counting diets and 1200 calorie diet plans still popular today.
Although, as she explains in her book, everyone will have different calorie requirements for gaining or losing weight based on many variables such as what your baseline weight should be, your age, and activity level, she does proclaim that most people can lose weight on a 1200 calorie diet and gave examples of 1200 calorie meal plans.
Here is an exact quote from her book on this subject: “I can safely say that any up and around adult will reduce on 1200 calories, for that will not supply the basal metabolism, i.e., the body's internal activities, such as the beating of the heart, respiration, digestion, excretion, etc., and some of the body's stored fat will be called upon to supply the deficiency. How much one will reduce depends on how many calories are actually needed for the internal and the external activities.”
For those that were so inclined to be more exact about how many calories should be consumed for weight loss she gave some simple calculations on figuring this out:
1. Determine your normal weight: ( below is the formula she provided)
Multiply number of inches over 5 ft. in height by 5-1/2; add 110. For example: Height 5 ft. 7 in.
7 x 5-1/2 = 38-1/2
+ 110
-------
Ideal weight 148-1/2
If under 5 ft. multiply number of inches under 5 ft. by 5-1/2 and subtract from 110.
2. Multiply normal weight by number of calories needed per pound per day.
She suggested that adults require 15-20 Calories per pound per day, depending upon activity. For example, if you have little daily physical activity, then take the lowest figure, 15. Therefore your requirement, if your weight should be 150, is 2250 Calories per day. (150 x 15 = 2250)
She then went on to suggest that if you want to lose weight, cut down 500-1000 Calories per day from that.
She also broke food into 100 calorie increments to help the reader understand and plan calorie counting meals. The popularity of 100 calorie snacks of recent years might very well be another idea pulled from this very influential book.
She also placed an importance on balanced, nutrient rich meals to help with the diet being satisfying and to help with healthy weight loss.
Although the concept of the 1200 calorie diet has made such a huge impact on the dieting world, other lessons in her book should not be forgotten. The most important lesson being her attention to each person’s caloric needs being different.
Though probably not well known in 1918, we now know that just as too many calories can cause the storage of unused calories as fat, too few calories can cause your metabolism to slow down, having the unwanted effect of storing of fat. Calculate your caloric needs and learn more about calories for weight loss by clicking here: how many calories to lose weight
Source: Diet and Health; With Key to the Calories. Lulu Hunt Peters 1918
