Going under 1200 calories for a day or two

I know 1200 calories is kind of the magic number not to go under, and that if you do you risk messing up your metabolism.  I was on a mini vacation this weekend, though, and paid absolutely no attention to what I ate and probably easily reached 2,000+ calories for the past two days.

Today, I'm just not hungry.  I've eaten an english muffin and a handful of celery.  If I only eat when I'm hungry today, there's no way I will make it to 1200.  Should I just eat anyways, or is it okay to have one low day following a few high calorie days?

A day or two of over or undereating never hurt anyone.  Don't worry about it, but don't fall into the habit. 

Try to get to 1200.  The problem is that, if you don't, tomorrow you'll be hungry again and will wind up eating a lot and then you're into a sort of yo-yo eating pattern that's hard to break.  If you're having a hard time getting the food in, go for healthy high-cal snacks like nuts, dried fruit, avocado, etc.

I would try eating 1200 calories. You could easily add some high calorie items to help you reach that number. A handful of nuts for example, or peanut butter on some whole grain bread, olive oil, etc. Those would easily get you to 1200cals. But if you can't reach that number, I don't think it will hurt to go under for a day or two.

Cool.  I will just eat when I'm hungry and try to go for higher calorie options.  Should have gone for a bagel instead of my english muffin! :)

There is no magic number.  You need to figure out your BMR by using the tools.  That will tell you the amount you need to eat to lose between 1/2 to 2 pounds a week.

1200 calories is what it takes to keep a very sedentary, very small woman alive.  Most of us need to eat more than that. 

Your intake for a day or two is not as important as your average over a period of time.  A week is a convenient length of time to use.  If you had 1200, 1200, 1200, 1200, 1200, 2000, 2000; then your average would be around 1400 per day for the week. If you averaged around 900 for the next 5 days, your week would be 2000,2000,900,900,900,900,900 which would average close to 1200.

And, on that second option, she'd be undernourished.  When most people have a splurge, they don't splurge on fresh fruit and veg and other nutrient-rich foods.  They splurge on sugar and salt and fat.  So, she might get enough nutrients on the two 2000 cal days (depending on how much of the food was healthy) and definitely would not on the five 900 cal days.  By the end of that, her body would be pushing her to binge.

It is always a bad idea to intentionally undereat to "make up for" a splurge day.  Splurges happen.  They're not a big deal.  The next day, go back to normal.  If your weekly average is a bit higher than normal, that's really not a problem - since it's probably still lower than maintenance calories.

i'd say just eat when you're hungry. you're body is still probably digesting all the extra food from the past day or two - so why force feed yourself when your body is intuitively telling you "wait! let me catch up!"

just my opinion..

2 days won't hurt you. Just listen to your body which means eating when you're hungry. It should all even out at the end of the week.