3 meals a day 1200 limit?

frostyswife

My limit is 1200'calories for the day need some meal ideas. I don't like fish and suffer from IBS so nothing spicy etc please. Like basic foods as feeds rest of my family n kids are fussy lol we love pasta and rice and chicken. Any ideas welcome thank you x

frostyswife

I'm 5'7 and 170 lbs mfp worked out I should be eating this x

GoldaTyla

Hi, Frostyswife: I'm 60 and weigh in at 198 --- hoping to lose 50 pounds over the year; taking it slowly. MFP also has me at about 1200 to 1300 calories and I'm trying to meet these numbers. It's difficult sometimes. I often have only two meals a day because I tend to sleep late --- that's when I find MFP's calorie estimation easier to meet. That's rather ironic, don't you think???

cbhubbybubble

First, I think you can eat far more than 1200. I'm much shorter and lost weight at more calories than that. Do you have your settings at 2lb per week? Bump it to 1lb per week and you should get more calories. 1lb at your needs should be plenty.

That said. pasta and rice add up in calories quickly. Start making more veggies and salads with your meals to replace the pasta and rice. You can still make it for your family and have a little, but you'll get more food out of your day if you reduce the amount of that.

If the family likes chicken, they should accept turkey breast as well. It's very low calorie. I also make chili out of ground poultry, which reduces the calories in it vs beef. I still make it with beef once in a while, but like to switch it up. Not sure how that would sit with your IBS, but you can make it as spicy or not as you like, I suppose.

Pork tenderloin is also a surprisingly lower calorie cut of meat. I season and roast one up every so often for a meal and it makes great leftovers.

dawn0293

Try http://www.reddit.com/r/1200isplenty/ it's a fairly active subreddit of people who share food ideas that are on all on 1200 calorie limit. I post there from time to time. It's a good group.

Francl27

I'm 36, 5'5", 133 pounds, and I still lose at 1700 calories a day.

You don't have to starve yourself to lose weight. You do know that you're supposed to eat exercise calories back, right? If you don't want to, at least pick up a reasonable goal (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/, pick a 15% or 20% deficit).

Anyway, lots of veggies (frozen, fresh, roasted, soups, etc), pork, chicken, chicken sausage, steak...

mfstew2007

substitute your pasta and rice with spaghetti squash, yellow squash, zuchinni. when i fix pizza for the kids, i bake a yellow squash, add pizza sauce, a couple pepperonis, onions, olives, peppers, a little mozz and i have pizza! i do the same with chicken dishes, leave out rice, add squash. my kids now love sauted squash sprinkled with a little parmesan. that's my "french fries" to go with my veggie burger.

NourishtoFlourish

mfstew2007 wrote: »

substitute your pasta and rice with spaghetti squash, yellow squash, zuchinni.

Alternatively, don't do that. Vegetables are great and delicious, but so are carbs. I'll keep my daily fix of bread/rice/pasta/potato, thanks

Raykels

Gently spiced chicken and chickpeas?
Homemade chicken kiev with carrot chips?

DvlDwnInGA

Why are you eating 1200 cals? If you exercise for 30 minutes, 3 days a week, someone your size should have no problem losing a pound a week eating 1600 cals a day. Everyday.

williams969

DvlDwnInGA wrote: »

Why are you eating 1200 cals? If you exercise for 30 minutes, 3 days a week, someone your size should have no problem losing a pound a week eating 1600 cals a day. Everyday.

^^This. MFP "told" me to eat 1200 at first, too (started at 161lbs). But only because I selected "2lbs/week". Change it to 1lb/week, eat back your exercise calories earned, and you'll get a much better number to eat (i.e. something that you can stick to without energy loss, extreme hunger, "giving up", etc.).

emdeesea

Yeah, you're not eating enough.

I'm working on my last 15 pounds and I use this calculator successfully.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

silentKayak

Cut out the pasta and rice, and eat more fish, skinless chicken and vegetables.

ttcbelieve

All

Her request was to get some ideas on meals for 1200. There is nothing wrong with starting a plan at 1200. it would be nice if recommendations for 1200 was provided to the poster rather than recommendations to increase from 1200. Daily minimum recommended for women is 1200. starting at 1200 is ok
Some recommendation from the web http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/fitness/lose-weight-meals-oct04
http://www.weightlossforall.com/1200-calorie-diet-sample.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/75898-calorie-meal-plans/
http://www.discovergoodnutrition.com/2013/10/1200-calorie-diet-plan/

also Edamame is a very good way to get a lot for few calories, especially if you get the Edamame in pods http://www.discovergoodnutrition.com/2013/10/1200-calorie-diet-plan/. its the first one on the page, its very good for snacking. 3 mins in microwave, sprinkle salt, sit back, watch movie, munch on edamame in pod

goodluck

heraklesnz

You can always 'buy' calories with exercise, you don't mention your exercise plan or what else you are eating, 1200 calories is a small energy intake. I suggest some foods with a little more fibre such as wholegrain foods, leafy greens, broccoli, spinach etc, if you haven't been eating greens or don't really like them, start out with really small portions gently cooked so they are still brightly coloured and just a little tender then and eat them while they are hot, or add them to your rice or pasta dishes in the last few minutes so they cook til just tender, these will help fill you up. (a good nutritionist could probably give you some good advice about IBS too, might be worth a visit).

avskk

Meh, I often end up eating around 1200; if you can make it work and meet your nutritional needs, I don't think it's the end of the world. Since you asked for meal ideas, here's what a pretty typical 1200 day would look like for me.

Breakfast: light English muffin (100kcal) with Laughing Cow or similar light cheese (50kcal) and a fried egg (70kcal), coffee with 1Tbsp creamer (37kcal). Total 257kcal.

Lunch: Oscar Mayer turkey or chicken slices (50kcal) with half an ounce of cheddar cheese (50kcal) on a sandwich thin (100kcal). Side salad with ~2cups dark greens (15kcal), 50g tomatoes (10kcal), some pickled beets (20kcal), and 1Tbsp Litehouse Opa dressing (30kcal). Total: 275kcal. You could bump that up a little by adding more salad veggies or some honey mustard on the sandwich, even.

Snack at work: a string cheese (70kcal) or 100-calorie pack of nuts. Maybe a serving of popcorn chips (120kcal) with some salsa (5kcal). A piece of fruit would fit nicely here, too.

Dinner: 6oz chicken breast (190kcal) stir-fried with 2cups frozen veggie blend (70kcal), a little fish sauce (5kcal), and plenty of whatever spices I like. Total here is 270kcal.

For the day, that totals out at less than 1000 calories. You could fill the rest with frozen Greek yogurt (90kcal/serving), popcorn, fresh juices if that's your thing, a nice glass of wine, or just bigger servings at meals -- a full ounce of cheese on the sandwich, half an avocado or some bacon with breakfast, more cream with your coffee, some rice or noodles with dinner, a regular soda if you like them, etc. The point is to focus on protein and vegetables first, add some healthy fats, and then see where you're at.

gmsmith504

It's possible. I am back on MFP after being off for a while. Each time I've used it, I have had a goal of about 1200 cals/day. I eat three meals plus 2-3 snacks and still stay within goal. You can follow me if you are interested in seeing my food diary. For example - today I made a breakfast sandwich with egg, cheese on a whole wheat pita. Lunch- grilled portobello mushroom cap on a salad. Dinner- turkey stuffed peppers with a side of roasted Brussel sprouts. Snacks- almonds, baked chips and fresg salsa, and cherries. I still have about 100 calories left but I'm full.

Of course, if you add in exercise you get more calories to eat.

brianpperkins

ttcbelieve wrote: »

All

Her request was to get some ideas on meals for 1200. There is nothing wrong with starting a plan at 1200. it would be nice if recommendations for 1200 was provided to the poster rather than recommendations to increase from 1200. Daily minimum recommended for women is 1200. starting at 1200 is ok
Some recommendation from the web http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/fitness/lose-weight-meals-oct04
http://www.weightlossforall.com/1200-calorie-diet-sample.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/75898-calorie-meal-plans/
http://www.discovergoodnutrition.com/2013/10/1200-calorie-diet-plan/

also Edamame is a very good way to get a lot for few calories, especially if you get the Edamame in pods http://www.discovergoodnutrition.com/2013/10/1200-calorie-diet-plan/. its the first one on the page, its very good for snacking. 3 mins in microwave, sprinkle salt, sit back, watch movie, munch on edamame in pod

goodluck

If people would stop maxing out the weight per week goal and go for something reasonable, the recommendations to eat more would reduce in kind. Based on her height and current weight, 2 lbs per week is too aggressive.

2snakeswoman

A hard boiled egg is 70 kcal. I think a fried egg is more because you have to use fat.

runningforthetrain

avskk wrote: »

Meh, I often end up eating around 1200; if you can make it work and meet your nutritional needs, I don't think it's the end of the world. Since you asked for meal ideas, here's what a pretty typical 1200 day would look like for me.

Breakfast: light English muffin (100kcal) with Laughing Cow or similar light cheese (50kcal) and a fried egg (70kcal), coffee with 1Tbsp creamer (37kcal). Total 257kcal.

Lunch: Oscar Mayer turkey or chicken slices (50kcal) with half an ounce of cheddar cheese (50kcal) on a sandwich thin (100kcal). Side salad with ~2cups dark greens (15kcal), 50g tomatoes (10kcal), some pickled beets (20kcal), and 1Tbsp Litehouse Opa dressing (30kcal). Total: 275kcal. You could bump that up a little by adding more salad veggies or some honey mustard on the sandwich, even.

Snack at work: a string cheese (70kcal) or 100-calorie pack of nuts. Maybe a serving of popcorn chips (120kcal) with some salsa (5kcal). A piece of fruit would fit nicely here, too.

Dinner: 6oz chicken breast (190kcal) stir-fried with 2cups frozen veggie blend (70kcal), a little fish sauce (5kcal), and plenty of whatever spices I like. Total here is 270kcal.

For the day, that totals out at less than 1000 calories. You could fill the rest with frozen Greek yogurt (90kcal/serving), popcorn, fresh juices if that's your thing, a nice glass of wine, or just bigger servings at meals -- a full ounce of cheese on the sandwich, half an avocado or some bacon with breakfast, more cream with your coffee, some rice or noodles with dinner, a regular soda if you like them, etc. The point is to focus on protein and vegetables first, add some healthy fats, and then see where you're at.

Hey Thanks-- this is helpful to me too!

avskk

@2snakeswoman -- I don't use fat for my fried eggs. Sometimes I use a half-second spritz of cooking oil, but more often than not I just use a good pan and slightly lower heat. As long as you're careful and patient, they come out just fine without frying fat.