1,200 Calories

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keluncch
keluncch Posts: 12 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Is anyone else supposed to only have 1,200 calories a day and finding this difficult? What do you eat?
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  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
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    I eat around 1200 a day, more if I exercise, my diary is open
  • Montepulciano
    Montepulciano Posts: 845 Member
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    Mine is open, but my calorie is a bit higher 1390 + exercise. I know I need more veggies....the veggie police are aware. :D
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
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    Montepulciano wrote: »
    Mine is open, but my calorie is a bit higher 1390 + exercise. I know I need more veggies....the veggie police are aware. :D

    Your diary isn't open!
  • keluncch
    keluncch Posts: 12 Member
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    Thanks, helenrosec0! I took a look at your diary...I'm just starting out, so any and all tips are very, very welcome since as I said, I'm finding this very hard so far!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
    edited May 2016
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    keluncch wrote: »
    Is anyone else supposed to only have 1,200 calories a day and finding this difficult? What do you eat?

    What are your stats? (Height, weight, goal weight, age.) 1200 may be too aggressive for you. You don't have to suffer to lose weight. I'm only hungry right before meals. I eat way more than 1200 calories. I don't lose two pounds per week, and I'm fine with that. That two pounds per week weight loss goal is only for people who have a considerable amount of weight to lose.
  • superhockeymom
    superhockeymom Posts: 2,000 Member
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    I eat around 1200 a little over little under depends on the day my diary is open
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    edited May 2016
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    keluncch wrote: »
    Thanks, helenrosec0! I took a look at your diary...I'm just starting out, so any and all tips are very, very welcome since as I said, I'm finding this very hard so far!

    I eat a lot of the same things everyday as I'm on my own and need to use up fresh foods quickly rather than throw them away, so I always make sure I enjoy what I'm eating and luckily I love cooking (though don't have an oven right now just a hotplate & microwave) I've recently given up most meat too (except fish) so being adventurous and trying new things. I'd also say do some research too, I watch a lot of Youtube videos to get ideas.
  • keluncch
    keluncch Posts: 12 Member
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    Height: 5'3", weight: 175, age: 38, goal weight: not quite sure, but probably 150ish (maybe less, but I'm just trying to be realistic at first). I was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism (and attribute that to my weight gain since I gained about 40 pounds in less than 2 years), but my levels are steady now so that shouldn't prohibit me from losing weight. I know I can probably eat as many as 1,500 calories a day and still lose, so when I say 1,200 calories, it is a loose recommendation in my mind and I know there is some leeway, but I'm having trouble staying w/in that range! I don't feel like I'm eating horribly either. For example, today between breakfast, lunch and snacks I have had:

    Greek yogurt
    Banana
    Weight Watchers Frozen meal
    Chicken deli meat
    Pretzels with Cheese

    According to this, I have less than 500 calories for the rest of the day and it's only early afternoon!
  • nicolaferris420
    nicolaferris420 Posts: 17 Member
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    Omlettes are good, low in calories but quite filling. Make them interesting by adding lots of veg but I would skip the cheese if you are trying to keep your cals low.
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
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    nicolaferris420 wrote: »
    Omlettes are good, low in calories but quite filling. Make them interesting by adding lots of veg but I would skip the cheese if you are trying to keep your cals low.

    You don't need to skip the cheese, just make it a small portion, maybe a low fat cheese or feta cheese.
  • hollinmi
    hollinmi Posts: 1 Member
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    Ugh it's hard, especially when that amount can easily be a single meal when eating out. My day usually consists of:
    Breakfast- a bowl of healthy cereal and nonfat milk or a low calorie smoothie,
    Lunch- 100 calorie "skinny" bagel or pita with turkey, lettuce, tomato, onion, and avacado slices,
    Dinner- various fresh or frozen vegetables that I will pan cook after brushing with olive oil and salt and pepper with a plain burger patty or chicken breast.
    I usually start to get hungry just before bed so I drink a glass of non fat milk at night. I have been drinking a lot more water and snacking on small amounts of fruit throughout the day to keep from getting ravenous.
    Also, I know it's weird but I have this pretty glass water bottle i splurged on that I take with me everywhere and it's like a good reminder/hi five everytime I drink from it because I used to drink a lot of soda, and I feel cool with it. Lol
  • youngvet96
    youngvet96 Posts: 1 Member
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    My diary is not open, but the food I'm going to eat today is 1 packet of oatmeal and about 500g of porterhouse steak. That will total roughly 1360 calories out of my 2300 goal. I have always eaten in a similar way, some days I'm just not hungry and will be perfectly fine with an apple, happens a lot more than not, other days I'm hungry and will eat 15 plates at an all you can eat place. If your just starting out don't focus on hitting your calorie goal instead figure out what you normally eat then work on gradually scaling it back to a level that is closer to your goal by replacing some foods with others or even cutting the amount you eat of them down. I'm a 19 year old male who is extremely active, so what works for me may not work for you, but good places to start would be to cut back on coffee and soft-drinks and replace them with water, eat at home rather than going out to eat someplace, and cook your own food rather than using prepackaged food. It may seem difficult at first but after a while it gets easier.
  • lasirena624
    lasirena624 Posts: 41 Member
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    My stats are almost identical to yours (I am slightly older!) and I eat 1230 calories/day. My diary is open. Normally I eat rice cakes with some kind of nut butter, yogurt with a small amount of granola and fruit, eggs a lot.
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
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    lasirena624 wrote: »
    My stats are almost identical to yours (I am slightly older!) and I eat 1230 calories/day. My diary is open. Normally I eat rice cakes with some kind of nut butter, yogurt with a small amount of granola and fruit, eggs a lot.

    I tried looking at your diary but it isn't open
  • keluncch
    keluncch Posts: 12 Member
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    Yes, hollinmi, you are so right! I wanted to get a chicken kabob from the local Greek place, but then realized it had 800 calories! Goodness! I assumed it was healthy, so it would be ok. I'm glad I checked out the calorie count!

    I do drink a ton of water (I'm at 50 oz already for the day, and that's pretty typical for me). I have a pretty cup as well! :smile:

    nicolaferris420, I love omlettes and I do need to add that to my diet! I know the cheese probably isn't the best thing to eat if I'm trying to keep calories low, but as I mentioned, I'm just starting out, I'm all about convenience and I had some pre-packaged snacks (cheese + pretzels) and I thought it'd be good for protein. I'll probably cut out that snack next week.

    Thank you everyone for the support and ideas! Keep them coming!
  • lisaconklin957
    lisaconklin957 Posts: 17 Member
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    My base is 1,200 cal and I eat a bit more due to exercise, but only a few hundred calories more at the most. I will caveat this with the fact that I don't eat breakfast. I'm usually not hungry till lunchtime and I find that for me, saving my calories till later in the day works. Here's a typical day for me - I am gluten free (Celiac) and also eat a lot of the same foods over and over.

    Lunch: Amy's organic frozen lunch (380 calories)
    Snack: 2 rice cakes (100 calories)
    Dinner: 200 grams chicken breast (212 calories) 175 grams frozen stirfry veggies (60 calories), 1/3c dry jasmine rice (211 calories), 2T BBQ sauce (70 calories)
    Snack: 3T dry popcorn kernels (120 calories) cooked in 1/2T peanut oil (60 calories) for 180 calories
    Total: 1,213 calories
  • keluncch
    keluncch Posts: 12 Member
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    OH - and I'm not the best cook, so any recipes, links, etc. are welcome! I'm open to being a good cook, I'm just not currently one. LOL! :smiley:
  • subakwa
    subakwa Posts: 347 Member
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    keluncch wrote: »
    For example, today between breakfast, lunch and snacks I have had:

    Greek yogurt
    Banana
    Weight Watchers Frozen meal
    Chicken deli meat
    Pretzels with Cheese

    According to this, I have less than 500 calories for the rest of the day and it's only early afternoon!

    I am guessing that out of that the WW meal is a hefty chunk. Is that your main meal of the day? I am doing 1230 cals and usually have around 200 for breakfast (a slice of toast or a bowl of porridge), 250 for lunch (boiled eggs and toast,
    Ryvita with ham and veg, omelette or soup), 500 or so for dinner and the balance for snacks and milk in coffee or tea. I try to look at snacks as less than 100 cals, so popcorn, rice cakes, fruit, small cheese portions, seafood sticks etc.



  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
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    Try having protein with every meal and snack - it helps with the hunger. I have 30-36 g protein with each of three meals then maybe 15-20g with my one snack. The protein comes from lean meat (chicken, pork loin usually), lean fish (and occasionally a fattier fish like salmon or catfish), egg whites, cottage cheese, nonfat greek yogurt or oikos "triple zero yogurt, & the occasional protein drink. Vegetables are generally the green leafy type, along with broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, green beans usually, and a bit of fruit.
  • lasirena624
    lasirena624 Posts: 41 Member
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    helenrosec0 wrote: »
    lasirena624 wrote: »
    My stats are almost identical to yours (I am slightly older!) and I eat 1230 calories/day. My diary is open. Normally I eat rice cakes with some kind of nut butter, yogurt with a small amount of granola and fruit, eggs a lot.

    I tried looking at your diary but it isn't open

    I must have mistakenly switched it, it is open now. :smile:

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