Exasperation with meal planning...can someone tell me how to fit 3 meals into 1200 calories?

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  • debrag12
    debrag12 Posts: 1,071 Member
    There is a big difference between those who stick to 1200 calories regardless of exercise (planned or everyday movement) and those that stick to 1200 NET.
  • CowboySar
    CowboySar Posts: 404 Member
    This is what I was eating when I went from 320lbs..... My diet has changed since as my goals have changed. I am now 193lbs and building muscle and gaining. However 1200 cals is pretty easy to get in and not that I was very hungry on it. Here is a copy and paste of a sample day I had back in 2016.

    Foods Calories Carbs Fat Protein Cholest Sodium Sugars Fiber

    Breakfast
    Skim - Milk, 1 cup 84 12g 0g 8g 1mg 120mg 11g 0g
    Kellogg's - Vector Cereal, 1.09 cup 188 39g 2g 5g 0mg 193mg 10g 3g
    Morning Lunch
    Condiment ~ Kraft - Miracle Whip, 1 tbsp (15g) 40 2g 4g 0g 5mg 95mg 1g 0g
    Alfalfa seeds, sprouted, raw, 1 cup 8 1g 0g 1g 0mg 2mg 0g 1g
    Berkley & Jensen - Pepperoncini Peppers (Pickled), 3 peppers 10 1g 0g 0g 0mg 370mg 0g 0g
    Onions, young green, tops only, 1 tbsp 2 0g 0g 0g 0mg 1mg 0g 0g
    Pillers - Smoked Chicken Breast, 4 slices 80 2g 2g 12g 40mg 880mg 0g 0g
    Western Family - Whole Grain Whole Wheat Wraps - Medium, 34 g (1 wrap) 90 15g 3g 3g 0mg 170mg 1g 2g
    Lunch
    Doles - Cesar Salad Kit, 3.5 oz 150 8g 12g 3g 10mg 390mg 2g 2g
    Potato - Potato, 1.5 medium 165 39g 0g 5g 0mg 15mg 2g 3g
    Kirkland - Wild Alaskan Pacific Cod, 106.25 g 88 0g 1g 19g 41mg 75mg 0g 0g
    Afternoon Snack
    Crackers - Nabisco Premium Saltines, 7.5 crackers 105 18g 2g 2g 0mg 225mg 0g 0g
    Marks and Spencer - Small Apple (Gala), 1 Apple 45 12g 0g 0g 0mg 0mg 12g 0g
    Raw - Cucumber, 4 oz 16 4g 0g 1g 0mg 2mg 0g 1g
    snap - Peas, 3 oz 40 7g 0g 2g 0mg 10mg 3g 2g
    Carrots, baby, raw, 3 large 16 4g 0g 0g 0mg 35mg 2g 1g
    Coffee - Brewed from grounds, 5 cup (8 fl oz) 12 0g 0g 1g 0mg 24mg 0g 0g
    Cream - Half and half, 4 tbsp 78 3g 7g 2g 22mg 25mg 0g 0g

    TOTAL: 1,217 167g 33g 64g 119mg 2,632mg 44g 15g
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    dustedwithsugar wrote: »
    I'm not sure why posts suggesting intermittent fasting are being wooed. It's nothing more than timing your meals and for me it was a game changer. I've been losing weight consistently and effortlessly for the past two months. You can give it a go and see if it suits you. Most popular way is eating for 8 h and fasting for 16, which basically means skipping breakfast anc eating lunch and dinner. Personally I do 20 h fast and 4 h of eating, which is large dinner and "dessert" after consisting of nuts, youghurt, fruits or whatever I want. I eat a lot of calorie dense foods like avocado, oils, peanut butter. It's very satisfying and I'm able to have delicious "feast" every day.
    Do your research about it and if it interests you maybe try it out for a week or two? It's very easy to stick to calorie goal this way.

    It's probably because OP's problem is not figuring out how to eat 1200. It's that she is trying to lose weight too fast, is not logging accurately, and is buying into so many diet myths she is ignoring the suggestions to go back to the basics and adjust her expectations.

    There are lots of folks on here who do IF. It may very well help OP stick to 1200. But many are questioning whether sticking to 1200 will help or hurt her.

    Also, lots of people think Woo is a positive, so it's possible there are some IFers who are actually cheering those posts.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    Sorry, I can't. I fit mine in to the 1980 calories MFP allows me. Are you sure 1200 is correct for you?
  • corkdorkva
    corkdorkva Posts: 24 Member
    TrishB19605 wrote: »
    Unfortunately, for us short chubby females that 1200 is a hard reality. I’ve been at it almost a year and the meals are a constant struggle. Good news I’ve kept off the 35 lost pounds, but pushing forward for more loss to get below even 170 is proving most challenging.

    I completely agree! If I go over 1200, I am gaining weight. Sometimes it is a struggle because I want that extra something, but then I remember I am finally keeping weight off and it gets me through. I feel you on the moving forward with loss- it just seems like a constant battle for a couple pounds a week, but I feel so much better as the weight comes off so I know I have to stay with it. It's no longer just a "diet," but a way of life.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    hellbound747 wrote: »
    You should really be consuming between 2000 cals recommened daily allowance or consume 1900 cals.

    1 day = 1900 cal intake of food
    Train (exercise) = burn approx 200 cals per say
    That day day will total up to 1700 cals overall.

    Its healthier to burn into your calorie intake than it is starving yourself.

    Hope this makes sense.

    Wait....what?

    OP is 5'3" tall & 57 years old. I'm slightly taller (but same age) and would gain on 1900 calories............
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    MonaRaeHill wrote: »
    I should have said: "Can someone (anyone) please tell me how to fit 3 very simple (=easy), vegan meals (other then salads) into 1200 calories a day?" I realize now, that that would have been a bit more specific!

    Use this site for ideas.......you put in the calories, and what you like to eat (vegan)....it will generate menus & recipes.


    https://www.eatthismuch.com/
  • lucerorojo
    lucerorojo Posts: 790 Member
    It's very individual. There are estimates but there can be done outliers. I'm eating 1500-1600 net per day and losing 1lb per week. I'm 5'4" and 52. I started at 2 lbs per week but I upped my calories. I would not gain on 1900 calories net that would be close to my maintenance now (2000-2100) so I'd probably stay the same due to inaccuries in calculations. I've lost 39 lbs. Since July 2017. Since I've been using mfp I actually think I have a much faster metabolism that I thought.
  • JennJ323
    JennJ323 Posts: 646 Member
    edited February 2018
    I’ve been doing 1200 a day for over a year. It’s not that difficult, it just takes some planning and effort. It can be done, it’s not impossible. I’m not miserable and can live on 1200 a day just fine. I’m down 30lb and in maintenance.
  • scoutsback
    scoutsback Posts: 10 Member
    I find 1200 a day an opportunity to be creative. A meal plan is just an organized list of options you rely on, so you're not re-inventing the wheel each meal. You can make measuring and weighing portions a game.

    Breakfast: rice cake with 1 T almond butter. Decaf with stevia and whipped, skim, milk.
    Lunch: rice cake with a portion of pre-measured guacomole (I purchase at Costco: very handy!), and two slices of turkey breast.
    Snacks: either a FiberOne bar, low-fat cheese stick, raw vegs, and apple, or some non-fat Greek plain yogurt sweetened with Stevia
    Dinner: (I save most of my calories for dinner!) I stick to a 500 calorie or lower lean-meat entree, and round it out with vegs, a protein-rich carb (garbanzo beans, for example), salad, or a grapefruit. If I have remaining calories, I treat myself to either the FiberOne bar, or a small amount of VERY dark chocolate.

    It takes only a short time for the above to actually feel abundant, which made me realize how much I was consuming before. 1200 is tricky, but at my age and sex, I'll not ever be able to consume 2400 again without gaining, so it's training me to be creative.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    scoutsback wrote: »
    I find 1200 a day an opportunity to be creative. A meal plan is just an organized list of options you rely on, so you're not re-inventing the wheel each meal. You can make measuring and weighing portions a game.

    Breakfast: rice cake with 1 T almond butter. Decaf with stevia and whipped, skim, milk.
    Lunch: rice cake with a portion of pre-measured guacomole (I purchase at Costco: very handy!), and two slices of turkey breast.
    Snacks: either a FiberOne bar, low-fat cheese stick, raw vegs, and apple, or some non-fat Greek plain yogurt sweetened with Stevia
    Dinner: (I save most of my calories for dinner!) I stick to a 500 calorie or lower lean-meat entree, and round it out with vegs, a protein-rich carb (garbanzo beans, for example), salad, or a grapefruit. If I have remaining calories, I treat myself to either the FiberOne bar, or a small amount of VERY dark chocolate.

    It takes only a short time for the above to actually feel abundant, which made me realize how much I was consuming before. 1200 is tricky, but at my age and sex, I'll not ever be able to consume 2400 again without gaining, so it's training me to be creative.

    There’s a lot of room between 1200 and 2400 though...
  • amyepdx
    amyepdx Posts: 750 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    These 1200 cal threads always depress me. We should be encouraging each other to find ways to eat as many calories as possible while losing weight at a reasonable rate. You don't get extra credit for managing to eat less than other people. Not everyone can lose 2 lbs a week and still get enough fuel and nutrition, and plenty of people are eating more than they think because they're not using a food scale and using incorrect entries. Women especially have been martyring themselves for centuries to prove they are worthy to lose weight and it makes me sad. Eating too little is one of the main causes of yo-yo dieting.

    Sure there are outliers with very low TDEEs but they are the exception.

    I was sure I was barely eating 1400 cals and not losing weight, until I got a food scale and found I was eating 1800 instead. I'm 45 5'4" and not very active. I'm pretty average on the smaller size it's not like I'm tall or an athlete.

    Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now. OP seems set on the fact that she's broken her metabolism and knows what she's doing. I just wanted to put this out there for lurkers. Commit to a few weeks of weighing portions and researching database entries before deciding you have to eat a very restrictive diet.

    Well worth saying again for sure.
  • TayaCurragh
    TayaCurragh Posts: 709 Member
    My intake is approx 1200 calories too, I'm only set to lose 1 pound a week but I am only 4"10, so I guess this is why. I hate salads and soups as they leave me feeling hungry, so I never have these.

    My take is to split this into about 250 calories for breakfast, and 400 each for lunch and dinner. Then everything else is snacks, I tend to have snacks measured out into 100 calories.

    In a typical day I have: I usually have porridge made from half milk, half water for breakfast, this comes to under 250 cals. Then for lunch I will have a sandwich with some veggie sticks or fruit, if I have some extra calories I'll have a couple of nuts or crisps. For dinner I cook all meals from scratch, and have half one day and half the next between two of us. We usually have things like chilli with or without meat, chicken with quinoa or rice with veg, I'm also a big fan of stews or casseroles. I usually aim for about 400-500 calories for dinner. Today I had shepherds pie which came to about 2400 for the whole pie, so I just had 1/6 instead of 1/4
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    MonaRaeHill wrote: »
    I should have said: "Can someone (anyone) please tell me how to fit 3 very simple (=easy), vegan meals (other then salads) into 1200 calories a day?" I realize now, that that would have been a bit more specific!

    Why does it have to be 3 meals a day... Why not 2? Takes less effort to plan and cook, making it easier. The meals are bigger, so perhaps more satisfying.

    This was my thought too.

    Also, how do you want to break up calories (how many at breakfast, etc.)?

    As I said before, one thing that helps (if you want to eat breakfast) is to have a set breakfast that is easy and you do every day. Then there are fewer meals to plan.

    As you said you are picky, what do you like to eat? Think in terms of building meals around protein (for a vegan that's largely beans and lentils, other legumes/pulses like peas, tofu, tempeh, and seitan, maybe some fake meat or protein powder if you like it), lots of vegetables, and whatever side starches (grains, tubers) you like and will fit. Nuts and seeds add taste and some protein, fruit adds taste too. To save calories try out things like spaghetti squash and cauliflower rice. Winter squash in general can add bulk and feel like a starchy side with fewer calories, and so do many root vegetables. A lot of this can be easier if you pre-cook components so they are ready to go (I roasted acorn squash last night to use during the next few days, I often plan bean dishes to last a few days), but if that is for some reason "gross" for you, there are plenty of grab and go options, although IMO that would limit cooking since it would be harder to do slower cooking options (like roasting a squash).

    An alternative to salad that takes no time to make is a cold soup like gazpacho.
  • MonaRaeHill
    MonaRaeHill Posts: 145 Member
    PAV8888:
    I eat fat today, I also eat LOTS of protein; and I know the minimum requirement, since I found the numbers 30 years ago.
    I have, however, just found out that certain medications (and I'm sure my nervine is one), do something to histimine levels and increase feelings of hunger. So, there's that.
    I'm not really that much of a binge eater, I pride myself on having learned as an adult, to only eat when hungry.....I developed and have been practicing this habit, for the past 30 years.
    Through the fog of pain, anger, fatigue and frustration, of the last 7 years, I thought I was STILL doing this, and I likely was. I am NOT in the habit of sitting down and eating a half-gallon of ice cream, in a sitting. When I eat the chocolate, it's usually just half of the bar, NOT the whole thing, and not more then a couple of times a week. But because I have a cro-magnum body, even the half, 2x per week, was too frequent, apparently.
    If I am being honest, there may very well have been times, over the last seven years, when learning how to deal with this chronic pain situation, caused me to be depressed and eat the whole candy bar.........I'm sure there were, obviously. But, I didn't pound down sweets and treats for that whole time. I am a clean eater, and have been, for the past 30 years, since I discovered the healthy benefits that clean diet and exercise can instill in a body.
    I just got too overwhelmed, trying to get off the 6 medications that western medicine had me on, to worry about whether or not I was eating too much. It took me the last 3 years, to whittle down the medications to the single nervine and the CBD, which I just found last fall, and is turning out to be an incredible boon for the pain levels.
    Yes, I AM one of those people, who if they aren't seeing results, get's annoyed and frustrated; call me a child, and it's probably true, I am not perfect and no doubt have lingering demons and phantoms from my very screwed up childhood, where I was never allowed to be one. :(
    Be that as it may, I am also dealing with a LOT of medical limitations, and have been, since 2010, when I had the botched surgery.
    Me and my body, ARE, one of the outliers. I know this, because I've been at this, for 30+ years, when I lost the first post pregnancy weights. I am aiming to prove that all the stuff you're saying on here, is wrong, about us outliers. We ARE exceptions to all known rules.
    I plan on weighing myself only once a month, because anything more is too frustrating. I know the triggers that lead to frustration, from doing therapy for the last 20 years.
    And oh, btw, I also struggle from PTSD, from said nasty childhood, where my 5 siblings tried to kill me, almost every day of it.
    So, don't know if that makes you want to be more compassionate and less preachy, but I did not tell you to hold your breath, and do not care if you do or don't. Wait. Maybe I do. Please, feel free to hold it. Indefinitely!
  • lucerorojo
    lucerorojo Posts: 790 Member
    edited February 2018
    I think OP's expectations are high due to ads or experience with fad diets. I'd done a few in my youth and usually they promised anywhere from 10-20 lbs. Weightloss per month. I remember one I did in my 20s-- I was happy that I had lost a few lbs. And honestly I probably had at MOST 15 lbs to lose. I called up the company for a coaching session included and they were not pleased with my weight loss (event though I was) and told Me I should be losing more and to drink a slimfast shake to replace a meal. I did it and the weight came off faster but it was really unnecessary. Until mfp I had no idea that 2 lbs. Per week was an agressive goal and usually recommended for people who were obese with 100 lbs to lose or more.
  • MonaRaeHill
    MonaRaeHill Posts: 145 Member
    just my little attempt at some much needed humor.........cro-magnum metabolism = eat a piece of pemmican......run through the woods every day, all day.......eat another piece of pemmican.........every third day, throw in some vegetables.......lmao!
  • MonaRaeHill
    MonaRaeHill Posts: 145 Member
    I also did make the point (because i am hoping beyond hope, that CICO is a 'real' thing), that too many calories are too many calories, even if they come in the form of salad.....with brown rice vinegar, for dressing. Some bodies just only need the minimal amount, then it's a question of how to learn to be 'okay' with that, on the mental side........ :(
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    I need...paragraphs. OP. Please.
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