Short woman Trying to meet calorie intake

kendramnolan

I’m a 5’1 128lb woman. I’ve always eaten greasy starches (pasta, potato chips etc.) and since I’ve been eating healthier I’m finding those foods make feel like garbage. But without them I’m not meeting my 1200 cal/day intake. An apple and pb is breakfast, but I need something that’s healthy for lunch that doesn’t include eggs or yogurt, pasta or rice. Sandwich meats are hard because the healthier ones are costly ( a single mom of 3). I’m looking for something from 300-500 calories. If anyone has some helpful ideas that would be fantastic.
Thank you

estherdragonbat

I often make a salad with a sliced up veggie dog, a half cup of corn, cherry tomatoes, pickle, cucumber, hot pepper, something from the onion family (a couple of slices of onion, some scallions, shallot, etc), maybe other veggies in the fridge if I have them) and dress it with 1/4 cup salsa, 1 tbsp vegan sour cream, and 1 tbsp pickle relish.

Depending on the weight of the vegetables, it's going to come in around 300-350 calories. If you aren't vegetarian, I imagine tuna or some other protein would work well.

P.S. Pasta doesn't need to be greasy if you aren't using an oily sauce. You might have good results with marinara. Add some peas or beans (i.e. kidney, black, garbanzo, etc) for a complete protein and plenty of vegetables. It would work as a cold salad too.

rheddmobile

Try adding in some healthy fats and lean protein - beans and legumes if you are vegetarian, chicken, tuna or pork loin are good for carnivores. Just a small dollop of mayo, avocado, olive oil, nut butter (makes good Asian salad dressing) adds 100 calories. Try a salad or a stir fry - you don't mention what cooling and reheating facilities you have.

If you're cutting back on starchy foods, there are some excellent pasta alternatives made with chickpeas, lentils, and similar high protein foods. Or zoodles. Or spaghetti squash. And as Esther said, your sauce doesn't have to be unhealthy.

kommodevaran

Maybe you're just making this unnecessarily hard.
If you weigh more than you're comfortable with, you have no problem getting in enough calories.
Some foods are calorie dense and easy to overeat. That doesn't make them "fattening", you gain weight from an excess of calories, not from certain foods. If you think about them as fattening, or unhealthy, you'll feel bad about eating them, and bad when you eat them, and overeat because you feel bad.
A healthy diet is balanced and varied, and you can eat anything you like in moderation.
When people/articles/blogs talk about "healthy foods", they often just mean filling low calorie foods.
It's hard to overeat filling low calorie foods, so they are often suggested to people who want to lose weight.
But it's hard to stick to filling low calorie foods for very long; people need taste and mouthfeel and variety and freedom of choice.
If you want to lose weight, you have to eat less (fewer calories) for a long time. If you don't want to regain, you have to keep eating less for the rest of your life.
It's demotivating to have to pay more for less tasty food, and not fun to eat "special diet food" when those around you eat and enjoy what they want.
It's possible to underestimate food intake even if the base of your diet is filling low calorie foods. If you're not losing weight s expected, that can be a reason. Correct logging is necessary if you count calories.

mnbvcxzlkjhgfdsa12

Try soup. I have soup for lunch most days - every day at work. I take in canned soup, it’s healthy and nutritious, just be sure to read the label and avoid anything creamy or with los of sugars. I’m a vegan so usually opt for pea and barley or black bean.

A can of soup is about 300 calories, low cost, filling and easy.

kemoon0915

I like to put Starkist Tuna Creations in Hot Buffalo on a salad with Greek yogurt buttermilk ranch. I also add some nutritional yeast and imitation bacon bits which comes out to 164 calories, 10 carbs, 3 fat and 25 protein. So, you can add extra heavier things to it to add to the calorie count, but there's already a ton of protein

michelleRKdavidson

Not sure what your likes and dislikes are when it comes to tastes but you could add in a granola bar or protein bar as a snack. I have found some Special K protein bars that are good. And I love the Kind brand bars. That will normally give you around 200-300 calories.
And for lunch I love a homemade salad with chicken, ham, or even bacon bits as my protein. I find I can fill up on all the veggies and get some protein from the meats. I try to stay around 300 calories for my salads.
Even adding some fruit salad (just a bowl of your favorite fruits cut up) would had some “good” calories.
And one more thought...maybe even a protein shake. You get the calories and nutrition.