1200 calories a day
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I am doing the Southbeach again and I find that the protein and vegetables are keeping me pretty full, but my choices are limited.
For instance breakfast, two scrambled eggs, coffee, and a little milk and no calorie sweetener.
I might have a mozzarella stick for a snack or some baby carrots
For lunch/dinner I can have a soup with meat and veggies only in it (I have a good crockpot meatball soup recipe), tuna salad with veggies, chicken and black beans. Salad is always an option and i can have some caesar dressing.
I also have coffee for a snack or a Monster Absolute Zero (I am a single mom and have basically 2 jobs)
When I wasn't doing the protein/vegetable combo and I only had 1200 calories, it was hard because with the carbs I was always hungry.
Good luck0 -
New here! Hi!
I just dropped mine to 1200 from 1375. I've been working out to eat more, and now I feel like I'm able to challenge myself with the 1200, since I've got more discipline when it comes to what's in my fridge and pantry. I eat a lot of spinach and sweet potatoes right now, and I love the ideas you girls shared in here. I definitely need to switch things up in my diet. 0 -
That's a pretty low net! You should probably be eating back your exercise calories so that you net 1200. Depending on your height even that might be on the low side. 600 is definitely super low.
I'm not hungry at all. I eat until I am satisfied and then stop. Today I am at 928cals and 555 net. I'm going to snack if needed.
I'm 5'3 and have a petite frame so I don't think it's terrible for me.
Also, I think eating a clean diet helps to fill you up - and I'm not going to eat junk just to get my calories up.0 -
I'm not hungry at all. I eat until I am satisfied and then stop. Today I am at 928cals and 555 net. I'm going to snack if needed.
I'm 5'3 and have a petite frame so I don't think it's terrible for me.
Also, I think eating a clean diet helps to fill you up - and I'm not going to eat junk just to get my calories up.
I'm not an expert or anything, but everything I've ever read, heard, or experienced has told me that it isn't healthy to eat that little. Obviously you can do what you want, and if you feel fine then that's fine. Just something to think about. At 5'3", even if you only weighed 80 lbs, your BMR would be over 1100 calories.
You definitely don't need to eat junk to hit 1200 calories. 1200 is really not a lot of food. It concerns me to see so many girls in here eating so very little.0 -
My TDEE is only about 1500 calories on days I can't work out, so if I ate 1200 calories a day I would never have lost any weight. I had to drop my calories below 1200 to lose. It worked, I felt fine, and I've kept the weight off. One size does not fit all.0
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Well that'd still be a deficit of 300 a day, which might not get you a pound a week but it's still reasonable. Like I said, everyone is free to do what they want.0
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My TDEE is only about 1500 calories on days I can't work out, so if I ate 1200 calories a day I would never have lost any weight. I had to drop my calories below 1200 to lose. It worked, I felt fine, and I've kept the weight off. One size does not fit all.
Exactly!0 -
Well that'd still be a deficit of 300 a day, which might not get you a pound a week but it's still reasonable. Like I said, everyone is free to do what they want.
300/day if I weigh everything perfectly and any restaurant meals are made exactly according to recipe and I don't sit more than usual, etc etc etc. It's a very slim margin of error and even a slight miscalculation could eliminate the deficit. And I was not interested in dieting for a year to lose 20 pounds.
A 6'2" man shouldn't be eating 1200/day, obviously, but for someone my size it's damn close to maintenance and certainly too much to lose on without exercise. I've been aiming for 1200/day (with slightly more flexible weekends) since I started maintaining and I haven't lost any more weight.0 -
I still think 500-600 is a pretty low amount to net, and to act like it isn't is a little irresponsible. Not to mention, apparently neither of you actually eat like that on a daily basis. In the original comment I replied to, it was sort of implied that she did.
I just wanted to point out for any others who might read this thread and think it was a good idea, that it's probably not.0 -
Agree with listening to your body.
There are days that I end up with very low net .. or even around 1,000 total and I do not feel hungry at all.. Like I would feel super super full if I stuff myself to get 1200..
There are also days that I feel hungry all the time.. so I would go over ..
Works fine so far 0 -
Well this is all changed because I just bought a food scale and apparently I have been underestimating quite a bit of my food. I will see in the course of a couple weeks what my REAL intake and REAL net cals are. 0
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I'm 5'6, 18 years old and I'm on 1350 calories a day. My TDEE is 2014 or so, because I excercise a LOT. I used to be on 1200shape a day but it wasn't really effective, and then changed to this. I know there's not much difference, and I never go ovet, not even on 1200 but it is not so terrible when my net is on 900, because my expected intake makes up for it on the other days.0
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I love eating fruit for low calories, but unfortunately they have a lot of sugar. I usually pick sugar over calories, and then try to x out sugar the rest of the day.0
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New here! Hi! I just dropped mine to 1200 from 1375. I've been working out to eat more, and now I feel like I'm able to challenge myself with the 1200, since I've got more discipline when it comes to what's in my fridge and pantry. I eat a lot of spinach and sweet potatoes right now, and I love the ideas you girls shared in here. I definitely need to switch things up in my diet.
with you on the sweet potatoes and spinach though i eat a ton of different types of greens, there are also a ton of different varieties of sweet potatoes, also really loving winter squashes in this season. i tend to not eat much fruit in fall winter and more squash potato and then switch some of that to fruit in the warmer seasons. i do better on carbs but some days i'll eat more protein and fats i find alternating days works well for this. in general i eat a ton of vegetables (land and sea if you guys eat meat try some of the less standard cuts, they have a ton of nutritional benefits for usually a fraction of the kcal, also if you like potato try mountain yam - really healthy and super low kcal compared to potato. konjac and agar are also great to keep tummies satisfied... i'm not on 1200 anymore since i'm done losing, but still eat the same types of things just more nuts and more in general to net about 1300-1600 to maintain around 100, 0 -
I'm generally quite good at sticking to the 1200 calories during the week but it's always the weekend that catches me out! During the week I take lunches to work and plan our meals whilst also doing two kettlebell classes a week and on one other night in the week doing an exercise DVD. Then....the weekend comes and we'll decide to go out for a meal. Sometimes I can try to be quite good but it was Indian last night and it's not easy to have a low calorie curry!! Next time I'll make sure we go somewhere that do salads and low calorie meals!
When I am craving a bit of a treat I've found the "Tasty Little Numbers" range - bags of crisps and chocolate bars for just 100 calories each. Probably not the most nutritious thing to eat but it is a guilt-free treat! Apparently they also do 200 and 300 calorie ready meals but I haven't found these yet!0 -
I am doing the 1200 calories a day as well. I live in Santa Barbara so luckily there's hardly any fast food to choose from BUT theres tons of bars and drinking and bar food. I work in a restaurant that has healthy stuff but also some really bad stuff too.
The trick is to get enough protein at meals to fill you up.0 -
I'm doing 1200 a day net - I try to eat about 1360 and burn 160 on my treadmill a day. I haven't found it TOO difficult except when I go out on the weekends. I tried to cut out juice, pop, alcohol and sugared coffees which were super calorie dense but didn't fill me up. To get all my required nutrients in and still be under the calorie goal, I had to mostly cut out empty calories like chips, candy and cookies. As long as I eat a lot of protein and fat, I feel pretty full for most of the day. I also try to eat every two hours.
I find it scary when people are saying they're on 1200 and burning 1000 through exercise. The 1200 minimum should be a NET goal, and anything under can be dangerous to your body. Your body burns at least 1200 a day to keep your heart pumping, blood flowing, etc.0 -
Hi guys... im trying to stick on a 1200 diet aswell. any friends would be great so we can help and work together. 0
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I'm generally trying to stick to 1000 a day, but I go above ocassionally if I'm truly hungry. I keep my protein above 60g per day. I rely on a few different sites for ideas:
Recipe Analyzer: http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
Banana Bread Protein Muffins: http://dashingdish.com/recipe/banana-bread-protein-muffins/ (58 kcal each!)
Protein Pumpkin Pie: http://julesfood.blogspot.com/2012/11/protein-pumpkin-pie-low-carb-and-gluten.html (80 kcal each)
Country Cabbage Soup: http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/country_cabbage_soup.html
Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffin: http://powerforceapparel.blogspot.com/2012/03/58-calorie-triple-chocolate-chunk.html (58 kcal)
And last, but not least is skinnytaste.com - the most amazing low-cal recipe site ever. Everything tastes fabulous!0 -
I eat a lot of food for 1200 calories, mostly clean unprocessed foods.
I need to keep my protein at 70 grams a day , due to sore kidneys.
But I uses to eat about 150 grams of protein a day.
My tip is to keep your sugar and sodium low.
Sodium causes sugar retention and sugar makes you fat.
Exercise a variety small amount every day.
Add me if you want to check out my food diary.0 -
I am on a 1200 calorie plan as well. I do pretty good during the week when I can get in work outs, but weekends are hard. I am on the go and I just don't have good healthy options. I also have a problem with sugars. I operate on the weird notion that I need a sweet to signal my meal is over. I have found some better options with fruit, but with not much in season it is hard to find things that taste sweet enough. I also have a problem with sodium. A lot of the frozen meals I like are packed with it. I need some support and ideas on breaking the addiction to them.
Thanks for the post Soozey1. I hope your Sodium/Sugar news can help inspire me. I do try to eat most things that have under 4g of sugar, but on non-sweets I forget to look and often am shocked at how much is in regular foods. I am not sure what is the best sodium restriction on foods should be so any help there will be greatly appreciated.0 -
I follow the 1200 calories a day. I have my dairy open so feel free to check it out. I would like to be able to cut back on my snacks and increase more fruits and veggies... But Rome wasn't built in a day, right!0
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Hi guys... im trying to stick on a 1200 diet aswell. any friends would be great so we can help and work together.
I'm pretty good at sticking to the 1200 cal diet, but sometimes I have a little trouble with snacking in the evenings. I'm starting to schedule a light, portion controlled after dinner snack if I'm awake for too many hours between dinner and bedtime. (Tonight I'm having an ounce of mixed nuts.)
Feel free to friend me! I know I could use a motivation buddy sometimes, and I can draw from my experience and success so far (46+ pounds) to help motivate you as well! 0 -
I'm on 1220 cals. per day, my stomach shrunk last month when I had an abscessed tooth, and dropped 6 lbs, so I have taken that and ran with it, I try to have a smallish breakfast and lunch then have a normal (but portioned) dinner. I also have a few snacks, sometimes they are fruit, sometimes they are bad like cheese curls, but I count them out and don't eat from the bag!
I have an open diary and log daily if anyone wants to add me, feel free. Maybe add a note so I know where you're from
If I'm having more calories than normal (like an out with friends pizza day) I try to up my exercise that day and the next day, (and choose the lower calorie thin crust with veggies) the scale is still slowly moving so I assume I'm making progress.0 -
Hi! I've been on 1,200 calories a day. Breakfast is steel cut oats, skim milk, and home made marmalade. I do a lot of cooking to control calories and make sure I incorporate raw fruits and veggies into my day. They help keep me feeling full. Whole grains have helped me tremendously! My nutritionist (love her) recommended Triscuits for when I'm craving something salty, they work great. Six crackers are 130 calories and the toasty crunch is fantastic.
Lunch varies. Hummus, cottage cheese, turkey as protein choices, along with some form of whole grain carb and raw veggies.
Dinner is protein (chicken or fish - 4 oz) and 1/2 cup of whatever carbs I've cooked. Add in at least 1 cup of veggies and you'vie got dinner!
I do snack, usually a piece of fruit, the aforementioned Triscuits or protein powder if I've just done a hard workout.
And before bed is CHOCOLATE MILK! One tablespoon of dark cocoa mixed with a packet of Stevia. Add a small amount of skim milk, stir till it's blended, then add in enough milk to equal one cup total. Talk about no sugar cravings, the protein helps and the chocolate is rich and dark. : )0 -
I am. I eat a lot of tuna plain or with mustard, hard boiled eggs, low sugar oatmeal, activia fiber yogurt, bananas, green beans, chicken, cottage cheese, baby carrots, pickles, salad with Light and spicy French 60 cal dressing, tilapia, jimmy dean delight breakfast sandwhiches (really good) 45 calorie bread with 90 cal budding meats with mustard only, dry cereal, silk 60 calorie almond milk and fiber one bars!0
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Hi guys add away at me starting on wednesday i will be very strict and sticking to 1200 calories a day!!
add me as a friend so we can help each other and give advice and all 0 -
Hey everyone!
I'm at 1200 cal a day, and have been for almost 6 months, and am down 30 pounds (i know my ticker says 20.. it's a long story lol)
I try to eat back my exercise calories, and have one meal a week which is over my calorie. I do need to add in more protein, but I am just not a big meat eater, I'm going to be trying a protein shake soon. I'm going away for two weeks soon and am hoping I can manage to maintain my weight but it will be difficult 0
