1200 calorie plan help

cnb124

I just found out I spent 445$ on groceries last month and I'm just 1 person! I didnt cook I bought all frozen meals. Time to knock that crap off and cook because I cant afford that. Can anyone point me in the direction of a good 1200 calorie meal plan that has no seafood or tofu?

psychod787

cnb124 wrote: »

I just found out I spent 445$ on groceries last month and I'm just 1 person! I didnt cook I bought all frozen meals. Time to knock that crap off and cook because I cant afford that. Can anyone point me in the direction of a good 1200 calorie meal plan that has no seafood or tofu?

why 1200 calories. What is height, weight, age, job, activity level and I might be able to help you. Hell, I eat close to 3500 and $450 US is far more than my food bill a month. Oh yes, Location. Where are you located? Food cost more or less depending on where you live. Not to mention, "free time". How much of that do you have? Meal frequency preference?

Dogmom1978

Why are your calories so low? As for meal planning, I continue to eat the same things as before my weight loss journey, just in smaller quantities. Then I added in some fruits that I like and switched out my muffin for breakfast AND lunch with healthier options. Breakfast is oatmeal, an egg and half a serving of cheddar cheese. Lunch is 2 servings of cottage cheese and a yogurt. Dinner is chicken, burgers, or steak.

lemurcat2

You might want to experiment with this: https://www.eatthismuch.com/

You can plug in cals and macros and type of diet (if any) and number of meals, and I think foods to avoid. I don't like meal planners since I like to plan around foods I like and that I know fit my needs wrt what types of ingredients I am likely to have around and can cook in the amount of time I need, but something like this might inspire ideas,

JZCrowe

I’m also in the same boat. 1200 calories isn’t too low if you are short and sedentary like me. That’s how you have a calorie deficit to lose weight. As long as you feel full and done feel like you’re starving yourself, I think it’s a good number. It’s also a goal so if I go over by 100 calories, I’m not going to gain.

I hate seafood also so I’m going to follow this post. Good luck to us both!

corinasue1143

I agree. For us to make suggestions, we need more info. But google 1200 calorie diets for suggestions online you can sort through.
Oatmeal for breakfast on work mornings? A cheap trick is buy a big box, put it in the blender to make it instant. A little fruit or spices to dress it up.
Make egg muffin cups, recipes everywhere, on the weekend to put in microwave on work mornings.
Tuna
Sandwiches
Salads
Hamburger soup (brown cheap hamburger slowly, pour off fat, add water or broth. Add lots of veggies. I’m a lazy cook, so I add a couple of packages of Frozen mixed vegetables, cook til veggies are done, season to taste).
Sheet pan meals. Easy. And you can make it cheap(chicken, potatoes, onions, etc) or not.
Eggs are cheap protein.

MsCzar

Do you know how to cook and have the tools to do so? Do you have a well-stocked spice cabinet? Pantry?

On average, I eat 1000-1300 cals per day and spend well less than $75 per month on groceries. I really love to cook, so it never occurs to me to buy convenience foods. What I can make from scratch tastes a zillion times better than any frozen entree. I eat very few processed foods.

I am also the Queen of Frugal; my freezer, pantry and cold veg cellar are always full to bursting. When chicken thighs go on sale for 99¢ lb., I POUNCE!

There are a lot of good 1200 meal plans out there. But I would suggest finding inexpensive meals you can make that are around 400-700 calories. Then mix and match as needed. Pre-logging your next day's food is really helpful for meal/portion planning. Once you build up a good repertoire of meals that deliver on calories AND flavor, you can easily build a 1200 calorie plan that works for you. Good luck!

Dogmom1978

OP doesn’t give their height, activity levels or goals, so we have no way of knowing if 1200 calories is appropriate for them or not.

I have a dehydrator (although most things can be dehydrated in an oven I think), so you could buy fruit on sale and dehydrate it and save it for later. I got a 5 lb bag of apples for 3.99 and sliced the apples and tossed them in cinnamon and then dehydrated them. They keep for about 6 months.

I stock up on chicken breast when it’s on sale. Store brand is a must for many of the items in my house including frozen veggies. I buy whatever jarred sauce is on sale.

I like to eat spaghetti squash instead of pasta. It’s usually 1.49 lb or less by me. I roast it in the oven and then I can heat it up when I want it. I toss some mozzarella cheese in it and some sauce. Yum.

I’m super cheap and usually spend under $100 a week for 2 people at the grocery store.

psychod787

I prefer simplicity. Staples I keep...
1. Potatoes... all types... easy to batch cook or throw in the microwave for a few
2. Whole, unsalted nuts/ avocados
3. Brown rice and oats. Easy and fills in recipes.
4. Bullion cubes. Makes rice taste better.
5. Fruits. Fresh and frozen. Fresh apples, bananas, oranges.. aka the cheap ones. Frozen berries are cheap at Costco
6. Frozen Veggies. Fresh just go bad to easy. Also very cheap in bulk.
7. Eggs and egg whites. Cheap in bulk and really cheap protein. Very versatile as well.
8. Dried beans! Cheap AF!
9. Meats. They can be more expensive, but I buy at Costco and freeze them. Beef is expensive, but chicken, Swai, Tilapia, pork loin is not. Usually $1.99-2.25lb US. I have a grinder, so I actually mince my own meat. opps Chicken Quarters I can get so cheap that its nearly free. $0.60lbs US. Also canned tuna.

cnb124

To all asking, I'm 5'6" and weigh 308 pounds. I'm sitting 90% of the day, whether at work or home. MFP has me at 1700 calories and I have been eating between 1000 and 1500. I know how to cook I just dont like to do it anymore after spending 20 years of having to do it for my ex husband or he would get mad. Plus it was super convenient to just pop a lean cuisine in the microwave for 4 minutes when I get home from work and then spend the last 3 hours of my day crafting. I dont have time to cook in the mornings so usually just pop a jimmy dean bowl in the microwave and and and drink coffee. I rarely eat lunch, due to them changing break schedules from 2-15's and a half hour to 2-20's and that's it. When I get home from work I eat about 700-800 calories in 2 hours. My diary is open to whomever wants to check it out.

MsCzar

If it's about saving money with minimal effort, I make a quickie breakfast sandwich with a toasted Aldi English muffin and an egg topped with .5 oz of cheddar cheese in of those microwave egg poachers. It takes minimal effort to bake a whole package of bacon on a cooling rack over a shallow pan; so it's in the fridge ready to nuke warm in <1 minute. The egg is done cooking by the time the English muffin pops out of the toaster. About 30¢ per sandwich. Oatmeal is even cheaper.

I hope you won't let your ex stand in the way of you taking good care of yourself now. Cooking healthy meals and working towards a better you is something you deserve!

AnnPT77

cnb124 wrote: »

To all asking, I'm 5'6" and weigh 308 pounds. I'm sitting 90% of the day, whether at work or home. MFP has me at 1700 calories and I have been eating between 1000 and 1500. I know how to cook I just dont like to do it anymore after spending 20 years of having to do it for my ex husband or he would get mad. Plus it was super convenient to just pop a lean cuisine in the microwave for 4 minutes when I get home from work and then spend the last 3 hours of my day crafting. I dont have time to cook in the mornings so usually just pop a jimmy dean bowl in the microwave and and and drink coffee. I rarely eat lunch, due to them changing break schedules from 2-15's and a half hour to 2-20's and that's it. When I get home from work I eat about 700-800 calories in 2 hours. My diary is open to whomever wants to check it out.

Some easy things with minimal cooking would be to have a Greek yogurt (either flavored calorie-efficient one, or plain nonfat with peanut butter powder & frozen fruit) and some kind of more protein-y bread-esque thing or a packaged breakfast meat or lower cal/higher protein cereal with it for breakfast; for dinner, maybe bagged salads with a protein or two (meat, hardboiled eggs, one of the higher-protein cheeses, rinsed canned beans); or maybe compare cost of something like grocery store rotisserie chicken (which ought to be good for a few meals for one) plus a bag of frozen microwave-in-bag veggies to the cost of equivalent frozen ready meals.

If you have a Costco, I agree with Psycho that that can be a great source for affordable items that are easy to deal with, like frozen fruit & veggies, tubs of plain nonfat Greek yogurt; some good cheese choices; canned goods or shelf-stable foods that can just be heated; etc.

Another thing you could *consider* is whether you'd be willing to give up (say) one weekend afternoon once a month or every couple of weeks, and prep yourself some freezable foods/meals, in order to save a pretty big amount of money. Thinks like breakfast burritos, crustless quiche/frittata, casseroles, pasta dishes, hearty soups are pretty quick/easy to fix in batches for later use, and can be very frugal.

I'd strongly suggest that if MFP suggests you eat 1700 to lose at a reasonable rate (2 pounds a week would be fine at your current stage), that you try to eat that, not some dramatically lower amount. Undereating can cause health risk, and it's pretty normal to feel full enough and energetic, then suddenly hit a wall (I wasn't trying to undereat, but this happened to me, beause MFP *underestimated* my calorie needs, which is rare; it took several weeks to recover - no one needs that.)

Also, eating too little, trying to lose fast, can backfire in one of several ways: First, it can affect energy level (sometimes in subtle ways) so reduce calorie expenditure in daily life, and make you lose weight slower than expected at that calorie level. Second, eventually it can lead to sustainability problems, either in the form of periodic binges or giving up. Third, it can increase water retention (via stress/cortisol) and make scale results misleading because the water hides fat loss on the scale.

I can't explictly prove it scientifically **, but I believe that we can train our bodies to run on fewer than ideal calories, when a more healthful goal would be to eat as many calories as possible while still losing weight at a sensible & satisfying rate, because that's a "teach your body to thrive" strategy rather than a "teach your body to limp along on a minimum" strategy. (** But there are some pretty bold arrows that point in that direction.)

I totally hear you on the lure of crafting time: So many interesting hobbies, so little time! 🙂

Dogmom1978

I love crafting! BUT I only let myself do it if I need a day off from the gym. OR after I’ve gone to the gym or on a dog walk; otherwise I’ll just sit and craft all night after work.

yirara

cnb124 wrote: »

To all asking, I'm 5'6" and weigh 308 pounds. I'm sitting 90% of the day, whether at work or home. MFP has me at 1700 calories and I have been eating between 1000 and 1500. I know how to cook I just dont like to do it anymore after spending 20 years of having to do it for my ex husband or he would get mad. Plus it was super convenient to just pop a lean cuisine in the microwave for 4 minutes when I get home from work and then spend the last 3 hours of my day crafting. I dont have time to cook in the mornings so usually just pop a jimmy dean bowl in the microwave and and and drink coffee. I rarely eat lunch, due to them changing break schedules from 2-15's and a half hour to 2-20's and that's it. When I get home from work I eat about 700-800 calories in 2 hours. My diary is open to whomever wants to check it out.

Oh gosh, please do eat more! If MFP has you at 1700 calories then you should really eat this. I assume you've chose a 2lbs per week weightloss? That's those 1700 calories. If you only eat 1200 then you're looking at a rate of 2.5lbs per week. This is too high, regardless of how heavy you are.

If you eat too little then you might feel great for a while, but eventually you'll binge because your body needs more nutrients, and then you come back here saying that 1200 is not enough and you can't do it. It's really a binge - restrict cycle we see here a lot: people restrict too much, start to binge, can't stop for a while and not lose weight, maybe even gain. Then restrict too much again, etc... if they ate enough they might have lost some weight already and have felt much better.

Dogmom1978

You could swap out that jimmy dean bowl for oatmeal. I don’t have time to cook in the morning, but my oatmeal takes 90 seconds in the microwave (less time than that jimmy dean takes).

If you aren’t a fan of savory oatmeal, you could toss some fresh fruit into the bowl.

And as above, yes, please eat the 1700 calories mfp gives you and don’t attempt a crash diet.

Oliveciabatta

I eat 1200 daily with minimal cost as I keep it really simple.

Breakfast usually boiled or poached eggs normally with grilled tomato or mushrooms and spinach or asparagus. Sometimes ill have porridge and a low cold yoghurt.

Lunch is almost always soup of some kind or a simple salad and grilled chicken or baked potato.

Dinners I keep light again grilled chicken or fish and steamed veg or a stir fry (no noodles) or similar. Occasionally an open tuna sandwich if I'm missing bread. I only eat pasta or rice on weekends when I do more exercise, partly as I can eat more cal those days but mostly as I'm not a huge fan of pasta or rice dishes.

Snacking is simple an apple or banana and low cal yoghurt or packet of crisps and diet soda but I almost always leave space for a treat, an alpen low cal cereal bar, hot chocolate or a chocolate mousse then I never feel I'm denying myself anything.

I'm on 1200 though as I'm already slim and mfp has calculated that for me so I'm not hungry on that amount. If mfp has calculated you higher then please take the advice of others and eat a little more as you'll need it longer term. Have that side of rice or bread.

cnb124

Thank you all for your input. I will try to eat more during the work week if I have time. The weekends I have no problem hitting over 1500 usually

Oliveciabatta

Also adding that I dont have much time or inclination to cook meals as I'm on my own all day during the week with 2 jobs working often 12 to 14 hours a day so my absolute must have is my George foreman grill as it literally takes 10 mins to thrown on a piece of chicken and some veg from the freezer and dust them with herbs. Bagged salad and a microwave for baked potato with tuna again no more than 10 mins. I never buy ready meals but never want to spend time chopping prepping ir cooking. The other thing I love in winter us my slow cooker, throw in some chopped veg a stock cube some chopped leftovers, chicken etc and maybe a handful of rice or lentils and leave it to bubble up a wholesome soup for dinner

psychod787

I did some looking. Based on the NIH BWP, your maintenance calories are about 2900-3100. 1200 calories is a steep cut. Unless you have a medical condition that would make you lose weight quick, I suggest a less severe deficit. I would set protein at 1gram per pound of target body weight. Keep fats at a minimum of 20% of diet and let calories fall between fats and carbs. Make sure to hit fiber targets as close as you can. As far as saving $. Cooking will help this. Actually, the more simple a diet, the easier and cheaper it can be. Batch cook proteins and carbs. Say cook chicken breast and rice in batch on sunday. Freeze half and keep the other in the fridge. Get a microwave steamer, if finances allow, and steam frozen veggies. A crock pot or insta-pot helps greatly. I joke that when I use my crock pot, my wife has dinner waiting for me when I get home! LOL Best wishes op
P.S. While crafting can be fun, I guess, getting some activity helps with losing and especially maintenance. I suggest walking. Its easier than more intense cardio, nearly free, and can be done almost at anytime.

kshama2001

psychod787 wrote: »

I did some looking. Based on the NIH BWP, your maintenance calories are about 2900-3100. 1200 calories is a steep cut. Unless you have a medical condition that would make you lose weight quick, I suggest a less severe deficit. I would set protein at 1gram per pound of target body weight. Keep fats at a minimum of 20% of diet and let calories fall between fats and carbs. Make sure to hit fiber targets as close as you can. As far as saving $. Cooking will help this. Actually, the more simple a diet, the easier and cheaper it can be. Batch cook proteins and carbs. Say cook chicken breast and rice in batch on sunday. Freeze half and keep the other in the fridge. Get a microwave steamer, if finances allow, and steam frozen veggies. A crock pot or insta-pot helps greatly. I joke that when I use my crock pot, my wife has dinner waiting for me when I get home! LOL Best wishes op
P.S. While crafting can be fun, I guess, getting some activity helps with losing and especially maintenance. I suggest walking. Its easier than more intense cardio, nearly free, and can be done almost at anytime.

Great advice!

Bone-in chicken breast is on sale at my supermarket this week. There are two of us. I cooked 6 pounds the other day, which we had with potatoes and broccoli. The next night my OH made chicken nachos. Last night we had it w potatoes and broc again. I think tonight we will have sandwiches, or maybe some sort of pasta dish. I've had sandwiches for lunch twice.

I save bones in the freezer, and when I have a gallon zip lock bag full, I make stock, which is far superior to anything that can be purchased at the supermarket, and essentially free.

I use the stock for soups/stews. We eat this a few times, and I freeze the leftovers in portion sizes. (I save plastic food containers of various sizes for this.) If I don't feel like cooking one night I can pull out some pasta e fagioli or whatever from the freezer. I'm about to freeze some leftover Thai chicken and coconut soup, and probably tomorrow I will make Spanish Chorizo, Ham and White Bean Stew, and I'm sure that will have leftovers to freeze as well.

biengardo1

To keep it really easy, go to Sam's or Walmart and grab a whole rotisserie chicken, take it all off the bone and put in bags or container in fridge. Toss over bagged salad, in chicken broth with a few inexpensive veggies (celery, carrots, beans), or I even mix up with a little Frank's hot sauce and serve over a bed of spinach with a little bit of feta sprinkled on it. So very easy. Also, I do a lot of breakfast for dinner - eggs are dirt cheap and I boil a few, slice over a piece of toast and melt a piece of cheese over top in toaster oven with some fruit on side or a yogurt. I buy ground turkey/beef when on sale and then season with taco seasoning, store in freezer bags and when I want something taco-like, will put over a Southwestern bag salad. Just heat in micro or on stove. I do a lot of yogurt parfaits with fruit, some sliced almonds, and drizzle of honey and always have frozen berries in the freezer (buy the big bag of mixed berries frozen at Walmart). It's pretty inexpensive, fast and cures the sweet cravings too. MFP tells me 1200 calories too - I'm 5' and 142 lbs. I raised it myself to 1350 as I went on several online calculators and they all averaged around 1350. I've been at 1200 for years and not gotten anyplace. Maybe going up a little will help!