I don't know what to eat

lauragent92

It may sound stupid but i don't know what the best foods are to eat each day. I've lost a lot of weight and I'm nearly at my goal, 7-10lbs to go. I go to the gym 3-5 times a week. I struggle to reach 1,200 calories a day, because I simply do not know what to eat. I started eating a lot of fruit, but this is all very high in sugar. I sometimes have vegetables for snacks instead but I also know these are just so low in calories. I need to eat at least 1,200 a day. I haven't lost any weight in the past 2 months and I think this is down to my diet. Could somebody maybe guide me on breakfast/lunch/snacks? What also should be my daily calorie intake? I'm 150 lbs and 5 foot 7.

writergeek313

1200 calories (or less, if you're not sure what to eat) doesn't seem like enough to fuel someone who's as active as you are. I'm only an inch and a half taller than you are and work out at least three times a week, and I'm eating 1800 calories a day. If you've stopped losing weight, it could be because you're not eating enough, which could mess up your metabolism.

I eat a lot of lean protein, complex carbs, and veggies, as well as some fruit and some healthy fats. I think a big reason I've had success so far is that I'm not starving myself or depriving myself the way I did in the past when I tried to lose weight.

I would consider raising your calorie intake and seeing if that helps you to drop those last few pounds. Another possibility is that this could be your body's way of telling you, "Hey, I've reached my goal weight." We all have an ideal number in mind, but sometimes our bodies have other ideas.

andrewh2010

Awesome food ideas here;

http://simplesciencefitness.com/#short-list-of-foods

higher calorie good foods, avocado and almonds.

sjkcwatson

I am also 5' 7" and I did 1200 calories to loose (am at 1500-1600 now to maintain)- however, I added back on my exercise calories. So if I walked 5 miles and burned 300 calories then I ate 1200+300 calories that day. Some of my go to items - peanut butter (celery sticks dipped in those 250 calorie individual peanut butter containers), protein balls (3/4 cup peanut butter, 1 big or 2 small scoops choc or vanilla protein powder, 1/4 c honey, 2 tbs flaxseed, 1/2 cup choc chips, 3/4 c wheat oats - mix and form into balls and freeze - great for snacks or breakfast- fairly good calories, but of good stuff), avacado (add to omlets, put on a tostado with some chicken, cheese and salsa, add to salad), nuts (the KIND bars are good - substaining and around 250 calories), yogurt, eggs (I add them here and there, for example one of my favorites is a stir fry - I use either brown instant rice or wheat noodles, and top with a stir fry of broccoli, onions, mushrooms, red or yellow bell pepper, garlic, and soy sauce - on days when i need extra calories or protein I will crack and egg in it and scramble into it)

sjkcwatson

You are more than welcome to friend me and check my diary - back up a month or 2 - I'm fidling with things trying to maintain now and find the correct calorie count so I have it set at 1500 so when you go back it will show me consistantly under - but at 1200 calories it was what it should be.

melham

Awesome food ideas here;

http://simplesciencefitness.com/#short-list-of-foods

higher calorie good foods, avocado and almonds.

Thanks for that link. Fantastic site!

Fitnin6280

Repeat after me... "peanut butter is my friend!"

jonnythan

It may sound stupid but i don't know what the best foods are to eat each day. I've lost a lot of weight and I'm nearly at my goal, 7-10lbs to go. I go to the gym 3-5 times a week. I struggle to reach 1,200 calories a day, because I simply do not know what to eat. I started eating a lot of fruit, but this is all very high in sugar. I sometimes have vegetables for snacks instead but I also know these are just so low in calories. I need to eat at least 1,200 a day. I haven't lost any weight in the past 2 months and I think this is down to my diet. Could somebody maybe guide me on breakfast/lunch/snacks? What also should be my daily calorie intake? I'm 150 lbs and 5 foot 7.

Whatever you like, really.

In general lean meats and vegetables should form the base of your diet. If you do that, getting enough protein, fat, and micronutrients is no problem. Fill the rest of the calories with anything you want: ice cream, cheese, milk, peanut butter, potatoes, pasta, rice, fruit, chocolate, etc.

BTW, stop tracking sugar entirely. How much sugar you get in a day has no relevance or importance in any capacity whatsover.

Siege_Tank

When you are close to your goals, a less drastic cut is actually more helpful in keeping your progress moving forward. The more you cut, the deeper you cut makes your body shift and adapt, in the same way that it adapted to overeating by storing the extra food as fat. The longer you cut, the more your hormones shift into a stance of lower leptin, higher cortisol, lower ghrelin, higher insulin spikes from the same amount of carbs, lower growth hormone.

The problem is, all of these hormones are interconnected. In english, early in the morning upon waking, higher cortisol levels will cause more insulin to be produced than is needed, leading to a quicker spike, and sometimes a lower blood sugar level than before you ate. This is why some people feel hungry an hour or two after breakfast.

Add calories. At this point, think of yourself not as a girl who is living in the concrete jungle, but a survivalist scrounging for food. You have all of this food around you, and none of it is acceptable to eat, the same way a survivalist won't eat grass or tree bark. In that kind of situation, peanut butter is your friend, avocados are your friend, full fat foods are okay for you to eat, you got closer to your goals, you look amazing, ease up on the gas pedal.

You can do this. A conservative estimate for your BMR is roughly calculated at 10 or 11 calories per pound of weight, this would give you a range of 1500-1650 calories for your body to use in a coma. You aren't though, Start thinking about which healthy foods you can add some fat to, healthy fats, but most importantly..

Change it up, don't let your body adapt. If your workouts are no longer challenging, they won't shock your body into adapting, they won't make you get stronger.. you're simply performing a task that your body has adapted to perform exceptionally well at. No reason for your body to vampire bodyfat stores or grow muscles if you aren't giving it the stimulus to do so.

reddaddie

. I started eating a lot of fruit, but this is all very high in sugar.

BTW, stop tracking sugar entirely. How much sugar you get in a day has no relevance or importance in any capacity whatsover.

putting the fruit back in your eating plan would be a good start. There are more benefits to eating fresh fruit melons are especially high in nutrients ... and calories are calories the more nutrients you pack in the healthier you become.

I don't follow my advice ALL the time, a couple of times a week I indulge myself with an old favorite snack, but still stay under my maintenance goal.

my wife has lost over 100 lbs and is eating right around 1200 cal/day you can look at her diary for suggestions, themommie is her MFP name.

HornedFrogPride

KALE!

SpecialKitty7

bump for reading that great link later

sobriquet84

Awesome food ideas here;

http://simplesciencefitness.com/#short-list-of-foods

higher calorie good foods, avocado and almonds.

^^^

sautee vegetables in a tablesoon of olive oil. incorporate avocado, almonds, heck, even cheese into your diet if you want. and for heaven's sake EAT PROTEIN!

KANGOOJUMPS

pop tarts

nxd10

No food is perfect - you are thinking too hard. I was also between 1370 and 1210 NET when I was losing. I've added in 250 more now that I'm maintaining. I'm also tracking those calories more carefully with fitbit, which lets me eat more.

There's nothing wrong with ANY food. Natural sugars give you energy - that's what calories are. So does fat. When they're in foods with vitamins and minerals, that's FINE. The hype against them is for foods that are all sugar and fat and salt (great taste) but no nutritional value.

My 1200 calorie diet includes yoghurt, fruit, muesli, and coffee for breakfast (200 calories). Roast beef rollup and fruit for lunch (200 calories). Figs or dates or nuts for snack (100 calories). A nice dinner with some good lean protein, a bunch of greens, and probably something like rice or yams or potatoes. A small amount of ice cream with nuts around 9 for desert (200 calories).

Depending on what I have for dinner and how much I exercise I might have a drink or some fruit or desert or a second helping of meet. Or a glass of milk (180 calories!) or toast with butter (200 calories) or CHEESE (100-125 calories a slice).

A muffin is 400 calories. OJ and toast with butter is 500 calories. It's not hard to add in calories. That's why we're all here.

You have three alternative hypotheses for why you're not losing. Either you are eating so very little that your metabolism has become extremely sluggish. OR you aren't counting, measuring, or logging as accurately as you think you are and you're eating a lot more than you think. OR you are trying for goal below what your body can sustain. I don't know which is true, but I would explore all options.

Siege_Tank

From Leangains:

"First and foremost, the effect on satiety is far superior to both carbs and fat. This ensures good diet compliance, since you won't get hungry and risk overeating.

Secondly, TEF (Thermic Effect of Food) is much greater for protein than for both carbs and fat. It's so significant that a researcher named Livesey proposed that protein should actually be counted as 3.2 kcal and not 4 kcal as the current guidelines state. In simple terms, in comparing two hypo-energetic diets at the same calorie intake, the diet with the highest protein percentage of total calorie intake will show superior results.

A high protein diet is a key strategy to prevent overeating and warding off fat gain when attempting to gain qualitative weight. For fat loss additional benefits arise in terms of greater satiety, accelerated fat loss and sparing of lean mass.

Most of your diet should consist of whole and unprocessed foods. One critical mistake people make when transitioning from dieting to (failed) maintenance or a muscle gaining diet is changing the food composition of the diet significantly. Out goes the fibrous veggies and whole food protein and in comes the refined carbs and protein shakes. Such foods invite overeating sooner or later. Most people don't have a problem gaining weight, they have trouble keeping it off - especially after dieting and reaching a low body fat percentage.

What you ate during your fat loss diet, satiating foods like veggies, fruit, berries, meat and cottage cheese, should also be a staple of your diet regardless of goal (muscle gain, bodyrecomposition, lifestyle). And minimize liquid calorie intake. Chew your calories, don't drink them."

Compare different sources of lean protein: Right-click and view image..

Cindyinpg

It may sound stupid but i don't know what the best foods are to eat each day. I've lost a lot of weight and I'm nearly at my goal, 7-10lbs to go. I go to the gym 3-5 times a week. I struggle to reach 1,200 calories a day, because I simply do not know what to eat. I started eating a lot of fruit, but this is all very high in sugar. I sometimes have vegetables for snacks instead but I also know these are just so low in calories. I need to eat at least 1,200 a day. I haven't lost any weight in the past 2 months and I think this is down to my diet. Could somebody maybe guide me on breakfast/lunch/snacks? What also should be my daily calorie intake? I'm 150 lbs and 5 foot 7.

Whatever you like, really.

In general lean meats and vegetables should form the base of your diet. If you do that, getting enough protein, fat, and micronutrients is no problem. Fill the rest of the calories with anything you want: ice cream, cheese, milk, peanut butter, potatoes, pasta, rice, fruit, chocolate, etc.

BTW, stop tracking sugar entirely. How much sugar you get in a day has no relevance or importance in any capacity whatsover.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.^ Unless, of course, you want to over complicate things and deprive yourself for no reason.

nxd10

Seigetank - If that was directed at me, I completely agree that lean proteins are the absolute best. I was just saying you can't stop eating fruit because they have sugar in them.

Tunia85

Protein helps loose weight too in moderation. Lean meat, yogurt, cheeses, nuts etc.

Siege_Tank

Seigetank - If that was directed at me, I completely agree that lean proteins are the absolute best. I was just saying you can't stop eating fruit because they have sugar in them.

Noooooooo hell no, I agree completely with your sentiment, we're on the same page, there's nothing wrong with ANY food, except sea food high up on the food chain, like tuna, it needs to be limited. Heavy metal toxicity is a real concern. Other than that, there is no one food item that can be consumed that could or should be considered a suicide attempt.

DefluffinMyStuffin

bump

lauragent92

wow thank you everyone for your great advice it has really helped and I can now try new things! thanks x