How do you eat 1200 calories?!

Bukawww

Intermittent Fasting is the only way I can do it. When I eat, I like to eat to satisfaction and feel 'content' - 6 snacks a day don't do that for me. There is no science to back up this theory that 6 small meals a day will speed up your metabolism. I stand on the theory that your body can get more done if it isn't having to metabolize food all day.

I don't eat my first meal until around noon. Its about 400-500 calories. Then I have my 2nd meal around 4 - also around 400-500 cal. That leaves me another 200-400 calories that I just try to consume between 12-7pm. It also gives me liberty to eat a giant meal (800 cal) if I really feel like I need it. As long as I get this in by 7, do my workout afterwards, I can count on my body feeling AWESOME and probably see at least 1/4-1lb gone by morning.

I drink unsweetened iced tea till noon to keep me comfortable. The more calories I 'save' for the end of the day, the better I am at keeping my calories at 1200...and sometimes its a struggle to get that many in (never thought I'd say that EVAR!).

mamadon

I eat 1200 to 1300 usually. My diary is open if you want to take a look.

Yooperm35

I eat 1200 to 1300 usually. My diary is open if you want to take a look.

Where are you fruits and veggies? It seems like a lot of prepackaged food - do you take vitamins too?

aradd77

Breakfast: apple or banana
Lunch: Salad loaded with vegetables, some chicken or other protein, balsamic vinegar (or a comparable lunch)
Afternoon: large skim vanilla latte
Dinner: small bowl of cereal

Serah87

That's the range I eat when I am losing.

The only way I can do it is to eat low carb.

B - string cheese & coffee

S - plain greek yogurt & apple

L - grilled chicken salad w/veggies

S - 1/2 serving almonds (or whole) and apple/orange

D - meat & veggies


*Sometimes there are extra calories available and I always have trouble fitting in wine.

But, at my age, and with certain joint/back issues that prevent me from doing hard core workouts, I need to keep my calories low. I do try to get a couple hundred from workouts for buffer.

:noway: I would starve on that!!

CountryGirl8542

I don't... I eat 2000 ... and still lose weight.

nippoleon

It's not that hard. (: It seems pretty daunting at first, but if you have a lot of tiny portions throughout the day you can stay satisfied.
Plus, it's GREAT incentive to get off your butt and exercise for more food!

peachcats

Maybe not so obvious, but, stay busy.
I used to eat a lot more but now I go to school full time, work full time, go to the gym 4 days a week and have a lot of other things to take care of.
I usually have ~900 calories logged at the end of the day and have to eat something big.

feltlikesound

Breakfast I have light cheese and low-cal yogurt, lunch is almost always a pita with meat (varies) and veggies and fat free cheese, supper is more diverse, but lean meat (chicken or beef), leafy veg, and usually a measured serving of a "starchy" side like rice, cous cous, potato, etc. My wife and I usually split a bag of low cal microwave popcorn in the evening. I generally keep all bran bars, seeds/nuts, and bananas to insert as snacks...but to be honest I rarely eat between meals, instead I "graze" on my meals (i.e. I eat my cheese and yogurt throughout the morning at work). This generally gets me right around 1200.

Anything over and above this "menu" I earn with exercise calories.

ETA: I work out almost every day, so the menu above is just a baseline, not what I end up living on -- I eat back exercise cals.

Tropicalfirestorm

I eat 1,400-1,500 a day by being expensive lean cuisines. that's 6 lean cuisines. just make sure you don't eat them in one meal.

Since I can't afford to do that now- lots of lettuce. Obviously I don't ignore all "negative calorie" things, but there is no point in counting non starchy vegetables like lettuce.

If you are still hungry eat an extra meal or two of non starch vegetables. Negative calorie vegetables. You can get huge packs for a dollar at most stores. an extra meal of stir fry every day.


and snacking on negative calorie things all throughout the day.


I eat more on my diet than I did not on it, but I feel hungrier My body just really likes meats and cheese and bread. Damn.


If I had a bunch of money this diet would be super easy. but I don't have tons of money. I have a food budget of around 130/month.


But yeah when it comes down to it I'd rather eat a huge meal that is healthy and low in calories... than one bag of hot cheetos.


What you eat effects how much you eat!

Frozen dinners are my love. But they are so expensive (the low calorie ones not the $1 ones)


/rant

Eleonora91

It's not impossible, you just have to eat carefully. I usually eat 1200 kcals or a little more and that's what I eat:

Breakfast: coffee with sweetener + a snack (accereal bar or a croissant, or a few diet biscuits) OR a glass of orange juice with some kellogs classic cereals OR a diet yogurt and a piece of fruit -> I usually eat 150-200 kcals for breakfast

Lunch: a small plate of fiber pasta (which has less calories) + tomato sauce + 1 tbsp oil + some olives + 1 tbsp parmesan cheese OR a big salad with a small integral piece of bread -> around 400-500 kcals

Afternoon snack: a piece of fruit, a yogurt, some tea, some juice, stuff like that -> 100-200 kcals

Dinner: same as lunch OR salad with vegetarian substitutes (tofu, soy foods) OR legumes with a couple of slices of bread -> another 300-400 kcals

Post dinner snack: something sweet as a couple of biscuits or stuff like that -> 100 kcals

you will eat around 1200 kcals this way

thesophierose

Breakfast: Oatmeal pancakes made with almond milk and egg whites with greek yogurt and berries on top (310) (these keep you full! )
Lunch: Chicken breast with salad and veggies and yogurt (around 280)
Snack: Apple mixed with almond butter and cottage cheese. (220)
Supper: Chicken (or protein) and steamed veg (200)
Snack: Protein shake (200)

=1210 and keep busy!

JoRocka

I don't wanna sound like a jerk or anything but I see this Q posted constantly on these forums, and I don't really understand. My current calories (no exercise) are at 1,410 and I find that pretty easy to meet. MANY days I am close to 1,200 and I don't feel like my diet is very restrictive at all.

Typical for me would be 200 cal breakfast, 400-ish calories for lunch, and 500-ish calories at dinner. That still leaves 100 cals to play with at the minimum 1,200.

I'm just not sure where the problem is for you. Do you drink any of your calories? That can add up very quickly.

um- we are foodies

I suspect that we are poor meal planners. :ohwell:

I'm a great meal planner. I still really fight for 1200 when I'm trying to do a heavy cut. 1200 is just NOT that much food.

I can eat that in friendly's ice cream for dessert along with my 500 calorie cappuccino!!!!

mlwestbury

Breakfast - have a protien shake with about 240 - 300 calories or egg white muffins and fruit like berries or oatmeal & egg whites, or half ezikial english muffin w/ one scrambled egg or egg whites or turkey sausage

AM snack - egg white muffins (about 95 cals for 2) or almonds or string cheese & apple slices (follow a template for snacks which is a protien and a healthy carb healthy carb is berries, apple, veggies crudites)

Lunch - Lean Protien: (3-5 oz of Salmon, Chicken Breast, Fresh Water Fish, Shrimp, Turkey meatloaf hold the bread crumbs)
Healthy Carb: 2-4 oz of Quinoa, or 4oz or Half baked sweet potato or small sweet potato or brown rice
Something Green: Kale or Asparagus or Romaine salad, or Greens(Mustard, Collards), or Green Beans, cabbage etc eat all you want of something green watch out for the carb type veggies like carrots, squash, zucchini

PM Snack - Low calorie light popcorn in mini bags or almonds, or veggie crudites w/ oikos yogurt dip, or turkey roll ups with low fat cheese, or cottage cheese w/ berries, or low fat greek yougurt cup preferably 4 oz (follow a template for snacks which is a protien and a healthy carb healthy carb is berries, apple, veggies crudites)

Dinner - Lean Protein see list above and green veggies there are so many healthy recipies for the lean protein main course. Just pick a source and then find a recipies

Mix it up play around with the template just plug the foods in measure your portions and watch your condiments and dressings use mrs dash, low sugar BBQ sauce, Kens healthy options salad dressing or oil vinegar w/ seasoning. Mix up your options make a salad like salmon or shrimp ceasar salad for lunch using fresh romain and parmesian regiano shavings hold the croutons.

This may take meal prep time on Sundays but you wont get board. Have fun.

Confuzzled4ever

I have to plan out everything in advance in order to eat at my goal. Even then I usually end up eating less then I plan too. I guess that's the opposite problem that you are posting about? I purposely saved up my calories today because I know there will be beer and higher calorie food later tonight (I heard rumor of black beans and rice and something to do with mushrooms!! I cant' wait!!) but I've already cut out the protein shake I was planning on because i forgot to make it.. as well as the protein bar because I left it at home and i'm really not hungry. I'll make it up later.. but the same struggle others have with over eating, some of us have with under eating. It's really a similar struggle.. simply to control your eating, just coming from different sides of the equation.

I have to prep things On Sunday or I don't eat enough during the week. and I have to pack up everything and take it with me.. cause I won't go out and buy stuff and i'm pretty good at resisting the candy jar here.

i wouldn't advocate 1200 as a good goal unless you are increasing to that amount, due to under eating.. But not matter what number you are trying to hit, pre planning, pre logging, prepping and packing everything in a lunch bag to bring with you will help.

stephreed11

I wash it down with 400 more...

JessHealthKick

I used to eat that low for a period, but found it too difficult. My body tells me to eat 2000 a day, so I am eating about 1700 NET (so 2000 less exercise) to keep me happy. 1200 is very low, I used to argue it was OK, but unless you are really eating the right foods you are likely going to under-nourish yourself.

Not that most Westerners are well nourished (low calcium, vitamins etc thanks to horrible fast food)... but still, hard to get what your body needs in such a small amount!

mhematia

Hey,

Honestly, I totally understand. It can be challenging, but with time and proper meal planning it can be done.

I find that if I am sticking to healthy options, I struggle to even get to 1200 kCal, however if I am including a lot of refined carbohydrates or processed foods, it is a challenge to stay under that target. I would encourage you to look at low calorie alternatives for your favorites foods. Examples would be spaghetti squash instead of pasta or mushroom cap pizzas instead of flat bread pizza or any kind with bread. These alternatives really helped me out.

Healthyhigh.ca is a really great site for ideas. The blogger is a doctor which I work with and she has really great meal prep ideas that are tasty but very healthy.

Another thing to keep in mind is that your body takes time to adjust, if your body is used to eating 1500 kCal per day, it is going to feel hungry the first week or so sticking to 1200 kCal. Just push through it and include more fiber and protein rich foods to help keep you feeling full.

Hope this helps

writemusic4him

I don't! I actually eat 1400 calories & exercise. I eat 6x a day, every 3 hours, which looks a bit like this:

Break - 345 cal
Snack #1 - 120 cal
Lunch - 345 cal
Snack #2 - 120 cal
Dinner - 345 cal
Treat - 120 cal

I try to have a carb, protein & veggie/fruit at each meal, so that helps balance calories. Having 3-4 oz meat, a 1/2 rice & a bunch of veggies helps keep around 350 calories per meal.

teamAmelia

0% fat yogurt and 2 eggs for breakfast, small apple for snack, 250 calorie microwave boxed crap for lunch, 130 calorie All bran bar for snack, 3 oz meat and lots of veggies for supper, see what's left and have a snack mid evening.

:laugh: Is that your way of saying that she needs to up her calorie goal?