What Nutrition Should We Get Daily?

South89

I never been on a eating plan before and never eat healthy before either. I'm having a hard time trying to see how to eat during the day. I been slowing loosing weight over the last two months and I'm fine with that. I'm also at 1200 calories a day and have no issues with that either. The problem is I'm worried that I'm not eating enough nutrition a day and I don't know what foods I should be eating and if I'm getting enough nutrition. My day looks like either a Chobani or fruit for breakfast, then salad, Special K cereal, or sandwich (no bread) for lunch, and then for dinner something that involves meat (usually chicken I'm not a big meat eater), rice, salad, vegetable (usually broccoli). My snacks are usually a fruit or vegetable and sometimes if I want to treat myself I have these Special K cracker chips. I'm just so worried because I'm only getting 1200 calories a day and since I'm eating so little that I'm starving myself and not giving myself enough food. But, I'm not hungry at all and I feel fine so I don't know if I'm over worried its just I never done this before so I'm new with it all. Thanks for all the help it is great to have the advice.

megsmom2

Are you logging on MFP? The program will give you suggestions on macronutrients, and you can customize it further. Your post sounds like you're doing ok.

mkassinen

1200 cals is considered the bare minimum for a woman your age so you want to make sure that every calorie is giving you something. I follow Canada's food guide.
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index-eng.php
If you live in the states, I'm sure there's some sort of equivalent.
If you've got a few minutes, there's a lot of great info at that site.

South89

To clarify my post I track my carbs, protein, and fat and I usually am under are right at it. Well I'm only allowed 45 protein and go over that and I stop worrying about that one. I'm just worrying I'm not eating the right amount of healthy foods or just the right amount of foods to stay healthy and fit, since I'm so low on numbers. So, what does everyone else eat in their daily foods? My numbers are 1200 calories, 165 carbs, 40 fat, and 45 protein. I never get close to my calories, usually under in fat or close to it, and over in protein (which I don't care). I never go over in carbs, but my boyfriend is in a diet to and he doesn't eat carbs, so we both stop eating carbs together (well I just cut down a lot). Thanks for all the help everyone for the food tips that you think are good in a daily basis.

likeabanner

I don't really care who argues with me on this.

But I think it's pointless to diet by cutting out carbs completely, or almost completely. Once you're done dieting, you're just going to eat carbs again. So unless you plan on never eating carbs EVER AGAIN, stop doing this crap. Yes it helps you lose the weight now, but you're just going to gain it back once you eat them again. It's called portion control. You can happily eat pasta and sandwiches IN APPROPRIATE PORTIONS and still lose weight.

cafeaulait7

Try to get some healthy fats in there to make sure your fat balance is right. I added a lot of sardines to my diet to get more protein and for their good fat. Also good are avocados, nuts, olive oil, etc. Folks eat flax seeds to up their good Omegas. If you don't eat those, you can always supplement, too. Make sure to eat good fat to balance out any trans fats or the normal saturated fat in your diet is all.

Watch calcium at 1200 a day. Either choose foods that have it or supplement. Ditto for Magnesium, and many would argue Chromium. Check Iron to be sure, too.

There are more, as you might imagine, but those are the biggies that I can think of.

If you don't eat berries, you should add those in. A really great idea is to try to eat different colors of fruits and veggies and not miss a color often (or supplement). The blue or deep purple/red fruits have different nutrients than the citrus, etc. A lot of folks forget the blues, lol. I don't know that they have absolutely essential nutrients out of the ordinary, but they have different antioxidants, so mix up your fruits and veggies when you can.

mhematia

Hey,

You typically should set your macro-nutrient goals to 55% of calories coming from cabohydrates, 20 % from fats and 25 % from protein. Try to have lean sources of protein and if you avoid meat and animal proteins opt for a variety of beans, lentils , tofu, dairy alternatives, nuts and seeds to get all your essential amino acids.

As far as carbohydrates try to include complex carbohydrates high in fiber. Also try to have natural sources of sugar and try to avoid added sugar in processed foods.

Those are great starting points.

Cheers

PikaKnight

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1105036-article-on-flexible-dieting-by-armi-legge?page=1#posts-17068746

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1122891-9-reasons-fat-loss-is-always-slower-than-you-d-like

Macros vary from person to person and their goals. If interested, here is how you can configure out and set your macro on MFP

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets