Foodies and Foodie Wannabees!

ProjectCali

Welcome!

I would like to aim this thread towards people who have taken an interest in healthy eating. If you consider yourself an expert on all things healthy, please feel free to share your knowledge, recipes, tips, tricks, restaurant recommendations, recent discoveries, and anything else on your personal menu!

On the contrary, if you are someone who is trying to make the move to healthy eating and don't know where to begin, please feel free to ask away! Let our self-proclaimed experts help you out and share their knowledge!

Together we can ditch the Mickey D's and fill our tummies with all the delight mother nature has to offer!

ToughPeopleDo

I am going to try and do a 1200 calorie diet. Has anybody tried this? What is a sample meal plan?

TaraRichardson913

I am also trying to do 1200 cals!

I find myself eating a lot of Smart Ones (prepackaged meals) for dinners because they are so low cal.
I would like to eat cleaner- a lot of times I just think a calorie is a clorie so instead of reaching for an apple I reach for chocolate of the same amount of cals.

It is all about planning your week out and making sure you have the right ingreidents for healthy eating, right. That is what I am going to do! But it will be difficult because next week I am at a conference all week (woo hoo!) And dont know about what to plan for. Hmm!!

ProjectCali

I, too, am trying to stick to the 1200 routine. It can be tough and I definitely agree with Tara that it is all about planning ahead of time. Find a routine that works and stick to it. I find what works best is allowing yourself to eat up to 1500 calories and then working off whatever you have to in order to get down to 1200 (usually for me it's eat around 1400, run half hour). Incorporate a lot of fruits and veggies and do your best to not drink your calories. It's rare that I have something other than water (it's taken me years to get to that point though). I tend to want to eat a lot more at night time, so I try to limit myself to nothing after 8:00pm.

The best advice I can give is DO NOT GET INTIMIDATED! It might be rough in the beginning, but once you get into the routine, the pounds will fly off!

Mousie59

MFP chose a 1200 calorie day for me and its not bad. Planning is key as you all have said. I find I almost always go over on protein but sometimes under on calories but never under on fat. Its a game trying to balance it all out. I am in need of snacks that are low fat and yes carrot sticks would be awesome but dragging myself away from ranch dip for them ....now so easy!

I have found that if I don't make lunch for myself at night, I don't tend to do it in the morning. Planning is all.

Have a great day all!!

mlm5537

I have been doing 1200 cals for about four weeks now, and it has gotten much easier!

The first thing I realized was that I was DRINKING way too many calories. I cut soda from my diet at the beginning of the year, but I was still drinking a ton of milk (almost a gallon per week!) and fruit juices. These calories add up really quickly! I stick to mainly water now, have a glass of milk at the end of the day if I have calories left over, and I have an occasional diet rootbeer (A&W is caffeine free) on the weekends.

I also make sure to pack plenty of food for lunch at work. It may seem like a good idea to restrict calories at lunch because you are limited to what you bring with you, but that only works if you are REALLY limited to what you bring. For me, being hungry after lunch often led to break-room snacking or the occasional fast food stop on the way home from work. I keep things like snap crisps, fruit and nuts in my desk drawer.

I plan the week's dinners out ahead of time, so I log that at the beginning of the day to give me a sense of what the rest of my day can look like. I've adapted quite a few recipes to fit in at 500 calories or less (like lasagna, pizza, brownies, etc) without eating things like cauliflower at every meal, yuck! If anyone is interested in recipes, let me know and I will start a different thread.

I am often over on my sugar for the day because I love fruit and dairy and try to steer clear of sugar substitutes, but overall I usually fall within the MFP guidelines.

mlm5537

@Mousie 59 - Have you ever tried dipping in tzatziki dip instead? The deli at Safeway makes one that is only about 40 calories per 2 Tbsp (probably less if you make it at home) but still creamy and with similar spices to ranch. Bolthouse makes a ranch that is only 45 calories per 2 Tbsp as well, though it has that weird non-fat yogurt texture.

Edit: I still can't quite figure out this forum thing... maybe because I am using a Mac? Anyone else have trouble "replying" directly to a comment?

ProjectCali

I have been doing 1200 cals for about four weeks now, and it has gotten much easier!

The first thing I realized was that I was DRINKING way too many calories. I cut soda from my diet at the beginning of the year, but I was still drinking a ton of milk (almost a gallon per week!) and fruit juices. These calories add up really quickly! I stick to mainly water now, have a glass of milk at the end of the day if I have calories left over, and I have an occasional diet rootbeer (A&W is caffeine free) on the weekends.

I also make sure to pack plenty of food for lunch at work. It may seem like a good idea to restrict calories at lunch because you are limited to what you bring with you, but that only works if you are REALLY limited to what you bring. For me, being hungry after lunch often led to break-room snacking or the occasional fast food stop on the way home from work. I keep things like snap crisps, fruit and nuts in my desk drawer.

I plan the week's dinners out ahead of time, so I log that at the beginning of the day to give me a sense of what the rest of my day can look like. I've adapted quite a few recipes to fit in at 500 calories or less (like lasagna, pizza, brownies, etc) without eating things like cauliflower at every meal, yuck! If anyone is interested in recipes, let me know and I will start a different thread.

I am often over on my sugar for the day because I love fruit and dairy and try to steer clear of sugar substitutes, but overall I usually fall within the MFP guidelines.

Would LOVE to hear your recipes!

heavenlyb14

I am a very good home cook with knowledge of many cuisines but feel like I'm starting from scratch when learning about how to cook without sugar and gluten. I've had some happy experiments so far. If a low carbohydrate, vegetarian, gluten free and sugar free lifestyle appeals to anyone then I'd be happy to share the recipes so far. They are all savoury though, I haven't ventured into the baking side yet.

greensmoothie007

Googling "sample 1200 calorie meal plans" will turn up a bunch of set menus. My biggest tip is to plan ahead. "Those who fail to plan, plan to fail".

Easy things to keep on hand at home are bagged salads, fruits and precooked proteins. This can be boiled eggs, grilling chcken, steak and shrimp and keeping them in the fridge. Eat them alone, throw them in a salad or wrap in a tortilla. Some people don't feel comfortable eating 3-4 day old cooked meats. In that case, freeze individual portions and each day take some out and thaw in fridge for that day. I don't care to eat them often but keeping a couple of frozen Lean Cuisines or Amy's dinners on days you come home too beat to cook also helps.

At your office/car/purse keep an "emergency stash" of nuts, healthy bars, beef jerky in case you find yourself starving.

Ask yourself "When do I tend to slip up?" and plan accordingly.

ProjectCali

Tomorrow I start my juice cleanse. An organic juice cafe in my town holds one every so often, so every morning this week I have to stop in and get my day's supply.


It's 900-1200 calories a day, all vegetables, no solid food for 5 days.


I've never done it before. I'm excited, but nervous about gaining after I finish on account of restricting. I feel like it's either going to be awesome, or the demise of this challenge for me. I just have to stay positive, stay strong, and keep my will up and my game face on.

I won't be logging in my diary because.. well, there's nothing to log, but I'm going to be posting updates on how it's going!


Wish me luck!!

ProjectCali

FoodHourToday Is The Fifth And Last Day Of My Detox. Sorry About The Caps. My Phone Does This. 6 Organic Veggie Juices, 2 Hours Apart For 5 Days. It Really Hasn't Been Too Difficult. I Never Felt Hunger Pains, Though Of Course I Craved Food. I've Definitely Lost A Few Pounds, Although I'm Hoping It's Not Completely Water Weight. All In All, I Actually Enjoyed It And Kind Of WishiI Could Keep Going A Couple More Days, It's Expensive Though. $300 For The 5 Days.