1200 calories a day is killing me!!!

LeggyKettleBabe

Go to the recipes section its full of great ideas for meal planning.

unhatter

I typically can stay around 1200 but I tend to eat the same type of meals day after day. It doesn't bother me but this might not work for other people. I do a cheat day once a week but eat the same type of food pretty much all week to stay under my calorie allowence. This is my typical daily intake:

Breakfast: Cream for my coffee (20), a cup of fresh pinapple (80), a cup of fresh cantalope (60)

Lunch: Light string cheese (50), Healthy choice chicken noodle soup (180), pear (70)

Dinner: Mixed salad (30), 6 ounches of chicken breast (200), carrets (60)

Snacks: 12 ounce V8 vegetable juice (70), instant oatmeal (140), bag of popcorn (100), orange (70)

All this only totals 1130 calories; I feel like this is a lot of food throughout the day.

There's lots of foods with very low calorie content. Some of my other food choices are: english muffin with egg (180), 10 ounce frozen fish fillet from kroger (175), 13 caramel mini rice cakes (110), Stouffer's Easy Express Skillets Grilled Chicken and Vegetables, 1/2 container (360), Sam Club Blackened Salmon Fillets 5 ounce (260), apple (60), bagel thins (110), Kroger suger free ice cream 1 cup (200)

melaniecheeks

Salads are easy.

Take some of your favourites of - tomaotes, cucmbers, peppers, celery. Chop into small pieces.
Add in something a bit more exciting - marinated artichokes or mushrooms are great, black olives or capers if you like them. Chopped avocado. Roasted peppers.
Add some protein - feta, haloumi, blue cheese. Or pieces of chicken or ham. Or a drained tin of chickpeas. Or a tin of tuna. Or a hard boiled egg. Or crispy bacon. Or a mixture (ham and blue cheese are great companions, bacon and egg are good together)
Dress with a squeeze of lemon juice. Or stir in some cottage cheese, or humous, or salsa.
Sprinkle with some seed for extra crunch (and protein) - sunflower, pine nuts
Personally, I dont like salad leaves, though I'll sometimes add some spinach.

MrsDutt

Just reading some of the things you guys eat makes me feel like I am overeating. Thank you I will go check out the recipe side.

The other challenge is ofcourse cooking 3 different meals at dinner time as DH is not in the mood to change his lifestyle and the kids do not eat any of the two meals I make. I want to stop making excuses and just do it.

AthenaErr

I have tried various diets in the past including WW that work out around 1200 a day and find it too llittle, cant stick to them. I tried low carbing but I just get miserable fore carbs. Longest I ever managed was 3 weeks and after I would be ravenous and gain everything back.

I am currently eating about 1500 a day. I do 20 mins exercise a day (30Day Shred or easing my way back into running). I eat more when I exercise if I want it - whihc usually I do and I hvaent dropped below 1350 a day (whcih only happened once). My BMI is 26 (so just overweight). Anyway with my stats mfp estimates I will lose 0.4lbs a week. Instead over the past 3 weeks I am averaging 2lbs a week. (6lbs total) and I am NOT hungry/tired/irritable or itching to get back to eating more - it takes a bit of effort and planning but its not taking willpower. I also had 2 days of eating 1800 because I had the flu and was hungry.

I was a bit hmmm when I saw the 0.4lbs a week projection cos it was so little and I do want to be thinner right now. But currently I am really delighted with my progress - I think losing 2 lbs a week is pretty damn quick. AND I know I can keep this up - the eating and exercising I mean- I do expect the rate of loss to slow down a bit sometime soon.

On this basis I recommend eating a bit more and seeing how you go with that - and not being too put out if mfp predictions are discouraging.

AthenaErr

Ignore my ticker, I weigh in tomorrow and know I have lost a total of 6lbs now minimum. he he

kimw91

Eat more veg & fruit, avoid things such as avocado and pesto cause they're quite calorie dense (not saying they're bad for you in any sort of way, but they do push up your intake quite a bit). You might try substituting crackers for bread if you're not too keen on salad, they're a lot lower in calories. Eat lean meats instead of cheese (one slice of turkey bread is only around 24 calories) and drink lots of water and tea.

But, as others have stated, if you're truly hungry at 1200 calories, up your intake a bit. 1200 really is the bare minimum and I wonder if your BMR doesn't require you to eat more anyway.

lambertj

A tip to keep salads from getting soggy, when you pack them up the night before fold up 1-2 paper towels and place on the top of the salad, put the lid on and store upside down. all the excess moisture will be drawn into the paper towel and your veggies will stay crisp

gweaveratwork

It's probably the bread that's hurting you (English muffin, 2 slices of bread, and a bran muffin). If you can't cut any bread out without making yourself too hungry, look for a high fiber, low calorie brand. My grocery store sells a brand called "Healthy Life" - two slices of this is 70 calories - the equivalent of 1 slice of many other brands.

umachanxo

When I started, I slowly decreased to 1200 from 1600. 1600, then 1500, and so on.

What you're eating doesn't look bad, so maybe just try and find a low calorie version of the foods. For example, you can buy bodywise English muffins at Sobeys that have less calories and are just as good. You can also try reduced calorie cheese. Muffins also have a lot of calories and carbs.

Instead of a muffin, maybe blend up a peanut butter banana protein shake. It will keep you pretty full. Also, try oatmeal or a high protein breakfast to keep you full longer also.

Helloitsdan

1200 calories a day is quite low.

Check out the post below;
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map

It can be a bit difficult o understand but, keep reading and it will all become clear. It helped me realise I was not eating enough

Also check out this website;
http://www.fat2fitradio.com/

Fantastic Article!
Thanx for this!
=D

emmahaines1

I have been doing the 1200 cal since last August and have lost 25lbs from doing this, it is so hard to stick to sometimes and it started to slow my leight loss down,

I have now upped mine 1500 calories, which is still low but a bit more managable.

If you do wish to stick with the 1200 calories you need to change what you are eating a lot, try not to eat beard products to often, as they are so calorific maybe, for my lunches I have substituted my bread for salad.

If you are serious about sticking to 1200 cal you really need to research what it is you are going to eat and try your best to plan out other meals for the day so you can try and stick to your goal. Their are a lot of options that you don't realise. I also suggest doing more exercise, burning calories back will allow you to eat a little bit more.

Good Luck.

MrsDutt

Seems like my biggest mistake is the bread. Ok I need to cut out some of it. I mean I have had carbs in each meal and might be why I feel so sluggish also.

Any advice on how to get started on my fitness levels?

Helloitsdan

I have around 1200kcals a day because I'm really small!

I find the best thing to do is have smaller meals but eat more often in the day - this is my breakdown and example menu;

Breakfast: 250cals - Boiledegg, toast and marmite, piece of fruit, cup of tea and milk

Snack: 100kcals - Bowl of soup

Lunch: 200kcals - Light cream cheese, 6 melba toasts, slice of fruit loaf

Snack: 100kcals- Cereal bar

Dinner: 300kcals - Quorn fillets, cous cous, salad, apple.

Snack: 50kcals - Carrot sticks and dip

Supper: 200kcals - Two rich tea biscuits, cup of tea and milk and a bit of chocolate.

I don't feel like I'm dieting at all because I'm eating whenever I want!

IMO skip breakfast and the first snack and lump those extra cals into a bigger first meal.
You dont have much to lose so screwing with leptin now will only hold you back.
If you are physically hungry, leptin levels may drop signaling the body to maintain fat for energy.
The best way to lose the last few stubborn pounds is simply burning them off with mild cardio daily, like 200 cals burned, and lifting heavy weights.
In order to fuel this youll need more calories in though.
So using the Road Map you can figure this out for yourself.
If you hit a bump in the road feel free to PM me and i'll help as best I can.

Hugs!

ChristineS_51

When I first started this I found it hard to keep in my goals, but it is a learning curve - I see you have only joined in April, so you are still in learner mode :-) You will find if you plan your day, put in what you think you will eat, and then look at the numbers, then fiddle - eg breads have lots of different calorie values, either eat a bit less or find bread with not so many calories. I have switched to plain microwaved potoato at breakfast, with two eggs and tomatoes, all dry fried - fills me up and the weight is almost falling off. (29 lb/13.1 kg in 100 days). Having a protein kick at the beginning of the day seems to fire up my metabolism very well.

I notice you didn't mention drinks - if you are drinking tea / coffee with milk & sugar, or fruit juices/cordials, sodas/fizzy drinks, they will really mess your calories. I now drink black coffee, no milk, no sugar, no sweetener, and really enjoy it. Also green tea with a tiny pinch of chilli flakes is nice, nil calories!

Drink lots of water, tell yourself you are full / full / full; if you feel deprived you will feel hungry!

Just make good choices each time and you will learn what is the better option to eat. This is for the long haul, not a quick fix, so give yourself time :-)

kaned_ferret

I think it's all been said well by others here, but I just wanted to add in my enthusiasm for "exercise calories". when I first started, I found it hard to stay within my 1350 budget, especially as I took like a glass (or three!) of wine of an evening! But gradually over the past couple of months, I have upped my exercise by doing the c25k programme, and a couple of at-home fitness programmes (wii zumba and fitness coach). My body is finally used to this and now actually WANTS to exercise daily hehe, and it's changed my calories from going just over daily, to leaving me with a few hundred to spare most days.

You have an elliptical sitting right there lady, use it wisely! (And if you burn out and feel defeated after only 5 minutes, work up to it gradually - do a similar programme to c25k to build up your endurance and fitness, and you'll feel a lot better about it all, I promise!)

gonna_do_it_56

Hi ,
like the original post I am having difficulty. I have followed the links and carried out the calculations.I would lose comfortably on 1500 acording to it [ 1-1/2 lb]. So my question is how do I change MFP's calories? Thanks for any help....:flowerforyou:

ChristineS_51

A tip to keep salads from getting soggy, when you pack them up the night before fold up 1-2 paper towels and place on the top of the salad, put the lid on and store upside down. all the excess moisture will be drawn into the paper towel and your veggies will stay crisp

Brilliant idea - I have never thought of doing that, thank you! :flowerforyou:

steadk

I would suggest eating more, and raising your calories limit. I have continuously lost weight after upping my calories to 1400 a day, and not really doing much exercise.

gonna_do_it_56

I should have said thanks for the info Fat2fit is a great link