How do people cope on 1200 calories p/d?!
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What helped me was to eat several things that were 100 calories instead of one thing that was 400 calories. I did eat somethings that were higher or course, but throughout the day I had several items that were only 100 calories like yogurt, popcorn and these seem to keep me satisfied
Yeah, I think I'm gonna try that.0 -
Yea! I also do 1200 cal a day. Sometime I'm so full on lunch I don't have dinner, but try not to do that to often0
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I don't eat when I'm bored. I think about what I'm eating instead of just mindlessly pulling stuff out of the fridge. I eat healthy, nutrient rich stuff. If I know there's a special occasion that day, I work out more so I can eat more.
Honestly, I'm 5 feet tall. 1200 is not a struggle for me. It was at first, but that's because I had been over eating consistently, but once my stomach returned to a normal size, it hasn't been a problem since.0 -
You will get use to it. Snacking helps and just give up some of the empty foods. You will never be able to survive if you eat all those calories at a fast food joint.0
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Leaner proteins. For instance, I just recently traded up my Jennie O Turkey Burgers for the Jennie O Extra Lean Turkey Burgers. I'm at 1420, and as long as I walk 50 minutes a day, I can get an extra 210 cals on top of that. I can easily do it without getting hungry as long as I am getting over 50 (preferably 70) Grams of protein a day, but most of them have to be super lean to get that many grams without going over on fats and cals.0
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Zucchini is Aubergine!
The purple vegetable, right?
How does it taste?
And what a cool alternative name!
ETA: Doh, veggie, not fruit.
nope. eggplant is the purple veggie. Zuccini is kinda like a cucumber. its green and long.But healthy!
Oh, I see! I've seen that one around. Never tried it. What does it taste like?0 -
One thing to really remember is there are some foods you can eat that will actually keep you from loosing weight. Its not really the "calorie counting" that matters so much as WHAT you are eating. Processed foods basically make your liver work harder becaue of the added chemicals and eating "pure" foods and "good fats" such as coconut oil, peanuts and avacados (to name a few) will actually help you BURN fat since they are "simple foods" and the liver can then function as it should wtihout wasting time/engery filtering out all the chemicals from the procceed foods. Easy way to remember if foods have ingredientes you cant prnounce put it down walk away and go for the "purer" foods - IF you want to curb your appetite Coconut Oil REALLY helps do this recommended daily dose is 2 tbsp and you can put it in your coffee and being that its a good fat it will even help you burn more fat - pretty cool actually. I eat every 2hrs and sometimes have to FORCE myself to eat but keeps metabolism burning and working as it should so I had to actually lower my coconut oil intake to 1/2 tbsp because it really suppressed my appetite and I want to be eating every 2hrs. I also drink Zeal Protein Shakes once a day and Zeal Burn which are both all natural and both have natural Carb Blocker of White Kidney Bean Extract so that really helps too. .. . . But keep your head up dont give up you got a ton of us on here to support you ---- Good luck girl !0
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Zucchini is Aubergine!
The purple vegetable, right?
How does it taste?
And what a cool alternative name!
ETA: Doh, veggie, not fruit.
It's alright like...I wouldn't be mad on it. I find it in a lot of American recipes but we don't really use it much here!0 -
i'm on 1350 calories a day with high protein and lower carbs, and i eat every 2-3 hours
8:30am - "egglet" (i don't know what else to call it) It's the ingredients of an egg white/whole egg/ spinach, mushroom, tomato, turkey omelette poured into muffin tins and baked. i have ONE of these for breakfast
10:00am - chobani yogurt
12:00pm - 2 or 3 hard boiled egg whites
1/1:30 - lunch usually consists of chicken/turkey burger/fish with 1-2 servings of vegetables (brussel sprouts/cauliflower/spinach), sometimes I add shirtaki tofu noodles mixed with the veggies
3:00 - 2 or 3 hard boiled egg whties
4:00 - 2oz reduced sodium sliced turkey (hilshire farms or healthy ones)
7:00 ish - dinner is usually similar to my lunch, but i might add a real carbohydrate like orzo or potato
As you can see, i eat ALL day long and I never feel starving, which is SUPER important for me. If i'm starving I will make really bad choices and eat a days worth of calories in one sitting.
I don't always eat my excercise calories - if anything i'll just have extra egg whites, chobani, egglet, or an apple.0 -
One thing to really remember is there are some foods you can eat that will actually keep you from loosing weight. Its not really the "calorie counting" that matters so much as WHAT you are eating. Processed foods basically make your liver work harder becaue of the added chemicals and eating "pure" foods and "good fats" such as coconut oil, peanuts and avacados (to name a few) will actually help you BURN fat since they are "simple foods" and the liver can then function as it should wtihout wasting time/engery filtering out all the chemicals from the procceed foods. Easy way to remember if foods have ingredientes you cant prnounce put it down walk away and go for the "purer" foods - IF you want to curb your appetite Coconut Oil REALLY helps do this recommended daily dose is 2 tbsp and you can put it in your coffee and being that its a good fat it will even help you burn more fat - pretty cool actually. I eat every 2hrs and sometimes have to FORCE myself to eat but keeps metabolism burning and working as it should so I had to actually lower my coconut oil intake to 1/2 tbsp because it really suppressed my appetite and I want to be eating every 2hrs. I also drink Zeal Protein Shakes once a day and Zeal Burn which are both all natural and both have natural Carb Blocker of White Kidney Bean Extract so that really helps too. .. . . But keep your head up dont give up you got a ton of us on here to support you ---- Good luck girl !
Thank you. I'm not sure how much of this I believe, though. I don't believe in demonising food groups. I've eaten a range of food throughout my weight loss.
However, bad foods make me feel bad, so that's motivation to stop eating them.
I have some coconut oil. Doesn't hurt to try!0 -
I do the Herbalife shakes too - that helps much. I agree with you.0
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I don't know how to up above 1300 calories per day! I try to eat healthily and there are loads of filling meals with low cals, like 250 cal massive pea, barely & ham salad for lunch. Find tasty alternatives that work for you that are generally healthy and you're good to go. I need to up my cal intake though as I'm a growing girl
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It is easier if you exercise and then gain a few hundred calories to eat. At the end of the day I like to hit the goal, but if I don't, and I am below 2000 calories, I'm happy as at least I'm not gaining weight. My meals are around 300 to 500. My snacks are around 150. Breakfast is usually 300cals with the following examples: (1) 1/2c plain yogurt, 1/4c granola, 1/2 c berries, and a drizzle of honey, (2) piece of toast with almond butter and jam with a piece of fruit, (2) fried egg, 2Tbsp of shredded cheddar, slice of tomato, 1/2 tsp becel margarine, on a slice of toast or english muffin. Lunch is usually 300 to 450 cals, usually leftover dinner, amy's frozen organic bean burrito, lean cuisine meal, a sandwich from the cafteria, salad from cafeteria. Dinner is usually 300 to 450 meat the size of the palm of your hand (4oz), 1/2 c rice or potato, etc, and steamed/bbqed/veggies. I found I had to be careful with the morning and afternoon snacks, which are important to have, in order not to get hungry and then overeat later or to cave into cravings for icecream. The 200 calorie nuts from Starbucks are okay, but a bit high. I am better at meeting my goal if my snacks are around 100 to 150cals, like 1/2 cup cottage cheese and berries, an individual yogurt, hummus and veggies, a hard boiled egg, 1/2 c edamamine, pear and 6 - 12 almonds, 1/2 of an elevate bar, etc. To be honest, I just started losing a bit of weight, and I did that by stopping the drinking of wine/alcohol in the evening, which made my hunger go up and my self control go down. This helped me stop overeating in the evening. The rest of the calories were good, as long as they were in reasonable portions and healthy choice. The plate rule works too: 1/4 plate for protein, 1/4 plate for a carb, 1/2 plate for a vegetable.0
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I did it for my first couple of months on mfp and it really taught me to use my calories wisely and that I don't always need the high calorie option (let's say a bagel) compared to a better option (sandwich thin) there are a lot of low calorie alternatives. For meats I only eat chicken, cut out all the others except for the occasional turkey sandwich; tofu is a reallllly good substitute. Now that I work two jobs and have started running more I've kind of been just eating what I want... Haha so I'll have to either get a better handle on my diet or start back on the 1200 again.0
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Zucchini is Aubergine!
The purple vegetable, right?
How does it taste?
And what a cool alternative name!
ETA: Doh, veggie, not fruit.
It's alright like...I wouldn't be mad on it. I find it in a lot of American recipes but we don't really use it much here!
it's courgette in the UK. You get a LOT of it for very few calories, and it's delicious stir fried in chunks or strips, julienned into salads, layered in vegetable bakes, cooked in pasta sauces, the list is endless!! Goes great with parmesan too
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I just took a peek at your food diary, and you should get cut back on the fruit and dairy at breakfast time. Stick to protein and veggies and low glycemic carbs. Also add in some fat like olive oil or butter at breakfast. Spread your fruit calories through the day and have your bananas with some protein as your evening snack when most people crave carbs anyway.
This shifts in your diet will help you with daytime hunger.0 -
Blue Diamond 100 calorie pack almonds, 1/4 of a medium sized bag of Wonderful pistachios for 160 cals, and 1 box of Sunmaid raisins for 90 cals. I make my own trail mix too! Fills me up no problem!I eat all day long on 1200-1400 a day. I just eat fruits, vegetables, salad with or without chicken, low fat/low cal dressings, I eat almonds, raisins, mixed nuts, fish, popcorn, just stuff that tastes good and is healthy. It also helps that I don't get bored with eating the same things daily lol. And I'll never deny myself a snack if I'm craving one, I'll just have a little snack, like low fat frozen yogurt.
How do you manage to eat nuts? I love nuts but just 30g of almonds is like 200 calories
^^ Yesssssss! Works for me too! :drinker:
There is a brand called Kors that sells serving sizes of trail mix for 170 calories. It's not a tiny amount either, they come in a big box and I just grab a bag almost every day on my way to work. I like to eat it towards the end of the day right before my workout. The best part is IT HAS M&MS IN IT!!!! Those five or six little M's make me so happy! And by the time I'm done with the bag I'm full so I don't need to go get a bag of more M's, I'm totally satisfied.0 -
Exercise is the key. I burn 750 calories per hour on a treadmill by brisk walking on a 10% incline. Also green vegetables add a lot of bulk e.g. two servings of Asda Bistro Salad for 44 calories.0
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Im on 1200 cpd... lost my first 40lbs with weight watchers and switched to this because i was stuck and bored with counting points. I have come to realize... about 90% of the time, when i think im hungry, im really either bored, or thirsty. For whatever reason, drinking water is such a challenge for me... SO, i have recently discovered the K2O protein water mix. Its only 30 cals, has 5g protein and 5g fiber which REALLY takes away any immediate desire for food. Thats my secret weapon these days...0
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Cut carbs and eat more a lot more fat and a little more protein. Check out http://eatingacademy.com/
I was doing 1200- a day just counting calories and I was hungry all the time, I constantly cheated. I was introduced to low carb, Peter Attia and Gary Taubes by a friend who lost all his weight on a ketogenic diet. I read 'Why We Get Fat' and it changed my whole view on food. Now I am never hungry, don't have cravings and I am FINALLY starting to lose weight.0 -
I am the exact opposite. I find myself struggling to eat healthy while trying to hit the 1200 calories goal. I just can't get hungry enough. So I stuff my face with extra cals to hit at least 900. What a dilemma
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What kind of foods are you choosing? When I was first starting out with my calorie count after my first child in 2008 I gave up a lot because of the type of foods I was choosing. I was easily eating 1200 calories with prepacked meals/snacks. Now that I am keeping to whole foods, my calories stretch a lot longer. Most days I stay in the 1300-1400 range, but I could easily be satisfied with 1000-1200 range because the foods I am choosing are filling.
make sure you measure your portions, as well. I used to think a cup of pasta was a portion. It's actually 1/4 cup with most pastas. Rice is abut a 1/2 a cup, 1/2 a potato ect. Those calories tend to add up quickly. So does dairy.
Also, when I first start limit my food when trying to lose weight it takes my body a good week or two to get used to smaller amounts of foods.
These are just my two cents. This is my third time losing weight. First two times I had to lose 50lbs each after my two children. Fortunately, this time it's only about 10lbs.0 -
I actually like it because it forces me to look at healthier alternatives to basically everything, which I really needed to do anyway, and now I have new favourite things. It does get a little harder when I've had a big workout I guess, but it suits me fine.
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What kind of foods are you choosing? When I was first starting out with my calorie count after my first child in 2008 I gave up a lot because of the type of foods I was choosing. I was easily eating 1200 calories with prepacked meals/snacks. Now that I am keeping to whole foods, my calories stretch a lot longer. Most days I stay in the 1300-1400 range, but I could easily be satisfied with 1000-1200 range because the foods I am choosing are filling.
make sure you measure your portions, as well. I used to think a cup of pasta was a portion. It's actually 1/4 cup with most pastas. Rice is abut a 1/2 a cup, 1/2 a potato ect. Those calories tend to add up quickly. So does dairy.
Also, when I first start limit my food when trying to lose weight it takes my body a good week or two to get used to smaller amounts of foods.
These are just my two cents. This is my third time losing weight. First two times I had to lose 50lbs each after my two children. Fortunately, this time it's only about 10lbs.
I should also add that adding more protein and fiber into your diet will help, as well.0 -
I stay around the 1200 calorie range. It's not hard, some days I accidentally don't eat enough because I'm full. It's about WHAT you're eating. I find alternatives like spaghetti squash in place of noodles or cauliflower alfredo sauce instead of regular. I end up saving calories in one area which allows me to have more food while getting what I need. Try adding more fiber. I didn't check your diary but that's what I do. 0
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Willpower and finding less calorie dense foods!0
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Hahaha I was actually thinking the opposite earlier - how do people eat more than 1200?! Unless I have a really bad binge day (which does happen occasionally), I find it hard to reach 1000, let alone 1200! I am incredibly jealous of OP and anyone else that can eat more! Gah!0
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A lot of WATER lol0
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I'm currently at 1000 calories to lose weight and get down to my goal. I manage to do so with protein/meal replacement shakes which are 210-240 calories per shake. In order to lower your calorie intake and stay full, you need to eat things with protein and fiber in them. They'll keep you full longer!0
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I know how you feel, 1200 calories doesnt seem like a lot, but its actually more about the food choices that you make. On an average day, I actually have trouble reaching 1200 calories because of the food choices I make, and I feel full, sometimes to the point where I dont want to eat more, which is why I have trouble reaching 1200 calories. Ill shoot you a friend request if you'd like, and you can take a look at my food journal to see what I eat to get an idea of how 1200 calories can keep you full.0
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