1200 Calories

dzdame
dzdame Posts: 89
edited September 20 in Food and Nutrition
On the day/days I can't workout, I need to stay at 1200 calories, but I am having a very tough time doing that. I seem to be more hungry on those days, if I try not to snack between meals. If I snack, I go over, as it is hard to keep each meal at 300 cals. (eg. my oatmeal-1/2 cup oats, T honey, T almonds, 1 c skim milk and 1/4-1/2 some kind of fruit-is over 400 cals). I am the type of person who does better eating small meals more frequently. I do much better on the days I exercise and can add in more cals..Any suggestions from others on how they eat on 1200 cals/day would be appreciated!

Replies

  • SimonLondon
    SimonLondon Posts: 350
    I also eat little and often (6 or 7 times a day) on those days and try to drink plenty of water. The combination of the two keeps me full for the most part.

    This is only my personal opinion but my body seems to get accustomed to a set calorie intake and the weight loss stops so I also mix up my calorie intake so my body can't get used to a fixed amount. I may go 300 over one day, 100 less the next and so on. It certainly keeps my body guessing and the weight loss moving.
  • kwardklinck
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
    Add protein. An egg is 70 calories. A chicken breast is something like 150. If I eat more protein, I'm not as hungry.
  • OpalFruitJam
    OpalFruitJam Posts: 114 Member
    I am not a vegetarian but I have found Quorn is a life saver in terms of diet. One regular sized chicken burger is around 119 calories, it has little fat, carbs and salt content. Today I am having three sourthern style Quorn chicken burgers for dinner with a huge salad. The salad basically has no calories, so my entire dinner (which is huge) totals about 390? And it is extremely filling.

    Personally I just like the substitue Quorn chicken, I tried a few beef style things and didn't enjoy them- but each to thier own.
    I hope this helps- it has really helped me!
    Feel free to look through my diary also, in case there is anything in there you mind tempting.
    Happy weight loss!
  • snorker88
    snorker88 Posts: 179 Member
    I'm the same. They days I don't exercise, I'm always really hungry. The days I do, I struggle to eat my 1200 plus extra exercise calories.

    I try to look at the week as a whole, some days I go over, some days I go under, but over the course of a week it (hopefully!) evens out somewhat. I have had a general downward trend in terms of weightloss too, with a plateau for a few weeks that I am thankfully past now (I hope!).

    I don't know if this approach is good/bad/will work for everyone, but it seems to be working ok for me at the moment...

    Good luck to you :flowerforyou:
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    You can change your goals to loose 1.5 or 1 pound per week instead or 2 and you will be given more calories to eat while still being able to loose weight, albeit a bit slower.
  • 3309
    3309 Posts: 2
    I think you should try to cut your calories in the morning in half! Instead of oatmeal on the days you arnt working out eat an egg white omelet. 60 caloires for two servings of egg whites, veggies and fat free shredded cheese(45 calories). the protein will keep you fuller! You still have more calories for some fruit or a half a glass of milk!
  • MFP set my calorie intake at 1200 and the fat grams really high. I lowered my fat gram intake to no more than 20 grams of fat per day along with the 1200 calories. I weigh once a week and this week I've lost 3 pounds. I hurt my back (pain is almost unbearable at times) and I cannot workout at all right now and still lost 3 pounds. I contribute that to keeping the fat grams below 20 grams. I don't count saturated, unsaturated, polyunsaturated, I've always just looked at the fat grams on the label. I have 20 and set my husbands at 37 and he is a huge eater because he lifts very heavy weights, and he lost 4 pounds this week.
    This is just what works for me.
    Good luck:wink:
  • dzdame
    dzdame Posts: 89
    My weight loss goal is already at only 1 lb/week, so I can't really lower that. I think the suggestion that I skip the oatmeal on my non-workout day is a good one. I could have an eggwhite on flatbread sandwich with a bit of cheese and maybe some spinach, which is lower cals. Also, I think I think looking at the whole week and making sure that on my workout days I don't always eat back all my workout cals will help, too. I really appreciate all the suggestions!
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