Tall, never been pregnant but look pregnant at 63!

SFOLCR

HELP! Just starting TODAY on this site and love it so far because I can track all my eating, activities...well, you know ; ) But I'm 63 and 5ft 10 1/2 inches tall and have weighed 212 for past eight years and I'm tired of being size 16 to 18. My husband and I have a huge wedding to attend beginning of August and I would love to drop down to at least 170 by then. I'm trying to start at 1200 calories per day and am riding a brand new Schwinn Bike at least six to eight miles a day and going to life weights every other day.
My issue is menu planning. For instance today instead of going thru McDonalds or Taco Bell I bought some tortillas and peanut butter and had two servings in my car with water. But I found that it totaled just over 400 calories!!! I should not have had "two"!!

My belly fat is embarrassing....does anybody know a menu plan of everyday meals at 1200 calories that has worked for them? I do NOT cook so I can't make a bunch of "stuff: in the kitchen. Thank you.

cwaters120

Hi and Welcome to MFP! If you don't cook, try wrapping thinly sliced veggies (I use cukes, tomatoes, spring onion, lettuce and shredded carrot) in those tortillas (use higher fiber ones) with some nice hummus. Some fruit on the side, a water or unsweetened iced tea and you're golden. You could also use pita pockets. Try a veggie burger or turkey burger, sans cheese, with lettuce and other veggies on a "light" bun. The main thing is using veggies to fill things out and make them more filling. Snacks for me usually go like this: baby carrots (3oz) w/ 1 T peanut butter, or an apple with the pb, plain air-popped popcorn and a fruit, any raw veggie and hummus - the options are all over.

you're doing great by not stopping at fast food joints! :drinker: Keep searching, keep trying things and you WILL find what you like and works for you. Feel free to add me as a friend - you can peek at my diary, I can offer other suggestions, and just plain support. Let me know if I can help in any way :bigsmile:

cktb4him

There are always easy options for 1200 cals it just takes some planning and usually sticking to that basic meal plan throughout the week. I usually stick with the same meal plans and only rotate out every couple months if I get bored.

Breakfast ideas: greek yogurt cups with some Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal, boiled egg with a banana, quick fruit smoothie with some protein powder added, peanut butter toast and a piece of fruit

Lunch make a big salad that you can eat all week with different pre-cooked proteins. You could get some Tyson grilled chicken that's pre-made but it's cheaper and you can control salt and flavor by just making it on a Sunday afternoon. You could also make a bunch of chicken and make your own tacos or sandwiches by making your meals ahead and putting a salad on the side. I do this for my husband and I it takes me 20 minutes to cook the chicken and make the salad on Sunday afternoon. Then we have lunch all week without any thought involved besides assembling and putting them in our lunch bag.

Dinner: Baked potato, quinoa, or brown rice with baked fish, chicken and some steamed veggies. Just rotate your grains, veggies, and carbs. If you like tacos try making your own with lean ground turkey and add lots of pre-cut lettuce and a can of fat free refried beans to fill you up instead of having too many tortillas.

Snacks: low fat cheese sticks, almonds, popcorn, boiled eggs, hummus and baby carrots, apples, berries, pre-cut veggies

You can type in any meal idea in here to plan ahead and get an idea of calories for your daily menu and that will help you in staying on track with calories before you eat them and then think-shoot! I shouldn't have eaten that!

Hope that helps! Remember anything is possible if you can take a small amount of time to plan ahead! Good luck!

SFOLCR

You guys are fantastic here , so glad I found this site! I have written down all the suggestions all of you have posted and I'm going to "do it" this time!! Thank you again

GoNicoleee

Welcome!
I'm young so I don't "cook" either (heheheh).

Some of my staples are:
Egg whites (require some cooking but are very low-cal and useful)
Kashi Go Lean cereal (very high protein for 1 cup)
Chex cereal
Oatmeal (instant plain flavor is very quick and vesatile too)
Green Tea
Wasa Crackers (I make mini sandwiches on them!)
Morningstar Veggie Burgers (very versatile)
Hummus
Greek yogurt (sweeten it with fruit or Splenda if you like using that stuff)
Any fruits and veggies

I'm on an 1800 calorie plan (per an endocrinologist as I'm a prediabetic). I frontload carbs in the morning/lunch, and no carbs (or very little) after lunch... which means limited fruit, pasta, potatoes, etc. Essentially, eat what works for you. But eat bigger in the morning and get smaller through out the day. It gives you time to burn it off while you don't burn as much towards the end of your day (at least I don't.)

Good luck!

nczuczu

If you are only set to eat 1200 calories, then you should most definitely eat back the calories you have burned from your exercise. You should never go below that amount. I had been at just over 1200 calories when I first started MFP on 1/3, and was always so hungry. I upped my calories to 1560 and am so much happier - and not always hungry!!!

Make sure you are eating plenty of protein. This will fill you up. You get protein from eggs and greek yogurt. You may want to consider taking a cooking class and learn the basics, that way you can start making some meals that would be easy. You can then control what you put in them and the amount of sodium.

I am a type 2 diabetic and look like I am about 7 months pregnant. My baby is 16 years old, so I can't use him as an excuse any more. It is slowly shrinking, but it will take some time.