1300 calorie meal plan?!

Too funny... I just started a thread asking for help in meeting my 1220 daily goal!

I eat a lot of vegetables and fruit. Protein shakes fill me up pretty well, too. One favorite is a salad of cucumber and tomato - toss in a tiny bit of garlic salt, and it is divine. Hardly anything in the calorie metric, but is very filling.

Squash & zucchini are your best friends. I have also come to adore rice cakes, they make great snacks, as well as a good low calorie replacement for bread.Overall, lots of fruits and veggies.

What I eat ...

Breakfast:

1) 225g (1 cup) of Dannon plain non fat yogurt with 32g (2 T) of milled flax seed is 160 calories; I usually add in some sort of frozen fruit (blueberries are the best) for another 30+ calories.
2) Two slices of Sara Lee's 45 calorie/slice wheat bread (90 cals total) and two fried eggs (185~ cal total) for 275 calories

Lunch:

1) A HUGE salad, usually with romaine lettuce, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, and olives. I add a low calorie dressing (raspberry vinaigrette with poppyseeds or fat free caesar italian are my favorites, both by Kraft; 60 and 20 calories for 32g which is more than enough for me). You could eat a massive salad for well under 150 calories I'd think.
2) Medium side salad of whatever; grilled cheese (2 slices sara lee = 90 calories and 1 oz of silver goat chevre = 70 calories; lightly toast with a bit of Pam / spray of choice); total here should top out at 300 depending on your salad.
3) Rice and beans; 1 cup of brown rice (=220~ cals) and a half cup of chili beans with sauce (=110 calores) makes a filling 330 calorie and very fast meal.

Dinner:

Pretty much whatever I want within reason. At 1300 cals total you will probably have at least 500 calories left at this point, and maybe closer to 6-700. I eat lots of vegetables and fish. A single serving of pasta makes a decent side dish, just control your portions. Add a big salad to make it seem like you're eating more. Make your dinner a social occasion (if possible) ... which means eating slow. Bring out courses one at a time. Stretching your meal out will fill you up, in my experience.

I've found that the thing that helps the most is to eat breakfast and then have a controlled lunch. I like to eat a big dinner - sometimes even with some not so healthy things (homemade pizza, pasta, CHEESE!). I find that skipping lunch results in bad eating habits, but a smaller (calorie-wise) lunch gives me enough energy to make it to dinner. The calories I save on a small lunch allow me to eat a big dinner that I truly enjoy. Unlike many others on this forum I don't do much snacking; if you need to snack obviously just make it healthy (carrots, nuts, etc. I really like olives...).

I am also on about 1,300 calories. I try to eat Lots of salad and low cal dressings. Sonoma/La Tortilla low carb tortillas (50 calories!). EGG WHITES. A tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese goes a long way. Zucchini, summer squash, spaghetti squash. Trader Joe's chicken hot dogs (60 calories). apples. Any and all vegetables. Almond milk unsweetened has about 40 calories for a full cup. I add a little vanilla and sweetener and warm it up. Trader Joe's spicy spinach pizzas 140 calories- no cheese on them. I like to top them with a pile of arugula and scrambled egg whites, a T of parmesan.

Exercise and eat more.

to be honest i think its all about filling up on salad, fruits and veg and keep the high carb products to a minimum......it seems to be the only way i can keep the cals down and im on 1200 a day......hope that helps

Fill up on salads and proteins, which are filling and low in calories. My breakfast is usually eggs - hard boiled, scrambled, or in a quiche. For lunch almost every day I have a big salad (spinach, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper - whatever!) topped with some grilled chicken or steak. Toss it in a little bit Italian dressing (I like the full fat kind because it keeps me full longer) and the whole meal is only about 300 calories. I usually have a Greek yogurt (FAGE) in the late afternoon as a snack before I exercise. For dinner it's lots of veggies (either cooked or in a salad) and a protein - again, a filling meal for 300 or so calories.

I'm not strictly low-carb (I eat a ton of veggies and some fruit, plus the yogurt), but I do find that I eat a lot less and don't get as hungry when I limit sugars and breads. Those tend to be high in calories and seem to make me hungrier.

Honestly, I have a hard time meeting my calories even when I don't "eat back" my exercise calories. These types of foods keep me full for a long time!

bumping

Check out my Diary. I'm usually at around 1300-1400 calories total per day recently.

However, make sure you are eating enough calories. If you're not getting enough, the body will actually start slowing down metabolism to store fat, because it thinks it's starving..

If you continue with your low calorie diet and find that you're constantly hungry and not losing as much as you feel you should be, try increasing your caloric in-take by a hundred or two.

Exercise and eat more.

Yes... spend 30 mins walking on a treadmill burning 400 calories and you don't JUST get the exercise... you get to eat those calories back.

It's a win / win situation. :drinker:

Exactly why I workout everyday!

Bump

I just started tracking my calories and all those other wonderful nutritional levels. I was building a lot of fruits and veggies into my meals, but I was amazed at how much sugar is in a banana!! I thought those things were good for you!

sugar isnt bad for you....

but yeah
eat lots of veggies, add grapes and figs to your salad for a different texture and make your own salad dressing!
Same goes for sauces, always make your own and you can control what goes in it
lower you carb portions.
i.e. a serving of rice or pasta is 75g (dry) having 50g will fill you up exactly the same and save you like 120 calories!
if youre craving icecream make banana and berry icecream!
theres loads of dessert recipes that can be made low calorie.
have you tried stevia meringues? theres like 20 calories in a huge one!

but yeah also exercise so you can eat more

1 example: 4-5 oz chicken breast for dinner with whatever veggies you like.

my goal is 1400. and i eat good. feel free to look at my diary as it is open and completely filled out for the 82 days Ive been on here.

I would say veggies are your best friends, as a lot of others have said. Fruit, while good for you, is much higher in calories due to the natural sugar content. I like spaghetti squash because it's only (i think) 42 calories per cup. If i'm wrong someone correct me. But i love mixing that, light pasta sauce and turkey meatballs for a satisfying, delicious dinner!