1200 Calories... What are you eating?

What am I eating when I eat 1200 calories?


Lunch.



(I keed! I keed!...


...but seriously.)


ETA: Most people don't need to eat 1200 calories to see results. Most people will likely fare much better long-term by not trying to restrict themselves to such a deficit. (Inb4: 4'9" or shorter is not "most people".)


ETAM: And if you're doing any kind of load-bearing exercise 24/7, you'll definitely need more than 1200 calories to fuel your efforts.

Hey, I'm 4'8 and eat 1400 calories while working out 3 times a week. MUCH MUCH HAPPIER than when I ate 1200. So even for us shorties, more than 1200 does work.

I set my goal to 1200, but I'm good as long as I'm under 1300 most days. My diary is wide open, so take a gander. 1200 - 1300 may not seem like a lot of calories to most people, but I choose lots of little protein-rich stuff that fills me up. And best of all, most weeks I lose 2+ pounds without feeling like I'm "dieting" or living in the gym- just eating right and reaping the rewards!

If I have a leisurely morning (weekends), I'll make an egg white omlette with onions, garlic, tomatoes and melt in a babybel and wrap it all in a low carb wheat tortilla. Most mornings, however, I grab a freezer lunch bag and hurriedly stuff it with: a hard boiled egg, 2 cans of Pure Protein, string cheese, a tub of Dannon 80 calorie Greek yogurt, a ziplock bag with a handful of almonds, and a banana. That all adds up to about 600 calories and I'll eat random items from the freezer lunch bag from 6:30am - 12:30pm. That leaves me with 600ish calories for dinner and dessert, which is usually Costco marinated salmon or rottiserie chicken or baked marinated chicken or tuna salad stuffed lettuce wraps, and 1/2 a store-bought microwaveable steamed veggie bag. For dessert, I like the 100 - 150 calorie Skinny Cow ice cream bars and sandwhiches.

Breakfast is usually: cereal, oatmeal, or eggs. Lunch: TV dinner, soup. Dinner: whatever I make for my family but watch portion and I usually have light ice cream at night with a few pretzels

Similar to whatever everyone else is eating. I load up on veggies because, volume wise, it is a lot!

My favourite for breakfast is a broccoli and egg bake.

1 medium head of broccoli cut into florets, 4 eggs, 8 egg whites. Mix everything up and season to your liking (you can even add in ham or red peppers or something). Pour into a 9x9 dish and pop in the oven. Makes 4 servings around 150calories.

I eat a ton of tilapia and cod, I use ground extra lean turkey breast in salads for lunch, roasted seaweed, applesauce, Kaizen whey (after workouts), homemade butternut squash soup, carrot and tomato soup, and almonds. I'll have a small banana or apple once a day.

I opened my diary
58 day streak, I've been logging everything since I started

Breakfast: oats with milk and fruit
Lunch: tuna/cottage cheese/eggs
Dinner: anything really with portion control
Snack: anything I feel like as long as it fits my calories

Feel free yo look at my diary.....

I've never low as 1200 before, when I am in the lower caloric intake I have tons of veggies: (spinach, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli) basically green vegetables help provide more volume to my meals and help in satiating me

Secondly, protein sources are pretty lean as fat macros can add quickly: egg whites (I suggest buying the egg white or egg beater bottle - they sell these at Walmart) lean chicken, lean ground beef 96%, etc.

Then fill in the gaps with maybe 100 calorie snack packs, fruits, and drink LOTS OF WATER!!!!

(Last suggestion, I also tried Intermittent Fasting when on lower calories, and it allows u to have "bigger" meals, just have them within a certain time period if your schedule allows for it)
Good Luck!

Greek yogurt and eggs are my best friend! They are low cal and super filling.

Also, a lot of veggies, either steamed or roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper. For protein, I eat a lot of eggs (did I mention that already) and roast chicken, pork chops, and broiled steaks.

Rice cakes fulfill that need to crunch on something for me and when I want something sweet, I'll have an apple or banana with all-natural peanut butter (Trader Joe's is my fav!). Hope this helps!

Breakfast

2 cups coffee with 2T sugar free creamer 30 cals. Plus one of these:

Whole grain oats, either old fashioned or steel cut. 1/2 cup uncooked, plus 1/2 cup frozen berries that I thaw and mash, then add the cooked oatmeal to
2 whole egg, 1 white egg omelet, sometimes with bacon, always with tons of peppers, onions, mushrooms.
A container of low fat Greek yogurt with nuts and/or fruit.
Scrambled eggs and toast made with 35 calorie Healthy Life brand bread.
A sandwich made from low cal English muffins, turkey sausage, egg.

Lunch

Sandwich made with 2 slices of Healthy Life bread, turkey, lots of lettuce, tomatoes and spicy, salt free mustard. 1 cup or more of raw veggies with low cal ranch dressing.
For convenience, since I don't like the sodium, I sometimes have Lean Cuisine lunch meals.
Homemade soups.
Grilled chicken and salad.
Grilled chicken with grilled veggies, brown rice.

Dinner

Any lean meat (we use fish, chicken, top sirloin) grilled, 4 oz. More if I had a heavy cardio workout. Tons of veggies, raw or grilled/sautéed.
Whole grain pasta.
Margherita pizza
Kabobs
Brown and wild rice

Snacks

Yogurt, nuts, fruits, raw veggies,cottage cheese, boiled eggs, sugar free jello with 2T whipped cream, hummus, guacamole.

When I first started this, I ate a lot of boiled egg whites. One large has only 17 calories vs 70 for a whole egg, and its very filling.

If I exercise a lot, I pretty much eat what I want but try to keep the portions under control. I always give myself a 'treat' on the weekend. That way I don't feel deprived.

I also look at this as a lifestyle, not a diet or anything restrictive. Otherwise, Id crave stuff 24/7.

I eat pretty low carb 5 days/week, and that helps keep under 1200 (sometimes I do go over, usually no higher than 1500). I eat A LOT of salmon, eggs, veggies, and this week I started having a protein shake in the morning (I got the recipe base from a website dashing dish I think? It has Designer Whey, cottage cheese, ice, water, and then flavorings - it's satisfying and DELISH). 1200 seemed REALLY limiting at first, since I was probably at around 2000 DAILY before I tightened to 1200 several months ago, but what I realized is that, if I were to eat a pasta dish each day or something with a lot of bread, those calories I could consume fast - veggies, seafood, chicken, etc. still leave me with the occasional leeway for a margarita or two

This is what I ate yesterday

Breakfast - small bowl of dried fruit compote, wholewheat bread, bit of butter and marmalade
Lunch - Salad I made with farro, preserved lemons, celery, parsley, olive oil, cannellini beans and a bit of cheese (it was lurking in the back of the fridge.. gross, I know)
Dinner - egg fried rice (cooked rice with a tsp olive oil, 1/3 egg), with steamed pak choi, bell peppers, capers, a couple of anchovies and toasted pine nuts, 1/2 an apple

Snacks - 1/2 cup of skim milk (usually in tea and coffee) and a small glass of fizz in the evening

This probably isn't exactly 1200 calories, but I think I'm usually reasonable at guessing. The calories are usually evenly spaced throughout the day, I usually cook pretty much everything (I work from home so I can) and I don't usually feel hungry.

bump for ideas

How do people eating 1200 calories reach an optimal protein and fat minimum? (I struggle sometimes and I have 900 more calories to work with.)

ETA: Where optimal is .8-1g/#BW for protein and .35g/#LBM for fat.

How do people eating 1200 calories reach an optimal protein and fat minimum? (I struggle sometimes and I have 900 more calories to work with.)

ETA: Where optimal is .8-1g/#BW for protein and .35g/#LBM for fat.

I get plenty of protein with fish and seafood. I'm usually well under my fat minimum unless I cook with olive oil, in which case I don't worry about it.

Being "well under [your] fat minimum" is not a good thing though.