1200 Calories... What are you eating?

I eat lots and lots of food in quantity as well as variety. I am not going to list them, since my food diary is open. My diet is based on whole foods. Yesterday and on Sunday I did quick calories, because I had a very nasty cold, but apart from that everything is logged for the last year minus three weeks.

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 have wondered the same thing. I don't try to get 1 gram of protein per pound of my current bodyweight though, I aim for 0.8-1 gram per pound of LBM... so around 100-124 grams per day, and I find it hard to do eating much more than 1200!

Of course, it might be different if you are netting 1200, you could feasibly burn 500 cal in exercise, which would let you eat 1700 and still net 1200, and that would be a little more feasible to get the protein.

I've checked out a few diaries though, and most of the people who actually EAT 1200-1400 only get around 60 grams of protein on a good day, as low as 20 on a bad day. Maybe its enough for them, but not for me!

The problem is that many people count one gram of protein for one pound of weight. This is wrong. The rule is .5gr to 1.0 per pound of LBM ( Lean Body Mass, which is not the same as pound-of-weight ) for women from 19-70 years. Only people who are really heavily into exercise benefit from one gram of protein per pound LBM,. Even during the eleven years I was a very committed weight lifter, I only ingested .75 grams per LBM and did perfectly fine.
I eat 1200 calories because I am over 65 and 4'11.5" tall- I admit, there is not much space for food that has little nutritional value like many processed foods, but once I figured it out it was not difficult. I eat meat, fish or fowl about 2-3 times a week( I was a vegetarian for 18 years) and get a lot of my protein from legumes, pulses ( basically beans and similar foods ). I eat a lot of eggs, lots of salad ( I use apple vinegar which has astonishingly a lot of protein, maybe from the yeast....I don't know ) with protein like eggs, tuna, sardines, surimi etc. There are many days when I am over on protein ( even on days when I don't eat fish, fowl or meat ) and there are days when I am close, but under. It evens out over a month and that is all I care about.

Morning: 2 Pieces of Raisin bread 1 piece of turkey bacon. HUGE glass of water
Lunch: One pocket thin with 3 slices of roasted turkey and 1/4 cup of cheese 6 medium strawberries
Dinner: One 8oz piece of chicken with steamed veggies.
This is a day if I didn't work out. Usually I work out so I can eat more and I have more options. The more you burn the more you can eat:)

My diary is open. Try to be as 'clean' as I can and to get my protein in, hard with being a veggie sometimes.

This was not one of my better days for getting in the amount of protein that I should, but it was the first one that I found that I knew was accurate ( traveling on business for the last month, so alot of foods this month have had to be added with a best guess approach) Anyway:

Breakfast - 260 calories
1 packet of Quaker High Fiber Cinnamon swirl oatmeal
1 Motts cinnamon applesauce

Lunch - 399 calories
1 cup buffalo chicken soup with 7 tostitos white corn chips crushed on top

Snack - 155 Calories
1 fiber one lemon bar
1 /2 cup 2% milk

Dinner ( with dessert) - 364 calories
1/2 cup broccoli
3 oz parmesan chicken nuggets
1 laughing cow cinnamon cream cheese wedge
1 thomas bagel thins whole wheat bagle

Total 1,178 Calories

As you can see I skipped some of my afternoon snacks that day, there would normally be at least one Special K Protein bar in there too, that would have bumped it up by another 170 calories. but I got busy and forgot to eat it...

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 have wondered the same thing. I don't try to get 1 gram of protein per pound of my current bodyweight though, I aim for 0.8-1 gram per pound of LBM... so around 100-124 grams per day, and I find it hard to do eating much more than 1200!

Of course, it might be different if you are netting 1200, you could feasibly burn 500 cal in exercise, which would let you eat 1700 and still net 1200, and that would be a little more feasible to get the protein.

I've checked out a few diaries though, and most of the people who actually EAT 1200-1400 only get around 60 grams of protein on a good day, as low as 20 on a bad day. Maybe its enough for them, but not for me!

The problem is that many people count one gram of protein for one pound of weight. This is wrong. The rule is .5gr to 1.0 per pound of LBM ( Lean Body Mass, which is not the same as pound-of-weight ) for women from 19-70 years. Only people who are really heavily into exercise benefit from one gram of protein per pound LBM,. Even during the eleven years I was a very committed weight lifter, I only ingested .75 grams per LBM and did perfectly fine.
I eat 1200 calories because I am over 65 and 4'11.5" tall- I admit, there is not much space for food that has little nutritional value like many processed foods, but once I figured it out it was not difficult. I eat meat, fish or fowl about 2-3 times a week( I was a vegetarian for 18 years) and get a lot of my protein from legumes, pulses ( basically beans and similar foods ). I eat a lot of eggs, lots of salad ( I use apple vinegar which has astonishingly a lot of protein, maybe from the yeast....I don't know ) with protein like eggs, tuna, sardines, surimi etc. There are many days when I am over on protein ( even on days when I don't eat fish, fowl or meat ) and there are days when I am close, but under. It evens out over a month and that is all I care about.

As I said above, I aim for 0.8-1 per pound of Lean Body Mass, NOT my current bodyweight, and I lift weights. I am also 5 feet 7 inches, with quite a bit of muscle mass (albeit, still covered by bodyfat in many places). I was just pointing out to him, that most people don't get as much as he's suggesting, especially not at 1200 cals a day.

I couldn't do 1200 cals a day, that is below what my BMR would be if I wasn't overweight at all. (AT my ideal bodyweight, my BMR is 1390. Currently it is over 1700), my TDEE averages out around 3000 calories a day, so even if I eat 2000 I still have a deficit large enough to result in a 2 pound per week loss.

My dairy is open . Check it out.

The best ive done is 1235 cals.
I guess just very lean protein, corn, oats, that stuff seems to fill me up

Well, for a good amount of time I only had about 1200 calories, and my day looked something like this:
Breakfast:
1/2 cup oatmeal or hot rice cereal (each expand to about a cup cooked)-150cals
1/2 cup skim milk for above-50cals
Nonfat Chobani/Yoplait Greek 100 Yogurt-100cals
Snack:
One moderate side piece of fresh fruit-100cals
Lunch:
Either one can of Progresso Light Soup-140-200cals OR
One quesadilla used with 90cal low sodium diet flatbread, two slices of 40cal ultra thin provolone and a serving size of 50cal lunch meat-220cal
Afternoon Snack-
If I had the soup. I would have a non far YoCrunch with toppings, or if I had the quesadilla I would have the YoCrunch without toppings- 80-120 cals
Dinner:
Dinners were pretty big for me as I ate with the family, and always varied. But basically I would have a nice sized plain piece of protein on top of about 1/2 a cup of pasta or a baked potato and with a cup of cooked veg like kale on the side. I refrained from using any kind of oil/seasonings except for a moderate amount of salt. I always logged these dinners at 400-500 just to be on the safe side.
Aaand because I have a sweet tooth I'd have a nice dessert once a week
However. I will say that the best thing for my weight loss was exercise, and I soon found that I could eat way more with being active.
Good luck!

Breakfast (250-300 calories)
Smoothie with banana, spinach, PB2 or other frozen fruit, chia seeds and skim or almond milk (playing with this...cows milk has protein, which I like)

Lunch (300-400 calories)
I make soup once a week and take it into work. Taco soup, potato soup, broccoli soup, minestrone, lentil soup, black bean soup, etc. Great way to get vegs in! Then an apple for my sweet tooth. Used to do greek yogurt but I'm trying to get away from all the added sugar in the fruit ones.

Snacks (~150 calories)
Almonds
Greek yogurt with chocolate chips
Dark chocolate

Dinner (300-400 calories)
So much mexican (and boring chicken).
Enchiladas, tacos, fajitas.
Green salads with hard boiled eggs and bacon
Pasta with leafy greens and chicken sausage
Slow cooked pork shoulder

Not enough is the only correct answer. Why oh why is your goal 1200 calories? It's not enough!

Eggs and fruit are my main items. i do chicken and some rice for dinner and veggies for lunch. Lost of water!!!!

My 1200 diary is open. Its normally fairly balanced. Take a peek if you like.
I certainly do not go hungry.

I don't eat 1200 anymore, but when I did for weight loss, my diet was something along the lines of:

Breakfast:
-5TBSP Eggwhites
-1 slice of Whole grain toast
-12 Oz. Smoothie (usually water, blueberries, strawberries, and some light yoplait yogurt)

Snack
-Banana

Lunch:
I worked at a grocery store, so I usually ate a tv dinner like a lean cuisine or custom sandwich from the deli because it was just easy.
If I brought something from home, it was dinner the night before.
-Chicken breast with sauteed veggies, brown rice, and ketchup
-A piece of fruit
-No sugar snack pack or Something sweet like a skinny cow candy (i have to have something sweet after protein, not sure why)
-I basically only drank water or zero calorie enhancers like Mio

Dinner:
Something like above or....
-Eggplant parmesan
-Stuffed Peppers was always my favorite with ground turkey, brown rice, and peppers.
-lettuce wraps with turkey


etc. it was all about portion control. Before I started the 1200 calorie diet, I never ate breakfast and just stuffed my face before bed. When I started the 1200 calorie diet, I planned out my meals and ate 3 meals a day with two snacks. I ended up not eating before bed, usually hit my 1200 calorie mark, and it worked for me on losing weight.

The 1200 calorie diet isn't for everyone, but it was my best friend. I quit it in September last year and didn't gain the weight back when I raised it to 1500. However, I switched BC pills in February, gained 8 pounds in two weeks, went back on the old pill I was on, and stopped gaining, but I also didn't lose it back either. I wasn't able to work out because I was in a bad accident in January, so now I've been eating whatever I want, and fluctuating, but not gaining. I plan on going back on the 1200 calorie this week to lose the weight again as I worked hard to lose the 13 pounds I had, so if you want to follow me and see my diary you can.

I haven't done diary entries in a while because like I said I've been eating what I want, but I will start it back up in a couple of days.

Breakfast :
Egg + cucumber salad + tomatoes

--
300 calories

Lunch :
Chicken breast (8 oz)
Stir fry vegetables ( beans, mushroom, bean sprout,etc)
(just use very little oil or none, it taste way better than steam or raw to me )

Snack
Apple / grapes

---
400 ish


Dinner :
Salmon
Stir fry vegetables or fresh cucumber or tomatoes

Or stir fry shrimp with vegetables
or stir fry squid with pineapple
and vegetables soup

--
400

---

It's quite easy to be at 1200 calories and be full if I don't eat junk foods or high calories but empty (nutrition) foods.