Food tips

For one low calorie snack that helped me was hummus. Check out he calories there's a wide variety and some are really low. I eat it with cuke slices, green pepper, or celery sticks.

Also Sandwich thins are good instead of a bun. Only 100 calories for the two slices

I would appreciate some other cues from folks also.

I was just going to say that.... You need to increase calorie intake and lose slower.

Oatmeal, cereal with skim milk, progreso light soups, egg beaters or egg whites, Sara Lee light whole wheat bread (45 calories per slice,) low fat cottage cheese, non fat Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries, rice and beans, skinless chicken or turkey, fish, all the veggies you can eat, tuna noodle casserole, vegetable soup, pasta in marinara sauce. Morningstar veggie chicken patties or hot dogs or veggie burgers.

You could eat about 12 cans of progreso light soup or 6 bowls of cereal with skim milk a day just to put in perspective how much nutritious food you can eat without going over 1200 calories.

Here's a sample meal plan

Breakfast - egg whites and oatmeal or cereal - or an egg beater omelette with veggies and a slice of toast.

Lunch chicken noodle soup with a piece of bread

Snack Greek non fat yogurt with fruit

Dinner chicken breast, veggies or salad and potato or rice

Snack fat free popcorn or nuts and fruit or cottage cheese and fruit

A good rule of thumb for portion size is to eat a palm full of carbs, a palm full of protein and a fist full of veggies as your main meals.

And don't listen to all the people who will tell you you need to eat a whole bunch of calories or you'll gain weight. Ever see a fat anorexic? Or ever see starving people in Africa on TV who are fat? lol. Eating more to lose weight is the most ridiculous advice many people will give you. There isn't a single fitness professional who eats "more" before a competition I assure you. Everyone is different. I personally need to eat under 1500 calories to lose weight. You need to find your range. Remember it is a lot more difficult to lose weight than it is to maintain it. To lose weight you MUST cut calories. I"d start with cutting 500 calories from your norm and adjust from there. You should shoot for 1 to 2 pounds of loss per week. Anything more drastic will probably end with you binge eating and gaining all the weight back.

Good luck!

1200 calories sounds very low to me, also. In 2007, I lost 101 pounds in 7 months and then had an accident that put me in a wheelchair for 3 and a half years. Here came the weight again. I was hemiplegic, so I could not move much. Got better and took 70 of the pounds off in just 5 months. Then, another mishap. I could not work out and the weight came back again. So, if I don't have any more major mishaps that keep me from moving again, I should be able to get this weight right back off and keep it off. I worry that you are seeing a "doctor from a bariatric clinic" for your weight loss. Most doctors today are fessing up to the fact that they got it all wrong, Thus, the Ketogenic diet, the Paleo diet, and reformed Atkins (reformed, based on the new research into metabolic function). I follow the Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) diet. I realize that some people are simply shocked by the concept. But, it works every time I go on it. You have to understand that during my medical down times, I had swallowing issues, so my food choices were extremely limited and not on the LCHF menu. I eat things like eggs and bacon cooked in butter. I put heavy cream in my coffee. I eat steak, chicken (with the skin), and shrimp floating in butter. I eat full fat cheese and full fat salad dressing. I started back on the LCHF diet on May 1, 2014 and have gone from 278.6 to 261.4 (this mornings weight). That is 17 pounds in 17 days. I eat between 1400 to 2100 calories per day, depending on my hunger and work outs. Today, I rode nearly 20 miles on my bike and burned over 1500 calories in exercise. The point I am trying to make, is that if you restrict your hungry body to just 1200 calories a day, you are more likely to cheat, you are more likely not to feel satiated, you are more likely to fail at the plan, and if you throw yourself into starvation mode, you won't lose weight but will gain it. Please do your research before you make any diet choices and chose a diet that you can eat and feel satisfied with. THAT is the diet you will be able to make a lifestyle change to....and not just a diet.

I agree with the last post. Another tip is to view your calories on a weekly basis and don't get so stressed out day to day. some days you'll be under and some days you'll be over. It's the cumulative effect of shaving a few hundred calories each week that will get the weight off safely and without super cravings and giving up.

I think what people are saying by eating more is that you don't have to stick to 1200. You'll still lose weight even if you go over by a few hundred calories, so don't beat yourself up over that! As long as you don't eat above your maintenance you'll be fine

Agree

I really think you need to increase your calories. 1200 seems too little for you.

Without getting into 1200 calories argument, here's some snack ideas that I like

Greek yogurt!! Love it!!!!(my favorite)

Avocado

Carrot and celery sticks with peanut butter

Protein bars


These are what help me make it threw my day without going way overboard.

Good luck!!! :-)