Anyone on 1200 - 1300 calories / day?

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Replies

  • maizerage66
    maizerage66 Posts: 367 Member
    Well I don't count my calories on MFP, I prefer the old fashioned pen and paper method, but I'll write out my average day. I've been doing 1,200 to 1,300 calories for a few months now with great results.

    8 AM: bagel thin with an egg white on it- 140 calories
    11 AM: mini bag of doritos- 150 calories
    1 PM: 30 special K cracker chips- 120 calories
    2 PM: 6 oz. baby carrots with 1 Tablespoon light ranch- 105 calories
    4 PM: 3 fun sized snickers bars- 240 calories
    6 PM: 2 oz. pasta with 4 Tablespoons italian dressing- 270 calories
    6 PM: 1 cup fresh green beans- 70 calories
    7 PM: 72 grams Sugar free ice cream with 5 Tablespoons light whipped cream and 2 tablespoons sprinkles- 150 calories

    To a grand total of 1,245 calories today.

    Hope this helps.If you need any hints or tips you can message me :)

    Doritos, crackers, Snickers and ice cream? Where's the nutrition?

    I never claimed to be a clean eater. :P

    Hahaha! I love your response! Some people can be so judgmental!!! It's all about making this work for you, as an individual, so you can stick to a lifestyle! If you are happy, keep doing what you be doing!

    While it's true that you can lose weight eating "dirty" foods but you still need micros. And where's the protein?
  • lalawaterlala
    lalawaterlala Posts: 56 Member
    Thank you everyone for the replies! - I am 5 feet and so far I have been struggling to manager withing 1200 - but doing it.. I do see a progress and my ticker supports it! :) However, I am trying to keep that 1200 calories on the healthier side with more protein...
    As a vegetarian it is a challenge for me.
    Thank you all for sharing your diaries :)

    I'm on more than 1200 calories, but here are some snack ideas...

    One snack I like that gives me a lot of protein is 1% cottage cheese with some fresh or frozen berries. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I have come to enjoy my cottage cheese! It is a bit high on sodium though.

    I also enjoy having a meal replacement shake for my breakfast just because it's quick and gives a balance of carbs and proteins. Some people don't agree with this, but it works for me.

    When I first started (19 days ago) I was hungry all the time because of the huge drop in calories from what I was doing. Now, if I start to get hungry and I'm running low on calories, I've been making a cup of tea and find that it works quite well.

    Good luck!

    PS - after posting this, I noticed you are a vegetarian...not sure if that excludes cheese or not...

    Ooooo the meal replacement shake in the morning sounds soo good. I usually find myself really craving things after breakfast because I don't eat enough for it but oh my gosh that shake would totally hold me over until lunchtime. The problem is their price :/ but I might have to try it.


    I have a huge jug of protein powder, do you think that would work just as well?:drinker:
  • ppelleti
    ppelleti Posts: 13
    Wow! Lots of treats (snicker bars, doritos, ice-cream) I have to stay away from treat foods & focus on veggies & fruits. You can freeze single servings of greek yogurt.(tastes like a frozen treat!) Eat 3 meals with 2 healthy snacks & a protein before you sleep. You can try to put your snacks in small baggies (ie. a cheese string & apple, a handful of pretzels with raisins & mini marshmallows, strawberries & blueberries) My challenge is after my last meal getting thru the evening!
  • looper49
    looper49 Posts: 1 Member
    I'm on 1200 calories/day. While I know they say you shouldn't skip breakfast I do. Instead I eat more of a 'brunch' around 11:00 after I'm done working out. Exercise is a big part of allowing me to lose weight while getting plenty to eat. For brunch I have some type of protein - be it tuna, fake crab legs, eggs or a boca burger - along with as many veggies as I want. If i want a snack in the afternoon I try to keep it to something like an apple, grape tomatoes or maybe a few nuts. I eat late (another no-no). Usually I have protein and lots of at least two different types of veggies (different color and different texture to add 'interest' to the meal). I also allow myself cocktails. :) I seldom eat bread or pasta even tho I love both. On weekends I allow myself to cheat and maybe have toast with breakfast. Since oil has a ton of calories I've started baking fish, seafood and chicken in parchment paper with lots of fresh herbs. Works great! I'll take shrimp, minced garlic, lemon and parsley, (no oil), wrap it in parchment paper and end up with a delicious, light shrimp scampi. By doing this I'm probably using 60% less oil in my cooking.
  • ChelseaPier
    ChelseaPier Posts: 1 Member
    It's what everyone says, eat at least 4 times a day and keep sugar low. I try to keep all my "meals" even so I don't gorge at lunch then have nothing left for dinner but clearly I have to eat something, or gorge at dinner then feel tired all night. I've moved from processed foods as much as I can and since I live with a picky eater its hard to get a variety of veggies into dinners.

    My "tricks" or "rules"
    -bell peppers can go in just about anything
    -use low sodium chicken broth to steam and flavor foods if cooking in a pan (reduces added oil total or use the spray stuff)
    -Don't eat cereal or with more than 10g sugar (i pair with unsweetened vanilla almondmilk, my picky eater is also lactose intolerant)
    -DON'T DENY IT!!! if you want a cookie eat the damn cookie don't wait til you're having a bad day and you just say "f* it" and then you end up eating 12 cookies.
    -Be Honest with yourself-- I used to not log the 1 hershey kiss or 1 oreo I'd eat then feel good at the end of the day when I was under my calorie goal... I mean who am I fooling? myself? no one on here cares, I don't get a medal... I was only hurting myself even if I said "oh I'm counting it in my head, I know I can't have another one".
    -Watch out for hidden calories! (Turkey burgers are made with dark meat which isn't any leaner than lean ground beef, I look for "ground turkey breast" or "white meat turkey" at the grocery store and stay away from them at restaurants.

    MOST OF ALL... Find what works for you, if it isn't fun or enjoyable you won't stick with it. I've been on the yo-yo for 10 yrs now and I let myself off the hook way too much.

    Strength training is more important than cardio but don't skip cardio.

    If super clean eating isn't your thing, baby step it. Start by making substitutions to your go- to meals.

    Whole Wheat Flour, Splenda Brown Sugar Blend, Land o Lakes Light butter sticks, and cutting the chocolate chips by half in the nestle tollhouse cookie recipe adds fiber and cuts a crap ton of sugar and calories. And my cookies are still moist and delicious. Can I tell a difference in texture? Sure, but it isn't a bad difference. Wheat flour is a little sweeter with a softer texture than white flour so I love it for pizza crust but not everyone does. Just try something and see how it goes.

    Chicken Breast, carrots, onions, bell pepper, sugar snap peas, chopped, sprayed w/ olive oil spray, sprinkles with garlic and rosemary and baked. Easy and yummy, you can cut up potatoes of your choice (try red or blue for fun color!) or serve with brown or black rice, whole wheat pasta, whatever! So many possibilities with the same ingredients.


    1200 cals doesn't go far when you're working out hard. It's ok to go over when you've had an intense session, you have to let your body heal and make more blood vessels and muscle fiber so don't deny the nutrients it needs to do that. If you're getting in 60 mins of strength training and min 30 mins intense cardio alternating 5-6 days a week you may need 1500 cals to keep up.

    Listen to your body, if you're tummy is rumbling first drink some water bc you might be thirsty but think you're hungry. If after 10-20 mins you're still feeling rumbly EAT! almonds, dry cereal, air popped popcorn, a piece of fruit, veggie snack, lunch meat, whatever it is just eat something.

    Remember it can take 20 mins for your stomach to tell you're brain you aren't hungry anymore so wait before you get a second helping of dinner (soup or whatever) if you need it, eat it, but recognizing when you need to eat and when you WANT to eat is hard but necessary.

    GOOD LUCK TO US ALL!
  • alska
    alska Posts: 300 Member
    i'm on 1350 a day :) feel free to add me ... my diary is open
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
    No, because I don't have to starve myself to lose weight. Also, because food tastes good.

    I'm 5'5" 133 lbs and I eat 1810 calories per day gross when averaged over the entire week. Last week I lost almost a pound. Being 3 lbs from goal, that's almost too much weight lost in one week. If I lose more than .4 lb this week, I'll be bumping it up another 100 calories.

    Your body needs food to function. Unless you're 3 feet tall and sedentary, you should be eating more than 1200 calories per day. This is the only body you're going to get - treat it better.

    All of you 1200-calorie folks, feel free to yell at me and tell me how you're totally full on 1200 calories per day and you gain weight if you eat more than that. I'll be over here eating while you try to convince me that you're a unique flower whose body works totally different from everyone else's. :)

    May I yell "YES"?

    :flowerforyou:
  • amgreenwell
    amgreenwell Posts: 1,267 Member
    each day is different but....

    yogurt smoothie for breakfast with fruit and frozen fruit
    snack around midday, usually involves nuts or fruit or piece of chicken, salmon or similar
    lunch a few hours later, veggies, protein and grains (love making quinoa and roasting veggies to go with it)
    snack around later-afternoon fruit, nuts or egg-something
    dinner usually salmon and veggies or protein and salad or egg-something
    I drink tons of water and try to make sure I give myself good treats throughout the week, while staying within my calories
    remember to exercise so you can eat back some of those calories (not all)....don't deprive yourself of anything!
  • wellforlife_uk
    wellforlife_uk Posts: 11
    I'm on a 1200 calorie a day diet. Having said that, i find it quite easy. I have found that most of the time i eat out of boredom not hunger, so i try to distract myself or drink water. I now drink around 2 1/2 litres a day and it really helps.

    What i ate yesterday:

    Breakfast
    Tesco - Porrige Oats = 180
    Linwood - Milled Flax, Sunflower, Pumpkin & Sesame Seeds & Goji Berries = 50

    Lunch
    Tesco - Chicken Breast = 110
    Cucumber - With peel = 30
    Peppers - Sweet, red= 40 cals

    Dinner
    Salmon Fillets = 200 cals
    Sainsburys - Quinoam = 70 cals
    Lidll - Broccoli = 30 cals
    Spinach - Raw = 10 cals

    Snacks
    Apple = 60 clas
    Aldi - Mulitgrain Bread, 1 slice = 110 cals
    Ginger biscuit = 83 cals

    Total cals consumed= 973
    Exercised on bike for 30 mins= 205 cals burnt
    yoga for 20 mins= 80 cals burnt

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