1200 calories on rest days? How is it possible?

my 2 cents

your intakes of 600 are way too large

you should eat smaller meals but more often
aim for 300-cal meals, 4-5 times a day

If you are only over by 150 on your rest days just try to make sure on your workout days you are burning well over those and you should be allgood.

Breaking up your food throughout the day really helps. I have about 150 calories (egg white and spinach omelet and strawberries on the side) first thing in the morning, but then another 100 (chobani simply 100 yogurt) two hours later. For Lunch I have sound some great low-calorie options like tuna salad packs (they come with tuna, crackers, mayo, and relish) that are only 200 calories! But filling up on veggies is definitely the way to go. Everyday I pack a whole sandwich bag full of cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, sugar snap peas, and sweet peppers. They are delicious, adorable, AND filling Nuts also keep me full as a quick (and small) snack. You can buy low-calorie bread (sarah lee makes a bread that is 45 calories per slice), meat (I have found a ham that is 60 calories for 4 slices-wow!) and cheese (sargento makes a 40 calorie cheese), to make a 200 calorie sandwich. Pair that with a ton of cute veggies and you'll be full! Progresso also makes a really yummy veggie soup (labeled "vegetable soup"), which is one of my go-to meals, because it is only 140 for the entire can!

I buy those cello boxes of vegetables ready to eat- (cauliflower, brocolli, mini carrots) and keep them on hand ALWAYS. Also cherry tomatoes, because they are juicy. I like to have snap peas too. I also buy sweet peppers - red, yellow, and orange...clean them up..cut them up...and keep them in another container.. also English cucumbers. So for lunch, I take a few of each of the above, add a handful of almonds (or some kind of protein), drink a glass of almond milk (the 40 cal kind)....and I am stuffed. You would not believe how much raw cauliflower and brocolli fills you up (and you will develop a real taste for this). An added advantage, eating like this will remove cravings.

This routine leaves me quite a few calories for supper, but I try not to overdo it. Stay away from pasta, and rice, or if you do have any makes it less than half a cup (cooked). Have some roasted veggies, or anything you really like...but watch the portions. Also be scrupulous in how you record in your diary.

Speedy741,
Listen to this woman. This is exactly how I managed to lose weight. Also...you must, must , must pay attention to serving sizes. I used to overestimate my serving sizes of everything, but MFP is a great tool for keeping track of that. Also...I am also trying to maintain a 1,200 cal diet, and 600 cal lunch and dinner is way too high. take it down to around 425 or 450 and add healthy snacks between meals. This helps keep your metabolism high.
good luck.

I don't necessarily think 1200 is a good caloric goal for most folks. I know this isn't very scientific, but I once heard that you should take your goal weight and multiply by 10 to get your "deficit" calorie goal... so, for me, my goal weight is 135, so my goal is 1350 per day. Then, add in only HALF of your exercise calories on days you exercise. I know this is not what works for everyone - and I am no nutritionist or doctor... but it seems to be working for me.

1200 may not be good for most, but this logic actually proves what I have been saying about smaller sizes for awhile!

My goal is 115 ( and according to many charts that is a very moderate goal for my height and frame. Many put my goal at 104-109.)

So for me: 115x10 = 1150. On rest days. So I try to exercise every day. My rest day is a recovery walk!

But, OP, sometimes we can't even get a walk in, right? Those days are HARD!

I keep my breakfast under 200 (egg whites and 1 slice of low cal toast), my lunch under 300 (low cal bread with turkey or chicken, or maybe a frozen diet entree). That leaves 700 calories for a moderate dinner, and a healthy snack, like a piece of fruit or some veggies.

Easy? Absolutely not. Sometimes I am just hungry!

So I try to make sure I get in a walk on rest days. Also, if I look ahead several days, I will sometimes "save" calories from an earlier day in the week. I also look at weekly goals.

Hang in there. It is not easy.

I'm a little person and found 1200 was too low. I am obsessively active and was hungry all the time. I had to listen to my body and up the calories. Egg white omelets, lots of veggies, cottage cheese, yogurt, lean chicken and fish. I don't worry too much anymore if I go over, I'm happy with losing a half pound a week. I need energy to do the things I do. It's all good, slow and steady wins the race, right?

OP, just as an experiment try eating 1200 calories just out of veges. I would use frozen since they are easier, but try any, except perhaps corn and potatoes. The mixed frozen veges I have would require me to eat 4 kilograms to reach 1200, that includes 52 grams of protein built into the veges. The only problem with this experiment is that it costs a lot and also you'll have frequent trips to the toilet, you're basically drinking 3.5 litres of water.

So the question for this experiment is: are you hungry?

I eat 6 meals a day and total 1,200 on rest days - feel free to look at my diary.
Took a while to figure out what worked and kept me full. I go over my proteins usually and fat (mainly good fats) and stay under for carbs, sodium and sugar.

My go to filler upper for no workout days is a spring field mix salad, with lemon chicken (no oil), a little shredded cheese or avocado, cucumbers, and light italian dressing.

ooo and light & fit greek yogurt. Only 80 calories and very filling.

Low carb/cal days for me are:

Breakfast Lean Shake 25 (200 cal, 25 pro)

Snack protein shake (104 cal, 25 pro)

Lunch: Tuna with mayo on sliced cucumber (200 cal, 30 pro)

Pre and post workout snack: Quest bar (180 cal, 21 pro)

Dinner: seasoned chicken breast, 3+ cups salad w/2 tbs dressing, 1/4 avocado (237 cal, 28 pro)

somewhere in there I also have a mozzarella snack for an additional 50 cal, 8 pro

Total: 1015 cal, 140 pro, 33 fat, 65 carb (33 net), 33 fiber

I do a 3:1:2:1 ratio of low to "high" carb/cal days. High days are ~1500 calories, which puts my weekly avg at 1200 per day.

My 1500 cal days come out to 135 pro, 55 fat, 125 carb (100 net), 25 fiber.

Either way I feel like I am constantly eating with the way I divide everything up (ever 3 hours)

I don't aim for 1200 per day. But my meals are often 300-400 without really trying to keep them low. Lean meat & veggies often comes out to a low #.

This. I've been working on increasing the calorie count now that I'm not doing 1250, but if you have a leaner meat source, veggies, and even a moderate amount of a starch, it's not hard to stick around 400 or less, depending on the meat. If I want to decrease calories, I replace the starch with a second (different) vegetable, or maybe some fruit.