those on 1200-ish a day - typical days menu?
suzycreamcheese
Posts: 1,766 Member
whats a typical days food for you?
I thought it would be easy, but im actually struggling to keep it under a lot of days and its often 100 or 200 cals over, and I really dont feel like im eating much at all.
Would be interested to hear suggestions and foods that make it easy to stay on track.
I thought it would be easy, but im actually struggling to keep it under a lot of days and its often 100 or 200 cals over, and I really dont feel like im eating much at all.
Would be interested to hear suggestions and foods that make it easy to stay on track.
0
Replies
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muesli/milk breakfast
steak/salad lunch
chilli turkey mince/pasta dinner
protein shake breakfast
grilled chicken/vegies lunch
flavoured tuna/wholemeal bread sandwich dinner
lunches/dinners vary with mince/soup/tuna and sometimes for breakfast a couple of boiled eggs or a small omelette0 -
I feel Iike I'm on a famine - I'm not paticularly exciting with my menus, today I am having/have had:
breakfast - sultana bran skimmed milk
lunch - tuna salad, banana
dinner - scrambled eggs on 2 pieces of wholemeal toast (no butter) and if I'm feeling exciting I may have a squirt of ketchup.
snacks - tea with skimmed milk - probably about 6 cups - I've given up cigarettes, I'm cutting down on diet coke, I need one vice :-)0 -
I would appreciate some help too!! Im on 1200 cals but always end up at 1500cals and still feel like Im not eating much! My coffee is really putting up my cals x0
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I feel the opposite - I can't get mine over! My diary is open btw.
What's your average meal combo?
H0 -
I have oatcakes with PB and fruit for brek, multiple snacks throughout the day (satsumas, nuts, a slice of toast maybe, a Nakd bar, a babybel light, some cottage cheese with apple or on a ryvita), a salad or homemade soup for lunch, and a light dinner of maybe some fish or a tomato-based curry (w/o rice).
I think the key is snacking – I can basically eat all day long (and do), I just have very light meals so I don't feel like I'm missing out on those either.
I don't find it easy mind, and have been going to the gym more and more to earn some extra cals! Even a walk at lunch earns me an extra snack )
Feel free to add me and you can see my diary x0 -
That is an extremely low calorie diet, is there any reason why it's so low?
If I were to eat that little, I would stick to eggs, meat, fish, and vegtables.0 -
I feel the opposite - I can't get mine over! My diary is open btw.
What's your average meal combo?
H
You have trouble getting over 1200 calories?! I will be looking at your diary for tips! :-) I tracked a normal few days before I started, somedays, I was booting the *kitten* out of 2000 calories!!!!0 -
i normally drink quite a lot of coffee with SS milk and one sugar, that bumps it up a little
I normally have a cereal bar in the morning, with 3 coffees
lunch maybe a tin of soup and a slice of toast
evening meal, whatever, but its normally around 500 or 600 cals
I may have a muller light or another cereal bar or an apple as a snack over the course of the day to stop me feeling faint.
Im just used to grazing a lot, but the one day that i just let myself do that as normal (since i started recording it) i realised id snacked on over 800 cals over the course of the day alone. havent done that since!!
Maybe im expecting it to be too effortless. I dont want to be so restrictive that i cant maintain it long term0 -
I have a lot of trouble hitting my 1200 cal limit. I've had a couple of hiccups over the past few days but you're welcome to look at my diary.
It goes along the line of
Breakfast
Cereal or porridge or egg & toast
Lunch
Sandwich (homemade roughly 250 cals) or Soup
Fruit
Dinner
Lean meat & Veggies
Snack
Fruit
Cracker & Peanut butter or feta cheese0 -
Exercise bumps me up some, but you're welcome to check out my diary.0
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Cereal bars are a poor choice for any meal - high in calories but the really don't fill you up.
Better breakfast options are porridge, protein shake, even lean grilled bacon with advacado.
Will at least fill you up for longer... :-) x0 -
I understand how you feel, but I've found that the calories I burn exercising bring my calories consumed below 1200. (eat 1600, minus 400 calories exercising=1200 net calories)
B: egg/vegetable omelette-no cheese/whole wheat toast
L: turkey/mustard sandwich/fruit
chicken breast/brown rice/vegetable
It is also helpful to eat 4-5 200-300 calorie meals a day. Not to be confused with grazing, which is snacking all day, but pre-planned meals, every 2-3 hours. It keeps your metabolism burning throughout the day.0 -
What I have discovered recently are light soups. Any brand really, Progresso, Healthy Choice, Campbell's... 150 - 250 calories for a whole can of soup. I have stocked up. Perfect for lunch or dinner.0
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i am on the 1200 cals too
my typical day is
breakfast : tea with ss milk and sweetex, 2 slices of warburtons bread, toasted and spread
lunch: chicken stirfry with rice noodles
Dinner :2 x chicken breast with vegtables and jacket potato
snacks : alpen chocolate and orange bar, penguin bar, frube yoghurt, sliced peppers, cups of tea with ss milk and sweetex
this normally brings me just up to 1200 but if i exercise i add extra portions to my meals , and having a larger lunch means im not that hungry to snack later in the evening0 -
That is my calorie allotment also and I really struggle and feel deprived if I leave it at that. So it usually compels me to workout and earn more. You can friend me and see my diaries if you want.0
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Today my breakfast is: 2 small slices of wholemeal toast with a little peanut butter and yoghurt.
Lunch will be pasta salad (pre-bought - 325 cals) and some fruit
Dinner will be 60g (dry weight) of spaghetti with a tomata based sauce (passata, pepper, onion, corgette, mushrooms plus a little garlic, basil and orgeno) served with a big green salad.
Plus I have enough left over for a snack (humous & raw veg!)0 -
ive put my diary to public now.0
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Breakfast- typically a Muller Light fat free yogurt, or a sachet of OatsSoSimple with skimmed milk (depending on what combos of protein/carbs etc I'm eating for the rest of the day). As a treat sometimes, scrambled eggs on 1 slice wholemeal toast.
Lunch- a big bowl of salad with chicken or tuna and a fat free dressing. Or a low fat/low cal fresh soup- eg Covent Garden carton/Glorious Skinny tub/Supermarket's own tub. If I can afford the calories I'll have a miltigrain bagel or slice of dark rye bread (no butter) with these.
Dinner- either a low fat ready meal (if in a hurry) or grilled meat or fish with steamed veg or a salad. If I can afford the calories, a low fat dessert such as creme caramel, Cadburys low fat mousse etc.
The key for me is the snacks! I am currently managing three meals a day as above, plus two or three decent snacks. I always have fruit, either two pieces or more likely a shop-bought pack with 2-3 portions of prepared fruit in it. Other snacks include Dairylea Dunkers (up to 120 cals each); Mattessons Fridge Raiders chicken pieces (higher fat but loads of protein and still only around 140 cals a pack); Babybel Light mini portions (40 cals each); low fat crisps (generally around 100 calories a pack); or a Go Ahead! bar of some description- the Yogurt Breaks are particularly nice and, again, only about 150 cals a pack.
I always plan my eating a day or so ahead and will start by entering dinner (main course only), followed by lunch. Depending on what carb/protein ratio I'm on, I'll then select a breakfast which balances it nicely. Snack are then added based a) on how many calores I have left, and b) whether I need snacks rich in protein, carbs, or both, and whether I can afford much more fat. So really by looking at it a little more scientifically, I am letting my day's menu pretty much write itself.
I find it's when you just enter your food as you eat that things start to run out of control. A little applied thinking and things kind of fall into place. Hope this helps!0 -
I live with my parent so I can't really be too picky about what I have for dinner unless I offer to cook it so I tend to stick to eating about 500 calories (or more if I exercise) for most of the day and then I have 700 calories left over for whatever I have for dinner. So I have oatso simple or some cereal for breakfast which is about 200 calories.
Then I have either a sandwich for lunch or a salad and a smoothie later on. If I've done some walking during the day I'll have some dried fruit or something as a snack later on.
Unless we're having something really unhealthy for dinner the meal usually totals to about 700 calories or less. I normally work out how many calories the meal is going to be beforehand and if it goes over 700 I'll just leave some.
I'm normally hungry by about 5 oclock but I just ignore it until dinner.
Also to avoid calories from drinking coffee I just drink it black. I add extra water to it instead of milk and it doesn't taste bad. Plus I read online that if you drink coffee black it boosts your metabolism, which it doesn't do if you drink it with milk and sugar. (:0 -
one word - exercise!!! If you even got in 30 mins a day you could burn 300 calories = calorie per minute is a decent workout. This would allow you to even have a couple snacks like fruit, fiber one bars (they are great)..etc. Try to eat high fiber foods when you can, for me they keep me fuller.
Mine is also set at 1200/day and without excerise I would starve I am sure!!!0
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