300 calorie or less recipes?

Any particular reason you're eating 1200? It's quite low for most people, unless you're extremely short AND very inactive. Check into figuring out your TDEE and you can probably increase your allowance and still lose! ( ref: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1)

Go to Pinterest and do a search. There's lots of posts with 300 or 400 calorie meals.

Canned soups can be found with low calories for the whole can.

Shrimp on a salad is a good choice. Chicken with a veggie side like squash, carrots, eggplant or green beans is another.

rebeccahamlet wrote: »

I am trying to stay around 1200 for the day which I have divided into 3 300 calorie meals and 2 150 snacks. I am having trouble finding recipes though. Any suggestions on websites or recipes you have tried?

I'm on the same boat as you! Friend me! I'm 5'0' and weigh 140. Need to lose about 20 more pounds!

Almost any recipe can just be made smaller to reduce the calories. If you're cooking for yourself, just take your favourite recipes and adjust the quantities.

Allrecipes has a database of 300-calorie main dishes here: allrecipes.com/recipes/everyday-cooking/special-diets/low-calorie/300-calorie-main-dishes/

I try to stick to 1200 calories as well. I open my diary to friends, so maybe you could get some ideas from my diary. I've found that keeping my breakfast VERY slim (200 calories or less) makes it seem like the calories don't run out so fast over the course of the day.

I love making a pot of chili with 1lb meat, onions, jalapeno, bell pepper, 2 cans of beans, and a large can of crushed tomatoes (plus required spices). It is around 250 calories if you split the pot into 8 portions and each portion is a generous size. I think throwing a laughing cow cheese wedge into a bowl of chili is divine.

For breakfast you can do egg whites and a bit of cheese. I do 3/4 cups egg whites with 1/4 cup shredded partly skimmed mozzarella scrambled. It's less than 200 calories and then a snack a couple hours later definitely gets you by and opens up some space for other meals.

I find the more simple the meals the less the calories, I have a problem with dairy and gluten and am allergic to all kinds of nuts so I stay away from those as much as I can and my meals can be pretty calorie light because of that.

4 oz steamed Chicken Breast with 3/4 cup of steamed rice and 4 oz of boiled carrots could do it for a dinner too at less than 300 calories.

I have yet to perfect my smoothie but what I have it at so far is 388 calories (it's a dessert style also, so I can fit it in my macros but still really enjoy it). It's 1 scoop Iso Sensation 93 Chocolate Fudge Protein powder + 1/2 cup sliced frozen Strawberries + 1/2 medium Banana + 1 tsp powdered Flax Seed + 1 cup of Soy Chocolate Milk... over time I am sure this smoothie is going to be adjusted so that it's less thick, probably more soy milk or water, and then it'll work for me

I find that if you play around enough with different food cooking styles and finding ways to remove a lot more of the 'bad stuff' (per se) you can find something that works to keep you in that 1200 cal a day plan... however you didn't note if you were going to work out or not, if you are then you will need to eat back those calories as your body will need a balance of caloric intake and caloric expense.

I just threw this together recently, but it turned out to be REALLY yummy (I'm sure I'm not the first person to have thought of this):

Two 2-oz chicken breast tenderloins
Two Laughing Cow cheese wedges (my fav to use are the Herb & Garlic or the Spicy Pepperjack)
2 Tbsp of Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs (mine are gluten free, but I'm sure other types would be similar calories)

I've fixed this a couple different ways and it was good both times. One way is to coat each tenderloin with 1 wedge of the cheese - top and bottom, and then sprinkle 1 tbsp of the bread crumbs on each tenderloin. Then bake on 350 for 30 minutes.

The other way is to bake the chicken first, by itself - again on 350 for 30 minutes - and then I shred the chicken and mix both Laughing Cow wedges together with the shredded chicken (it helps if you nuke the wedges in the microwave for about 30 seconds to get them a little melty). Then I kind of make it all into a patty and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top and put it back in the oven on "broil" for about 3-5 minutes to get the bread crumbs crispy. Tastes delicious either way and is around 240 calories for the whole thing!

Spaghetti squash is my go to food. Low in calories and hearty. Delicious with 1/2 cup red sauce. Sometimes I sauté mushrooms and add to sauce.

6 oz of baked chicken breast and 100 grams of baked sweet potato. Very filling and it sticks with you. Breakfast I do two eggs, with half a cup of frozen mixed vegetables and a slice of bacon...because I love bacon...and its still under 300 calories.

I have a book by hungry-girl 200 recipes under 200 calories there is also a 300 under 300 she has several books and has a website her recipes seem pretty good to me also there are recipes on her website you could check that out for ideas. It's hungry-girl.com. Just a thought and I hope it helps

I just had 1 medium egg with a two egg serving of egg beaters all scrambled together on a flat-out lite Italian flatbread and 1/8 cup of shredded pepper jack cheese for 250 cal 29 G protein 9 g fiber 17 g carbs 12 g of fat it would be less fat if I didn't use 1 real egg, it's quite filling my numbers are according to the MFP food diary

I have I higher calorie allowance but I have found that eating a yogurt and almonds for breakfast is a good start to my day (pretty low calories and almonds will help keep you full) and if you mix in a walk on your lunch break or in the morning/evening you will get a little extra to work with also I love 100 cal snacks tons of options to pick from!!! best of luck

Roasted Ratatouille:

1/2 tbsp dried oregano
1 Eggplant, sliced into rounds and each round sliced in half
2 Zucchini, medium size, cut into chunks
2 Red Bell Pepper, Large, deseeded and cut into chunks
1 Red Onion, Peeled and cut into 4 wedges
3 Plum Tomatoes, Large and cut in half
28oz can of Diced Tomatoes in Tomato Juice
2 Garlic Cloves, chopped
3 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 TBSP Dried Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste

Set the oven to 375°F. Put all the prepared vegetables in a large roasting tray or tin, in a single layer if possible. Sprinkle with the oregano and seasoning and drizzle with 4 tbsp of the oil. Mix everything well with your hand. Roast for 45-50 mins until soft and beginning to brown. Stir a couple of times while cooking
.
When the veg are nearly cooked, heat a large frying pan and add the rest of the oil and the garlic and cook until the garlic begins to brown.

Pour in the canned tomatoes, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins. Stir in the veg.

Serves 4 and 255 Calories per serving