How do you distribute your 1200 calories throughout the day?

I usually eat 1200cals for dinner, lol. If I had to stick to 1200, I would do 200 for breakfast, lunch and a snack (600), and 600 for dinner

1200 calories? I call that dinner.

I usually eat 1200 calories by 2:00 in the afternoon - and then another 1000-1200 in the late afternoon evening. Breakfast is usually 400-500, lunch is 500-600. Dinner is around 700-800 and everything else comes out in snack calories.

MaternalCopulator wrote: »

1200 calories? I call that dinner.

LOL at username and avi. Creative.

As to OP, I tend to eat many more calories for breakfast, morning snack and lunch. Dinner is usually something light.

i am on 1200 calories with me it depends too on the day... i usually have 300 each then some snacks. sometimes i have a bigger breakfast and it makes all the difference as i am not as hungry i usually have 1-2 snacks per day

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I usually have 300 max for breakfast/lunch (unless I have to in which case my dinner will be smaller) and try (unsuccessfully usually) to not snack before dinner so then I'll have 600 (or less depending on my snacks or if I had to have a larger lunch) for dinner.

That's about what I do too. I try and do 200-300 for breakfast/lunch, 300-400 for dinner, and snack no more than 200. Sometimes if I want something really bad, I'll exercise like a crazy woman to burn extra calories to fit it in though. I am on a low calorie diet because of my autoimmune disease. My doctor kept recommending to cut more and more until it worked for me so here I am. (And it is working FINALLY)!

Mine today was

Breakfast
Bananas - Raw,
Silk - Almond Coconut Milk Blend- Unsweetened, 8 ounces
Full Circle Organic - Creamy Almond Butter, 0.3 Tbsp. (30g)
Shakeology - Vanilla, 1 packet/scoop

256

Morning Snack
Full Circle Organic - Creamy Almond Butter, 1 Tbsp. (30g) 0
Apple - Honey Crisp., 1 medium apple (2-3/4" dia)

185

Lunch
Tyson - All Natural Trimmed & Ready Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, 5.22 oz (112g)
Angelic Bakehouse - Sprouted Seven-grain Bread, 2 slice (oz) (28 g)
Sabra - Supremely Spicy Hummus, 1 Tbsp (28g/1oz)
Alfalfa seeds - Sprouted, raw, 0.5 cup
Veggie - English Cucumber - Seedless, 37 g

309
Afternoon snack
Fisher - Whole Natural Almonds, 0.5 oz (28g/about 1/4 cup)
Oranges - Raw, navels, 100 g 4

129
Dinner
Thousand Hills Cattle Company - Top Round Steak, 5 oz.
Baked No Skin - Sweet Potato, 3 oz
Spices - Cinnamon, ground, 1 tbsp

321

= 1200

If I was going to try to stick to 1200 (which I don't doubt I would fail miserably at), I think personally I'd go for no breakfast, 700 calorie lunch, 500 calorie dinner. I think really though the distribution of calories in a day is for individuals to decide based on what helps you stay full and satisfied, what your time commitments are, whether you prefer to eat socially, when you work out, blah blah blah...

Tarcyd55 wrote: »

erickirb wrote: »

OP, you may want to eat more than 1200 cals. with only 6 lbs to go your weekly goal should be to lose 0.5lbs/week and you should be eating back cals burned from exercise. Then you will not have to worry about dividing up 1200, should be more like 1400-1900 depending on how much/long you workout.

I would also suggest stopping the quick add calories and weigh solid foods and measure liquids so you actually know how much you are eating, instead of estimating

I cheat on the weekends so I have to be extra strict Monday- Friday that is why I have been sticking with 1200. I have been maintaining my current weight with doing so. Also I stopped working out as much. I plan getting my *kitten* in gear again soon! Thanks a lot that is great advice!

I echo his advice and say that if you plan on losing a few lbs to take it slow and TRACK your weekends. Trust me. Don't kill yourself with ccardio to make up for mystery weekend calories. Not tracking adds up FAST. Trust me.

I'm 5'3.5 " 120 lbs, to put it into perspective and lose weight eating 1700 not exercising. I'm also meticulously logging, though. So, first place to adjust is logging accuracy and make sure you don't burn yourself out eating so little. Fuel your body and maintain your muscle as you lose, you'll be much happier.

I usually have about 250-400 for lunch and about 800-1200 for dinner/dessert.

I always start my day with a heavy breakfast. It gives enough energy to survive the walk to school.

Anyways, I usually start my morning with a cup of coffee and oatmeal porridge with honey or bananas. It's sweet, fills my tummy and has about 400-500 cal. Sometimes, I skip the porridge and eat yogurt, usually around 200 cal.

My lunch is always light, either soup or salad, or pretty much anything they serve at our school canteen. So, my lunch is usually an apple and soup or 1/2 a plate of potatoes/risotto/buckwheat porridge and 1/2 a plate of salad. I keep it around 200 cal.

Sometimes, I have an apple two hours before dinner. That's about 70 cal

And I waste what I've got left on supper.

So,
Breakfast: 400-500 cal
Lunch: 200 cal
Snack: 50-100 cal
Supper: 300-400 cal

I try to burn a minimum of 200-300 calories per day and I don't eat them back. It's given good results so far

seriously... why are people hell bent on opening the trap but not giving constructive criticism or advice... " uh why are you on 1200 calories?" doesnt help the OP. if you cant help the OP then don't post. and to all you who are helping her ... good on you its nice to see other peoples perspectives. being short does not help i am 5ft1 and i have a 500 calorie deficit sometimes it isn't enough and more cardio is needed

rachylouise87 wrote: »

seriously... why are people hell bent on opening the trap but not giving constructive criticism or advice... " uh why are you on 1200 calories?" doesnt help the OP. if you cant help the OP then don't post. and to all you who are helping her ... good on you its nice to see other peoples perspectives. being short does not help i am 5ft1 and i have a 500 calorie deficit sometimes it isn't enough and more cardio is needed

Where is your advice?

People generally tell other people that you can eat more than 1200 because generally you should. Everyone jumps on here, and inputs their information and sees "lose 2 pounds a week" and thinks "I can do that? SWEET!" and so that's what they choose, without considering factors like how active they are, how much total they have to lose - and those things matter.

If you only have 6 pounds to lose, there's no reason to eat 1200 calories a day, period. I have 16 pounds left (of 85) and my deficit is set to lose .5 pounds a week. I could set it to 2 pounds a week, but I'd be eating very little. I want this weight to stay off, so I'm going about this in the smartest way possible. That means making my goals reasonable and attainable.

The end goal here is to eat as much as you can, while still losing weight.