1250 calorie meal plan ideas?

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momtoeric
momtoeric Posts: 33 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am a noobie who absolutely loves to cook. This has been the cause of my weight gain! I canmake elaborate meals but when faced with coming up with a meal plan I freeze, get discouraged and ...eat. I need help and ideas for a meal plan! Please be as specific as possible because when it comes to weight loss, any guessing on my end leads to failure.

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  • Alienboy15
    Alienboy15 Posts: 6
    edited February 2015
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    Include vegetables with meals, and low calorie foods. A side salad with lean chicken. Fish with carrots, stuff that is low in calories and filling. Oatmeal and strawberries for breakfast. Not the instant oatmeal but like 100% whole grain Quaker oatmeal which will keep you full and is not high in calories and has very low sugar.

    Size out your portions, try not to over eat. Get a food scale and weigh out your food and record what you eat through Myfitnesspal app or online. Eat foods high in A,D,E,K vitamins.
  • cheshirecatastrophe
    cheshirecatastrophe Posts: 1,395 Member
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    http://www.eatthismuch.com

    It's not as good on the lower end of calorie intake as higher, but it'll get you started. Once you get comfortable, you can start swapping in your own meal ideas from other sites. I really like: http://www.skinnytaste.com , http://www.ohsheglows.com (vegan), http://www.emilybites.com
  • lizzocat
    lizzocat Posts: 356 Member
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    I'm at 1290, and what has helped me immensely so far is NOT making elaborate meals this early in my weightloss. I love to cook as well- but the more elaborate, the more ingredients, the more calories, the more time, the hungrier I get.. etc etc. Starting out, it's a lot easier to eat more simple, filling meals.

    And I agree with Alienboy15, portion control and weighing out your ingredients is key!
  • KrunchyMama
    KrunchyMama Posts: 420 Member
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    An easy meal plan that works for me is greens+protein for breakfast, green smoothie for lunch, and carb+greens+veg+protein for dinner. Snacks are vegetables + protein
  • Lezavargas
    Lezavargas Posts: 223 Member
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    I love to cook! I consider it a personal challenge to find healthy unprocessed alternatives that are nutrient rich and low cal. Feel free to friend me and ill get you some recipes. Kudos for cooking at home!! :)
  • nikkit321
    nikkit321 Posts: 1,485 Member
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    Once you have a week's menu, save it. Create the next week's menu. Save it. Soon you'll have a month's worth and you can just recycle them each week and skip the planning stage completely, other than the shopping.
  • JessicaGrace2015
    JessicaGrace2015 Posts: 10
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    I have a low calorie plan too. Breakfast is old fashioned oats with a little bit of honey, lunch usually consists of a couple of strips of chicken breast in a lite marinade, roasted broccoli and baked sweet potato not only is all of this delicious but more importantly filling! Dinner last night was a low cal version of chicken lettuce wraps which basically means a lot less sauce then some recipes and riced cauliflower instead of rice. Don't forget to add some exercise in this will increase your calorie allowance. I live on Pinterest for meal ideas.
    Good Luck! You can do it!
  • aringdingdong
    aringdingdong Posts: 5 Member
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    I always think in thirds. Veggies, protein and carbs. I guessing have a light breakfast around 250 calories(something simple like cereal & milk), then aim for 500-600kcals for your two other meals. This is how I do it, but you have to find your own path. Just google "light protein rich meals", protein filled meals keep you full for a very long time.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    Loving to cook is a great advantage for weight loss. The new challange is to make tasty healthy foods that fit into your calorie allowance. By cooking at home you can control the amount of fat, salt, veggies etc. that goes into your food and you know exactly what goes into it.

    With only 1250 cals you're going to have to focus mainly on lean protein and veggies/salad with every meal in order to feel full and satisfied. How you portion your cals will depend on preferences. Do you prefer a big breakfast/lunch/dinner? Do you like to snack?

    Breakfast - scrambled eggs with veggies (mushroom, tomato, spinach, peppers) or oatmeal with berries and protein powder
    Lunch/dinner - lean meat with a salad or veggies and a small amount of healthy fat (avocado, nuts, coconut or olive oil). Add some carbs like sweet potato or brown rice if you have room.

    What sort of foods do you normally like to make? Do some browsing of healthy recipe sites for ideas and get familiar with the recipe builder on here. Any food can be made to fit your calories, it's just a question of whether you can fit your macros and micros and feel full and satisfied
  • bebeisfit
    bebeisfit Posts: 951 Member
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    Beans are great. I have a couple go to's. One I call mexi mash. Saute some onion, garlic & jalepenos, bell pepper (I don't like them, but you might) & zucchini along with Mexican type spices like cumin, adobo, or chili powder. Add a can of black beans, a can of diced tomatoes and maybe some frozen corn. I serve it over cornmeal mush - which is cornmeal whisked into boiling water. I eat that for days. If you have a protein like chicken or shrimp - you can add that. Want to splurge a bit, add some sour cream OR cheddar.
    -
    I also make an Italian version with greens, white beans and rosemary.

    How about soup? Endless ideas for soup. A basic vegetable or chicken stock plus beans, greens and fresh herbs is filling and low in calories.

    I'm also a fan of old fashioned oatmeal for breakfast. I add cinnamon, a few raisins, maybe some walnuts. Again, cheap, filling and really sticks with you. It's done in a couple of minutes in the microwave.

    Add vegetables to every single meal. That will keep you full and it's amazing what it will do for your weight loss.

    Eggs with onion, mushroom and spinach is another great breakfast or dinner. I also have one slice of toast with avocado and it's super filling. I probably eat a lot more calories than you.. I try and stay around 1500-1800 and find I can still loose a bit.

    Ditto on adding exercise.

    Lentils are my new favorite. Quick, easy and you can add anything to it. Lots of fiber.
  • bebeisfit
    bebeisfit Posts: 951 Member
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    I also find it helpful not to start cooking while I'm super hungry. I cook a couple of meals on Sunday and eat them for the next few days.
  • haishamsaeed
    haishamsaeed Posts: 1 Member
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    http://dietish.com, they have pretty good recipe ideas based on approx calories so may be you would find just according to your exact requirement
  • AlexMorganMc
    AlexMorganMc Posts: 42 Member
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    cheshirecatastrophe wrote: »
    http://www.eatthismuch.com

    It's not as good on the lower end of calorie intake as higher, but it'll get you started. Once you get comfortable, you can start swapping in your own meal ideas from other sites.

    I have never heard of this site before. I love it. It's amazing. Wow. Thank you for posting this!

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