1200 Calorie Meal Plan Ideas

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  • vanessangonzalez
    vanessangonzalez Posts: 38 Member
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    I'm also on a 1200...I eat mostly a green smoothie for breakfast and popcorn for lunch and save my calories for dinner. Kind of getting bored, too, though. These all sound delicious...!
  • Terpnista84
    Terpnista84 Posts: 517 Member
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    For me it depends on the type of day I have that makes it easier to not eat a lot. Today, I'm not even at 600 calories yet and I'm not starving by any means.

    What I did today was drank a warm cup of lemon water when I got to work. That really curbed my appetite and I ate my breakfast of boiled eggs at 11. I ate lunch around 1pm which was a 250 calorie Lean Cuisine (braised beef with sweet potatoes- so good) and it kept me full. I've also been drinking a lot of lemon water throughout the day.

    For a snack I had greek yogurt and a small piece of Kind bar.

    I've been really busy at work so that's helped take my mind off hunger and eating. Now I can go easy at the gym and can splurge a bit on dinner (egg salad on wheat and chips as a treat :smile: )
  • Terpnista84
    Terpnista84 Posts: 517 Member
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    vanessangonzalez wrote: »
    I'm also on a 1200...I eat mostly a green smoothie for breakfast and popcorn for lunch and save my calories for dinner. Kind of getting bored, too, though. These all sound delicious...!

    Saving calories for dinner helps a lot!! A lot of people suggest eating your heaviest meal at breakfast. But I find myself getting late night cravings or overeating after an intense workout. It helps a lot for me to save at least 600 calories in the evening.
  • kerussll
    kerussll Posts: 39 Member
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    AngelaKim714 wrote: »
    I am struggling to only eat 1200 calories on the days I do not go to the gym. I just recently started and wanted to see some of your guys' meals plans or an example that would be helpful. Also are there any useful tips to fight cravings and the urge the grab "seconds"?

    The only way I can stay under this goal is to eat tons of fruits and veggies. Try to pack as many into a meal as you possibly can. Big salads are a good meal, just make sure you use low calorie dressing. My favorite is the bolthouse farms yogurt dressings. So good and really low in calories! Also, find vegetables you really love. I can eat a pound of brussels sprouts because I love them! When dinner for me is a big ole pile of sprouts plus a little meat, it's pretty easy to stay under my goal.
  • vanessangonzalez
    vanessangonzalez Posts: 38 Member
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    Terpnista84 wrote: »
    vanessangonzalez wrote: »
    I'm also on a 1200...I eat mostly a green smoothie for breakfast and popcorn for lunch and save my calories for dinner. Kind of getting bored, too, though. These all sound delicious...!

    Saving calories for dinner helps a lot!! A lot of people suggest eating your heaviest meal at breakfast. But I find myself getting late night cravings or overeating after an intense workout. It helps a lot for me to save at least 600 calories in the evening.

    It would be ideal to eat heavy in the morning and light at dinner! I can definitely tell a difference the next day when I've done so. But fortunately/unfortunately I like to have dinner with my husband. I do get those late night munchies though...I have to take myself to sleep sometimes. Lol.
  • saharris1965
    saharris1965 Posts: 19 Member
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    Mine is set at 1100 and I try to stay under after excersise. AM- 2 turkey link sausages and 1/2 cup egg whites scrambled. Lunch- small baked chicken breast with small salad or cup veggies. Or ww smart ones with small salad. Dressing is Malt vinegar with a little stevia added. Dinner- 3 turkey meatballs using egg whites and panko(Insanity recipe) cup of veggies and salad. 9 to 10 cups of water daily. My excersise is either p90, T25 or 10 min rapid results. Snacks can be pickles, radishes, cheese stick, cherry tomatoes, almonds, turkey and cheese roll ups, apples
  • FoodFitnessTravel
    FoodFitnessTravel Posts: 294 Member
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    OK, so in the morning i eat chocolate, not too much, like 150 calorie bar or probiotic yoghurt, but for me it has to be something sweet. I get hungrier at night so I tend to leave most of my calories for dinner & after dinner.
    For lunch i love subway, the chicken or turkey one without cheese (their cheese is like plastic and you save 50 calories). I love subway, it's only like 320 calories because i do double meat with veggies and mustard. And you can get full!
    Dinner is either sandwich too, sometimes i do tuna with greek yoghurt and mustard and chopped cucumbers and peppers, really yummy. Or a huge salad with smoked chicken or boiled eggs.
    In the afternoon i always have coffee and an apple.
    I usually have room for 200 cal ice cream before bed, i have a huge sweet tooth :)

    If you are doing 1200 calories, it's helpful if you have snacks all day, not big meals and just one meal at night, and by big i mean like 700-800 cals. I drink coffee, diet coke, and of course lots of water, apples, banana and something sweet for my snacks.

    Again, if you're doing 1200, you GOTTA have some tolerance for hunger, you ain't gonna be full all the time, i know soups, veggies, lean protein blah blah blah but most of us are used to more fatty, sugary and carby meals and if you're serious about wanting to lose on 1200 calories, suck it up princess ;)
    Feeling hungry for a bit is normal and human feeling, just get used to a bit discomfort, once i got over the need to feel full and satisfied all the time it helped me big time.

  • Terpnista84
    Terpnista84 Posts: 517 Member
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    FoodFitnessTravel wrote: »
    OK, so in the morning i eat chocolate, not too much, like 150 calorie bar or probiotic yoghurt, but for me it has to be something sweet. I get hungrier at night so I tend to leave most of my calories for dinner & after dinner.
    For lunch i love subway, the chicken or turkey one without cheese (their cheese is like plastic and you save 50 calories). I love subway, it's only like 320 calories because i do double meat with veggies and mustard. And you can get full!
    Dinner is either sandwich too, sometimes i do tuna with greek yoghurt and mustard and chopped cucumbers and peppers, really yummy. Or a huge salad with smoked chicken or boiled eggs.
    In the afternoon i always have coffee and an apple.
    I usually have room for 200 cal ice cream before bed, i have a huge sweet tooth :)

    If you are doing 1200 calories, it's helpful if you have snacks all day, not big meals and just one meal at night, and by big i mean like 700-800 cals. I drink coffee, diet coke, and of course lots of water, apples, banana and something sweet for my snacks.

    Again, if you're doing 1200, you GOTTA have some tolerance for hunger, you ain't gonna be full all the time, i know soups, veggies, lean protein blah blah blah but most of us are used to more fatty, sugary and carby meals and if you're serious about wanting to lose on 1200 calories, suck it up princess ;)
    Feeling hungry for a bit is normal and human feeling, just get used to a bit discomfort, once i got over the need to feel full and satisfied all the time it helped me big time.

    The last part is so true!!!
  • vanessangonzalez
    vanessangonzalez Posts: 38 Member
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    FoodFitnessTravel wrote: »

    Again, if you're doing 1200, you GOTTA have some tolerance for hunger, you ain't gonna be full all the time, i know soups, veggies, lean protein blah blah blah but most of us are used to more fatty, sugary and carby meals and if you're serious about wanting to lose on 1200 calories, suck it up princess ;)
    Feeling hungry for a bit is normal and human feeling, just get used to a bit discomfort, once i got over the need to feel full and satisfied all the time it helped me big time.

    So true!!
  • blondejennifer_us
    blondejennifer_us Posts: 1 Member
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    I am doing the 1200 calorie a day. 200 average for each meal and snacks in between.
    Breakfast I will eat cereal with skim milk or a slice of toast with an egg over it.
    Lunch is a turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomato or a cup of noodles with sauce. Soup.
    Dinner I'll have a half of grilled cheese with tomato soup. A cup of veggies with 4oz of meat.

    I have fruit and veggies for snacks or a small smoothie.
  • octhawk
    octhawk Posts: 51 Member
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    I eat a protein bar for breakfast, for lunch, a hard boiled egg and 2/3 - 1 oz hard cheese and for dinner, I usually have some sort of quesadillas - 3 corn tortillas & 1-1.33 oz Jack or mozzarella cheese, sometimes I add meat. Then I add snacks like yogurt or jello or something potato based. My diet isn't the best and I don't hit my macros, but maybe you can improve on the basics of it.
  • kristenkinkaid86
    kristenkinkaid86 Posts: 1 Member
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    You need veggies. I eat around 12-1500 a day (goal) and do a lot of salads with beans, legumes, meats or I've seen some do cottage cheese. Although the sugars and fats will help you quickly starve off hunger in a quick fix because your craving it, it's not much food so you may be hungry again sooner if your cycling your calories and it's a low calorie day. Just a thought.
  • jm_brown94
    jm_brown94 Posts: 3 Member
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    Hi, My name is Janne (Jan) and I am going to start the 1200 calorie a day meal plan. I want to lose or hope to lose 30 lbs. before the beginning of September. Does the My Fitness Pal have good recipes for 1200 calories a day? Where will I find the 1200 calorie meal plan on this website? Thanks so much.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    jm_brown94 wrote: »
    Hi, My name is Janne (Jan) and I am going to start the 1200 calorie a day meal plan. I want to lose or hope to lose 30 lbs. before the beginning of September. Does the My Fitness Pal have good recipes for 1200 calories a day? Where will I find the 1200 calorie meal plan on this website? Thanks so much.

    The idea with MFP is that you choose your own foods and use the website to log it. There is no MFP meal plan, although you can check out the "Recipes" section to get an idea of what other people are eating (not all those people will be on 1,200 a day, but some are).
  • jm_brown94
    jm_brown94 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thanks janjellyroll for the suggestion.
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
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    Eh.. I ate 1200 calories for two years and lost 80 pounds. I was never hungry. I put it back on due to severe depression (which I'm still battleing) and totally not caring about anything. I'm trying to get back to it now. I don't find it hard to do the 1200 thing. I find it hard to find the motivation to do it and keep doing it.

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