1200 calorie diet
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Im 5'1" (on a tall day) and its plenty, provided you make good choices. Obviously, you can blow through it unbelievably fast. For example, if I had a piece of coffee cake and a frap from starbucks for breakfast I would be 80% through my calories by 9am and starving the rest of the day. Personally, there are certain things that I cant eat (nor would I want to) to make 1200 calories work...0
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I make a soup for lunch every day which ranges from 100 - 200 calories depending on how much I add. Today's soup was 1 oz carrot, 2 oz onion, 2 oz potato, 3 oz celery, 1 oz kale, 1 oz spinach, 1 beef bouillon sodium free packet, salt/pepper and as much water as I want. Saute all of the veggies except kale/spinach for as little or as long as you want. Add salt, pepper, spinach, kale, water and bouillon. Simmer for as little or as long as you want. Once finished, use a stick blender to puree or pull some out if you like it chunky or don't puree it at all. I usually end up with 3-4 large mugs full.
Vietnamese noodle salad (Bun) is also very good and low in calories. It's romaine, corn, cucumber, pickled carrots and daikon (Homemade), cilantro, bbq pork chop (or chicken breast), nuoc cham (Homemade) and rice noodle. It sounds complicated but it isn't. My bowls vary from 300 - 400 calories depending on how much pork chop and noodle I use. It is quite filling.0 -
quest bars (roughly 200 cals)
most fruits
I tend to make myself 6 to 9 oz of grilled chicken. with a bit of seasoning, it tastes really good and is around 300 calories.0 -
A great go to for a quick low cal meal is a nice sweet potato or yam. Poke it with a fork, wrap it in a wet paper towel and microwave it for three minutes. Size matters, so if it's huge you may need a few more minutes! Let it sit in the paper towel for a couple minutes then unwrap it, split it open and drizzle a tsp of olive oil over it, and a ton of ground cinnamon. Lots of good nutrition and very little bad - and so easy!
I try to eat one apple a day = smallish 70 calorie sized apple.
Soups made from great broths, with lots of fresh ingredients!
Pasta dishes where you cut the pasta portion in half so it's just one of a few ingredients instead of the basis for the dish.0 -
crispaholicshaz wrote: »
1200 is the starting point that MFP set most of us.. By the time u add exercise u get more allowance, but then its up to you not to use them up too.. Yesterday i had 1, 093 calories left after burning 1,164 calories during exercise... My food intake was 1,271...eveaugust7 wrote: »1200 is a very very low calorie intake and isn't sustainable you'll end up being ill!
This is really confusing......
RE: 1200 is the starting point that MFP set most of us......correction....1200 is the starting point for those women with very aggressive weekly goals, and petite senior ladies.
Re: By the time u add exercise u get more allowance....true....but then its up to you not to use them up too.......correction.....MFP as designed expects you to eat them back....see next
Re: Yesterday i had 1, 093 calories left after burning 1,164 calories during exercise... My food intake was 1,271........What deliberate exercise were you doing that burned 1,164 calories (several hours on a bike, maybe)? 1,200 is to cover basic bodily function (your body is using calories 24/7).....but your exercise alone used up almost all of those calories. Granted those numbers sound inflated (MFP estimates are typically generous).
Let's say I was given 1200 net and exercised for 400 calories. The original 1200 covers basic bodily function.....but exercise takes 400 calorie away. The NET result is 800 calories to take care of basic bodily function (lungs, heart, kidneys, etc.) that's not nearly enough. Remember activity level is burning calories too.
You want a deficit, but not so large that your body has to make hard choices......fuel heart muscle.....or fuel a full head of hair. Fat stores don't provide everything.0 -
amgreenwell wrote: »smoothies!!! Milk or yogurt + frozen fruit + fresh fruit +blend = breakfast every day under 400, add some coffee with creamer and you are still under 400
salads galore for lunch...almost all veggies are acceptable. just get a low cal dressing and don't use much, skip the cheese and any croutons, crackers or bread. I also take tuna to top the salad. soups can be very low cal if you make them yourself, they also last quite a while so you can spread them out over days of meals.
dinner is game on... i LOVE crock-pot recipes for anything. just be sure to measure everything you can have many meals under 400 calories.
Good advice. I'm trying to eat more veggies and found a neat place near work with a cheap salad bar and the crock pot is another awesome idea. I need to locate more recipes to get creative because I have a 5 year old to please at dinner time.
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eveaugust7 wrote: »1200 is a very very low calorie intake and isn't sustainable you'll end up being ill!
I'm sorry, do you know her stats?? I am 4'11, and MFP gives me 1210 for a .5lb weekly loss. I sure as hell exercise to increase that amount, but if I get injured or for whatever reason can't exercise, I'm stuck with 1210, whether you think it's too low or not.
Agreed. I'm 5"7 and MFP gives me 1780, but it only gives caution if I'm under 1000. Sometimes life gets ahold of me and don't have time to have a meal.0 -
I'm 5ft 9 and MFP gave me 1200 because I wanted to lose 2lb a week. I tend to stay around that mark even with what I'm eating (lots of fish, veg and fresh fruit), but if it's a cardio day I amp up on carbs and proteins because that's nowhere near enough. I just take MFP's take on burns with a pinch, no, a cup of salt. At the end of the day, if I feel the need to eat, I eat. It's just now the 1200 calorie point has made me more conscious of what that something is. xoxo0
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Did you eat back exercise calories?DorisSilver50 wrote: »eveaugust7 wrote: »1200 is a very very low calorie intake and isn't sustainable you'll end up being ill!
Not true at all, I have been successfully losing weight on a 1200 calorie diet (31+ pounds) over the past 4.5 months. I workout every day 45-60 minutes, I feel wonderful, am off almost all my medications and my lab work is fantastic. I vary between 1200-1350 depending on intensity of my workout. I am 5'4" and started at 165#, 1200 is a perfectly acceptable number of calories.
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Did you eat back exercise calories?DorisSilver50 wrote: »eveaugust7 wrote: »1200 is a very very low calorie intake and isn't sustainable you'll end up being ill!
Not true at all, I have been successfully losing weight on a 1200 calorie diet (31+ pounds) over the past 4.5 months. I workout every day 45-60 minutes, I feel wonderful, am off almost all my medications and my lab work is fantastic. I vary between 1200-1350 depending on intensity of my workout. I am 5'4" and started at 165#, 1200 is a perfectly acceptable number of calories.
I eat back about half of them.0 -
I hate spaghetti squash as well. you can get a sprializer and make zucchini noodles (zoodles), recipe on skinnytaste, that actually taste like spaghetti.0
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I'm finding it hard to eat my 1200 calories today breakfast 2 slices of wholemeal toast and boiled egg with glass of orange juice. Dinner salad with 2 home made egg muffins (spinach leek mushrooms and toms) yoghurt and banana.
Tea spaghetti meatballs. Packed of low cal crisps still got 291 cals left with 250 used during exercise. Just swap white bread for brown white rice for brown bulk meals out with veg and use lean meats plus fish is excellent0 -
crispaholicshaz wrote: »
1200 is the starting point that MFP set most of us.. By the time u add exercise u get more allowance, but then its up to you not to use them up too.. Yesterday i had 1, 093 calories left after burning 1,164 calories during exercise... My food intake was 1,271...eveaugust7 wrote: »1200 is a very very low calorie intake and isn't sustainable you'll end up being ill!
ummm yeah. no. you need to eat. And how did you burn 1164 calories? Because the only time I have burned that much in one day was when I ran a half marathon.0 -
I love to scramble 2 eggs, add in half a cup of refried beans, and then add tomato, mushroom, spinach, and lots of salsa. Very filling too!0
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CandyMonster160 wrote: »eveaugust7 wrote: »1200 is a very very low calorie intake and isn't sustainable you'll end up being ill!
This may be true for you, but I find 1200 calories a day very manageable. It's all in how you fill those calories. It doesn't work for some people, but for me personally I'm more than satisfied with my 1200 calories.
I also use Skinnytaste for great recipes, I use her cookbook and website at least 4 times a week. So good!
Agreed. I'm short and work at a desk job all day...so 1200 works for me. Everyone is different.0 -
Do you like fish? You can have a filling dinner of breaded fish fillets (2 at 100 cals each) plus 1 1/2-2 cups of steamed brocolli for under 300 calories!0
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