1200 calories a day diet
skemes5
Posts: 23 Member
I don't know.. I've only been doing this for 3 days, i have seen some results especially in my stomach which is great. But, I've literally eaten the same food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. It's the only way i know how to keep it within the 1,200 calories a day. This can't be life!! Also almost everything that i eat isn't in their database so i have to guess I'm picking the right thing.
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Replies
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Are you sure that you NEED to go as low as 1,200? Many people find that they lose weight while eating more than that. Where did you get your goal? If it was MFP, did you put that you wanted to lose 2 pounds per week?
Also, if a food that you eat isn't in the database, you can add it. If it's an individual food, you can add it as long as you know the nutritional information. If you don't have it, try looking it up online. And if it's a recipe, you can use the recipe builder tool to enter it. Either way, you don't have to limit yourself to what you can locate in the MFP database.0 -
With only 15 pounds to lose, you are pretty close to goal and shouldn't try to lose 2 lbs a week. Scale back on your loss goal and you'll get a few more calories to play with every day.0
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I've been doing 1200 for 3 days too! It is too early to say whether it is working yet for me but I am hopeful. I have had a variety of different meals, there really is so much out there. My BIGGEST issue is/was sugar! What I have found helpful is to plan a few things into my food diary BEFORE eating them, that way it gives me scope to remove it if I decide to have an extra cup of tea etc.
Nearly everything I have in my cupboard/fridge has been on the MFP database...I do double check the nutrition data against the packaging on every new item I log..just to be sure.
Good luck with your weight loss journey.0 -
Why on every single 1200 calorie thread do people jump in and question the OPs choice of eating 1200 calories? The OP didn't ask if her calorie goal was accurate. Please don't derail another thread.0
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Why on every single 1200 calorie thread do people jump in and question the OPs choice of eating 1200 calories? The OP didn't ask if her calorie goal was accurate. Please don't derail another thread.
No, but the OP is struggling with the diet and people are coming in to help the OP (with accurate information), letting them know they do have other options.
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I have been on the 1200/day calorie also and have had no problems really My issue has actually been getting to 1200 calories. LOL I have eaten a wide variety of things. I tend to have the same things for breakfast and lunch during the week but only because it's easier on me that way. So far this program has worked good for me and my husband who is also on it. Do some research into other foods because MFP really does have quite a large food database. You can always scan barcodes in also which has worked extremely well for me. If it's not in the database, just add it in. Good luck and I would suggest giving it more than three days before making a judgement call on it. Good luck on your journey!
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Just eat what you ate before, but smaller portions.0
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I have been on the 1200-1400 cal per day diet since May and I lost 60lbs.
I stick most days with the foods I know that fit in my budget. Since I don't eat as much anymore a package of sandwich turkey lasts a long time and I don't want it to get bad. :-)
3 days is pretty short to say if you can stick long term to the 1200 cal limit, since your body hasn't had a chance to adjust to the different fuel. Maybe try to be on it 2 weeks if you still think you are depriving yourself too much add extras. The goal is not to give up!! You can do this !!0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Are you sure that you NEED to go as low as 1,200? Many people find that they lose weight while eating more than that. Where did you get your goal? If it was MFP, did you put that you wanted to lose 2 pounds per week?
Also, if a food that you eat isn't in the database, you can add it. If it's an individual food, you can add it as long as you know the nutritional information. If you don't have it, try looking it up online. And if it's a recipe, you can use the recipe builder tool to enter it. Either way, you don't have to limit yourself to what you can locate in the MFP database.
I just put in my current weight and height and did the recommended 1 pound a week. The number it came up with was 1,200. I am very very new to this and figuring things out along the way. Thank you for your advice!!0 -
Thank you all for the advice!! If you have some food options that you can suggest it would be greatly appreciated. I don't really cook myself so a lot of my food is from outside. But i know there has to be health options. I usually cook dinner but breakfast and lunch is outside. I don't think I'm set to the two pounds a week. It is only 1pound a week. I will keep this up. I honestly have seen my stomach get smaller in the 3 days i have done this which to me means i used to eat a lot of junk. Thank you again! And i wish you all well on your journey as well.0
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Unfortunately I can't help. I cook/prep all my foods at home so I can track everything and than cook for the family separate.
I did go out twice but it freaked me out because I wasn't able to figure the calories out.0 -
Why on every single 1200 calorie thread do people jump in and question the OPs choice of eating 1200 calories? The OP didn't ask if her calorie goal was accurate. Please don't derail another thread.
If someone is happy and meeting their goals on 1,200, I'm not going to second-guess. But when someone says "This can't be life," I think it's okay to question how they chose that goal.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Are you sure that you NEED to go as low as 1,200? Many people find that they lose weight while eating more than that. Where did you get your goal? If it was MFP, did you put that you wanted to lose 2 pounds per week?
Also, if a food that you eat isn't in the database, you can add it. If it's an individual food, you can add it as long as you know the nutritional information. If you don't have it, try looking it up online. And if it's a recipe, you can use the recipe builder tool to enter it. Either way, you don't have to limit yourself to what you can locate in the MFP database.
I just put in my current weight and height and did the recommended 1 pound a week. The number it came up with was 1,200. I am very very new to this and figuring things out along the way. Thank you for your advice!!
If you want to eat more calories (and it sounds like you might), you can try resetting your goal to .5 pounds a week. A lot of us find weight loss more pleasant when we go a bit slower. More food is usually a good thing!0 -
If you're going to eat the same 1200 calories every day, I'd go with this:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/womens-health/getting-your-vitamins-and-minerals-through-diet1,200-calorie sample menu that meets the daily DRIs* for a woman 51 to 70 years of age
Breakfast
8 oz nonfat yogurt
½ cup sliced papaya
½ cup sliced kiwi
1 oz (14 halves) walnuts
4 oz skim milk
Lunch
1 small whole-wheat pita
Green salad:
1 cup dark green lettuce
1 red or orange pepper
1 cup grape tomatoes
½ cup edamame beans
1 tbsp. unsalted sunflower seeds.
Salad dressing made with 1 tbsp. olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and pepper
Dinner
4 oz broiled wild salmon and yogurt sauce (1 tbsp. Greek-style nonfat yogurt, 1 tsp. lemon juice, 1 clove chopped garlic)
¼ cup cooked barley and ¼ cup cooked lentils with spices to taste
1 cup steamed baby bok choy
* Dietary reference intakes.
Menu provides 1,155 calories:
33% of calories from fat,
40% from carbohydrate, and
27% from protein
Vitamins and minerals and their amounts in the sample menu, above (DRIs are listed in parentheses)
Vitamin A, 1,031 mcg (700 mcg)
Vitamin C, 383 mg (75 mg)
Vitamin D, 12 mcg (10 mcg)
Vitamin E, 11 mg (15 mg)
Vitamin K, 156 mcg (90 mcg)
Thiamin, 1.3 mg (1.1 mg)
Riboflavin, 1.8 mg (1.1 mg)
Niacin, 14 mg (14 mg)
Vitamin B6, 2.23 mg (1.5 mg)
Folate, 556 mcg (400 mcg)
Vitamin B12, 10.6 mcg (2.4 mcg)
Pantothenic acid, 5.5 mg (5 mg)
Calcium, 1,222 mg (1,200 mg)
Copper, 900 mcg (1,156 mcg)
Iron, 11 mg (8 mg)
Magnesium, 355 mg (320 mg)
Manganese, 2.8 mg (1.8 mg)
Phosphorus, 1,530 mg (700 mg)
Selenium, 90 mcg (55 mcg)
Zinc, 8.6 mg (8 mg)
Potassium, 4.7 g (4.7 g)0 -
I eat out or at my desk with a microwave most of the time: I do 1200 calories and have lost 97 pounds in less than 2 years. I do not eat back exercise calories either.
Yesterday: breakfast: Special K Nourish Honey Nut Hot Cereal; Lunch: Lean Cuisine Stuffed Cabbage with mashed potatoes; and for dinner at Steak & Shake fast food restaurant a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich with sliced tomato and baked beans. Snack: a raspberry chocolate truffle. I drank either 0 calorie flavored waters or water or black coffee or unsweetened ice tea. 1212 calories.
Today: Breakfast: Special K Nourish Brown Sugar Crunch Cereal; Lunch: 2 cups of Campbells Organic Butternut Squash Soup; and I plan on a dinner of a Donatos Italian Sub. Snack will be 2 of the raspberry chocolate truffles. Beverage same as yesterday. 1225 calories
I seldom eat the same thing two days in a row. Except maybe for breakfast. There are low calorie bread options. Restaurants have a lot of info if you look for it on their websites. And you can get nutrition info from packages or scan the barcode with MFP on your phone or tablet.
One question though: If you are "guessing" how do you know you are only eating 1200 calories? Even I know that unless I am weighing my food, which I don't, I usually go by restaurant website or package nutrition labels, that I'm probably off calories. However, it is the chance I take.
Foods can be tricky, too. What we think are low often aren't. The average restaurant salad is HIGH in calories (it is the cheese and croutons and fruit and nuts). You are better off getting a 6 ounce sirloin steak with cooked veggies when in a restaurant than a salad or even most chicken dinners. (Of course, if you are trying to cut red meats, etc. that isn't great, but me, I'm a carnivore.) Many advise that you order appetizers. Most appetizers are more calories than we are allowed in one day! They are usually deep fried or loaded with cheese.
Glad to see you are seeing results so soon. Most likely you are seeing water weight loss from your stomach. That is great incentive and as you lose more, it will be easier.
My suggestion is to plan ahead. The evening before, pick the restaurants for breakfast and lunch. Go to their websites to see what you could get. Plan on 300 calories for each meal. Or 250 and 350, etc. Then you can have a nice dinner at home with the remaining 600 calories.0 -
If you saw results in 3 days, you are seeing the water retention going away (or the bloating), so this is a transitional thing (hopefully, you don't bloat or retain water frequently). The real challenge is seeing is that 1 lb/week is realistic (do you have a lot to lose that can sustain that loss over a long term, like >25lbs). If you have < 20lbs, then you might be happier with the 0.5lb/wk loss.
There are lots of variety of things to eat and still stay below 1200 if you must. I started out at 1200, but quickly learned that I was miserable until I worked on hitting my protein numbers consistently. So with a lot of lean meats, I was able to stay full and still be at or around 1200 calories. I had a 35% split of my calories from protein, so I had to hit like 105g of protein. I am pre-diabetic though, so cutting my carbs was the toughest part. Once I had that fine tuning down, it wasn't hard at all and I started to lose the weight. I'm only 5 lbs. from goal weight, so now I am at a 0.25-0.5lb/week weight loss.0 -
Thank you! By guessing i mean finding the closest option to the food I'm eating. So far the two restaurants i eat from since I started this don't show or provide the nutritional values of their food (maison kayser) (untamed). I will try some of the options you suggested! Thank you again! Btw i love meat too!!0
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janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »Are you sure that you NEED to go as low as 1,200? Many people find that they lose weight while eating more than that. Where did you get your goal? If it was MFP, did you put that you wanted to lose 2 pounds per week?
Also, if a food that you eat isn't in the database, you can add it. If it's an individual food, you can add it as long as you know the nutritional information. If you don't have it, try looking it up online. And if it's a recipe, you can use the recipe builder tool to enter it. Either way, you don't have to limit yourself to what you can locate in the MFP database.
I just put in my current weight and height and did the recommended 1 pound a week. The number it came up with was 1,200. I am very very new to this and figuring things out along the way. Thank you for your advice!!
If you want to eat more calories (and it sounds like you might), you can try resetting your goal to .5 pounds a week. A lot of us find weight loss more pleasant when we go a bit slower. More food is usually a good thing!
I will definitely try that!! Thank you!!0 -
If you're going to eat the same 1200 calories every day, I'd go with this:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/womens-health/getting-your-vitamins-and-minerals-through-diet1,200-calorie sample menu that meets the daily DRIs* for a woman 51 to 70 years of age
Breakfast
8 oz nonfat yogurt
½ cup sliced papaya
½ cup sliced kiwi
1 oz (14 halves) walnuts
4 oz skim milk
Lunch
1 small whole-wheat pita
Green salad:
1 cup dark green lettuce
1 red or orange pepper
1 cup grape tomatoes
½ cup edamame beans
1 tbsp. unsalted sunflower seeds.
Salad dressing made with 1 tbsp. olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and pepper
Dinner
4 oz broiled wild salmon and yogurt sauce (1 tbsp. Greek-style nonfat yogurt, 1 tsp. lemon juice, 1 clove chopped garlic)
¼ cup cooked barley and ¼ cup cooked lentils with spices to taste
1 cup steamed baby bok choy
* Dietary reference intakes.
Menu provides 1,155 calories:
33% of calories from fat,
40% from carbohydrate, and
27% from protein
Vitamins and minerals and their amounts in the sample menu, above (DRIs are listed in parentheses)
Vitamin A, 1,031 mcg (700 mcg)
Vitamin C, 383 mg (75 mg)
Vitamin D, 12 mcg (10 mcg)
Vitamin E, 11 mg (15 mg)
Vitamin K, 156 mcg (90 mcg)
Thiamin, 1.3 mg (1.1 mg)
Riboflavin, 1.8 mg (1.1 mg)
Niacin, 14 mg (14 mg)
Vitamin B6, 2.23 mg (1.5 mg)
Folate, 556 mcg (400 mcg)
Vitamin B12, 10.6 mcg (2.4 mcg)
Pantothenic acid, 5.5 mg (5 mg)
Calcium, 1,222 mg (1,200 mg)
Copper, 900 mcg (1,156 mcg)
Iron, 11 mg (8 mg)
Magnesium, 355 mg (320 mg)
Manganese, 2.8 mg (1.8 mg)
Phosphorus, 1,530 mg (700 mg)
Selenium, 90 mcg (55 mcg)
Zinc, 8.6 mg (8 mg)
Potassium, 4.7 g (4.7 g)
Very helpful!!thank you!!0 -
I'm 130 pounds and would like to be 115/120 i would be happy with that. I'm only 5ft tall. Yes i will try to increase my protein with lean meats so i can feel more full. Carbs will be the death of me lol but i have to curb it. Thank you!If you saw results in 3 days, you are seeing the water retention going away (or the bloating), so this is a transitional thing (hopefully, you don't bloat or retain water frequently). The real challenge is seeing is that 1 lb/week is realistic (do you have a lot to lose that can sustain that loss over a long term, like >25lbs). If you have < 20lbs, then you might be happier with the 0.5lb/wk loss.
There are lots of variety of things to eat and still stay below 1200 if you must. I started out at 1200, but quickly learned that I was miserable until I worked on hitting my protein numbers consistently. So with a lot of lean meats, I was able to stay full and still be at or around 1200 calories. I had a 35% split of my calories from protein, so I had to hit like 105g of protein. I am pre-diabetic though, so cutting my carbs was the toughest part. Once I had that fine tuning down, it wasn't hard at all and I started to lose the weight. I'm only 5 lbs. from goal weight, so now I am at a 0.25-0.5lb/week weight loss.
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Thank you all again! This has been very helpful. I really appreciate it!0
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I try to eat at 1,200 Mon-Thurs, I feel you that it can be tough! It helps that I'm not very hungry in the mornings, so I wait until about 1pm to start eating, and it lets me eat a bigger lunch and dinner, then snacks at night. A few times a week I'll have a lean cuisine, which are tasty and usually around 250-350 calories. There are simple things you can cook that make great low calorie meals. On Sundays I often throw together a bunch of cut up chicken breast, onions, peppers, toss with a little olive oil and a lot of spices (cumin, chili powder, paprika, garlic salt) and bake for about 40 minutes. I put some on a tortilla with salsa, and it's a delicious chicken fajita for about 250 cals, and lunch for the week. I do this with shrimp too. Another idea is saute some shrimp or chicken with a bag of mixed veggies and rice, and a little soy sauce. Chicken breast with spices can also be used for quesadillas (I pretty much live on these lol). Reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese, onions, peppers, chicken on two tortillas. I use the lower carb kind and they taste like regular.
Exercise can buy some extra calories too!
Good luck!!
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I try to eat at 1,200 Mon-Thurs, I feel you that it can be tough! It helps that I'm not very hungry in the mornings, so I wait until about 1pm to start eating, and it lets me eat a bigger lunch and dinner, then snacks at night. A few times a week I'll have a lean cuisine, which are tasty and usually around 250-350 calories. There are simple things you can cook that make great low calorie meals. On Sundays I often throw together a bunch of cut up chicken breast, onions, peppers, toss with a little olive oil and a lot of spices (cumin, chili powder, paprika, garlic salt) and bake for about 40 minutes. I put some on a tortilla with salsa, and it's a delicious chicken fajita for about 250 cals, and lunch for the week. I do this with shrimp too. Another idea is saute some shrimp or chicken with a bag of mixed veggies and rice, and a little soy sauce. Chicken breast with spices can also be used for quesadillas (I pretty much live on these lol). Reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese, onions, peppers, chicken on two tortillas. I use the lower carb kind and they taste like regular.
Exercise can buy some extra calories too! Good luck!!
Awesome! Thanks for the tips! I will try it!0 -
During the week, I pretty much make a low calorie crustless quiche and eat a slice before work. It's quick and easy so I don't have to worry about it.
I also cook and freeze portions of soup, stew, chili, etc. and make sure that all of these are 175-250 calories or so and I grab one and go everyday (if I'm not having leftovers of dinner).
Dinners can be whatever - I tend to plan them out a week in advance with the family, so that we all know what we're eating and so grocery shopping is easier. We do casseroles, curries, steak, tacos, quesadillas, pita pizzas - anything!0 -
Why on every single 1200 calorie thread do people jump in and question the OPs choice of eating 1200 calories? The OP didn't ask if her calorie goal was accurate. Please don't derail another thread.
Because often, as indeed was the case here, the OP is getting 1200 calories because they set an over-aggressive goal for the amount of weight they have to lose.0 -
Queenmunchy wrote: »During the week, I pretty much make a low calorie crustless quiche and eat a slice before work. It's quick and easy so I don't have to worry about it.
I also cook and freeze portions of soup, stew, chili, etc. and make sure that all of these are 175-250 calories or so and I grab one and go everyday (if I'm not having leftovers of dinner).
Dinners can be whatever - I tend to plan them out a week in advance with the family, so that we all know what we're eating and so grocery shopping is easier. We do casseroles, curries, steak, tacos, quesadillas, pita pizzas - anything!
Thank you for the tips!!0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Why on every single 1200 calorie thread do people jump in and question the OPs choice of eating 1200 calories? The OP didn't ask if her calorie goal was accurate. Please don't derail another thread.
Because often, as indeed was the case here, the OP is getting 1200 calories because they set an over-aggressive goal for the amount of weight they have to lose.
I don't know about an over aggressive goal i put in my height 5ft and weight 130lbs and the goal weight i would like to be which is 115/120lbs and it gave me a recommended 1 pound per week.
I now see that i can change that to .5lbs per week. Because as I said i am new to this app. I followed what it recommended, and now that I see it doesn't quite work for me i can adjust it0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Why on every single 1200 calorie thread do people jump in and question the OPs choice of eating 1200 calories? The OP didn't ask if her calorie goal was accurate. Please don't derail another thread.
Because often, as indeed was the case here, the OP is getting 1200 calories because they set an over-aggressive goal for the amount of weight they have to lose.
I don't know about an over aggressive goal i put in my height 5ft and weight 130lbs and the goal weight i would like to be which is 115/120lbs and it gave me a recommended 1 pound per week.
I know see that i can change that to .5lbs per week. Because as I said i am new to this app. I followed what it recommended, and now that I see it doesn't quite work for me i can adjust it
Unless the app has changed, it doesn't recommend a goal rate of loss for you -- you choose that. That's not to say you're at fault, lots of people choose the higher rate.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Why on every single 1200 calorie thread do people jump in and question the OPs choice of eating 1200 calories? The OP didn't ask if her calorie goal was accurate. Please don't derail another thread.
Because often, as indeed was the case here, the OP is getting 1200 calories because they set an over-aggressive goal for the amount of weight they have to lose.
Agreed...with only 10-15 lbs to lose and being (relatively) small to begin with, even a pound a week is pretty aggressive0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »Why on every single 1200 calorie thread do people jump in and question the OPs choice of eating 1200 calories? The OP didn't ask if her calorie goal was accurate. Please don't derail another thread.
Because often, as indeed was the case here, the OP is getting 1200 calories because they set an over-aggressive goal for the amount of weight they have to lose.
I don't know about an over aggressive goal i put in my height 5ft and weight 130lbs and the goal weight i would like to be which is 115/120lbs and it gave me a recommended 1 pound per week.
I know see that i can change that to .5lbs per week. Because as I said i am new to this app. I followed what it recommended, and now that I see it doesn't quite work for me i can adjust it
Unless the app has changed, it doesn't recommend a goal rate of loss for you -- you choose that. That's not to say you're at fault, lots of people choose the higher rate.
Next to the 1 pound per week it said "recommended" that was when i first put in all of my data. I now can change it to whatever I want.
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