Looking for advice on 1200 cal diet

I am on 1200. I exercise a lot now so that I can have 1400.

I skip breakfast and have a coffee for about 100 calories.

That leaves me 2 meals at 400 and 600 calories each. And 2 snacks for 150 each.

I try to pack them with protein and veg. Lunch today was scrambled egg whites, one yellow, green beans, tomato, onion and fresh chilies.

Dinner will be bbq prawns and a green papaya salad with peanuts.

For snack I will have a banana and maybe a piece of toast with my tea at night.

You can do a lot with 1200 if you are careful with the fats and choose lean proteins.

angeljo2015 wrote: »

I chose 1200 as this is what I was led to believe you needed to lose weight. Typical day for me is

40g bran flakes with semi skimmed milk and a few grapes or berries

Snack of a nkd bar or some fruit

Lunch wholemeal sandwich with chicken and a thin scraping of mayo with weight watchers crisps

Snack of fruit or yogurt

Dinner varies from chicken roast, gammon meal, fish meal

I don't know your current weight, your goals, and your activity level, but it's totally possible that you could possibly lose weight on more than 1,200 calories. Have you tried entering your stats and goals into MFP and seeing what calorie goal is suggested for you?

angeljo2015 wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

angeljo2015 wrote: »

I chose 1200 as this is what I was led to believe you needed to lose weight. Typical day for me is

40g bran flakes with semi skimmed milk and a few grapes or berries

Snack of a nkd bar or some fruit

Lunch wholemeal sandwich with chicken and a thin scraping of mayo with weight watchers crisps

Snack of fruit or yogurt

Dinner varies from chicken roast, gammon meal, fish meal

I don't know your current weight, your goals, and your activity level, but it's totally possible that you could possibly lose weight on more than 1,200 calories. Have you tried entering your stats and goals into MFP and seeing what calorie goal is suggested for you?

I weigh 11 stone and would like to get down to ten stone or just below that, I'll try entering my stats on mfp, I do a physical job in the week.

Given your starting weight and that you work a physically active job, I'm going to guess that if you choose a reasonable goal for weight loss (.5-1 pound a week), then you will have more than 1,200 calories to eat. Eating more makes weight loss much more fun!

janejellyroll wrote: »

I don't know your current weight, your goals, and your activity level, but it's totally possible that you could possibly lose weight on more than 1,200 calories. Have you tried entering your stats and goals into MFP and seeing what calorie goal is suggested for you?

This.
Without knowing your stats, we can't give any advice.
Enter your stats into MFP, with a goal of losing 1 lb/week. Eat that many calories each day to lose 1 lb/week.
If you exercise, eat back 1/2 of the calories that MFP says you burned to fuel that exercise. Your day would then be MFP calories + 1/2 exercise calories.

Currently I'm on an order in diet but a typical day of 1200kcal when I home make things is as follows;

Breakfast
Banana 80kcal
1/2 cup rolled oats 150kcal
1 apple 50kcal
150ml Almond milk 40kcal
Cinnamon
Xylitol sweetener 20kcal
+ 500ml water

Mid-morning snack
2 Dark chocolate oat biscuits 90kcal
+large mug green tea

Lunch
1 Wholemeal wrap 200kcal
handful chicken 80kcal
Kale 20kcal
reduced fat hummus 100kcal
+500ml water

Mid-afternoon snack
1/2 cucumber 20kcal
20 plum tomatos 30kcal
+coffee with xylitol and (approx 200ml) almond milk (50kcal)

Dinner
Minestrone 120kcal
Small bread roll 150kcal
+500ml water

Pudding
2 plums 60kcal


I always feel full but I had to get used to eating like this plus I drink a lot!
I also practise a form of fasting which is basically I only eat for an 8 hour period (max) in 24 hours, it's like fasting but you get to eat still, I just leave a really long time between my last meal of the day before and my first meal of the day. I guess I feel hungry when I'm not eating but a) in the morning that doesn't matter to me because I've already gone 12+ hours not eating so its got past the bad stage and b) at night I'm not really doing much except sitting at my desk/on the sofa, and if I'm going out that's a cheat day anyway. So for the time that I am eating I'm always full and satisfied and got used to the fasting times and don't really notice it now.

I exercise between 2 and 5 times a week. Two 1 hour sessions of gymnastics (strength session+skills session) and up to 3 5-10km runs a week depending on how lazy I am.

I have more 'typical meals' I can suggest, ones bought from shops too if you're interested

angeljo2015 wrote: »

I entered my stats and to lose one pound a week and being active I should have 1,650 calories

That sounds much better

Enjoy!

You should open up your diary so we can see what you're currently eating and provide some stats on your height, age, current weight. I'm on about 1280 right now. I try and eat a lot of lean protein and fiber. My diary is open and you can see what I eat. Some days I eat a little more because of workouts, but I don't aim to eat back all my workout calories.

Disclaimer, I'm only two weeks into this, and I'm in a mindset I've never been in before. I will not fail myself this time.

When I get hungry, I drink water or tea and I get up and do something. Most of the time when I'm 'hungry' it's because I'm sitting on my recliner where I used to binge eat snacks. If I'm still hungry an hour later, I eat something.

Some days I skip my snacks so I can eat a bigger dinner or go out. I'm not starving and most days I feel fed all day, eating a little bit of something every couple hours.

I'm on 1200cals..I'm 5'2 160lbs (appr 11.4 stone?) I've increased my intake to btwn 1300-1400 because I see better weight loss at this..

breakfast- Lean Shake or oatmeal with 1/4cup 2% milk 170cals 9:30-10a
snack -banana 100 11:30-noon
lunch -a meat and a veg , sometimes a lean cuisine 300-400cals 1:30-2p
snack-apple sauce, yougurt, or some other fruit 100 5p
dinner- a meat a veg and a carb(like wheat spaghetti or baked sweet potato) 300-400cals 7-8pm
snack-another fruit 100 9p,
another shake if i go to the gym late ( I go btwn 10p and midnight) 170cals

1240-1440cals a day

Like krouch17 said eat around every few hours...you'll see a difference


Ohhhhh....1 more thing....How much water are you drinking? You may not be hungry, you may be thristy. Between those meals drink 2-4 cups of water!!!!

Mfp gives me 1230 calories to lose 1 pound a week and 1200 to lose 1.5 or 2. I thought that was a little low so I changed my goal to 1300. I eat back about 75% of my exercise calories (if I'm feeling really hungry I eat them all.) I usually end up eating anywhere from 1350 to 1600 per day. I have been losing at a rate of 1.4 pounds per week and am halfway to my goal of losing 60 pounds. I haven't significantly changed what I eat. I do try to get more protien and eat less sugary snacks. Mostly I eat less sweets because I don't want to waste my calories on things that don't fill me up or get me to my nutrition goals. So what I want to eat has changed a little, but I don't deny myself any one thing. I usually eat 3 meals a day and maybe a snack in the evening. I always eat a snack in the evening if I find that I'm not close enough to my goal. I will eat snacks during the day if I need to, but I rarely do. I try to make sure that I am actually hungry and not just bored before I eat a snack. I try to eat boiled eggs for breakfast several times a week or oatmeal. These things usually leave me full until lunch time. I eat Greek yogurt. I especially love the Chobani flips. They have a lot of protien, plus they are sweet and I do have a sweet tooth. I also love cheese. The laughing cow cheese wedges are great because they are perfect little portions. I really like the Fiber One brownies when I'm in the mood for something cakey and they have lots of good flavors. I try to eat more foods that fill me up and not just "empty" calories. I eat tuna several times a week. It is especially good with avocado and that is very filling. 1200 can be hard (I upped my calories from there and I just ordered a fitbit. I think my activity level may actually be higher than I thought it was even though I have a desk job.) But 1200-1300 is doable if you try to make sure that all of the calories count. I had a donut on valentine's day. It fit into my calorie goal and while it was tasty, it dissolved in my mouth and I didn't feel like I had eaten anything. I won't be wanting any donuts for awhile because even though they taste good they don't fill me up and they don't help me reach my goal. I think no matter what your calorie goal is, if you look for foods that will fill you up and leave you satisfied then you will be able to stick to it.

angeljo2015 wrote: »

I don't have a diary yet on here, how do I access your diary?

Click on my name in this thread, a window will pop up, then click on my name again and it will load my profile with the option to 'View Diary'

here is my 1400 cal go-to menu its a couple hundred calories over your 1200 request, but it includes 150 calories of vegetables which generally people don't count in their 1200 cal menu

breakfast calories
1.5 cups cheerios 150
8 oz non fat milk 90
banana or other fruit 100
coffee
fake sugar

10am snack
8 oz non fat milk or
piece low fat cheese 90
multi vitamin

Lunch 1/2 sandwich
1 slice wheat bread 110
2-3 oz sliced turkey 60
mustard
lettuce
tomato
pickle
onion
sprouts

afternoon snack
piece of fruit 100
150 cal treat of anything 150

dinner
3-4 oz lean meat (turkey
chicken, fish?) 150
1/2 cup starch (rice,
potatoe, tortilla ?) 150
unlimited non starch veggies 150
1 tbsp olive oil 100

total estimated calories 1400