1200 is plenty! - 1 week meal prep for 1 (500 left for dinner)

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briarihallow
briarihallow Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi guys! I haven't posted here yet but was excited today when I came home and my idea of my weekly meal plan came out to be successful. My goal was, of course, a filling morning/afternoon so that I'm not ravenous when I get home, and also a bit of variety.

I enjoy cooking but don't have time lately so I came up with a simple meal plan where I eat the same thing every day from breakfast until dinner, where I mix it up. I also picked good I love and am used to eating (with mild substitutes).

Breakfast Option 1 215 calories
1 C Reese's Puffs cereal (because yum)
1/2 C 1% Milk

Breakfast Option 2 235 calories
85 g cauliflower rice (homemade)
2 eggs (any style)
*Option 2 leaves you with 475 calories for dinner instead.

Snack 1 23 calories
2.5 oz Strawberries, sliced!

Lunch 327 calories
85 g cauliflower rice (homemade)
2 oz chicken breast (baked)
1.5 oz green beans
1/4 C black beans

Snack 80
2 tbsp (28 g) hummus (red pepper variety)
5.2 oz bell peppers

:#

Prep took me about 30 minutes to pack for five work days. I just put everything in the fridge and will be substituting coffee with tea in the morning and Diet Coke at lunch, plus lots and lots of water. It's unfortunate but I lose more weight when I drink Diet Coke because it helps my sugar cravings - I'm hoping I can get off of it by having lots of varieties of David's Teas to drink but right now it's my best option to help curb my cycle of restrict and binge that I've been stuck in.

Also, I chose cauliflower rice because it's an easy substitute for rice. I love rice, but I would eat butt loads of it if I were given the choice.

I also chose Reese's Puffs instead of a "healthier" cereal because why the heck not? I'm an adult. Theoretically. When I make my meals bland, I'm more likely to go off of my meal plans, and the cereal will help with my chocolate cravings. I'm hoping after a few weeks on this meal plan, I'll switch to a healthy breakfast option instead.

Overall, I think this is about $40/week, at least in Chicago. Not too bad, I'd say.

Replies

  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,028 Member
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    Just curious, why 1200?
  • sarhrgn
    sarhrgn Posts: 11 Member
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    This may work for a sedentary lifestyle
  • fatsheet
    fatsheet Posts: 15 Member
    edited July 2017
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    what's cauliflower rice? Do you make it yourself or do they sell them at the supermarket?
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    sarhrgn wrote: »
    This may work for a sedentary lifestyle

    This. 1200 isn't for everyone. I have an active job and need at least 1500.
  • Aerona85
    Aerona85 Posts: 159 Member
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    If your calorie need is 1200 and that plan works for you then go you! (The cereal would leave me more hungry than I started, so would a snack of just strawberries. But that's just me and my daily allotment is higher too.
  • chelllsea124
    chelllsea124 Posts: 336 Member
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    I eat 1200 cals because I am mainly sedentary. So for people like me, this works.
  • briarihallow
    briarihallow Posts: 5 Member
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    Sorry I dragged on responding~ I went to sleep shortly after posting.

    @MichelleSilverleaf , @sarhrgn , @malibu927 - I agree 100% that 1200 isn't for everyone. I sit at work all day, and struggle with chronic fatigue so I went from what was once a very active day (on my feet all day) to sitting around a lot and sleeping 8+ hours a day. It's pretty terrible and trust me I WANT TO EAT MORE. But based on my activity level and goal, this is my allotment. I'm hoping once I get my health stuff in order I can increase to 1500 and still lose, and of course any time I am rather active, I log it so that the app will factor in more calories. (I think maybe the title confused? I like posting/reading in the 1200isplenty reddit thread, so was just naming it the same).

    @fatsheet - The cauliflower rice I just made at home. I don't like buying it shredded (but know you can buy it at some stores like Trader Joe's), so I just buy a nice-sized head and grate it on a mandolin. Then I spray a pan with some olive oil spray, add salt and pepper, and roast usually around 300F for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. I just like the rice-like texture, but I used to just use roasted cauliflower (especially as a pasta substitution).

    @Aerona85 - The Reese's does have me a bit hungry. O__O BUT, I did eat it at 6 AM and it's now 9 AM which is usually when I snack anyways, so I don't think I'm hungrier than usual.

    @suzannesimmons3 - Oh trust me, everyone is in some sort of mortal danger while I adjust to this. I definitely am used to being active and eating whatever I wanted without much fluctuation in weight.

    @chelseahatch24 - Ah! If you have any tips on quick/easy to prep snacks/meals let me know. (: I'm definitely up to mixing this up from week-to-week and struggle a lot to figure out decent meals (usually lunch kills me...I tried making a salad a few weeks ago and it was NOTHING, I didn't understand!).

  • briarihallow
    briarihallow Posts: 5 Member
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    @fatsheet - Oh! And of course if your stores/farmers markets or whatever have it, it's AWESOME when you can make it out of purple or yellow cauliflower because it retains the bright coloring. I made a veggie stir-fry this way two weeks ago and it was so pretty.
  • Slimpossible007
    Slimpossible007 Posts: 16,298 Member
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    Here's some low cal ideas I do
    ______________________________________________
    Breakfast lunch or a snack

    Total 0% Fage, 100 g
    Walnuts, 20 g
    Honey - Gales, 12 g

    total 234 cals cut back on the walnuts to drop the cals

    ______________________________________________
    This is a main meal (this is the amounts per person)
    throw it all in the slow cooker and its done

    Chicken - Breast, 150 g
    Onions, 40 g
    Peppers - Red, 30 g
    Potato, 100 g
    Butter 3 g
    Schwartz Slow Cookers - Chicken Curry, 1/5 pkt

    I threw everything except the potato and butter in the slow cooker (
    I just boiled the potato then mixed the butter with it and served
    but if you want to cut out the butter you could throw the potato into the slow cooker also and cut the cals for the butter.

    total 309 cals
    _______________________________________________
    Breakfast, lunch or snack

    cottage cheese 100 g
    egg 1
    sweet chilli sauce 8ml

    total 143 cals

    ________________________________________________

    I eat at around 1600 - 2000 cals but these meals are really handy if I have had a heavy meal so that I have a fall back.
  • briarihallow
    briarihallow Posts: 5 Member
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    @Slimpossible007 - I've been seeing a lot of cottage cheese snacks around the webs - I'm going to have to try it. I've never really eaten it but that sounds like it'd be a great breakfast!

    I also need to use my slow cooker more! I think I should get a timer for it though although if there's liquid in it, I imagine it won't burn? Both my SO and I are out of the house about 12 hours so it's not super easy to set up a slow cooker all day. >_<
  • Slimpossible007
    Slimpossible007 Posts: 16,298 Member
    edited July 2017
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    @briarhallow I find that every time I use my slow cooker there is an excess of liquid in it ... I never add water

    Just noticed a mistake in the chicken curry .. there was also 80g of tinned tomatoes in that (adding 18 calories to the meal) again those numbers are per person, I put 5 times as much as that in because i was cooking for 5 :)

    cottage cheese is a super addition to a diet, some people find it quite bland so the chilli sauce peps it up a bit for extra flavor.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
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    I know 1200 can be managed if done carefully, but I can't imagine wanting to use any calories at that point on cereal when there are much more filling options for the same or less calories. Just sayin' :)

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