1200 calorie diet examples?? Need help

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luvmycandies
luvmycandies Posts: 489 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am trying to stick to my 1200 calorie diet. But I need some more examples of how to achieve this. Any good suggestions on this?? I seem to like to snack alot and I am hungry usually in the afternoon. I would appreciate any suggestions.
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  • SarahNicole317
    SarahNicole317 Posts: 302 Member
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    split it among 5-6 meals and balance protein, carbs, and fat and eat every 2-3 hours
  • kimberly130
    kimberly130 Posts: 166
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    if you'd like friend me and i you can view my food diary. I usually go over a bit, but that is OK. make sure you look at your calories as a week, and if you feel hungry or start to get a headache you can eat more, just make healthy choices. I find the drinking a glass of water does help before a meal and also add frozen fruit (cantaloupe, strawberries etc) to the water take away the sugar craving!
    good luck!
  • KansasGal
    KansasGal Posts: 268 Member
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    I have a 1260 calorie diet. I do my visalus shakes for breakfast and lunch and for my afternoon snack some fresh veggies and that usually leaves me a good amount of calories to work with for supper. Good luck!
  • RissaDean
    RissaDean Posts: 189 Member
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    I've found that sticking to a 1360/day plan (aiming to lose 1#/week instead of more) is way more achievable for me personally. I'm still losing weight at pretty much the same rate as before, and I don't have that terrible sinking feeling right after breakfast of, "Oh crap - now what am I going to be able to eat?"

    My diary is open to friends if you want to add me :)
  • aerodynamicvomit
    aerodynamicvomit Posts: 17 Member
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    Check my food diary, I almost never go over (unless it's planned) and I believe I have a public diary.

    I love high fiber oatmeal, granola bars, yogurt, Kashi cereal, etc..
  • _gwen
    _gwen Posts: 501 Member
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    You can look at my food diary. I'm tracking at 1200 calories. I always have protein with every meal. If I'm ravenous in the evening and I'm going to go over calories, I'll eat some meat: chicken, beef jerky, an egg, etc. instead of munching on carbs.
  • Karasene
    Karasene Posts: 140 Member
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    Hello :) I eat around that a day. I am on a strict budget so I eat alot of the same foods.

    Breakfast 2 tbs peanut butter on whole wheat english muffin-300 calories

    Snack: granola bar-90 calories or apple- 100 calories or banana- 110 calories
    lunch - 3 egg whites w/ 1/2 slice american cheese and 2 tbs salsa 100 calories, veggies, and fruit
    snack- pretzels - 110 calloriesor fruit( i only have 2 fruits per day)
    dinner grilled chicken120 calories. veggies- 40 calories and a plain baked skinless sweet potato 180 calories

    I hope this helps
  • fromaquasar
    fromaquasar Posts: 811 Member
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    Hey I have a 1200 cal goal (though I eat a bit more with exercise calories) My diary is public so feel free to browse!
    Protein and fibre are your friends, so are frequent small meals :)
  • IslandGirl072906
    IslandGirl072906 Posts: 14 Member
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    I'm also on 1200. You can friend me and see my diary.
  • innerexp
    innerexp Posts: 32 Member
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    I'm a huge fan of apples sprinkled with cinnamon. And when I have the calories for it, I add 1TB of almond butter. Another good snack is cauliflower- either raw or steamed and then flash seared in a pan with olive oil Pam, garlic and red pepper flakes. And lots of water!
  • ShellyMacchi
    ShellyMacchi Posts: 975 Member
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    feel free to check out my diary.. (it's public and i am set for 1200 cals net per day)
    i rarely go over, and always have lots of snacks and plenty to eat *S*
    (and yes indeed, i DO eat back most of my exercise calories *S*)
  • Kelly_Wilson1990
    Kelly_Wilson1990 Posts: 3,245 Member
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    Feel free to add me and look at my diary. I stay between 1000-1220 calories a day.
  • spacecase76
    spacecase76 Posts: 673 Member
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    lots and lots of exercise. Seriously. Eat at least half of your exercise calories.

    Now, with that being said, if I cook at home, it is easy to do. Oatmeal and turkey sausage for breakfast, I generally eat a turkey & cheese wrap for lunch, with a side of rice snacks if I am especially hungry, or a veggie. I can have like a 90 cal Special K bar for a mid-afternoon snack. If I make spaghetti or chicken noodle soup for supper, it is easy to stay under 1200, and I usually have room for an evening snack--even without exercise. Another meal idea is baked chicken with a side of some steamed veggie (or 2), I almost always have a slice of bread, or something, i am a carb-girl, I can't help myself. Really, this format of a meal will work with almost any grilled / baked lean meat.

    If you can't exercise enough to earn extra calories, look for raw (or steamed) veggies as a snack, drink green tea mid-afternoon. You just have to figure out what works for you. GL!
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
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    If you feel hungry a lot change your goal to 1 lb per week, and that will show you how much you can eat and still lose fairly well. Stay between 1200 and that number. That way on days you go over 1200 you will realize that you haven't failed. 1200 is borderline starvation, our bodies need more fuel than that.
    And remember that your maintenance number will be 500 OVER the 1 lb per week number, so even if you go in the red by almost 500, you will still be ok. You have to be in the red MORE THAN 500 (if you are set to 1 lb) to have the day be considered a "failure"
    (I "quote" failure because its really not, its ok to have a bad day every few weeks, it may even help your progress long term.)
  • erinkeely4
    erinkeely4 Posts: 408 Member
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    I eat a 1200 calorie diet, though I exercise most days (at least for a bit) and I do eat my exercise calories.

    I do better when I eat a fair amount of protein earlier on in the day. I also do better if I lower my sugar intake (hard for me!!).

    I like to sometimes eat a little more, though, because it's more sustainable that way, and I tend to stagnate in weight loss if I keep it at 1200 for too long. Every now and then I'll eat just under, as well.
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,141 Member
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    Breakfast, toast or cereal upto 200 cals

    Lunch, 2 egg omelette with peppers/mushrooms, 250 cals, vegetable stir fry 200-250 cals

    100 cal or under snacks: small banana, apple, small bunch of grapes, carrot sticks dipped into humous, pear, cottage cheese, tomato/cucumber salad.

    Dinner: you have 500-600 cals left.....

    It's hard when you first start out but you'll soon find filling foods and you'll be able to achieve your calorie allowance easy. Remember you can add more calories to eat the more you burn with working out!
  • epj78
    epj78 Posts: 643 Member
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    I'm incredibly boring....here's what I do:

    Breakfast: 2 options: Oatmeal with 1/2 cup frozen berries or whole wheat high fiber bread, 1 full egg, 1 wedge laughing cow w/ left over veggies (both are about 300 calories)

    Snack: Green Smoothie (about 150 calories)

    Lunch: Tuna or left over lean meat from supper w/ at least 2 servings of frozen veggies, 1 small piece of fruit (peaches right now) (300 calories)

    Snack 1: Greek Yogurt - fat free (140 calories)

    Snack 2: Raw Veggies (50 calories)

    Supper: Same as lunch (lean meat = about anything that isn't really marbled beef. You can get more sides if you stick to fish) (300 calories)

    It varies by day between 1200-1300 calories. If I have a leaner meat (i.e. fish) - I can normally fit in 1/2 a potato or something.

    I just follow 300 for meals (if I have to load one up - it would be breakfast even though I'm not hungry then a good breakfast keeps going throughout the whole day without being hungry). And then 300 split throughout the day for snacks.

    With 1200-1300 calories there is no room for "fluff" unfortunately :(
  • thurberj
    thurberj Posts: 528 Member
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    Protein, protein, protein.....it holds you much longer than carbs. Burn calories so you can eat a bit more, plus you may even like the extra energy that you get from the exercise:wink:
  • rmhand
    rmhand Posts: 1,067 Member
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    Been doing it for months
    Breakfast (6:30am) is 300 cal
    Lunch (11:30am) is 300 cal
    snack before the gym(3:00) is 200 cal
    dinner is 400 cal

    anything else I make up in exercise.

    I used to do
    breakfast 250
    am snack 150
    lunch 250
    pm snack 150
    dinner 400

    but my new job makes me take a lunch at 11:30, i wish i could do a morning snack to eat more often but then it takes away from my afternoon where I tend to be hungry-er.

    Friend me if you wanna see my diary.
  • CelestiHel
    CelestiHel Posts: 4 Member
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    When I add it up in a calorie counter, most of the days of the 4-Day Diet by Dr. Ian Smith come in around 1200 calories, at least initially. I have had good success with it and am rarely hungry.

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