Exasperation with meal planning...can someone tell me how to fit 3 meals into 1200 calories?
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There is a big difference between those who stick to 1200 calories regardless of exercise (planned or everyday movement) and those that stick to 1200 NET.3
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I'm not sure why posts suggesting intermittent fasting are being wooed. It's nothing more than timing your meals and for me it was a game changer. I've been losing weight consistently and effortlessly for the past two months. You can give it a go and see if it suits you. Most popular way is eating for 8 h and fasting for 16, which basically means skipping breakfast anc eating lunch and dinner. Personally I do 20 h fast and 4 h of eating, which is large dinner and "dessert" after consisting of nuts, youghurt, fruits or whatever I want. I eat a lot of calorie dense foods like avocado, oils, peanut butter. It's very satisfying and I'm able to have delicious "feast" every day.
Do your research about it and if it interests you maybe try it out for a week or two? It's very easy to stick to calorie goal this way.7 -
@PAV8888 you rock. That is all.
OP read and reread what he wrote. It contains some direct, pointed truths that you may not like but would be incredibly helpful to helping you dispel some myths, some of your personal beliefs, and getting you on a reasonable path towards consistent weight loss.10 -
This is what I was eating when I went from 320lbs..... My diet has changed since as my goals have changed. I am now 193lbs and building muscle and gaining. However 1200 cals is pretty easy to get in and not that I was very hungry on it. Here is a copy and paste of a sample day I had back in 2016.
Foods Calories Carbs Fat Protein Cholest Sodium Sugars Fiber
Breakfast
Skim - Milk, 1 cup 84 12g 0g 8g 1mg 120mg 11g 0g
Kellogg's - Vector Cereal, 1.09 cup 188 39g 2g 5g 0mg 193mg 10g 3g
Morning Lunch
Condiment ~ Kraft - Miracle Whip, 1 tbsp (15g) 40 2g 4g 0g 5mg 95mg 1g 0g
Alfalfa seeds, sprouted, raw, 1 cup 8 1g 0g 1g 0mg 2mg 0g 1g
Berkley & Jensen - Pepperoncini Peppers (Pickled), 3 peppers 10 1g 0g 0g 0mg 370mg 0g 0g
Onions, young green, tops only, 1 tbsp 2 0g 0g 0g 0mg 1mg 0g 0g
Pillers - Smoked Chicken Breast, 4 slices 80 2g 2g 12g 40mg 880mg 0g 0g
Western Family - Whole Grain Whole Wheat Wraps - Medium, 34 g (1 wrap) 90 15g 3g 3g 0mg 170mg 1g 2g
Lunch
Doles - Cesar Salad Kit, 3.5 oz 150 8g 12g 3g 10mg 390mg 2g 2g
Potato - Potato, 1.5 medium 165 39g 0g 5g 0mg 15mg 2g 3g
Kirkland - Wild Alaskan Pacific Cod, 106.25 g 88 0g 1g 19g 41mg 75mg 0g 0g
Afternoon Snack
Crackers - Nabisco Premium Saltines, 7.5 crackers 105 18g 2g 2g 0mg 225mg 0g 0g
Marks and Spencer - Small Apple (Gala), 1 Apple 45 12g 0g 0g 0mg 0mg 12g 0g
Raw - Cucumber, 4 oz 16 4g 0g 1g 0mg 2mg 0g 1g
snap - Peas, 3 oz 40 7g 0g 2g 0mg 10mg 3g 2g
Carrots, baby, raw, 3 large 16 4g 0g 0g 0mg 35mg 2g 1g
Coffee - Brewed from grounds, 5 cup (8 fl oz) 12 0g 0g 1g 0mg 24mg 0g 0g
Cream - Half and half, 4 tbsp 78 3g 7g 2g 22mg 25mg 0g 0g
TOTAL: 1,217 167g 33g 64g 119mg 2,632mg 44g 15g
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dustedwithsugar wrote: »I'm not sure why posts suggesting intermittent fasting are being wooed. It's nothing more than timing your meals and for me it was a game changer. I've been losing weight consistently and effortlessly for the past two months. You can give it a go and see if it suits you. Most popular way is eating for 8 h and fasting for 16, which basically means skipping breakfast anc eating lunch and dinner. Personally I do 20 h fast and 4 h of eating, which is large dinner and "dessert" after consisting of nuts, youghurt, fruits or whatever I want. I eat a lot of calorie dense foods like avocado, oils, peanut butter. It's very satisfying and I'm able to have delicious "feast" every day.
Do your research about it and if it interests you maybe try it out for a week or two? It's very easy to stick to calorie goal this way.
It's probably because OP's problem is not figuring out how to eat 1200. It's that she is trying to lose weight too fast, is not logging accurately, and is buying into so many diet myths she is ignoring the suggestions to go back to the basics and adjust her expectations.
There are lots of folks on here who do IF. It may very well help OP stick to 1200. But many are questioning whether sticking to 1200 will help or hurt her.
Also, lots of people think Woo is a positive, so it's possible there are some IFers who are actually cheering those posts.3 -
Sorry, I can't. I fit mine in to the 1980 calories MFP allows me. Are you sure 1200 is correct for you?0
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TrishB19605 wrote: »Unfortunately, for us short chubby females that 1200 is a hard reality. I’ve been at it almost a year and the meals are a constant struggle. Good news I’ve kept off the 35 lost pounds, but pushing forward for more loss to get below even 170 is proving most challenging.
I completely agree! If I go over 1200, I am gaining weight. Sometimes it is a struggle because I want that extra something, but then I remember I am finally keeping weight off and it gets me through. I feel you on the moving forward with loss- it just seems like a constant battle for a couple pounds a week, but I feel so much better as the weight comes off so I know I have to stay with it. It's no longer just a "diet," but a way of life.3 -
hellbound747 wrote: »You should really be consuming between 2000 cals recommened daily allowance or consume 1900 cals.
1 day = 1900 cal intake of food
Train (exercise) = burn approx 200 cals per say
That day day will total up to 1700 cals overall.
Its healthier to burn into your calorie intake than it is starving yourself.
Hope this makes sense.
Wait....what?
OP is 5'3" tall & 57 years old. I'm slightly taller (but same age) and would gain on 1900 calories............0 -
MonaRaeHill wrote: »I should have said: "Can someone (anyone) please tell me how to fit 3 very simple (=easy), vegan meals (other then salads) into 1200 calories a day?" I realize now, that that would have been a bit more specific!
Use this site for ideas.......you put in the calories, and what you like to eat (vegan)....it will generate menus & recipes.
https://www.eatthismuch.com/0 -
It's very individual. There are estimates but there can be done outliers. I'm eating 1500-1600 net per day and losing 1lb per week. I'm 5'4" and 52. I started at 2 lbs per week but I upped my calories. I would not gain on 1900 calories net that would be close to my maintenance now (2000-2100) so I'd probably stay the same due to inaccuries in calculations. I've lost 39 lbs. Since July 2017. Since I've been using mfp I actually think I have a much faster metabolism that I thought.1
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I’ve been doing 1200 a day for over a year. It’s not that difficult, it just takes some planning and effort. It can be done, it’s not impossible. I’m not miserable and can live on 1200 a day just fine. I’m down 30lb and in maintenance.1
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corkdorkva wrote: »TrishB19605 wrote: »Unfortunately, for us short chubby females that 1200 is a hard reality. I’ve been at it almost a year and the meals are a constant struggle. Good news I’ve kept off the 35 lost pounds, but pushing forward for more loss to get below even 170 is proving most challenging.
I completely agree! If I go over 1200, I am gaining weight. Sometimes it is a struggle because I want that extra something, but then I remember I am finally keeping weight off and it gets me through. I feel you on the moving forward with loss- it just seems like a constant battle for a couple pounds a week, but I feel so much better as the weight comes off so I know I have to stay with it. It's no longer just a "diet," but a way of life.
Wait - so which is it? If you eat over 1200 you gain, but then you refer to just a couple pounds a week loss... a couple pounds per week is the most aggressive rate of loss recommended and not appropriate for all people, especially those with less to lose.
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If you are in maintenance why are you still eating at 1200 calories?I’ve been doing 1200 a day for over a year. It’s not that difficult, it just takes some planning and effort. It can be done, it’s not impossible. I’m not miserable and can live on 1200 a day just fine. I’m down 30lb and in maintenance.
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I find 1200 a day an opportunity to be creative. A meal plan is just an organized list of options you rely on, so you're not re-inventing the wheel each meal. You can make measuring and weighing portions a game.
Breakfast: rice cake with 1 T almond butter. Decaf with stevia and whipped, skim, milk.
Lunch: rice cake with a portion of pre-measured guacomole (I purchase at Costco: very handy!), and two slices of turkey breast.
Snacks: either a FiberOne bar, low-fat cheese stick, raw vegs, and apple, or some non-fat Greek plain yogurt sweetened with Stevia
Dinner: (I save most of my calories for dinner!) I stick to a 500 calorie or lower lean-meat entree, and round it out with vegs, a protein-rich carb (garbanzo beans, for example), salad, or a grapefruit. If I have remaining calories, I treat myself to either the FiberOne bar, or a small amount of VERY dark chocolate.
It takes only a short time for the above to actually feel abundant, which made me realize how much I was consuming before. 1200 is tricky, but at my age and sex, I'll not ever be able to consume 2400 again without gaining, so it's training me to be creative.0 -
scoutsback wrote: »I find 1200 a day an opportunity to be creative. A meal plan is just an organized list of options you rely on, so you're not re-inventing the wheel each meal. You can make measuring and weighing portions a game.
Breakfast: rice cake with 1 T almond butter. Decaf with stevia and whipped, skim, milk.
Lunch: rice cake with a portion of pre-measured guacomole (I purchase at Costco: very handy!), and two slices of turkey breast.
Snacks: either a FiberOne bar, low-fat cheese stick, raw vegs, and apple, or some non-fat Greek plain yogurt sweetened with Stevia
Dinner: (I save most of my calories for dinner!) I stick to a 500 calorie or lower lean-meat entree, and round it out with vegs, a protein-rich carb (garbanzo beans, for example), salad, or a grapefruit. If I have remaining calories, I treat myself to either the FiberOne bar, or a small amount of VERY dark chocolate.
It takes only a short time for the above to actually feel abundant, which made me realize how much I was consuming before. 1200 is tricky, but at my age and sex, I'll not ever be able to consume 2400 again without gaining, so it's training me to be creative.
There’s a lot of room between 1200 and 2400 though...4 -
These 1200 cal threads always depress me. We should be encouraging each other to find ways to eat as many calories as possible while losing weight at a reasonable rate. You don't get extra credit for managing to eat less than other people. Not everyone can lose 2 lbs a week and still get enough fuel and nutrition, and plenty of people are eating more than they think because they're not using a food scale and using incorrect entries. Women especially have been martyring themselves for centuries to prove they are worthy to lose weight and it makes me sad. Eating too little is one of the main causes of yo-yo dieting.
Sure there are outliers with very low TDEEs but they are the exception.
I was sure I was barely eating 1400 cals and not losing weight, until I got a food scale and found I was eating 1800 instead. I'm 45 5'4" and not very active. I'm pretty average on the smaller size it's not like I'm tall or an athlete.
Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now. OP seems set on the fact that she's broken her metabolism and knows what she's doing. I just wanted to put this out there for lurkers. Commit to a few weeks of weighing portions and researching database entries before deciding you have to eat a very restrictive diet.11 -
These 1200 cal threads always depress me. We should be encouraging each other to find ways to eat as many calories as possible while losing weight at a reasonable rate. You don't get extra credit for managing to eat less than other people. Not everyone can lose 2 lbs a week and still get enough fuel and nutrition, and plenty of people are eating more than they think because they're not using a food scale and using incorrect entries. Women especially have been martyring themselves for centuries to prove they are worthy to lose weight and it makes me sad. Eating too little is one of the main causes of yo-yo dieting.
Sure there are outliers with very low TDEEs but they are the exception.
I was sure I was barely eating 1400 cals and not losing weight, until I got a food scale and found I was eating 1800 instead. I'm 45 5'4" and not very active. I'm pretty average on the smaller size it's not like I'm tall or an athlete.
Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now. OP seems set on the fact that she's broken her metabolism and knows what she's doing. I just wanted to put this out there for lurkers. Commit to a few weeks of weighing portions and researching database entries before deciding you have to eat a very restrictive diet.
Well worth saying again for sure.1 -
My intake is approx 1200 calories too, I'm only set to lose 1 pound a week but I am only 4"10, so I guess this is why. I hate salads and soups as they leave me feeling hungry, so I never have these.
My take is to split this into about 250 calories for breakfast, and 400 each for lunch and dinner. Then everything else is snacks, I tend to have snacks measured out into 100 calories.
In a typical day I have: I usually have porridge made from half milk, half water for breakfast, this comes to under 250 cals. Then for lunch I will have a sandwich with some veggie sticks or fruit, if I have some extra calories I'll have a couple of nuts or crisps. For dinner I cook all meals from scratch, and have half one day and half the next between two of us. We usually have things like chilli with or without meat, chicken with quinoa or rice with veg, I'm also a big fan of stews or casseroles. I usually aim for about 400-500 calories for dinner. Today I had shepherds pie which came to about 2400 for the whole pie, so I just had 1/6 instead of 1/40 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »MonaRaeHill wrote: »I should have said: "Can someone (anyone) please tell me how to fit 3 very simple (=easy), vegan meals (other then salads) into 1200 calories a day?" I realize now, that that would have been a bit more specific!
Why does it have to be 3 meals a day... Why not 2? Takes less effort to plan and cook, making it easier. The meals are bigger, so perhaps more satisfying.
This was my thought too.
Also, how do you want to break up calories (how many at breakfast, etc.)?
As I said before, one thing that helps (if you want to eat breakfast) is to have a set breakfast that is easy and you do every day. Then there are fewer meals to plan.
As you said you are picky, what do you like to eat? Think in terms of building meals around protein (for a vegan that's largely beans and lentils, other legumes/pulses like peas, tofu, tempeh, and seitan, maybe some fake meat or protein powder if you like it), lots of vegetables, and whatever side starches (grains, tubers) you like and will fit. Nuts and seeds add taste and some protein, fruit adds taste too. To save calories try out things like spaghetti squash and cauliflower rice. Winter squash in general can add bulk and feel like a starchy side with fewer calories, and so do many root vegetables. A lot of this can be easier if you pre-cook components so they are ready to go (I roasted acorn squash last night to use during the next few days, I often plan bean dishes to last a few days), but if that is for some reason "gross" for you, there are plenty of grab and go options, although IMO that would limit cooking since it would be harder to do slower cooking options (like roasting a squash).
An alternative to salad that takes no time to make is a cold soup like gazpacho.0 -
MonaRaeHill wrote: »Mslmesq:
Thank you, I will check that out! Exciting.......!
diannethegeek,
yes, I mean 0 fat. any fat at all, I gain weight. like I said, think i broke my metabolism doing the no fat diets back in the 80's (yes, of 1900...lol).....ugh. I don't get sick from it, just can't really metabolize it. I had every test known to man, after my botched surgery in 2010. they found nothing. Sigh. I still have a very compromised digestive system, just nothing that will show up on a test........when they were done poking and prodding, they called it IBS, which isn't really a diagnosis, just a catch-all phrase to name what they can't explain.........
There are many things I've never been able to eat....fat is one...sits in my gut like a cement block.......rice is another, pasta is another, can only eat the most fibrous bread (11 grains and seeds); as for dairy, and bananas, forget it! Talk about gas and constipation! I pretty much have to add tablespoons of psyllium, if I want to eat those......and then I have to drink gallons of water to help them navigate in there. I love yogurt, but it does NOT like me. Same with Oatmeal. I get fecal compaction from this, and too many berries at once, too! (TMI, i know, i know.....lol.)
I CAN eat the Kanten noodles, which, I believe, are a boon to dieters, as well as the cellophane noodles........very, very, very lightly, is how I should be eating. It may not help with losing weight, but I certainly feel better when I arrange my diet this way!
livingleanlivingclean: I am lucky if I CAN eat two meals a day, with only 1200 calories to choose from. I just realized from another post, that my struggle since my surgery, has in part been because my medications are increasing my hunger pains, and I hate being hungry. So, maybe that's been working to sabotage me into thinking I've been eating normally..........maybe not such a normal (for me), diet, after all..........hmmmm.........will have to do some more investigating on this front.........geez. Never a dull minute, in this bod! lol.
I appreciate all your input!
Have you considered seeking out advice from a registered dietitian? You're working with a lot of restrictions and trying to eat a zero fat diet is a big one. That would eliminate a lot of recipes and staple foods people are suggesting here. It might be best if you can work with a professional who has training in how to work around issues like this.5
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