1200 calories/ day food ideas
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Replies
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Based on the answers here.
There's nothing that stops her from aiming to lose 2 lbs per week, aside from the fact that some people can't stick to the diet/calorie caps.
No physiological reasoning and 15 weeks of dieting is not long enough to cause any metabolic impact.
So, if @hsamimis can stick to her diet and exercise routine for 15 weeks, she can reach her goal safely.
The faster you lose, the more muscle you lose. That's bad.2 -
@hsamimis Maybe just skip the wrap (tortilla) and have Eggs and Avocado. Eat more protein rich food, soup and veggies (fiber) to feel full?
I was at 1200 for a while but upped to 1300 because I'm trying to be more active and want more muscle.0 -
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Based on the answers here.
There's nothing that stops her from aiming to lose 2 lbs per week, aside from the fact that some people can't stick to the diet/calorie caps.
No physiological reasoning and 15 weeks of dieting is not long enough to cause any metabolic impact.
So, if @hsamimis can stick to her diet and exercise routine for 15 weeks, she can reach her goal safely.
If you believe the statistics, and they seem plausible, 80 percent of the people who try to lose weight fail to achieve their goal. Of the 20 percent who actually make it to goal 15 percent of them regain their weight. It is not just SOME people it is MOST people.
The question other than preserving muscle mass is how to be the 5 percent and not the 95. As a hopefully reformed member of the 95 I can attest that going quick to get it over was my path to failure time and time again.6 -
If you increase your protein, you should feel fuller and not lose a lot of muscle while dropping the weight. I don't sacrifice a lot of my calories and each between 1,650 to 2,000 calories a day but I do a lot of exercise daily where I still create a significant deficit. My metabolism has shot through the roof. I'm never starving, feel stronger and I'm steadily losing 2 to 3 pounds a week. You have to find what works best for you and note that you can manually adjust the calories and nutrition percentages. I'd suggest wearing a smart watch such as Fitbit (or whatever brand you choose) and sync it to MyFitnessPal so you can see how many calories you burn for the entire day. That is the best starting point and then your nutrition and exercise plan should be developed based on total expenditure.1
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Based on the answers here.
There's nothing that stops her from aiming to lose 2 lbs per week, aside from the fact that some people can't stick to the diet/calorie caps.
No physiological reasoning and 15 weeks of dieting is not long enough to cause any metabolic impact.
So, if @hsamimis can stick to her diet and exercise routine for 15 weeks, she can reach her goal safely.
If you believe the statistics, and they seem plausible, 80 percent of the people who try to lose weight fail to achieve their goal. Of the 20 percent who actually make it to goal 15 percent of them regain their weight. It is not just SOME people it is MOST people.
The question other than preserving muscle mass is how to be the 5 percent and not the 95. As a hopefully reformed member of the 95 I can attest that going quick to get it over was my path to failure time and time again.
But this is not a long term case.
We're talking 30 lbs. That's 15 weeks. Not enough time to lose muscle mass and especially not if the weight loss is supported by weight lifting.
Also, Regaining the weight has nothing to do with how fast you lose it and everything to do with what you put in your mouth.
We can argue and the research show that people have the propensity to binge and overeat when going through restrictive diets, but it ends with self control.
The people I've both trained and trained with don't seem to relapse. Myself included.
I find and there's plenty of research around, that shows slow weight loss has a demotivating effect and causes people to give up mid way through.
All I'm saying is that there are more ways to skin a cat and regaining the weight is an effect of unhealthy habits, rather than being a failure of the diet.
Each individual is a different case.
If the research showed that rapid weight loss over a short period of time caused metabolic issues, i'd agree with you 100%.3 -
I completely agree with this article. I use MyFitnessPal as a tool but I've tweaked my nutrition and fitness plans to meet my needs and complement the tool. 1,200 calories was not enough for me; I would feel lethargic and too weak to complete my workouts. I started eating a lot more calories based on what my body requires to get through the day and have had consistent weight loss results (along with consistent daily exercise and meal planning).0 -
Based on the answers here.
There's nothing that stops her from aiming to lose 2 lbs per week, aside from the fact that some people can't stick to the diet/calorie caps.
No physiological reasoning and 15 weeks of dieting is not long enough to cause any metabolic impact.
So, if @hsamimis can stick to her diet and exercise routine for 15 weeks, she can reach her goal safely.
If you believe the statistics, and they seem plausible, 80 percent of the people who try to lose weight fail to achieve their goal. Of the 20 percent who actually make it to goal 15 percent of them regain their weight. It is not just SOME people it is MOST people.
The question other than preserving muscle mass is how to be the 5 percent and not the 95. As a hopefully reformed member of the 95 I can attest that going quick to get it over was my path to failure time and time again.
But this is not a long term case.
We're talking 30 lbs. That's 15 weeks. Not enough time to lose muscle mass and especially not if the weight loss is supported by weight lifting.
Also, Regaining the weight has nothing to do with how fast you lose it and everything to do with what you put in your mouth.
We can argue and the research show that people have the propensity to binge and overeat when going through restrictive diets, but it ends with self control.
The people I've both trained and trained with don't seem to relapse. Myself included.
I find and there's plenty of research around, that shows slow weight loss has a demotivating effect and causes people to give up mid way through.
All I'm saying is that there are more ways to skin a cat and regaining the weight is an effect of unhealthy habits, rather than being a failure of the diet.
Each individual is a different case.
If the research showed that rapid weight loss over a short period of time caused metabolic issues, i'd agree with you 100%.
Of course people give up half way through or sooner. Of course they are demotivated. Most of them are trying to go too fast and they end up miserable.
The goal is less motivation and less self control. The easier it is the less you need. I cannot tell you how many times I have beat myself up over not having enough willpower to stick to a terrible weight loss plan.
I am not a trainer so I am not at risk of getting fired for someone not meeting a goal that may not be wise. The OP is already struggling so all I care about is helping her find her lane. You seem to keep arguing for fast results even if the OP is struggling. Trainers have a bad reputation around here for doing exactly what you seem to be doing.10 -
@NovusDies I had the same experience as you. It took me till I was 59 to realize that slow and steady wins the race. Even when I lost weight fast I always ended up gaining it back because I hadn't learned how to maintain. Where losing weight is concerned I think the battle is more than getting to a goal it's about staying there once you finally arrive.5
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I am maintaining at 1300-1400 calories per day. I was at 1250 for all of my active loss period. Have not been able to add many more calories, as you can see. (only 5 feet tall, so I was never going to get to eat a ton)
I have completely changed the way I eat over the past year and a half. I've learned to bulk up every meal with veggies... lots of them!
Breakfast is almost always 1 egg + 1 egg white with green peppers, onion, diced zucchini and spinach. Occasionally some leftover baked potato diced up. Keeps me full until lunch time (I teach, and don't have opportunity to snack at all between breakfast and lunch). About 150 calories.
Lunch is usually a "power bowl" as I call it..... quinoa or farro with lots of veggies, whatever I have ready (I spend Sunday afternoons food prepping): roasted diced beets, roasted diced sweet potato, sautéed bok choy, diced zucchini, diced eggplant, chopped or riced cauliflower, diced tomatoes, edamame, diced cooked chicken breast.... all tossed together and microwaved. Maybe lentils or black beans if I feel like adding a little more protein and starch. Sometimes I'll add a T of a favorite salad dressing or sauce; sometimes I"ll add an ounce of goat cheese which melts and makes a kind of sauce. I try to keep lunch at 350 calories.
Dinner is whatever main dish I"m making my family... chicken, steak, shrimp, pork.... with lots of veggies, and maybe some potato. I love to make cauliflower "mac" and cheese (steamed and finely chopped cauliflower with reduced fat cheddar and nonfat greek yogurt) with my dinner. I've learned to enjoy that side instead of a pasta, rice or potato on many nights. Frequently asparagus or string beans. Maybe Zucchini or Eggplant sliced and roasted with tomato sauce and part skim mozzarella. 2-ingredient dough made into pizza crust with tons of veggies on it.
I'm definitely a volume eater, so I find that meat with tons of veggies is what works best for me, in order to have enough calories. When I was eating more carbs and less healthy foods, I was severely limited in the amount of food I could fit in, and I was really unhappy.
This is my new way of eating, and I'm very happy with it. Definitely a lifestyle change!
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Not that this is of any kind of statistical relevance, but I tried an expensive weight loss app before this one that gave me a calorie allotment of 1200/day with 40lbs to lose. It also gave back only 50% of exercise calories. I didn’t meet my goal one single day.
Now I’ve only been tracking for a week, I know, but I lost 30 lbs before (then I had a baby and here we are!) and I know the difference between something sustainable and something unhealthy. 1200 w 50% calories back was never going to work.
MFP gave me 1800 and I’m down 2.6 lbs in a week so 🤷♀️
Also my holy grail of breakfasts is an egg white, spinach, and feta cheese wrap. 200 calories total, packed with protein and delicious. The wrap is 50 calories.
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Based on the answers here.
There's nothing that stops her from aiming to lose 2 lbs per week, aside from the fact that some people can't stick to the diet/calorie caps.
No physiological reasoning and 15 weeks of dieting is not long enough to cause any metabolic impact.
So, if @hsamimis can stick to her diet and exercise routine for 15 weeks, she can reach her goal safely.
I got weak and fatigued eating 1200 - even though I found it very manageably sustainable hunger-wise up to that point - and losing 2 pounds a week or close to it at 5'5" with about 35-40 pounds remaining to lose. It took weeks to recover normal strength and energy level. I was lucky the consequences weren't worse.
Some of this is about how much health risk a person's willing to accept. Health is a bad thing to risk, IMO.1 -
Based on the answers here.
There's nothing that stops her from aiming to lose 2 lbs per week, aside from the fact that some people can't stick to the diet/calorie caps.
No physiological reasoning and 15 weeks of dieting is not long enough to cause any metabolic impact.
So, if @hsamimis can stick to her diet and exercise routine for 15 weeks, she can reach her goal safely.
2 pounds a week for 15 weeks? That's not how it's going to work. Weight loss isn't going to be linear.
Besides, as she gets closer to goal her calories to maintain become smaller. OP is assuming 1200 calories is a 1,000 deficit. That's not what 1200 means.....1200 means she has hit the lowest default number.
If OP's TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is > 2,200 calories then 1,200 is a 1000 calorie deficit. But she doesn't stay 2,200 calories at a smaller, and smaller size.
No physiological reasoning? I think a larger % of lean muscle loss IS a big deal. Getting to goal and liking what the end result looks like is a big deal for maintenance.4 -
Based on the answers here.
There's nothing that stops her from aiming to lose 2 lbs per week, aside from the fact that some people can't stick to the diet/calorie caps.
No physiological reasoning and 15 weeks of dieting is not long enough to cause any metabolic impact.
So, if @hsamimis can stick to her diet and exercise routine for 15 weeks, she can reach her goal safely.
If you believe the statistics, and they seem plausible, 80 percent of the people who try to lose weight fail to achieve their goal. Of the 20 percent who actually make it to goal 15 percent of them regain their weight. It is not just SOME people it is MOST people.
The question other than preserving muscle mass is how to be the 5 percent and not the 95. As a hopefully reformed member of the 95 I can attest that going quick to get it over was my path to failure time and time again.
But this is not a long term case.
We're talking 30 lbs. That's 15 weeks. Not enough time to lose muscle mass and especially not if the weight loss is supported by weight lifting.
Also, Regaining the weight has nothing to do with how fast you lose it and everything to do with what you put in your mouth.
We can argue and the research show that people have the propensity to binge and overeat when going through restrictive diets, but it ends with self control.
The people I've both trained and trained with don't seem to relapse. Myself included.
I find and there's plenty of research around, that shows slow weight loss has a demotivating effect and causes people to give up mid way through.
All I'm saying is that there are more ways to skin a cat and regaining the weight is an effect of unhealthy habits, rather than being a failure of the diet.
Each individual is a different case.
If the research showed that rapid weight loss over a short period of time caused metabolic issues, i'd agree with you 100%.
Additionally I don't think this has been mentioned yet, but too large of a deficit if you're a female can seriously mess with your hormones, even in the short-term.
OP has already stated she's hungry so whatever she is doing now isn't working and seems it will be easier for them to stick with a higher calorie allowance for a longer time than a lower calorie allowance for a shorter time.
As @TeaBea has pointed out, over-simplifying loss as 15 weeks at 2lbs per week isn't helpful either.
Using an example of a Lightly Active 5'4 30 year old female 160lbs aiming for 130lbs. That's a maintenance calorie goal of approximately 2000 calories per MFP's NEAT method.
So you put that person into a 1000 calorie deficit for a 2 pound per week loss, that's already taking them to an unhealthy calorie intake. As MFP bottoms out at 1200 for health reasons they'd only get an 800 calorie deficit, so that's not going to be closer to 1.5lbs per week.
When that same person gets down to 145lbs and half way to their goal, their BMR drops too, so their maintenance if keeping the same activity level is down to 1900 calories, if that same example person was sedentary rather than lightly active it would be 700 calories per day, can you honestly think that is a healthy or sustainable way for someone to live for 3 months?
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