low in calories

I am only limited to 1200 calories a day which is not a lot. When i started to post everything I eat, I didn't realize how much calories everything is. Does anyone have any good tips on making good dinners that are low in calories? Also what do you all eat during the day that are low in calories? thanks for any tips.

Here is an idea of my typical 1200 calorie day. It leaves 250-300 calories leftover for snacks throughout the day. (Usually I eat more than 1200 calories because of exercise, but I keep about the same calorie amounts per meals, I just add another meal if I need to. I also usually split my lunch into two times: I eat half my lunch at 11am and the other half at 1pm. I tend to eat the same things for breakfast and lunch, but dinner is always different.)

300 calorie Breakfast- Cereal: 1 cup Kashi Strawberry Fields, 10 fresh blueberries, and 3/4 cup milk.
Drink: 1 cup of 100% orange juice.

350 calorie Lunch- Salad: 2 cups of spinach, 6 small cooked shrimp, 2 tbsp Kraft Asian Sesame Dressing, 1 green onion, 1/4 cup cilantro.
Peanut butter sandwich:1 tbsp of peanut butter and 1 slice of wheat bread.
Fruit: 1 banana.

300 calorie Dinner- Portabella Mushroom Sandwich: 1 portabella mushroom, 1 slice of Swiss cheese, 1/2 a kaiser roll, 1 cup spinach, 1 cup vegetable broth, 2 tsp Dijon mustard, 2 tsp horseradish, 1 clove garlic
Hungry Girl Butternut Squash Fries: 1/2 lb butternut squash, 1 tsp sea salt

If you are looking for recipes, check out the recipe forum. There are so many yummy options that will keep you within your goal of 1200 calories a day. Good luck!

You can save a lot in calories by using more spices & less marinades on your meats. I like to order from this place:

http://www.savoryspiceshop.com/index.html

Good luck! :flowerforyou:

those spices were worth every dime! I sent a package to my 2 sons also! Yummo!

An easy way to fill up your dinner plate is to include 2 cups of steamed veggies. Add a lean protein and some whole grains and you might even have some left over for some vegan buttery spread.

Vegan butters and cream cheese are much lower in calorie than its dairy counterparts ... if you stick with Tofutti and Smart Balance they will be soy or olive oil based, very healthy.

I try to limit my non-produce carbs to whole grain orowheat muffins, quaker rice cakes, and a high fiber cereal.

Here's a massive salad at only 96 calories: 6 romaine lettuce leaves, 1 cup sliced cucumbers, 1 roma tomato, 1/2 yellow pepper ... there are zero-calorie dressings you can splash on and call it a 100-calorie snack but it's quite good without. If you have some calories left over from another meal or exercise you can crumble a plain rice cake over it for another 35 calories. Or top it off with some protein and call it dinner! You can even toss it into a vegetable broth for a very soothing dinner (cooked lettuce has some calming properties and tastes better than cabbage, IMO). Or instead of vegetable broth, use water and add a tsp of ginger powder and a tsp of cumin powder for a yummy curry (splash a bit of lime juice after cooked).

A favorite "small" 100-calorie snack is a half a whole grain orowheat muffin, toasted then topped with 1tbs of tofutti's "better than cream cheese" and cool cucumber slices.

Anyway, those were my main staples at 1200. Good luck!