200 calorie meal - does it exist?

I guess it all depends on what you call a MEAL ...

It sounds like unnecessary self imposed torture to me. ... if you are eating 8 or nine 200 calorie meals a day it just seems like 8 or 9 times a day to be unsatisfied ... how about 3 - 500 calorie meals and 2 - 100 calorie snacks or fruit.

That said for 200 calorie .... how about an open face egg salad sandwich and 1/2 cup of celery stalks (all calories rounded).


1/2 cup celery stalks (10 cal)

Mash together with salt and pepper, 1 large boiled egg (80 cals), 2 teaspoons Kraft Mayo (70 cals) serve on Pepperage Farm Very Thin 100% Whole Wheat Bread - 1 slice (40 cals)

Sure, I just had a very filling cup of homemade minestrone. 176 calories and I was struggling to finish it. I'm on the 1200 calorie plan as well, and usually break it up into five or six 200-300 calorie meals. Not hard at all.

Vegetables - White Cabbage, 400 g
Tesco - Bean Sprouts, 200 g
Spinach - Raw, 100 g
2 Tablespoons of soy sauce

Serves 3
Calories Per Serving: 79

The servings are big and will fill you up, plus it's just nommy!

Try grilling shrimp or baking in the oven.. the sm/med shrimp in the bag is only 77 calories for 3 oz.. with that you can do a salad with fat free dressing or steam veggies..

Salad can have very few calories espically if you use a spray dressing. Then add a Progresso Soup. The soup I had for lunch had 180 calories for the entire can!

maybe 1200 isnt the right number for you...it sure isnt for me.

I doubt 1,200 calories is right for anyone. Except maybe a small child or a little person. It seems most want to select the maximum weightloss setting, this is not always best.

Thanks to all for the specific advice!
From what I am hearing/seeing I'm just eating too much (I know duh) but
I think I'm just so accustomed to eating "more" that a can of soup for dinner immediately makes me think I'M GOING TO STARVE so i want to go cry myself to sleep...but I guess I've never really tried it and listened to my body - not cry.
I did squeeze in a workout so I got another 275 calories - GO RIPPED IN 30!

My view is it gets easier. Your body will get used to eating a "normal" amount of calories over time - whether 1,200 is "normal" for you, you need to work out for yourself. For me, early on at least, it was easier to maintain my calorie target if I planned my whole day (food wise) either when I got up or even the night before. Rather than thinking after lunch "OMG, I've just blown half my calories for the day", I'd know how I could manage my calorie count to ensure I had something to look forward to later in the day.

My biggest tip is to find something you like that's low cal AND filling, that becomes your "staple". There are some good suggestions here. One of my staples is steamed vegies - I now eat larger meals than I used to, but can stay under a reasonable calorie count by having a large pile of steamed veg with a small amount of meat instead of the other way round. If you've got nothing left but 200 calories, measure out 200 calories worth of fresh beans, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, brussel sprouts, spinach, peas and a small amount of carrots. Even if you're ravenous you'll struggle to finish them.

I couldn't do soups as I don't find them terribly filling. I'm okay with salads but personally I need to have variety in my salads to stay enthused about them (and it's often easy to accidentally choose a dressing that undoes all the good work). Best to experiment with what might work for you. But don't give up!!

egg whites! one of my favorite foods ever
I am currently eating quite a lot of processed foods, but 3/4 cup egg beaters -- my favorite is the cheese kind, since I don't have to add any cheese -- and 1 morning star farms vegetarian "sausage" patty. 180 calories or so, a TON of protein and barely any carbs.

This!

With 3 eggwhites (90 cal), add some fresh spinach or mushrooms, you will stay full all morning!

Chicken breast is another choice but you really have to make sure you are not eating more than 6 oz and no added fat/oil.

Big green salads with a 3 oz lean protein, no dressing, just salt pepper and vinager would be pretty safe too.

The other option is fat free plain yogurt with some berries.

But you will get tired of these if you eat every day. So plan ahead and leave a small treat for yourself by the end of the day.

Stirfry veggies with soya sauce and a half cup of rice. So delicious! you might even have enough left for an apple after supper.

1/2 cup rice, how many calories are in this? One serving of my brown rice has 150.