1200 CALORIES IS ALL I GET?!?!?! HELP - NEED IDEAS

I walk a mile at lunch, 30 minutes+ on the treadmill at an incline and can pick up 300-500 calories at day.

You can fit a lot of yummy stuff in 500 calories. Sometimes its better to eat more to lose.

I'm constantly getting yelled at by MFP to up my calories because I usually end up at 1190 and I'm suppose to be at 1290 but anytime it's under 1200 it yells, LOL. I do lots of salads, watch my portions and limit myself to only 1 serving of most things. To up my protein I make sure to add things like almonds to salads. I also do a lot of granola and anytime I'm hungry I try to drink a glass of water first. But exercising more does give you flexibility in your intake, you can up your exercise by dancing while doing dishes or putting laundry away, make yourself go up and down the stairs for every little things rather then making one trip for all of it. I have to keep to a low salt diet and that has made me keeping the calories down much easier too because so many high calorie things are also high in salt. There's tons of great suggestions here though

Make the bulk of your menu fresh veg, with some fresh fruit thrown in to boot - you can have loads and it takes up very few calories. Make sure your carbs are complex ones, and make your protein lean (turkey is great - low fat and very tasty).

Also, make sure your lifestyle is set correctly - you may not be as sedentary as you think - I originally had mine set to sedentary but then someone pointed out that I run around after a 3-y-o all day and that's far from sedentary - LOL! Also, if you're set to lose more than a pound a week, consider reducing that amount - you can still lose weight and plenty of it, but you'll be more likely to succeed if you can eat what you want and having a few extra calories to play with can make all the difference.

Finally, EXERCISE. Walk everywhere, take up running or cycling, hell, log your housework too - it all counts! If you feel up to it, join a gym and use the machines there - they can make it a lot of fun. The more you burn, the more you can eat and still lose the weight. And if you join the gym, make sure you hit the weights too, as they'll help tone everything up and even with a lesser weightloss, you'll look slimmer.

I stalled at the same weight for almost a month but I look trimmer than I did 4 weeks ago because of the cardio and weights combo I'm doing, so even though I haven't dropped much lately, I still look (and feel!) way better than I did a month ago.

If you want to add me, feel free.

I'm on 1200 calories, you can look at my diary. I don't like veggies much either, but I do love mushrooms. Mushrooms are quite filling and a good substitute for meat; you can grill them or sautee them with olive oil and garlic- yum. Bell peppers are good also.

I like making pasta out of zucchini. I also LOVE Bok Choy, Kale, spinach, experimenting with mushrooms and asparagus. I add peppers to almost everything I eat (chili peppers/jalapenos/etc.). I like tomatillos too to give my veggies a kick. I like making steak from eggplant too.

I suggest you ignore the 1200 calories a day and do some reading in the Eat More to Weigh Less group

I recommend checking out the group Eat More to Weight Less...

Creepy dude, creepy.

bump

Popcorn is forgiving, don't forget it.

Hummus, if you want something dip like, is great and you can do like 100 calories worth of peta chips to dip them.

I love getting what's in season, the food tastes better- and I go from there. Check out wahts in season for your local area and go from there!
http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/seasonalcooking/farmtotable/seasonalingredientmap

I hit my goal of 1200 net nearly every day by being very active -- even on my rest days, I try to squeeze in a brisk walk over my lunch hour. Many days, I eat around 1600, but only net 1200 due to exercise. I'm not sure what "free foods" are, but I love to snack on watermelon and cucumbers. Apples and strawberries are really great, too! I rarely drink anything other than water (I have coffee some mornings) because I feel like other beverages are empty calories. Try flavoring water with slices of cucumber, mint leaves, or other herbs or berries if you get tired of the taste. Drink water if you feel hungry! I down between 8 and 10 glasses a day. If you're looking for filling, low-cal recipes, try SkinnyTaste.com -- I'm in love with her food blog. Try her loaded potato or chicken pot pie soup. Mmmmmm! I know 1200 sounds difficult, but you can do it!