1200 Cal diet

Hello All, I am a 28 year old woman. I weigh around 165 lbs and I am looking to loose about 40 lbs. So, i have started on a 1200 calorie/day diet plan.

My daily food intake is as follows:

Breakfast:

1/2 cup of frozen green peas, 3 oz Organic tofu, 1 cup of chopped oinons, 1 chopped tomato, 1/2 cup of chopped green bell pepper, 3-4 chilli peppers, 1/4 cup of cooked medium grained brown rice, a pinch of salt & 1 glass of water. I cook all the above in 1 tsp of Canola oil. It tastes yum. 228 Cals.

1  8 oz cup of Tropicana Light and Healthy Orange juice (low in sugar and high in calcium). I eat breakfast around 9 in the AM. - 50 Cals.

1 8 oz cup of organic fatfree skim milk. - 86 Cals.

Breakfast - 228 + 50 + 86 = 364 Cals.

Around 10.45 AM, I eat 1 cup of organic, peeled raw baby carrots. - 50 Cals

Lunch: 12.15 - 6" Veggie Delite Sub from Subway on Wheat bread, all the veggies, 4 triangles of cheese and sweet onion dressing (low in cal's) - 230 Cals.

Snack throuhout the afternoon:  (Previously, I used to eat another 6" Veggie Delite sub on Wheat bread with all the veggies from Subway as a snack - 3" around 3.00 PM and another 3" around 5.00 PM. But then I discovered that subway is very high in Sodium. So, I have restricted my intake of subway food to once a day and have changed my afternoon snack to the following.)

1/2 cup of frozen green peas, 1/2 cup of frozen mixed vegetables (green peas, carrots, green beans & corn), 1 cup of chopped oinons, 1 chopped tomato, 1/2 cup of chopped green bell pepper, 3-4 chilli peppers, 1/4 cup of cooked medium grained brown rice, a pinch of salt & 1 glass of water. I cook all the above in 1 tsp of Canola oil. 213 Cals.

1 bag Lipton Decaf Tea dipped in hot water + 2 tsp of Non Dairy Creamer  + 1 packet of Equal or Sweet 'n' Low artificial sweetner. 15 Cals.

1  8 oz cup of Fat Free Plain yoghurt  - 150 Cals

Dinner: 1.5 Cups of Moong (Green Gram) sprouts (raw) + 1 peeled and sliced raw cucumber + 1 cup of chopped raw Romaine Lettuce + 1cup of boiled lentils (no salt, no oil) + 2 tsp of fresh lemon juice.  - 196 Cals.

Total Cals: 1215 Calories

   My intake has the following:

Fat: 17.0% (23 gms)

Protein: 22.2% (67 gms)

Carbs: 60.8% (184 gms)

Fibre: 33 gms.

   I know that what I have mentioned above seems like a lot of food, but when I add everything up, it is not more than 1215 Calories. I am not eating any meat or eggs as I am also trying to cut down on my cholestrol. Can anyone give me some advice/suggestions on whether what i am doing is right? It will be greatly appreciated.

You need protein.  The more protein the better (as long as its lean meat, etc)!

Wow that is one intense diet!  Props to you if you can keep something like that up!  I am not a dieting expert but I have been working very hard for the past 3.5 weeks on losing weight.  Just starting this week (the 4th week) I am eating 1200 calories a day like you are (I was eating less before-bad I know-it was working but then it stopped).

Anyway I think what you are doing seems fine.  I am finding this week that if I spread my calories out throughout the day it seems to "jump start" my metabolism.  I eat breakfast, a morning tea-break, lunch, an afternoon piece of fruit, dinner, and then another snack.  I am hungrier....but I feel like it is working.  I will let you know as the week gets closer to the end and I weigh myself.

The 1200 calories a day should definitely help you a lot.  My only issue would be keeping it up!  I always try to eat anything I want to as long as I keep the calories at 1200.  For instance I eat whatever kind of cereal I want for breakfast, I just make sure I don't overflow the bowl.  I measure out one serving instead.

So if those things above are all your favorite foods- then great!  If not, look around the site for other tasty options!

PS- I noticed you eat 8 oz of plain yogurt for 150 calories.  Try Dannon Light N Fit.  They make it with splenda, it comes in lots of flavors, and it's 60 calories for 6 oz.

Your diet is impressive!  I echo butterfly saying that it probably takes some discipline to stick with your plan, so good for you!!

A couple of notes:  I disagree with Daisygrl...you do not need any more protein, and certainly you don't need meat.  No one really *needs* meat, and if you're watching your cholesterol, and easy way to eliminate it from your diet is to stop eating animal products, because all cholesterol comes from animals!  PLus, 20% of your cals from protein is totally healthy.

Also, I want to let you know that you're underestimating the cals for your Subway sandwich.  The 230 cals is their estimate for a veggie delight with no cheese and only mustard for dressing.  Their website says the wheat bread alone has 200 calories, 4 triangles of cheese (that's double the default cheese) will add up to another 80 to 120 calories, and a "serving" of sweet onion sauce has 40 calories, and they probably put on way more than a serving, if your Subway is anything like mine.  That's a total of 320-360 calories without the veggies, which don't add much for calories, but probably at least 20-30.

Other than that, keep it up!!  I hope it works for you!  Your breakfast/snack of veggies etc sounds yummy.  Go veggies!  Nothing makes me feel better than eating the veggies!

Thanks for your response. Glad I have some input so that I can continue what I am doing without all kinds of questions and doubts about whether I am doing this right or wrong.

Hi, 

I think your carbs are high at 60% - in general most people are at about 50% or so. I think your choice of veggies are high in sugar and perhaps you could look at other veggies that are not so high on the glycemic index ( just google it and you will see a lists) Peas, corn, carrots are all very high in sugar. Perhaps you could look at integrating legumes into your diet more - they are high in fiber and a good non-meat choice for protein. 

I personally think that cheese is a very high fat substitute for protein and stay away from it. Lots of calories for not much nutritionally, but that's just me. I do eat turkey sub from Subway with lot of veggies and I think it is about the same calories but might have less fat. 

Good Luck and hope I have helped.

Original Post by cawilder:

I personally think that cheese is a very high fat substitute for protein and stay away from it. Lots of calories for not much nutritionally, but that's just me.

At 17 percent fat, she doesn't need to try to eliminate fat from her diet.

Yes, they have Tropicana Light & Healthy also with added Calcium. It is around 50 cals per serving (1 serving  = 8 oz) and around 10 - 12 gms of sugar. The regular one has around 24 gms of Sugar and 120 Calories per serving. Yuck!!!

A veggie delite from subway with 4 triangles of cheese has more than 230 calories. The bread itself has 200 calories..

Cheese should add another 100.

you need to eat more fat! at least 20% of your diet should be from fat. but yeah, it looks like you have a lot of self discipline... or REALLY like veggies! also, where are the fruits in you diet? and the nuts? i know you use canola oil, which is a healthy fat, but some seeds or nuts in all those salads of yours would add some more good fat into your diet, as well as some protein.

you really shouldn't need to go to such extreme dieting lengths to reach your goal...

you should really start off with a more decent number like 1800cal first... 1200cal will send your body into thinking that it is starving and your weight will more likely plateau after a while.

with a diet like 1800cal you will lose weight, and then if you do plateau you have room to healthly cut out calories to keep losing, like go down to 1600, then 1500 then 1400.. starting off at 1200cal gives you very little room play around with your food. You will most likely end up platueaing, starving, binging and becoming very frusterated.

and then if you do reach your goal, you will still only be able to maintain your weight on diet amounts of calories... now do you really want to be doing that for the rest of your life?

sounds like a good menu for a couple of days a week, surely you'll want more variety at times? a little more fat wouldn't hurt, I agree nuts and seeds are good for that, excellent snack

maybe more legumes? good for you including dairy, do at least one more preferably two for a total of four fat-free dairy (isn't the plain yogurt so yummy? I hate sweetener and sugar in it!) because we need more calcium, protect those bones and keep your brain working! and plus the bioflavinoids that are so healthy

good luck and allow yourself some days with more calories just plan them

I'm on about a 1300 cal diet myself, sounds pretty healthy you may just need to add more protein to your diet and also be sure you don't go over a 1000 cal deficit daily. Be sur eto log your work outs to get an accurate reading on your Burn meter.

All, 
 
    Thanks a lot for all your support and encouragement and advice. I was totally in need of it. I will try to answer some of y'all's q's.

butterfly827:  I opted for the 8 oz of plain yogurt for 150 calories, rather than any low fat one's, coz all of the food I have mentioned above is too much food for me. At this point, I do not need any more food. And I cannot add any more veggies or fruits coz I seriously cannot eat any more food. :) So, in order to make it to 1200, I opted for the regular low fat plain yoghurt.

pumpkin314:  Subway sub: Since the subway sub's have so much sodium, I decided to do this: No to the following:  Olives, Banana Peppers, Pickles, Jalapeno Peppers and NO dressing. Only a teeny bit of salt and pepper. 2 triangles of cheese. I changed my cheese from American to Swiss cheese because even though Swiss has 10 calories more than American, it is low in Sodium compared to the American one. So, 2 triangles of Swiss cheese on wheat bread. So, with all the above deletions and changes, my 6" subway sub comes to 295 calories. (200 for wheat bread + 50 for 2 triangles of Swiss cheese + 0 calories for Lettuce, Cucumber, Bell Pepper & Onion + 5 calories for Tomato. Total = 255. And my sodium intake has come down by 300 mg by cutting down on the above mentioned. So my 6” subway veggie delite sub has 255 calories and 390 mg of sodium. :)

cawilder: You have mentioned in ur post that Peas, corn, carrots are all very high in sugar, so high in Glycemic index. So, I looked up the GI on this website: http://www.glycemicindex.com/. And according to them GI of 55 and under is low GI, GI of 56-59 is medium GI and over 70 GI is high GI...Peas, raw carrots etc fall under low GI...only corn falls under high....And coming to legumes, moon dal or green gram is a legume and sprouted moon is what I eat for dinner.. Let me know if my calculations are wrong. I freely admit that I am new to all this, so I may be looking at things incorrectly.

And u have helped a bunch. Thanks.

katydid_007: Self discipline? Yeah, I admit that I have a lot of it. But another thing is I am not used to eating so much food. All the foods I have mentioned as part of my 1200 cal diet is too much food for me...also the foods I have selected r very yummy. So there is no need for my self discipline... :) Coming to fruits, I am planning on removing the 150 calories of yoghurt and adding some more fruit to it...what do u think?

And I hate nuts...which is one reason I do not have them in my plan...also, I have looked them up and everything is so high in calories

 Which nuts do u think I shud add and how much like 1/4 cup per day?

Stacy shandykat: I am 5' 5" tall. Yes, there is a reason I have restricted my diet to 1200 cals. The reason is I am used to eating food only from outside...so, even though the portions were small, the calories in those portions would be high as a result of which my calorie intake in a day was very high...and now that I am not eating anything from outside other than my subway sub, the food in my 1200 cal plan is actually too much food for me...honestly, I feel stuffed...:)

   And no, I do not have any time for exercising...which is why I have settled on this plan...if I had time for exercising, I would have done a 1800 cal plan with plenty of exercise thrown in...but since that is not possible, I opted for the other way around...less calories and no exercise...although I do a bit of yoga whenever I find some time...

carmenxox: Thanks for your response carmenxox. As I have mentioned in my previous responses, the food is too much food for me...I feel stuffed...rather than feeling starved.

    Coming to temptations, I have not felt any for the last one month. My main motivation is conceiving a baby once I reduce my weight. So, no temptations or binging is veering me off my goal… And I have not felt any temptations or otherwise for the past 1.5 months….:)

newbarb: Thanks for ur response newbarb. I agree...I will include some variety in my plan once I get some time to myself...This weekend, I am planning on coming up with food ideas for at least 4 days of the week, so that I don’t have to keep repeating the same thing.

    Coming to legumes, moon dal or green gram is a kind of legume...I eat the sprouted kind...I also eat lentils with the moong...I will also try to add some nuts into my diet. which one's do u suggest...I hate nuts which is why I did not include them in my diet...also, when I looked them up, they r very high in calories...so, I did not opt for them...if I shud add them, which one’s do u suggest and what quantity? 1/4 cup of mixed nuts or 1/4 cup of one kind of nuts (if so which) per day? And yes, the plain yoghurt is yummy.

it's not about feeling "stuffed". I would feel stuffed too if I was eating like 4lbs of broccoli and carrots a day... it's about having enough energy aka calories for your body to actually be able to function properly, believe that it is not starving, AND drop weight.

like i said before, if your weight does plateau you have no lee-way for calorie cutting and it may just ultimately backfire on you and you'll just get angry and frusterated.

your body will drop its metabolism after a while to only burn as much as you give it... so eventually you will only burn 1200cal a day and your weight will probably plateau... I don't see why you just don't start off with a higher number because you will be able to lose weight doing as such, and then have room to decrease calories so you can lose more.

i'm only trying to help you... yes 1200cal may make you lose quickly at first (mainly water) but this loss will slow... you should not eat below your BMR

Original Post by sn13:

200 for wheat bread + 50 for 2 triangles of Swiss cheese + 0 calories for Lettuce, Cucumber, Bell Pepper & Onion + 5 calories for Tomato. Total = 255.

If you're going to count the five calories for the tomato, shouldn't you count the 12 or so calories for the lettuce, cucumber, pepper and onion?

Original Post by carmenxox:

it's not about feeling "stuffed". I would feel stuffed too if I was eating like 4lbs of broccoli and carrots a day... it's about having enough energy aka calories for your body to actually be able to function properly, believe that it is not starving, AND drop weight.

like i said before, if your weight does plateau you have no lee-way for calorie cutting and it may just ultimately backfire on you and you'll just get angry and frusterated.

your body will drop its metabolism after a while to only burn as much as you give it... so eventually you will only burn 1200cal a day and your weight will probably plateau... I don't see why you just don't start off with a higher number because you will be able to lose weight doing as such, and then have room to decrease calories so you can lose more.

i'm only trying to help you... yes 1200cal may make you lose quickly at first (mainly water) but this loss will slow... you should not eat below your BMR

 

    You have mentioned in your post that one should not eat belowe one's BMR. I just calculated my BMR and it 1565. So, I should eat 1565 calories a day? But since I don't have any time for exercise, how will I loose weight if i keep eating so many calories in a day? I realise that u r trying to help me and i appreciate it very much. It's just that I am very new to all this and do not understand what to do...:(