what fits into 1200 cals in one day?

I am counting .... but what should a day look like?

breakfast - 200?

snack 100

lunch 400

snack 100

dinner 400 (what can you eat for dinner that's 400 or even 600 cals?)

when I see it in those terms... it seems very un-do-able.  In fact I have not come closer than 1600 so far - it's only been 4 days, but... wow.

But this is what the site has recommended  - 1200 cal.  I am 190 at 5"6'  virtually sedentary at this moment due to an injury (which began 2 yrs ago and hence the weight gains - I was moderately to very active pre-injury) and this hindrance to mobility will continue for a while.

ideal weight (per site) is 139.  (I would be fine at 145.)  I will weight 139 in Dec. 09 IF I do the 1200 cal a day plan.
HELP... this seems crazy hard. 

Is anyone doing this? And what are the meals that coincide with these numbers.  By the way... I don't eat meat or fowl.  Rarely eat fish, but do dairy and eggs.

Thanks for any insight, encouragement and meal suggestions.

I don't know about how many calories you should be eating. I am 279 lbs and CC says I should have 1400 and I am at a quandary as well. Doesn't seem enough for me personally for someone at my weight.

I have been looking around for 1200 calorie menu's and I came across this one. Doesn't look too bad. Hope it helps give you an idea of what to eat.

http://diet.lovetoknow.com/wiki/1200_Calorie_ Diet

Are you sure, that doesn't sound right. I am only 5'2 and am 165 wanting to be 130 and the site said I should eat 1450.

I would think you would lose weight at your weight and height (Even sed.) at around 1500. Which will leave you a lot more full. Try it. The worst that will happen is that you don't lose so you cut back. If you start out too low you'll just get mad and give up. If you could work out too I'd say you could even go a big higher!

Veggie based soups fit into a 400 cal dinner very well.

I make a ton of soup and then stash it in the refridgerator and eat it throughout the week.

You can put almost anything in soup!  Currently, my incarnation has potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, and carrots/celery/onions sauteed in a tsp of olive oil, some veggie soup stock and that's about it.  Spinach/Greens go well in soup as well.  You can have a nice hearty bowl of the stuff for like 300 calories and it's EXTREMELEY satisfying/filling.

regarding how you split your calories during the day i don't think it really matters that much. personally for 1300 i've been doing about

350 breakfast

100 snack

400 lunch

100 snack

350 dinner

also when i first started i didn't just slash my calories from day one. i tracked my "regular" eating habits for about a week and then pared down in the places that i felt comfortable. the three biggest lifestyle changes i've made are

1) eat more veggies - very filling for relativly small caloric intake

2) just because joe shmoe says "here, this is a single serving" doesn't mean that you have to use his measurements. for me that started with my cottage cheese snack. i cut MY serving size down to 1/2 cup and i find it is a nice size for me. i can't even imagine eating a full cup in one sitting. 

3) cut as much pre-processed food as possible. while i don't quite get the rawist mentality i'm totally on board with eating more fresh food. they put all kinds of crazy stuff in those boxes. LOL

good luck!

thanks for your input... I have no idea why the site recommended just 1200, but probably the issue of no exercise. 

I feel encouraged... thanks.

I always have a problem with what I should eat for breakfast! But here are a couple of ideas for lunch or dinner that are between 300-500 calories--my husband isn't watching his calories and he loves these meals too...

Huge salad--mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, bellpeppers, muchrooms, carrots, peas, any vegies in the fridge?, rinsed canned beans, spinach.... a huge pile-high plate full! I don't like salad dressing, but 1-2 T. low cal can go on top. I am not a vegetarian, so I alternate 4-5 shrimp, 3 oz. salmon, 3-4 oz grilled chicken, etc. Fills me up completely that I don't even want to THINK about a snack! Keeps me regular too!

Soup--as already mentioned. I also add zuchini, cabbage, and beans (extra fiber and protein).

Stir fry--All of the vegies you can think of lightly sauted in 1T. olive oil--season and add a little soy sauce. Then I boil up equal parts.... brown rice, quinoa, and wheat berries (found at whole foods store). 1c. grains to 2c. water. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer until all liquid is absorbed (30 min?). Use about 1c. cooked grain with all of the vegies you want and YUMMY! Again, it fills you up so you don't even want to think about a snack. The quinoa helps you get protein in your diet. I add some lean meat or shrimp to mine.

K-bobs without the stick! Take cherry or grape tomatoes, muchrooms, 1" bell pepper cubes (red, green, orange, and or yellow), onion, garlic, cubed pinapple (love fresh pinapple!)... and anything else you have ever seen on a shish-k-bob!(squash?). Spray a baking dish with pam, dump vegies in dish with some seasoning (italian, salt, pepper...) Again, I add some lean meat or shrimp or scallops. Then broil briefly to burn the edges a bit... stir and broil again. serve over the grain mixture described above. Fast and healthy! 

Don't know about your injury that makes you sedentary.... but you might be able to do something... anything would help....

Wow ... this forum is amazing..you are all so wonderful to jump in here and help me like this. 

thanks so much to everyone.  I am starting to believe that 1200 is possilble, but more importantly, that if I occasionally stray near 1500 my goals won't be completely dashed.

COOL - Loving this experience.

Ok ill try to giv u an example hmmm :D-

breakfast - 50g of all bran with a bit skim milk (around 150 kcal if you want u can put 20g maple syrup which is 50kcal, tastes awesome!)

snack - a laaarge fruit (100 kcal?)

lunch - 100g tuna (in water) sandwich wooooot! - i luv tuna hehe (100g tuna is 100kcal, and 2 slices of bread; you could use weeightwatchers one which are 50 kcal ea, so it makes 100 kcal for slices - 200kcal) 

and maybe another sandwich again with the 2 weight watchers slices and 100g of hammmmmm!! which make another 200kcal

snack - kellogs bar thingui? - 100 kcal... i would prefer having some lettuce in ur fridge and just grab some each time u feel hungry

dinner - always some veggies which would make 100g max, and anything, you could have a sandwich, or maybe something sweet? a sandwich with jam? or maybe some fried eggs... or just cereal? :P there is 300kcal or 400kcal

this is a total of 1200 - 1300 kcal a day :D!

i would recomend you that everytime you feel hungry drink water first, and eat some lettuce as snack, and keep yourself ALWAYS entretained doing something, the last place you want to be is in the kitchen hungry ;)!

400 calorie (or less) meals I've enjoyed lately:

Pasta for One: 2 oz. pasta (I used whole wheat, but regular would work too).  Just over 5 minutes before it's done cooking, toss in chopped veggies (I used 100 g each broccoli and asparagus).  Drain and top with 1 oz. grated cheese (I used skim mozzarella).  200 cals for the pasta, 100 cals for the cheese, probably 50 cals for the veg.  Total = about 350 cals.

Chicken Tikka Masala for Four:  http://caloriecount.about.com/chicken-tikka-m asala-recipe-r187823  So yummy!  And refrigerates-then-microwaves well.  I've been eating this all week.  The recipe analyzer says it's 333 cals for the chicken plus a good cup's worth of sauce (3 cups diced tomatoes = a 28 oz. tin).  It's really filling on its own, but you could add a small serving of rice or potatoes or bread or some compatible vegetable for an extra 70-120 cals to bring it up to 400-450.  Or you could save those cals for a nice piece of fruit or serving of yogurt for dessert.

Asian Chicken Burgers for Four: http://caloriecount.about.com/asian-chicken-b urgers-recipe-r129751  243 calories per patty.  Put one on a heap of spinach so that the cooked meat slightly wilts the spinach and the juices turn into a yummy dressing.  That'll add a whole entire 10 calories per cup of spinach, giving you a 250 calorie dinner.  Or use a small whole grain bun (relegating the spinach to a side salad), bringing the calorie count up to 400.  (Me, I'd rather save those 150 cals for dessert - dice up some fruit, top with a smidge of crumble mix (oats, a little brown sugar and some sort of fat to hold it together) and bake in the toaster oven for 10 minutes or so for an instant lowish-cal dessert.) 

CC recommends 1200 cals for me also.  I started out at 1500 and as I have lost weight it has come down.   I have a whole grain cereal for breakfast, usually 1/3 cup oatmeal (before cooking!) 1 tbsp walnuts, 1 tbsp raisins, 1 tblsp wheatgerm.  That really seems to last.  Snack is 2 whole wheat ritz with 1 tsp peanut butter, lunch bowl of vegetable soup or half sandwich, snack 1/3 cup shredded wheat with 1/3 cup no fat milk, dinner flounder filet, broccoli, tossed salad with balsamic vinegar dressing.  I usually have a 50 calorie desert at lunch and dinner. I have whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce, grilled chicken, a 3oz steak, it goes on and on. I don't eat after dinner.  I can't tell you I am never hungry but I can tell you that I am beginning to feel very full after eating a cup of soup, and a whole sandwich is beginning to feel like too much.  Sit down and figure your food out so that you know what is coming and eat what you plan, it doesn't work to starve. I have lost 29 pounds since the end of August and have about 13 to go to finally not be overweight, not perfect but not overweight. 

The bottome line of this rant is it is doable and you will get used to it if you give it a try.  Stick in there, it is worth it. 

Good luck!

cc recommends 1200 for me, but i've found that personally i would much rather do 1400 and lose at a faster pace.

it's a bummer that you can't increase your activity, that's what i would recommend if you want to eat more! but to increase the volume of food you eat without adding many calories i have just three suggestions: veggies, veggies and veggies! non-starchy ones will add bulk without adding extra cals!

I try to keep myself in a range. 1400-1600. I'm very active, and working all the time. Only time off is when I'm sick with a freaking cold. Like know. But my calories intake is in a range base setting. Give me room to zig zag, and I've lost weight on a 1200 diet in 2007 over 46 pounds in 6 months, and then came to CC again losing around 32 pounds, and have been yo yoing backwards and forwards ever since.. I was 226 pounds when I started off with my 1200 calories range diet, and there is this site that I've found that can help you add up your weight and calories you need to lose that weight. I'm not allowed to use this site on here any more. Because a CC mod asked me to remove my link from  the threads. Do to the fact that people can figure out how to under eat to lose weight.

You have to find a save range that works for you. 1200 was good at first, but then my weight loss stop. My trainer told me to up my calories, and once I did that. I started to lose weight again. Going into a 1400 to 1500 range. Then I upped my range again when I started to lift weight heavily. You have to use what works best for you. I say. Try a 1200 calories for 2 to 3 weeks, and if you don't see any weight loss.. Up it by a few 100 calories.. Sometimes the body needs more to shed the weight. You don't want your body to think it's in a starvation mood if you are heavy into working out. If you are heavy into working out. Every calorie you bring in and burn want count for much, because your body is going to hold on to what ever is there to survive.

You want your weight loss to be a record of success, you don't want it to drop fast, because the faster it comes off.. The faster it will come back on, and I know.. I've been doing this diet thing for years, and 2 years ago.. I made it my business to make it a life style change, and once I did that. The weight started to fall, and it's still falling. I'm now 142.6, and sometimes I yo yo back up.  But it's all hard work. You just have to find that perfect balance..

Eating, Working out, and Time.
Time to eat. A time to workout and how long, and a shut off time for eating.

I hope this helps you.. If I'm wrong.. Someone please correct me.. This is just my option, and other people I've worked with suggestions.

Original Post by acarr:

it's a bummer that you can't increase your activity,

 

 If I gave the impression that I don't increase activity and eat more..........excuse.  I have never felt that I couldn't increase activity.  That is definitely a part of the routine but this poster said they were "virtually sedentary due to an injury"  Makes a difference!

My hat is off to you women. I am a guy and I have a difficult enough time with staying under 2200 calories (which gives me slow losses.)

You give me inspiration.

I'm not super active but I do try to exercise a few days a week.

Honestly, I think 1200 calories is too low for almost anyone.  I don't like the recommended calorie counter on this website at all... after a while I figured out there was no way I could eat only 1350 calories without starving all the time....

I try to stay around 1800.  The weight is coming off too.

i consume 1300, suprisingly it really isnt that hard, i just make sure i intake low calorie food

althought its not 1200 here is an example of my day:

breakfast = 308

a bowl full of cereal (uncle tobys plus) 118 cal

with skim milk 102 cal

1 slice multigrain bread 78 cal

vegemite 10 cal

lunch = 404 cal

chicken, lettuce and cheese toasted sandwhich:

low fat yoghurt tub: 67 cal

dinner: 313 cal

usually have fish, or small portion of type of meat and vegetables (lots)

snack: 275 cal

dried fruit: 135 cal

mandarin: 40 cal

banana: 100 cal

you can fit A LOT in 1200 calories. you may want to consider switching the amounts of calories your having- as in eat your biggest meal at breakfast. and 600 calorie dinner?! id feel like puking if i ate that much in one meal. most of the time i feel stuffed at 800 and have to force feed to get to 1200

There is this book called the Instinct diet that was reviewed on CC a while ago. All the meals in it are 1200 calories (adjustible to higher intakes), that includes veggie and meat, home made and store brought. They are high fiber, high protein, low carb and low fat- extremely filling. Give it a try!

Here's how I do would do it:

1 serving of grains (150 calories/serving)

2 servings of protein (150 calories/serving)

5 servings of fruits and vegetables (100 calories/serving)

2 servings of dairy (100 calories/serving)

2 servings of fats (50 calories/serving)

It's easier to think about it that way I think. So like, breakfast: 1 egg 3 egg whites scrambled with 2 cups spinach, 1 cup onions, 1 cup mushrooms and 1 oz of cheese = 1 serving protein 1 serving veg and 1 serving dairy

When you think about lunch think about how you're going to allot your "servings" so each meal has a bit of balance to it