I need tips for recipes that stay in my 1200 daily intake

Please help! lol

I am bored of the salad and i am afraid of trying new foods becasue I dont want to go over...

What can I do that excludes rice and pasta?

Thank u!

Why are you at 1200/day?

stir fry veggies in a nonstick frying pan or steam them

google "entrees under 300 calories" and you'll get lots of results.

My daily calorie allowance is 1200-1700. What I've found is that I can have pasta, just not over the 2oz serving. I live by myself, and started weighing my foods to get a realization of what constitutes a "serving". I was surprised!

So, once a week or so, I'll serve myself a little pasta with homemade marinara & chopped veggies with chicken or something.

I don't eat much rice or potatoes, either, but once in awhile isn't going to destroy all I've worked for.

As long as you don't go overboard, you can have many sensible things.

After awhile, you'll get the hang of it. Good luck!

If this is according to Calorie Count: The 1200 calorie thing is one of its failings.  1200 is too low for pretty much everyone.  You're better off aiming at the higher end and eating enough food to satisfy yourself.

try taking in a bowl of low-cal soup with your meals and have smaller portions, it's much more filling and makes me feel more satiated.  why do you think asian people all have a bowl of soup with a small bowl of rice and veggie dishes?  :)

i rather like miso soup, chicken noodle (with not a lot of noodle haha), or tomato-based soups.  i make this really good tomato beef soup now with beef broth and it's divineee :) 

but some ideas for meals:  

• shirataki noodles (0 cal noodles) stir fried with frozen veggies and some soy sauce + sweetener. asian stir fry :)
• egg white omelettes (i actually don't make this too much, i'm kind of lazy haha and i love egg yolks)
• veggie wraps! stir fry some vegetables and wrap them all in a 100-cal tortilla wrap maybe with some hot sauce and hummus.
• tuna/salmon/egg salad wrap - can of tuna/salmon/mashed egg whites with some greek yogurt and spices to taste.  put into a wrap or low cal sandwich bread (i personally don't like bread too much, but you can do either or)
• zucchini "noodles" with marinara sauce and any kind of soy protein... basically use a spiralizer to make zucchini into really thin strands, top with your pasta sauce of choice and some kind of protein.  this also works with "spaghetti squash", where you just steam or bake it for a while and turns into noodle-like strands. i like to top it with pasta sauce and poached eggs :)

I agree with ootek...1200 is to low.....1500 should be minimum for anyone.....

I still eat the same things I ate before counting calories, because I have found substitutions for almost everything that I enjoyed before. Turkey pepperoni has been a life saver! I weigh out 3 ox of chicken breast, cut a pocket in it, and stuff it with a few slices of turkey pepperoni, 1/2 oz nonfoat cream cheese, and sauteed mushrooms and onions. mmmm mmmm good!

I have pasta pretty regularly, but make sure to measure everything out.  Barilla makes some stuff called smart pasta, and it's 170 calories in 2 oz, which is more than enough for a meal. Add any and all veggies you can think of, and then use a small amount of sauce. I LOVE alfredo sauce, and found out classico makes a roasted poblano alfedo that has 70 calories in 1/2 a cup, which nicely coats the noodles and still lets me taste all the yummy veggies! Without meat, this pasta totals about 300 calories. I'm on a 1500 caloria a day diet and usually plan about 500 calories for dinner, so this still leaves 200 calories to play with. Sometimes I add shrimp, or slice up mozzerella spinache chicken sausages and sautee them with the veggies. Just have fun - you'll be surprised what you can find out there! It takes me about 2 hours to do my grocery shopping because I read every single label, but I've found some really great foods that taste good, stay within my calorie allowance, and that I can feel good about eating!

For breakfast, I have found that a carton of egg whites has been a lifesaver. With only 25 calories in 3 tbsp, you can have quit a bit and throw in all sorts of good veggies, or a little turkey sausage. I put sanwich sliced fat free pepperjack in and it melts into a yummy cheese sauce. I really think my food on this diet tastes better than the crap I was eating before!

Thank u Freddi! I will do that tomorrow! I got the "automatic" 1200 intake when I first signed up.

Thank you all for all the great tips!!!

I didnt think of any of that! Im so bored with the same old salads..

Thanks again! :)

Great luck too all of you!