how to not be hungry on 1200 calories/day

I am 5.0 and weight 116. I would like to drop it to 105.

My burn meter tell me to eat 1200 calroie per/day. I tried it and I am so hungry.

Pleae give sample menu of 1200/day that is not leaving me hungry. Thanks,

You can't eat 1200 calories a day and not feel hungry.  Plan your weight loss over a longer period of time and eat more good food.  It's not about losing weight, it's about eating healthy to lose weight.

I would far rather exercise a bit more than eat that little. But here are my lowest-cal recipes that are still filling:

Breakfast: either 60g oats made into oatmeal, or 2 carrot-apple muffins

Snack: an apple, banana, 100ml natural yoghurt or another muffin

Lunch: 1-2 slices of bread and low-fat tuna salad. I like it best sandwiched in bread and then toasted in a sandwich press.

Snack: another piece of fruit, or a lite instant soup, or a dip made with 50ml yoghurt, 50ml smooth cottage cheese and 2 teaspoons of chutney or sweet chilli sauce, and as many carrot and celery sticks as you like for dunking.

Supper: lentil and butternut pasta or crustless tuna pie with steamed veggies and a potato or Frittata and a slice of toast or lentils in cinnamon and lemon with brown rice and veggies. Lentils are amazingly filling!

Other snacks: a cup of coffee with 50ml low fat milk, a bowl of Miso soup 

Sometimes its best to first calculate how many calories you are consuming and then dropping down from that.  If you usually consume 2000 then drop to 1700 or 1500 for a week or so then down another 200 calories.  In the meantime beef up the exercising to help compensate for the additional food to still meet your goal.  Stay with it...remember that healthier fats like nuts and sunflower seeds help you feel full and burn better during exercise than unhealthier fats.  Adding flax seed oil to yogurts and smoothies will help you feel full too.  Good luck!!!

I have been doing excercise as well so I have been eating around 1700/day. BUT I have not dropped any pounds since march. I thinking I must eat 1200/day but I am so hungry to the point that I can not function.

I think the 1200/day is totoally unrealistic. I am not sure what to next.

Pakrunner, maybe you've been putting on muscle, which is heavier than fat. That's not a bad thing. Go by your changing shape, not your weight. And after a while the weight will start going down again once your body gets used to its current exercise level and stops building more muscles.

Glucomannan!

'tis a super absorbent fiber pill found in most vitamin/nutrition store.

That stuff keeps really reduces appetite.

I think it's working a little too well for me though cuz right now, after a run, I've eaten less than 1,000.

But, ya, just be careful you don't restrict *too* much! 

pakrunner, if you are maintaining at 1700, then you would lose two pounds a month by eating 1450, which would be much more manageable. Since you are a small woman and already at a healthy weight, slower weight loss would probably be best - more likely to be manageable, sustained, and maintained later on. Or, alternately, you could try accepting yourself as you are, at a healthy weight and eating normally. (I know, that's a controversial statement here on CC).

Personally, I find that the more veggies I eat in a day, the easier it is to stick to my calorie goal because I get full on fewer calories. However, I would never try to aim for 1200 a day - my usual goal is 1500.

I find that it helps to eat things with protein in it...for example, 2 egg whites with veggies scrambled or 1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese.  I have also found it is easiest to stay under 1200 cals if you snack on veggies when hunger starts to nag.  Polenta is also a good meal that has about 60 cals per inch slice and provides carbs to give you energy for the day.  You can combine that with organic pasta sauce and bake for 20 min. to give it more flavor...only 100 cals total.

Be sure to drink lots of water to avoid build up of sodium...

Here is my typical day:

Breakfast: 2 egg whites scrambled with 1 cup veggies (30 cals)

Lunch: Small salad with tuna (200 cals)

Snack: Various veggies (60 cals)

Dinner: Chicken and sauted veggies or salad (250-300 cals)

i eat between 1200 and 1500, sometimes more, depending on my activity level and the evailability of tofu and cheese:-) i

what i eat like (i have gotten used to smaller portions, so i never go terribly hungry, the key is to eat often)

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• breakfast: 
• - yogurt with banana and/or or with granola/various breakfast cereals,  adding a tablespoon of wheat bran. 
• - or yogurt milk, sometimes cheese+crispbread or granola bar. ocassionally a few almonds
  

snack:

-various combinations of crispbread with cheese

- vegetables, peas, beans

- cereals

- cottage cheese, yogurt.

lunch:

- vegetable salad/platter with cheese/egg whites/eggs/tofu, various homemade dressings (vinegar+ herbs+dried tomatoes, sometimes olive oil, sometimes plain yogurt+spices, sometimes chili sauc,e mustard, chutney etc.).

- if i had savoury breakfast and snack,i might opt for yoghurt with fruit.

- sometimes various spreads / dips made of legumes, vegetables and cottage cheese, plus vegetable and/or crispbread.

- or vegetable chili over rice (but it is 390 cals so i eat it seldom, i aim for 300:)

 

snack

- fruit or veg - altering seasonally

- or granola bar or a latte when i am out of office.

dinner:

- vegetable soup, cheese.

- or veg salad, cheese.

- or beans, lentils, peas and the like made as soups or into salads

-  pickled vegetables with tofu and mustard, chili sauce etc.

 

usually i am for healthy carbs and some protein on the AM, and vegetables and protein and some oils in the evening. i always take care to have protein as it is filling, and vegetables as i can eat lots of it. 

when i have some cals left or when going to sleep late, i add some egg whites or tofu as a snack after dinner, or have another small vegetable salad.

note: i am a vegetarian, hence no meat in my diet, and quite a lot of tofu, cheese and beans.

What is a good way to get a lot of protein (to build muscles) on 1200 calories a day?

I am 5'2", 125 pounds looking to get down to 110.  I am eating 1200 calories a day (more or less) and I think I need to be getting more protein. 

Also, I seem to be at a plateau.... for the last couple of months.  Should I eat less than 1200 calories a day to continue loosing?  Still eat 1200 and just try and exercise more?

tngardengal-we are close to being twins.  Just a few months ago I was at 125.5 (5'2").  Now I am at 115 lbs.  I dropped the first 5lbs of water weight by exercising more and not eating excess sugar and avoiding processed foods.  Watch your portions!  I have been steadily losing the last 5 lbs over the last month by sticking to around 1300-1325 cal. a day.  I am somewhat active at work but mostly sedentary at home.  I try to work out a couple of days a week using free weights and about 20 min. of cardio on the elliptical.  I think that 1200 cal. is too low for you.  It'll make you miserable, too, or at least I would be.  I eat all of my calories and eat smaller, lighter meals throughout the day.  Some favorite low cal. meals (to also answer the O.P.s question), lots of veggies, fiber one cereal and almond milk, egg whites (one cup is very filling) and lately I love shirataki tofu noodles with red pepper, snow peas with a soy/peanut butter sauce.  Yum!  I got the recipe from here:http://livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.com/2006/03 /shirataki-recipe-to-inspire-your.html

You can eat 1200 calories per day and not be hungry.  One way to do that is to include foods in your diet that have a lot of bulk with few calories.  Take for example, cucumbers.  A medium cucumber has only 33 calories, but I challenge you to eat 3 of them and not feel full.  The same is true of a lot of vegetables.  Fiber and protein are other ways to make you feel full for longer.  It is all about food selection.  Other things you can do to curb hunger is to drink lots of water, eat several smaller meals throughout the day instead of 3 bigger ones, and if you are having trouble with late night snacking, then try drinking hot tea in the evenings.  When you first start restricting calories, then it takes some time to adjust to your new intake level, but you will adjust if you stick with it.

First, exercise a lot before breakfeast. After that, eat a LOT. If you still hungry, exercise, then eat. AAnd if it still don't work, keep doing that.

I'm 5'2" and I eat about 1300 calories a day.  I don't seem to get hungry, actually usually I am quite full!  A sample day for me:

Breakfast: 3/4 c Special K protein plus cereal w/ 1/4 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk (110), 1/2 c blueberries (40)

Lunch: 3 fish sticks w/ 1 tbs ketchup (250), peach (60)

Snack: banana w/ melted dark chocolate wedge (130), 1 c multigrain cheerios (110)

Dinner: 1/2 c vegetarian baked beans (140), 1 c steamed broccoli (30), 1/4 c brown rice (150)

Snack: Dannon light n fit yogurt (80), 16 wheat thins w/ 2 light laughing cow spreadable cheese (200)

Total: 1300

Breakfast: 2/3 cup old fashioned oatmeal made with water with 4 Splenda packets and some cinnamon - 230 calories

Lunch: 1 large "La Tortilla Factory" whole wheat low carb high fiber tortilla 80 calories each with 2 slices of turkey (100 calories) and letuce and tomato and a little bit of dijon. Large spinach salad with some cherry tomatoes, shredded carrots, and red wine vinegar (30 calories) Total: 210 calories

Snack: 1 apple (80 calories) with 1 Light n' Fit yogurt (80 calories) added with 1 heaping tsp of Metamucil Clear and Natural (5 grams of fiber and 25 calories) Total: 205 calories

Dinner: Large spinach salad with vinegar (30 calories), 3 oz grilled chicken (140 calories) and 1/2 cup whole grain rice (180) Total: 350 calories

Bedtime Snack: 1/2 cup fiber one cereal (60 calories) with 1 container of light n fit yogurt (80 calories) and 1 cup strawberries (50 calories) Total: 190 calories

Total Calories for the Day: 1185!