sample meal plan--are you kidding? people feel satisfied with this?

I was browsing the net and came across this sample menu...i cannot believe anyone would feel satisfied with this meal plan. i could never go back to eating a tiny amount of food. how do people do it? It seems like this is roughly 1000 calories...barely enough for a small toddler. that's insane! what do you guys think?

Here’s a sample eating plan for one day:

8 a.m. Breakfast of two eggs, any style, cooked with canola or olive oil spray. Coffee or tea.

10 a.m. A small apple or citrus fruit.

Noon. Tuna with lemon or fat-free mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato. Unsweetened applesauce.

2 p.m. Sixteen almonds, peanuts or walnuts.

4 p.m. One serving of nonfat yogurt.

6 p.m. Four to six ounces of salmon (broiled or fried in canola oil). A small pear and two vegetables. One serving of dessert (but only from Dr. Rivas' list in Cheater's Diet).

I would guess thats about 800 calories, myself. Thats exactly how I eat, every 2 hours all day, each time something very low in calories. Except that I eat at 8 pm and 10 pm as well. My target is 1200 calories a day, which is what Calorie Count recomends for me. But I am short, only 5 ft, and not overweight. So I need less calories then say your average height female that is overweight. I think a girl 5 ft. 6, and 50 pounds overweight could loose weight on 1,800 calories a day. But I would gain if I ate that much. So it really just depends on the person! Fad diets don't take the needs of the individual into account.

Actually that seems pretty satisfying - I could probably eat that but I'd have to add in more grains and I'd feel perfectly sated.

I would put the two eggs on two slices of whole grain toast, I would make the tuna into a tuna sandwich, I'd add some oats to my nonfat yogurt, and either rice or a sweet potato to my dinner. Then it looks more balanced :)

You thought that was bad, look at this one. I dont understand how anyone could eat this in a  day and not go crazy with hunger. (found this in the weightloss thread)

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)

Original Post by aftonmae:

I would guess thats about 800 calories, myself. Thats exactly how I eat, every 2 hours all day, each time something very low in calories. Except that I eat at 8 pm and 10 pm as well. My target is 1200 calories a day, which is what Calorie Count recomends for me. But I am short, only 5 ft, and not overweight. So I need less calories then say your average height female that is overweight. I think a girl 5 ft. 6, and 50 pounds overweight could loose weight on 1,800 calories a day. But I would gain if I ate that much. So it really just depends on the person! Fad diets don't take the needs of the individual into account.

so, you said you aren't overweight...so does that mean you're maintaining or trying to lose?? 1200 calories seems like a weight loss diet, i'm also short...4'11 so just trying to gauge what you'd maintain on.

I sometimes am full on less then 1200 calories, but it still seems like those days I eat a whole lot more then that sample meal!  Normally my lower calorie days are more like this:

Breakfast: Small apple (55), small bowl full of a recipe I came up with which is made from lean ground turkey, broccoli, cauliflower, lemon juice, and spices (140)

Snack: romain lettuce heart (15)(i'm addicted to munching on them, weird, I know)

Lunch: small quesadilla (300ish, depending on what veges i get on it), 120z bottle of V8 (70)

Snack: Homemade stew (200) (contains a variety of beans, potatoes, meat, barley, celery, and carrots)

Dinner: Microwavable Smart Ones dinner (250-300)

Snack: Small apple (55)

Water throughout the day

Total - 1085 - 1135

i agree! That seems like seriously nothing! i'm 5'2 110 lbs and eat way more than that but i do exercise frequently. that would seriously be painful for me to do everyday. i like to eat pretty big dinners, probably not the best thing ever but it works for me haha and i treat myself 2-3 times a week to indulgent dessert type things. its so funny b/c before i started tracking my calories i didn't realize that my metabolism is actually pretty fast, i used to underestimate the calories in what i ate. good news for me haha.

Hahahaha.

I eat so much more then that and I am smaller then most of these people that eat HALF of what I eat. And I only have a NORMAL METABOLISM.

I eat up to 550 for breakfast and lunch and my snack, or I eat two meals about 340 and another two about 450. 150 calories is a piece of fruit; a snack, not a meal.

the key is to eat lots of low-calorie, FILLING (high fiber or protein) foods.  Here's a sample 1,200 calorie meal plan:

Breakfast:  1/2 cup (dry) oatmeal made with water (150 calories) and seasoning, if desired (i.e. cinnamon).  Served with 2 egg whites fried with PAM (70) and 1/2 cup strawberries (25) and black coffee or tea, if desired = 245 calories

snack:  1 cup baby carrots (40 calories)

Lunch:  2 slices low-cal bread (90) and 3 oz turkey (100) with mustard, if desired.  with 1 cup cucumbers (10) and 2 TB hummus (50) = 250 calories

snack:  yoplait light yogurt (100) and apple (60) =160 calories

Dinner:  1 cup whole wheat pasta (200) with 1 TB olive oil (120), broccoli (40), and 3 oz grilled chicken (125) = 485 calories

Snack:  diet hot chocolate = 25 calories

Total:  1,165 calories

Original Post by swimfan93:

the key is to eat lots of low-calorie, FILLING (high fiber or protein) foods.  Here's a sample 1,200 calorie meal plan:

Breakfast:  1/2 cup (dry) oatmeal made with water (150 calories) and seasoning, if desired (i.e. cinnamon).  Served with 2 egg whites fried with PAM (70) and 1/2 cup strawberries (25) and black coffee or tea, if desired = 245 calories

snack:  1 cup baby carrots (40 calories)

Lunch:  2 slices low-cal bread (90) and 3 oz turkey (100) with mustard, if desired.  with 1 cup cucumbers (10) and 2 TB hummus (50) = 250 calories

snack:  yoplait light yogurt (100) and apple (60) =160 calories

Dinner:  1 cup whole wheat pasta (200) with 1 TB olive oil (120), broccoli (40), and 3 oz grilled chicken (125) = 485 calories

Snack:  diet hot chocolate = 25 calories

Total:  1,165 calories

wow swimfan...that's an excellent meal plan..is this how you eat? i eat tons more than that but when i get to maintenance then maybe i'll have to copy your meal plans with a few substitutions to suit my dietary preferences but i'm impressed :)

Original Post by personaltrainer87:

Hahahaha.

I eat so much more then that and I am smaller then most of these people that eat HALF of what I eat. And I only have a NORMAL METABOLISM.

I eat up to 550 for breakfast and lunch and my snack, or I eat two meals about 340 and another two about 450. 150 calories is a piece of fruit; a snack, not a meal.

 

same.. I can lose easy on 1800 cals.   I used to try to eat under 1200 but I never lost weight until I started to EAT enough.  

I think the meal plan mentioned is good if you just increase the servings a little.. maybe add some oatmeal to the bfast and whole grain cous cous to the dinnner.  And bump up the veggies at lunch.  

It's not an undoable diet... but it's obviously aiming to be very low-carb. It'd be healthier if you added in a serving or two of whole grain carbohydrates along the line, like one slice of bread with your lunch and a small sweet potato with your dinner. And any diet plan that depends on individually counting out peanuts is crazy! Without the carbohydrates I'd expect you to be starving all day long.

Original Post by swimfan93:

the key is to eat lots of low-calorie, FILLING (high fiber or protein) foods.  Here's a sample 1,200 calorie meal plan:

Breakfast:  1/2 cup (dry) oatmeal made with water (150 calories) and seasoning, if desired (i.e. cinnamon).  Served with 2 egg whites fried with PAM (70) and 1/2 cup strawberries (25) and black coffee or tea, if desired = 245 calories

snack:  1 cup baby carrots (40 calories)

Lunch:  2 slices low-cal bread (90) and 3 oz turkey (100) with mustard, if desired.  with 1 cup cucumbers (10) and 2 TB hummus (50) = 250 calories

snack:  yoplait light yogurt (100) and apple (60) =160 calories

Dinner:  1 cup whole wheat pasta (200) with 1 TB olive oil (120), broccoli (40), and 3 oz grilled chicken (125) = 485 calories

Snack:  diet hot chocolate = 25 calories

Total:  1,165 calories

Where are the fats in this meal plan?  There's the tablespoon of olive oil (15 g) and there'll be a smidge in the hummus (to be generous, let's say 5 g).  That's it.  Your body needs more than 20 g of fat per day if you want healthy skin and hair - not to mention healthy cell membranes around your whole body.

I don't think I could nor would I want to ever follow a 1200 calorie diet, not enough lee way for snacks, desserts, and yummy goodnesses...lol. I love food these days, and I will be sad the day I have to move to maintenance after gaining...lol. 

Chrissy, I just moved from gaining to maintenance.

You will need many more calories than you think to maintain, trust me. The only things I changed were not having a dessert with dinner and a slightly smaller breakfast (as in 800/900 instead of 1200). So yeah. There's really not that much difference between gain/maintain.

I'm a sedatory person and 5'2 so my calorie intake is 1200, some eople go to the extreme which is not good!

Just for info hers what i had today for my 1200 cals...

Breakfast: 2 slices of Nimble wholemeal bread with Reduced fat brussels pate (120cal)

Lunch(3 hours later): 2 homeade crab cakes with a serving of baby potato salad in light mayo,1/2 cup of diced cucumber, 5 cherry tomatoes, light salad dressing (350 cal)

mid afternoon snack: 2 servings of strawberry Jelly (18cal)

Dinner: Breaded Plaice Fillet with a BIG portion of chunky potato wedges, 2 long stalks of asparagus with 1cal spray butter on top, Large handfull of grilled mushrooms. (500cal)

Evening Snack: 50g(1.5 servigs)  bran flakes with 100ml Soya milk (180cal)

1168 cal...+ i had a single grape whenever i went into the kitchen so thats probably another 20cals.

And i think that was a VERY satisfying meal plan today im not hungry at all.

not starting a fight but when ppl start counting jelly as a "snack", yea...

eat what u want, if u gain too much weight, you reduce the food and up the excercise.

if ur looking to maintain a weight too light for your body, ull need to eat too little to properly nourish urself and ull be hungry and weak.

eat so that u r healthy and happy.

im sedentary, im 5'3, i eat more than 1200 but im not looking to maintain a weight that is too low for my body.

I dont get what you mean about jelly...id definatly count a 1/2 pint of jelly quite a large snack.

The sample plan in the first post looks like 1200 calories, and it looks fine to me. Could use some more grains though, as mentioned before.

I'd count the jelly as a snack too. What else would you call it?

maybe its a language barrier?  but do u mean jelly as in peanut butter and jelly?

A Brit calls "jelly" what an American calls "jello".

A grape would have to be ENORMOUS to have 20 calories.  A 100 calorie serving of grapes has 15-20 grapes, so each one is about 5 calories.