Who is on 1200 a day?

[icepole]

I have done all I can to avoid calorie counting because I bloody hate it but nothing else works. I am dreading it, maybe I am just greedy but 1200 a day I am just hungry all the time. What do people eat? Any coping tips? I am planning on scrambled eggs for breakfast (2eggs) tuna salad for lunch, a couple of oatcakes with a bit of peanut butter for snack and a couple of squares of dark chocolate after tea. Tea is usually fish or more bloody eggs or a dish with quorn mince - I don't eat meat although I do eat fish.

I used to keep my weight down by exercise but I have health issues at the moment but I am so dreading this. I used to suffer disordered eating and I can't stand the thought of thinking about food all the time like this but I clearly just eat to much and can not shift this last half a stone for love nor money.

Hi, I'm doing 1200 a day. I'm eating loooads of veg, lots of protein and not a lot of bread etc.
I'm replacing pasta with vegetables. It's quite easy as long as you get enough protein as it keeps you full.
For treats I have dried fruit (small amount) or low fat yoghurt with honey

Been doing it for 3 weeks and lost 7lbs so not bad :)

Protein keeps me fuller for longer but I still get hungry. Had a big tuna salad for lunch but am hungry now. If I eat now I will go over my allowance for the day. Am having an omelette for tea but that is four hours from now. It's always the afternoon stretch I struggle with.

Are you drinking enough water? You might be thirsty more than hungry.

Drink more, I find hot drinks fill me up. Peanut butter is very high in calories so I would ditch that as a snack. I have found that you do actually get used to eating less just takes your body a little while to adjust (and your brain as often was eating out of habit rather than hunger)

1200 seems a little on the low side maybe 1350 would be better for a steadier loss of a pound a week?

I will swap it for cottage cheese maybe. I really like it! I do drink a lot of herbal teas. Today maybe is not a good day to judge things on as I have an upset tummy and am craving plain food to settle it.

If you have an upset tum can you not just stick to slices of toast today? Not nutritionally balanced but you could have a slice every hour or two!

I'm on 1280 atm.

Today I'm having:
Cheerios with a splash of semi skimmed milk.
250ml of smoothie
Large coffee with milk
(I have this breakfast every day)
Lunch was an M&S falafel and grilled veg flat bread.
Dinner
Homemade leek and potato soup
20g cheddar cheese
Small piece of brown bread
10g of margarine
250ml of orange juice.

I also suffer disordered eating so I have to same breakfast every day. Lunch is usually a slice of cheese on toast with veg of something similar. I plan a while week of dinners so don't need to think about what I'm eating.

I'm vege so no meat so I struggle to got the protein/carb % they suggest but still loosing.

I also exercise 2-3 times a week (plus a bit of walking at the wknd) I'm loosing between 1-3lbs a week. I can't find a link to the weeks I loose more though. Last week I did 4 hardcore gym sessions, under those days by 300/400 cals and only lost 1lb. I'm eating all my cals this week just in case i had gone into starvation mode last week.

I spent a year on 1200 cals a day and lost 4 stone. I agree that reducing food intake does shift what your body wants and it is also important to keep busy - I only snack when I am idle and on days spent rushing around I barely think about food.

My eating was usually grapefruit for breakfast, a rocket & parmesan salad for lunch and then a proper evening meal. It goes against all 'wisdom' of a large breakfast, decent lunch and small tea but the more I eat in the day, the more I want to eat throughout the day and evening.

So my 1200 calorie spread would probably be 150 cals breakfast, 350 lunch and 700 dinner.

Try replacing some of the protein with fat. It will keep you full and satiated and it's really important to get enough fats. Choose olive oil or pure butter. Also, 1200 calories really isn't a lot. Try 1600 and see if you can lower it from there.

Thanks, this is really interesting. I am going to go for 1350 instead. I don't eat bread or pasta or rice so sometimes I feel a bit limited. I am a sahm and often bored which is no doubt a big part of the problem, I always liked to snack. I get very grumpy when I am hungry.

I have 1300 a day on average (less weekdays, more weekends) and I've lost a stone in the six weeks since I started. It was absolute crap at first and I went to bed hungry a few times, but once you get into it, it gets better. You definiely get used to it but more importantly you learn what to eat to stay full. Everyones different, but just getting on with it and not over-analysing how much carb/protein to eat worked for me - I soon learned what would keep me full and cake is not it.

Have you tried the Good Food magazine website? You can do a search by calories to get some good ideas for proper meals. Maybe stay off the MFP forums (if you use the food diary), I think they are full of people who think they know a lot but who give out some very suspect advice.

The NHS have a weightloss plan, which I have dowloaded every week - www.nhs.uk/livewell/loseweight/Pages/Loseweighthome.aspx

I eat raw carrots and tomato onion salad which staves off hunger

I used to be able to do 1200-1300 on weekdays and around 1800 on weekends - worked brilliantly and I lost 4 stone. I maintained the loss for ages on an average 1600 a day (am short) but have had some health issues, put 2 stone back on and now 1200 feels like starvation, especially around periods. Am now wondering whether if I stick to around 1500 i will eventually very slowly lose the weight again - I hope so.

For lunch I've been eating a couple of quorn cocktail sausages (they're 33 cals each if I remember rightly), a carrot, some tomatoes and cucumber and a blob of houmous and it's surprisingly filling. if I feel hungry before dinner I've been having a banana with some plain natural yogurt/handful of nuts, seeds and dried fruit with the yogurt or a dairylea triangle and a breadstick (a breadstick is around 30 cals, can't quite remember how many cals in the dairylea, maybe around 70?).

I drink lots of water or have a cup of tea/coffee eith skimmed milk as a treat..

It's about finding low cal food which is filling and enjoyable! - which is certainly a challenge at first, but it will come over time.

1200 is perfectly doable but I think you need to ditch peanut butter ( often high in sugar) and replace with hummus perhaps? I eat 3 meals average 340-60 cals each but concentrate more on the GI than on cals then I have 3 little snacks between meals: 2 oatcakes with hummus, Nairn oats and fruit biscuits, banana, apple, no fat yoghurt - these add up to around 200 cals a day. If I get hungry I drink a glass of water or a small apple. I heap salad or veg in the meals too and watch portion sizes like a hawk. I aim to do this 5 days out of 7 and am a bit more relaxed on the other 2. I have lost almost 2 stone after a major illness and used this method previously to lose baby weight. I find it's sustainable and once reach target weight I increase portion sizes slightly. You need to include whole grain carbs and protein at every meal.

It's sugar free (natural stuff) but still high in fat so yes it will need to go I think. I don't eat much in the way of carbs as they make me unwell. I also don't do low fat products because they tend to be full of sugar which also makes me feel like shit. I do love hummus though so that is very doable. I'll check out those wee sausages too, they sound nice. I think I just need to be organised, I get quite panicked around food and don't want to think about it too much.

1700 a day here, I've cut it down from 1860 as I am losing weight. However I've lost nearly 30 pounds and then randomly gained between 3 and 6 pounds this week. I am thinking about cutting it down to the minimum of 1200 but can't see how to do it without skipping dinner.

If you are on 1200 per day, remember an egg is 200 calories, and lots of cholesterol!

I am on 1200 per day, and manage to eat well within this, even on days I dont exercise much. I try to include 30 minutes of brisk walking.

My breakfast is 40g rude health gloriously nutty (no raisins and shite) with a pot of activia youghurt on top. Thats just under 300 calories.

Quintes, an egg is about 70-80 calories

You must be starving on 1000 a day.

Yes I thought an egg was about 100.

200 calories for an egg? Maybe a goose egg! My 2 hard boiled eggs are 180 I think. Bit of light mayo, 2 pumpkin seed Ryvita and salad. Yum!