What does 1300 cals a day look like for you?

[Fouramclub]

I need some inspiration please!

I've been doing 16:8 since August and after losing almost 3kg it all went to pot in October with various celebrations and just generally fancying a pain aux raisin every morning so from today I'm back on 16:8 and calorie counting. I want to get to under 70kg by the Xmas (currently hovering around 74kg) and want to calorie count as well as 16:8. Im thinking if I do 1300 cals during the week and around 1500 on the weekends I can hopefully shift this.

what does 1300 cals look like for you? I don't mind eating the same thing everyday!

I am two weeks in and am taking the easy route I am afraid - today it looked like

breakfast - Slimfast shake
lunch - Slimfast bar
dinner - roast chicken, gravy, roast potatoes, sunshine mixed veg
snacks - baby carrots, honeydew melon

Breakfast:
Egg, 50gr smoked salmon, six cherry tomatoes, cup of tea with milk - 209 calories.
Lunch:
Half a ham and cheese sandwich made with mustard, two slices ham, 1/2 oz cheese, mixed salad, 2tsp salad dressing, Tam Tam (small cake), 1/3 glass milk. - 500 calories.
Dinner:
varies but could be homemade soup or fish/veg/rice or baked potato/veg/protein whatever adds up to 500 cal. On higher cal days 700-800 calories.

Treat/snack: caramel rice cake - 50 calories.

I've lost two stone since July sticking to 1600-1700/day with lots of slip ups, but even on 'cheat days' try to keep it at what maintenance would be for my goal weight, though have gone way over on a handful of occasions. I'm pretty sedentary too.

Breakfast: 1 satsuma orange
Lunch: 1 slice of toast with either cheese toasted on top or half a tin of beans.
Dinner: 1 quorn burger with mixed veg and half a dozen oven chips or oven baked fish fillet with veg and half a dozen oven chips or similar.
Numerous cups of tea in place of snacks throughout the day.

I've managed to lose 1lb a month approx on this.

Oh.. I don't stick to this at weekends. Just keep an eye on food intake, but let myself have wine with dinner.

This is a typical lazy day for me. Everyday I skip lunch and have a snack in-between breakfast and dinner and have dessert.

Breakfast: half a bagel with peanut butter and tea with milk . 224 calories.
Snack: tea with milk and a festive bakewell tart. 221 calories
Dinner: oven food. Breaded chicken breast, some oven chips and 20 grams of cheese. Also most of a pepsi. 484 calories.
Dessert: half a bagel with butter and some cinnamon sugar, plus tea with milk. 243 calories.

Total: 1,171 calories.

I sort of try to do
<300 breakfast
Around 300 for lunch
Rest for dinner.

So might be Greek yoghurt and berries with a sprinkle of granola (2 tsp?)
Or 2x crumpet thins or 2x toast with a little butter
Or porridge

Tin of soup, with toast if the soup's low cal enough
Or ham and egg salad
Or something egg based - ham omelette with salad or similar.
Stir fried veg and meat, with some soy sauce and ground spices

If I fancy a ready meal I like the Gym Kitchen ones from Tesco. Or the Bol pots. Sometimes one of those for lunch, actually.
I sometimes make pasta with spicy tomato & onion sauce for everyone else, and I just have the sauce with some baked eggs instead of pasta.
Or some sort of lean protein - chicken usually - with lots of green veg and minimal carbs.

Pud is a low cal yoghurt or jelly, with fruit. Or choc mousse. Or a skinny brand choc bar. Something like that - no nutritional value but stops me hitting the real chocolate DP keeps in the fridge!

I put on weight with Tamoxifen for breast cancer, a shocking 14kg in 1 year taking me from normal BMI to overweight so trying to lose that and doing 500 deficit a day. I have lost 4kgs in first month though am on a 6 week break from Tamoxifen and from calorie counting it should be 4 pounds down not 4kg so wondering if some of the weight will go back on when restart.

Today - homemade French onion soup with cheesy bread croutons c 400 calories
Evening - Salmon (c250 calories), new potatoes and mixed green veg (C250 calories)
Small slice of cake (c200 calories)
Drinks - tea with milk (about 50 calories each) and lime juice and water (about 10 calories each)

Other days tomato soup and bread and butter for lunch or boiled egg and bread and butter or jacket with beans and cheese or toasted brie sandwich with grapes on the side. Or toasted cheese and ham sandwich. Or beans and cheese on toast but 1 slice. Smoked salmon and scrambled egg but 1 slice. Or yoghurt with granola and blueberries.

Dinner sometimes chinese king prawns and mixed veg with 1 spare rib BBQ for the sauce, sometimes steak in red wine sauce with new potatoes and brocolli.

I am swimming a lot 3 times per week, a mile each time which helps. Though do tend to stop at McDonalds after but just have like a fish o fillet burger or a quarterpounder on its own.

No coffee, no alcohol, no fizzy drinks or elderflower squash. I do find it easier when I don't eat too much sugar but none or very little and I get shaky and feel ill.

That diet looks really restrictive - are you sure you are only losing a pound a week?

A month - I meant a month😊

Not sure how accurate my counting is as I seem to get quite a bit from my calories but.

Breakfast
On my early starts a smoothie porridge bowl thing consisting of 35g porridge oats, 5g chia seeds, a whole orange, or apple, or banana or whatever fruit had a yellow sticker last time I went shopping and has been frozen. A table spoon or two of low fat Greek yoghurt. Blended in a nutribullet and taken to work.
On my later starts two eggs, either scrambled, poached or as an omelet with either toast (if i have run) or cherry tomatoes, mushrooms.
Usually around 350 calories.

Lunch
Left overs from the night before - weighed and totaling no more than 350 calories. More often soup or rice noodle broth usually more like 200 calories.

Snack
I have a bowl of apples at work. - only eat them if i am desperate and cut down omewhere else.

Dinner
Whatever the family are eating, adapted
Spag Bol, chilli and rice, meatballs and pasta (small portion of Sause/proteins and half the pasta/rice and replace with a salad or roasted veg if I have some left over from a previous meal)
Stir fry is common no noodles just tons of veg and proteins if I have had a big lunch or breakfast, if not then add a few noodles.
Curry (usually with lots of lentils, and spinach) with a mini naan and no rice
Fish with cous, cous and roasted cheery tomatoes, soy, garlic, ginger and chili make it more fun.
Toad in the hole with veg.
Risotto with left overs from Sunday roast and a bit hearty salad (warm this time of year)
Chicken Kiev sadly has to be eaten with no potatoes just lots of veg unless i skipped lunch.
We also love a fajita I stop at one wrap and eat the fajita mix with yet more salad if I want more. We have home made pizza so i can measure out how much dough/cheese I'm eating.
Usually comes to around 600-800 cals

So thats around 350 breakfast 250 lunch 700 dinner 1300 calories, I only drink fruit tea or black tea and coffee and never have alcohol during the week.

Breakfast - Untoasted muesli with Greek yoghurt and berries
Lunch - salad with tuna or chick peas or cottage cheese
Dinner - lean meat with veggies or salad
Snacks - small tub of yoghurt, fruit

Breakfast - 2 boiled eggs with 2slices of brown bread toasted and real butter.
Lunch - Chicken and vegtable soup and small bag of popcorn.
Dinner-Turkey mince casserole/ turkey mince, carrots onions,celery topped with sweet potatoe
Snacks- babybel, spoonful of peanut butter, slice of ham.
Drinks-water and tea.

I’m calorie counting with a target of 1400 and a typical day for me is:

Porridge for breakfast.
Egg sandwich for dinner.
Homemade soup for tea.

Snacks are whatever I have in the cupboards…could be a biscuit, some dates, a packet of crisps, a yogurt, a portion of sweets or chocolate. Nothing is ruled out, it’s just all in moderation, balanced with decent meals, and within the target calories.
Its not a huge calorie deficit from my maintenance level but I just want to see the downward trend in weight and make it achievable and maintainable.

Breakfast - protein yoghurt and fruit

lunch - a soup, or sushi, or poke bowl or chicken/veg/salad - around 300-400 calories

dinner - usually fish and veg - I am a salmon monster lately OR if Limited on time, something nice protein wise and flavourful in with 3-4 scrambled eggs. I might have a jacket potato once a week. I eat a good sized dinner

snacks - cheese, almonds, apples, yoghurt ham - whatever I fancy in this respect

I don’t eat pasta often and rarely eat bread, maybe bread on weekends. I do let myself eat sweets and biscuits but a limited amount - under 200 calories and usually weekends

As a major treat I love the KFC rice boxes with one piece of chicken 🤤

Breakfast: Oats so simple
snack: berry & white choc shot
Lunch: Bagel thin with soft cheese, honey roast ham and some salad with a packet of Pom bears and mini milky bar
Dinner: 100g French fries with 1/3 of a packet of finest lasagne, peas and carrots to bulk it up a bit and 50g Oppo ice cream

so the ready meal does me 3 meals, sounds like a tiny portion but it’s fine as I’ll add veg or salad. I like to have a tikka masala instead of the lasagne and same principe does 3 meals. I also do cook sometimes a Honey and mustard chicken and half a packet of mash. I am sticking to the same food as it makes it easy for me and I’m fine eating the same food daily.

I’m doing 16:8 too so no breakfast but black coffee and water until midday.

lunch is usually soup - spicy tomato, spinach and cannellini bean is a current favourite. I also do frozen casserole veg and lentil as I always have the stuff in so it’s easy… have a large portion and don’t need anything else normally. These are both under 200 cal for a big portion.

Dinner - homemade chilli, curry, bolognaise, tray bake etc. cooked without added oil.
Large portion of the protein and veg.
If I have rice it’s 1/4 cup of dry (70 odd calories if it’s brown rice). With bolognaise I have courgetti.
Measured portion of cheese if it goes with the meal…

Snacks are normally a measured portion of something crunchy, frazzles, twiglets and salted popcorn are good for volume/calorie ratio, a couple of squares of dark chocolate or an apple with tbsp of peanut butter.

I drink water, herbal tea, black coffee and often a lime cordial and tonic water with lots of ice in a big balloon cocktail glass on the evenings. I’m doing dry Jan but actually not struggling with it surprisingly so might become dry feb too!

Yesterday I tried a 36 hour water fast so have not eaten since dinner on Monday right now. It was boring but not that hard really, I drank 2.5l of water, a couple of black coffees in the morning and herbal tea throughout the day.

I’m rarely hungry and often under 1200 for the day. I have lost 11.5lb since 2nd Jan so it’s working for me currently.

Yesterday I had:

three coffees with almond milk (33)

homemade carrot and celery soup (200)
homemade bread (100)

black bean chilli (200)
full fat cheese grated and spoonful yoghurt (100)
spinach (20)

Glass of wine (200)

Around 900 and didn’t feel hungry.

I’ve lost 1lb a week minimum for the past 3 months on 1300 a day and am now just within my ultimate aim to get below 10 stone. I do 16:8 so only black coffee for breakfast and I don’t snack. My lunch and dinner are normal meals but I watch portion sizes and try and have lots of lean protein and limit the carbs. Alcohol is limited to 3 days a week and treats are a small amount of plain chocolate.

Every morning I do 10 minutes of weight training and 250 calories on my exercise bike and I also walk 10000 - 12000 steps daily. What I like about this is that I can still eat and socialise with everyone in a fairly normal way.

I have found it relatively easy to stick to, partially I think because I have my 500 calorie deficit in hand first thing and so I don’t want to undo it.

That's way too few calories for me.

I'm 5ft 3 and started off last October at 10st 15. I'm now 10 st 6 and a typical day is:

Breakfast
1 slice thick bread toasted with teaspoon butter
2 medium eggs scrambled with a little milk (no butter used)
Tea with a splash of milk

Dinner
Leftover roast chicken or approx 6 slices of wafer thin ham on 2 rounds of medium bread (no spread)
Salad (lettuce, sweetcorn, grated carrot)
Pack of pom bears/french fries or frazzles (Basically baked crisps)
Water to drink

Snack
1 shortbread biscuit or a fun pack sized chocolate bar or a mini muffin etc
Tea with a splash of milk

Tea
Grilled chicken breast mini fillets on a bread roll (about half a small pack) or 2 pieces of cod loin
Medium jacket potato or home made air friend potato wedges with skins on
Peas & Sweetcorn
Salad
Water to drink

If I get hungry later I might have 1 weetabix with semi skimmed milk just before bed

My daughter is a much more adventurous eater than me so her meals would consist of something like oven baked chicken marinated in spices with a spoonful of oil added with cous cous, spinach and salad/veg

Today:
400 mls skimmed milk for coffee.
No breakfast as I do intermittent fasting and calorie counting.
Lunch - tin of soup (forgot to cook yesterday) 1 slice of granary seeded bread, banana, two satsumas.
Dinner - small can of baked beans, couple of small potatoes with a tablespoon of pesto for flavour, 1 egg.

Yesterday I had:
Quaker porridge pot
3 x crumpets with Flora Light and marmite
Packet of Pom Bears
Salmon Parcel with 200g New potatoes, broccoli and carrots and some Flora Light

This is roughly what I eat-

No breakfast
Lunch - itsu sushi around 400-500 cals or soup
snack- apple, pear, a few nuts (200 cals)
dinner- chicken and avocado salad (400-500 cals)
400ml skimmed milk through the day in tea (140 cals)

I'm aiming for 1350 Today I will have

30g porridge oats made with water, a pinch of cinnamon and 20g raisins then a splash of milk after its cooked. (260cal)

One whole meal pitta stuffed with loaded scrambled eggs, (1 egg, 1 tomato, handful of spring onion, 20g cheese and two mushrooms) (404cal)

Dinner will be leftover lamb, warmed in a little gravy, served in a large Yorkshire pudding with veg. my fitness pal estimates (640cal) but I'm skeptical as I haven't weighed it.

I drink black tea and coffee, water or herbal teas all day.

If I do a of walking (needs to be more than 15000 steps for me to count as a lot) then I will have a piece of chocolate or a biscuit watching TV tonight.

I've previously aimed for 1200 calories and eaten the same breakfast but a smaller lunch and dinner and struggled to keep it up. I am hoping going with this plan will make weight loss achievable. I hope to loose 8kg by the end of May. (4.4lb a month sounds doable)

@Comefromaway

10.15? Isn't that 11.1?

Typo shoudl have read 10 st 13 (to be precise it was 10 st 13.7 an