What would you choose for 1200 calories a day?

[Grannola]

Breakfast, lunch and dinner. A small snack if calories allowed.

What would you choose?

(yes, I‘m looking for inspiration 😉 )

Breakfast - a coffee with oat milk

Lunch - veg sticks with hummus , oatcakes, home made liver pate with chilli jam, Brie, home made soup.

Dinner - Home made burger (without the roll if too many calories), coleslaw, oven chips, spinach, kimchi or home made tomato pasta. Possibly salmon with vegetables.

Snack - bowl of fruit salad (apple, melon, kiwi, tinned peach, tinned mandarin, grapes, fresh pineapple)

other snacks - home made sunflower seed bars with a chocolate topping or small home made carrot cake muffin.

The key for me if I’m looking at lowering calorie intake is home cooked, filling, wholesome foods so you aren’t hungry. I have the above sort of food every day and don’t feel hungry at all. I haven’t counted the calories for the above but there are elements you could probably take - fruit salad for example is super filling and probably not that calorie rich. Make a massive bowl and it will last a number of days in the fridge 😁

1200 calories isn’t enough for a toddler, let alone an adult. Why are your calories so low?

I needed to eat 1200 a day when trying to lose a pound a week. I’m very short and was only a bit overweight.

1200 is my maintenance (im very short).
Op, my typical day is
Breakfast fruit or a slice of toast,
Lunch tinned tomatoes and mushrooms on a slice of toast or homemade vegetable soup and roll.
Tea pasta and sauce, chilli and rice or meat, potato and veg all portion controlled.
If i have a snack I might have fruit or crackers. I tend not to eat snacks then at the weekend I could have some cake or dessert.

I am eating this much to lose weight. I cant be active due to disability sadly

I tend to eat:

• breakfast : homemade pancakes with greek yoghurt and berries; or porridge with berries and seeds
• lunch : salad/roast veg with salmon/chicken/tuna/ham /turkey , or veg soup with some cheese and oatcakes
• dinner : varies quite a bit, maybe steak or fish or chicken, in a stir fry or with potato /rice
• snack : fruit

I agree with @KM1718 the key for me is to make sure it is all homemade and plenty of fruit and veg.

I also don't have any calories in my drinks which helps.

1200 is my maintenance too, there’s a sub on Reddit called 1200isplenty which has lots of suggestions.

i pretty much eat anything, but just smaller portions. Today I had dhal for breakfast, a salad with tofu, rocket, hummus, roast peppers, tomatoes etc
tonight is undecided 😂

Yeah unfortunately 1200 calories is the norm if you’re a shortie. I maintain on 1400. It’s crap!

OP, I typically would have Greek yogurt with berries, a sprinkle of granola. It’s about 250 cal
Lunch is a ham & egg salad, soup, or an M&S count on us meal of less than 350 cal.
Dinner is whatever the rest of the family are having minus some of the carbs so if I’m having g chilli, I’ll stick to cauliflower rice. I’d have green beans with spag Bol instead of spaghetti etc.

Breakfast: Hot water, filter coffee
Lunch: Fruit and vegetables and water
Dinner: Anything low fat and water
Hot chocolate before bed.

I'm another shortie who can only lose on 1200! Breakfast I usually have black coffee and some
fruit. Lunch chicken salad and dinner pretty much anything just in a portion controlled size. Yoghurt as a snack x

I did 1200 a day to lose some lockdown weight. I now find it fine for maintenance.

Looking back, I had eggs, tuna salad with very little mayonnaise, small whole wheat bagels, carrots amd hummus, slices from a block of parmesan cheese, baby spinach (in salads made with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and also with sliced parm in a toasted small bagel), lean chicken, minced turkey for bolognese or chili recipes, lots of cooked green veg, home made soup, raw almonds, natural peanut butter (made from peanuts and salt, not shelf stable), apples, pears. I had whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and the odd potato, and lots of lentils amd beans. Also fish - tilapia, salmon, perch.

Not enough protein.. you should have eggs for breakfast and some lean protein for lunch

Plus plain greek yogurt with ground almonds stirred in and maybe a teaspoon of honey

It totally depends what I'm in the mood for! But a random diet day for me might be:

Banana and Organix oat bar for breakfast with diluted juice - 250

Low fat houmous with cucumber sticks, folded flatbread and babybel for lunch - 400

Popcorn for snack - 100

Mushroom and chestnut burger, carrot and parsnip with melted butter - 500

Handful of raspberries - 50

Oops that's actually 1300! To be honest I'd also have an Activia yoghurt and a biscuit as well which would take me up to 1500. I never go as low as 1200 though. I wouldn't be able to sustain that!

Oh jeez that's tough

3 eggs, scrambled
Grek yog, no sugar fruit compote for breakfast

Huge bowl of homemade lentil and veg soup. Tuna/cottage cheese/ roast ham/chicken. Fruit.

Dinner would be a big chicken casserole and a massive baked potato, obviously no butter.

1200 calories is enough for a short, sedentary woman. Maintaining around 9.5 /10 stone.

2000 per day is a myth

250 breakfast
250 lunch
500 supper
200 snack

eat what ever but weigh it all out to meet the calorie count ex 150 yogurt 100 fruit or 150 bread, 60 cream cheese, 40 tomatoes, supper 300 chicken breast, 200 (salad including dressing)

Sorry - tinned tomatoes and mushrooms on toast?! That sounds…so acidic. Do you cook the tomatoes first?! Tell me more.

It's just not enough calories.
Diets fail, not people.

I eat about the same number of calories and have to have protein/fibre rich diet, so this is my usual plan.
At the start I weighed everything and logged it all in myfitnesspal until I got the portion sizes right.

Breakfast: (make night before), scoop of chia seed + oats and leave to soak (I use coconut water, but could use milk or water), I also add flavour (at the moment cardamon pods and dried cranberries). I the morning warm up or have cold. I sometimes add coconut flakes, honey or some collagen protein powder.

Lunch: 2x scrambled eggs, I add some parmesan, and serve with rocket leaves and tomato (sometimes I add smoked salmon, or one chipolata)

Snack: Protein shake + 100g berries, or a sometimes I have some tinned fish (eg sardines) or carrots & hummus

Dinner: some plain chicken breast, steak or fish - there's loads of ways to add flavour (herbs, rubs etc). Either add vegetables (sprouts, leeks, carrots, peas, cabbage, sweet potato+lentils) or salad (plus a few croutons). Follow by 2 squares of 75% dark cholcolate

If I'm out at lunchtime I either swap the meals around, or make a double portion of dinner for lunch the next day.

1200 calories isn't a lot split across 3 meals. But I agree with the others that if you are short and not that active then it sounds about right.

My strategy would be to skip breakfast and split the calories into a more satisfying lunch and dinner. And for myself I actually do one meal a day in the evening with 1200 calories, because it kills me to eat so little at every meal. If anything, I find it just stokes my appetite and leaves me feeling hungry and irritable. I'd rather not eat and save up my calories for a proper meal.

For my one meal a day I eat chicken breast marinated in tikka spices, pan fried in 1tbsp oil. Air fryer green beans with 1tsp olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice. And a fresh greens, pear, walnut, Avocado and goats cheese salad. And then a banana and cup of tea. But you could easily split this across 2 meals.

Today I'll have:

• Plain yoghurt topped with mango and chopped nuts, and a latte
• 2-egg omelette with tomatoes & onion
• Chilli con carne and caulirice, sprinkling of grated cheddar

Plus a few cups of tea

I have 2x scrambled eggs for breakfast with a skimmed milk latte, homemade soup for lunch (usually chicken and vegetable) then some sort of protein and vegetables or salad for dinner. Last night I had beef casserole and veg, tonight I’m having marinated chicken and salad.
I usually add in a protein water too which is 90kcal for 20g of protein.

Breakfast: belvita breakfast biscuits dipped in tea with milk

Lunch: slim fast shake

Snacks: 2 X actimel yogurt drinks, a couple of cups of tea with milk throughout the day

I take a range of supplements

Dinner: home cooked dinner (whatever the family is having but portion controlled). This always includes several portions of veg. Fruit for after.

Not for everyone but works for me. I also try to eat 16:8. And every so often I have a few days of fasting. Honestly when you're short you really don't need to eat much and I'm very rarely hungry

Eta- I also like to drink wine and go out for dinner at the weekend so it's a balancing act

Decent breakfast, decent lunch and skip dinner - I find it the most effective for weight loss. Like 16:8, but your 8 hours end after lunchtime.