1200 cals a day ...what does it consist Of if you manage to stick to it

[Pugsrus]

I’m trying to stick to this ,and failing miserably
What does 1200 cals look like in a day ,I’m vegan ,but just want to hear how other people make this work ,so I can get ideas..
Thanks

Thanks for all the replies,meant to come back on here to chat ,but life got in the way this week .
So I’m just about managing on 1200 .
I am very heavy ,and myfit bit says I could eat 2000 calories and still loose weight ,( it tells me to eat my exercise calories)
But the fit bit lies ..because I’m not loosing on that ,
I’m having fruit with yogurt
Salad with tofu
Salad with more tofu
A bit of chocolate vegan (tiny)
2 packs of hoops hoop puffs 70 cals a pack
So I’ve not weighed myself as it’s irrelevant,I will know when I get to 9 stone 😊

I may need some ideas from other vegans on what to put with my salad .
Huge overhaul for me ,as my diet was 90% carbs , toast toast and ....toast

I need to not cut out the crisps and chocolate,because I’ve a history of bingeing and bulimia ,so I don’t want to remove these foods ,just cut them down

I wanted to suggest crushed baked chrisps as crunchy topping for your salad or as 'breading' for your fried/baked tofu.

I tried to stick to 1200 or 1400 but it makes me grumpy and hungry!

I’ve put on weight in the last 12 months and I’m 12st at 5ft5 (I hate being this weight 😕)so I’ve been really sticking to tracking on MFP and trying to be more active.

I’m losing a pound a week on 1800/1900kcals, and I’m eating really good food 🙂

I would die of hunger on 1200 calories! I think my BMR is about 1800. I do my steps and I'm losing on 2300 a day. I weigh 140lb though so a fair bit to lose still.

I like that idea blue fox ..2 of my faves in a salad together,that will be tomorrow’s food

What else can I put in my salad I’ve had tofu every day now...I’ve no imagination at all ..a very bad example of a vegan

Holly whiskey ,I’d love to be able to eat that amount and loose weight,but I know I never do

When I'm doing that amount I eat little and often usually in 200 calories blocks

OMG I’ve just done the calculator thingy that was in the first few posts😬....it said I should be having 1200 a day?😱...no wonder I’m not losing despite doing 20k steps and running 5k every day....I’d been assuming around 1800 would do😳....holy moly😞

Isn’t your BMR calories just what you burn by existing though? Any exercise or activity would increase your daily calories.

Chickpeas mashed with vegan mayo - I use this to replace tuna mayo

I’ve bought Chickpeas today actually for the first time.i was going to roast them with spices,but mashing with vegan mayo sounds good too

there are 2 types if calculators

bmr (basic metabolic rate) which is the energy you would need if you were in a coma

tdee (total daily energy expenditure) gives the energy you need to stay your weight, including your normal activities.

depending on sex, age and bodyweight both can be shockingly low and well below the 2000ckals that are widely assumed for a woman.

I'm 5ft and obese - I can't eat 1200 cals per day, I just can't. I have a WW ready meal or a veggie/vegan ready meal with some diet fizzy drink most days and then either noodles and veg with roast sweet potato or salmon for my other meal. I don't eat breakfast (I have coffee, no sugar) and I don't really do any exercise other than day to day life (I'm a community carer) I also drink 3-4ltrs of water a day. I'm losing weight slowly but surely.

Previously (when I piled on all this weight) I was only eating 4 days a week but it was all sweets and crisps and toast so I've made the conscious effort to eat at least 2 meals everyday. I don't know when I suddenly developed the earring pattern of eating one day and then not the next.
I got really unwell on keto and have never really recovered from that.

A few 1200 calories days for me:

B: One toast with cheese, banana
L: Ham omelette with coleslaw and salad
D: Chicken salad with potatoes, satsuma

B: Chocolate porridge with banana and cocoa
L: Chicken lettuce sandwich
D: Spaghetti bolognese with veg, pear

B: One toast with peanut butter and banana
L: Poached egg and avocado on toast
D: Pasta carbonara with salad, strawberries

I find having a banana with breakfast keeps me full all morning. Fruit after dinner fills that snacky urge, if I’m not hungry I might skip the fruit and have it with breakfast the next day. No alcohol. No coffee except one cup with breakfast. I avoid eating between meals because once you get your stomach stirred up by eating something small, you feel hungry, whereas if you’d eaten nothing you wouldn’t feel so hungry. If I’m genuinely hungry one day I’ll have an extra sandwich or banana, I won’t force myself to stick to my diet and sit around feeling sick and dizzy.

I manage to stick to this for a few weeks at a time, long enough to lose perhaps half a stone. I don’t exercise while I’m on such a restricted diet because exercise makes me hungry so I’ll start feeling sick and end up having to eat (and will eat more than I’ve burned off).

Davodia,Thankyou ,that’s so helpful,I’ve been looking on tic tok a lot at the what I eat in a day ones ,but they don’t always say what calories they are aiming at

The food on this thread sounds incredibly depressing

getting older and needing a lot less calories than before is depressing.

None of the food I eat is depressing (admittedly the WW ready meals aren't included in that) - my meals in general are delicious, I just eat a lot less of them and I've cut out a lot of meat products.

My BMR is 1450.

My 1200 cala for yesterday were:

1 cup tea with sugar -. 40 cals.

Smallish portion of sausage casserole plus liberte yoghurt. 500.

4 fish fingers plus tiny amount of rice. 500.

Good as Gold ice-cream 69.

Couple cups tea/ coffee at 40 cals. Poss 150.

Walking for an hour and a quarter to collect 10000 steps.

I came in at 950 cals net.

I wouldn't call it depressing food, no one is eating bland meals by the look of it, and I'd call bland depressing.

I just eat a smaller portion of dinner maybe about 75% of what the meal should be, no waste as ds eats it 😂

Porridge isn't boring when you add jams and I just have fruit instead of lunch. I sit at a desk all day so don't burn that many calories at work.

I think 1200 makes you very focussed. It's not difficult and as long as you find a way of eating that you're going to like it's quite simple.

I'm never hungry on it. I fancy things I can't have, but that's not quite the same thing.

I agree that for many women 2000 cals a say is too much.

I've actually been surprised by how much I can eat on 1200 calories, but that's because I'm going for a slow approach and not restricting carbs too much.

Yesterday I had:

B: crunchy nut cornflakes, semi skimmed milk and a banana
L: southern fried chicken fillet, new potatoes and veg
D: prawn stir fry with brown rice noodles and soy sauce
Oh and a packet of Aldi "wotsits". That came in at 1050, but I left a bit of leeway in case I got measurements wrong and to include some sugar free squash.

I've lost 4lb this week and haven't felt hungry (apart from the day I went to a BBQ and only had 150 calories left from 2pm. Don't do that!)