What to eat with 1200 calories!?

[NewMeNewUs]

really going to give calorie counting a go!
I’ve never really been a meat and 2 veg kinda girl. More like spag bol, pasta bakes, curry’s, chilli con carne etc. all made from scratch no jars or anything but even cooked this way- quite calorific!

i’d love some ideas of low calorie ideas for breakfasts, lunch and dinners. Thank you

The easiest way by far is to keep carb servings really small and prioritise veg and protein.. You can eat the same things, but with less carbs.. you want to be able to keep this up and the less you rely on special foods the better. So have your chilli con carne, weigh out a small portion of rice. Chips are usually not worth the calories. I kick started for 2 weeks by eating chicken with veg or salad. Then just normal foods but in smaller portions

I've been doing 1200 for 18 months and lost 4 stone.

Also good luck! If you are honest with yourself, track every day (even when you go over) you'll be thrilled with your results. I can't recommend enough that you weigh your food rather than eyeballing it. It takes seconds but it makes a huge difference.

I also try to substitute carbs with veg. So for curries i cook a cauliflower and use it instead of rice for example. Theres also recipes for zucchini spaghetti etc. its not the same obviously and i dont do it every day, because sometimes i just want the carbs. But if you swap it out most of the time, you can reduce calories a lot.

Who has told you 1200 calories per day? That seems extremely low.

Looking at it another way, have you asked yourself whether 1200 is sustainable? Unless you’re very short - which you may be so ignore me if so - 1200 is incredibly low and if you like that kind of food, will be hard to stick to long term. Even 1400, or ideally 1500, would give you more flexibility and for most women would be enough for them to lose a pound a week. A pound a week you can stick to could be 52lbs in a year, instead of 7lbs where you gave up by end of jan because it was too hard.

but to answer your actual question!

Delia smiths cottage pie is a calorie bargain
Pinch of nom recipes are good- I like the chicken and rice jambalaya

I liked having some ready meals in (I am NOT a ready meal person haha) for the nights where I was too hungry and the alternative would be breaking my calories.
There is an M&S carbonara that is under 500 and good, and also aldi tend to do some 400 cal ones around now.

soup for lunch is a good way to save on cals- there are some great low cal prebought options or easy to make yourself. I liked to have it with a bread thin, wafer thin ham and tomatoes to make it more filling and only about 150 extra cals.

1200 is very low. If the meal ideas that come in don’t seem sustainable to you, then use one of the online calculators to work out your calorie deficit - that will just reduce your intake enough to start loosing weight.

Wow thanks for all of your quick replies!

I am 5,8 and weigh 12stone. I want to lose 1 stone. My calorie counter app told me to eat 1200 calories a day 😂

do you all think it should be more ?

Wow well done on your weight loss that’s amazing! Do you use an app, if so which one?
do you find 1200 calories a day sustainable or difficult ?? And do you do it everyday including weekends ?

It should be more. Do the James Smith Academy free calculator which is much more realistic.

Then track religiously on the free My Fitness Pal app for a bit.

1200 calories is bonkers. Look at Team RH.

It depends on your activity levels. I’m disabled and only burn up to 1400 calories a day so I can only eat 900 a day to lose 1lb a week.

Low cal lunches:

eggs, turkey bacon (nicer than it sounds!), bacon medallions; pitta with a tin of tuna mixed with peppers, salsa, etc. Prawns are great too. Lower cal cheese slice and ham/tomato toastie. Soup.

For chilles etc, switching to turkey or chicken mince, or low fat pork mince, significantly reduces calories and tastes good. Weigh out rice.

Someone who is medium not tall or muscular , especially if post menopausal and relatively inactive can only need 1500 to be stable

So 1200 isn't necessarily way to low at all - I think overestimating calorie needs is a common problem

I try "massive" salads ( grate carrot and cabbage and onion with small cheese and mayo or tinned fish ) for lunch. If you stir lots the small amount of mayo goes a long way

Vegetable soup with lentils can also be filling without the bread and butter

Little twists - no butter on bread , drink fruit tea - no milk needed

@londonloves I second this!
I first started with Team RH, Richie is so honest and brutal at times but it all just makes sense and makes it easy to understand. Have a look at his Facebook page.

1200 calories is far too low and is not sustainable. Maybe for a few weeks yes but one day you'll binge and then feel crap for "failing".

In theory you can eat anything you want, all in moderation and as long as you're moving.

The best way to work out calories is a TDEE calculator (google it). This works out what your maintenance calories are, which means the calories you need to consume to stay at the same weight. If you consume more than this you'll put weight on; if less you'll lose. Usually it's 500 calories a day less than maintenance to lose weight and this equates to 1 pound a week (3500 calories = 1 pound)

The easiest way to do all this is to just move more. You could stick to maintenance calories and burn 500 calories a day and you would lose weight.

It seems complicated when you first start but it's just science and once you know how it works it's easy.

1200 isn't sustainable forever, but it works for a targeted amount of time or for a specific amount like a stone. My current TDEE is 1,650 for maintenance so 1,200 isn't really a huge drop and if you are eating fruit and veg you won't starve.

I stuck to 1200 over 10 weeks to loose 20lbs and ate

• Porridge or greek yoghurt with berries for breakfast
• Veg omlettes / fritattas or tuna salads for lunch
• stirfrys / spag bol / chick breasts for dinner with no or v small amounts of pasta/rice/potatoes
• Fruit and rice cakes for snacks
• no biscuits, cakes, very little bread (I avoided soups as I tend to eat too much bread with it). A glass of wine at the weekend.

I was super strict with measuring weight of portions with an electric scales and little things like frying with butter or olive oil add load of calories so if you swap out for low fat sprays you can save a lot. And for curries, chilli con carni etc, often it is the rice or pasta portion that adds the calories so for family meals I would just reduce portion size esp with the carbs. Religious myfitnesspal logging. I also walked for one hour a day.

I don’t think anyone needs a deficit that big. You need to work out your TDEE and eat 500 less than that to be in a sustainable deficit. It’s the sustainability that’s so hard on 1200. You also might find you have other symptoms such as bad sleep and indigestion. 1200 is no good for me personally I eat about 1600 and I lose weight I am 5’5 and 12st 7

I am 61, 5'2", 30lb overweight.

I put my stats into the James Smith calculator with light activity levels and got 1538 calories per day for weight loss and 1922 to maintain current weight.

Going to look at team RH now!

The Fitness Chef is also good.

Upping steps also really helps

I use myfitnesspal and I love it.

I'm only 5'0 though so 1200 is a reasonable number for me, at your height i would try 1500 and see how you get on!

I ate 2 meals, 1st meal 11am to 12pm and then dinner at 6pm. Between I had sliced apple with cinnamon or a boiled egg and sliced cucumber and tomatoes. I still ate carbs and if I wanted chocolate, I bargained with myself. Most of the time, when I compare a healthy big plate vs 1 choc bar I saw sense and the cravings for it disappeared or rationed it as third a bar everyday with a cup of tea. I didn't drink because it opens my appetite and one drink is never enough with me tbh. I worked out and didn't eat cals. I dropped a 1 pound a day and I had similar bmi to you.

I would fill my calories menu in the morning or at night, play with servings and high volume low cal substitutes, seeing the different nutrition and calories in black and white was eye opening, like I knew a croissant was full of butter... but when I saw it could be 175 cals, with a dash of milk in my coffee thats 200 cals for brekkie or afternoon treat its not sooo bad. If i were ketoing or not tracking I would have thought stuff it i have ruined it. With calories you can make it up the following days and when you don't lose weight you can look at your track of food etc and see where it went wrong. I liked that it was measured and the control gave me freedom.

I lost 20kgs in 9 months on 1200 calories a day. I stick to 1600 ish for maintenance.

2 x small skinny lattes in the morning - 70 cal each
an egg in a whole meal English muffin with tomato chutney for lunch - 220 cal
Snack options - pre portioned cheese and crackers (120 cal), muslie bar/cereal bar (120 cal), small banana (90 cal), low fat cottage cheese on rice thins (130 cal) sometimes an apple or a carrot
dinner - soo many options, I try to keep it 400 calories or under. Chicken and salad, chicken and loads of steamed veg, stir fry with a tiny portion of noodles or rice, risotto, curry. I just don’t have anything creamy, cheesy, or high carb. I’ve managed to make beef burgers for 350 calories with the Aldi brioche bun, 125g meat, no cheese or sauce but loads of salad.

I find 1200 calories to be loads, once I knew what I could eat I just eat the exact same things on repeat.

I'm similar to you, and also on 1200 calories.

I'm eating...
huel black with extra water.
Huge veg, quorn and gravy meals
Omelette with loads of veg
Porridge
Vats of carrot and lentil soup in the fridge
Stir fry (without oil)
Big salads
Rice crispies for treats (they don't weigh much so it feels like more!)
Hot and Savoury huel

I eat 200 cals 6 x daily...obviously flexible depending on how my day is going. This means I never really get too hungry. I also kind of avoid most fruit or anything sweet, because if I push the sweet button it makes me want to eat and eat. If I avoid sweet things my blood sugar seems way more stable.

I have homemade winter vegetable soup and virtually no calories. 1 potato, 1/2 large onion, 3 carrots, 1/4 swede, 1 parsnip, a tin of chopped tomatoes a vegetable stock cube and seasoning add water. All cooked and blitzed. It will make 4 good portions. I eat it on its own without bread. It's filling and tasty. I save my calories for evening meal.
Salmon, 4 baby potatoes and vegetables.
Small portion of wholemeal spaghetti and Bolognese made from minced steak with pasta.
Small portion of fresh tagiatelli with sauce made from low fat creme fresh, bacon lardons pre cooked and drained and small knob of Gorganzola cheese.
Chicken breast and baked beans

I try to stick to 1 small portion of carbs a day. So on the day I have chicken breast and baked beans I can have a slice of toast for breakfast.

Once or twice a week I have just meat and several different vegetables but no potatoes or pasta.

Drink plenty of water.

I was inspired to try your winter veg soup and it's boiling away merrily at the moment! I did cook up seem lean smoked bacon squares to put in it, so added a bit of protein. Was going to add red lentils but OH wasn't keen. Thanks for the recipe!

Have you lost much weight with this way of eating? It seems quite sustainable. What do you eat for breakfast?

Sorry, that was a reply to @caringcarer above me! I tried the Reply function but must have done it wrong.