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

@NewMeNewUs Around 1350 a day will be fine.

Try
Breakfast: fat free Greek style yoghurt, banana and blueberries
Lunch: 2 slices wholemeal toast, wholegrain mustard instead of butter and 2 poached eggs
Dinner: Healthy lentil dal, made more liquidy like a soup with frozen spinach added for iron!

snacks: cucumber, carrots, grapes, apples, strawberries etc.

This is my weight loss go to menu. Will happily eat it for weeks!

Have had a LOT of success with Noom, personally. Not cheap but the first few months were free and formed good habits.

I hope you enjoy your soup. I don't often eat breakfast as doing the fasting thing from 6.30pm - 12 noon. Occasionally I have breakfast and if I do it's either melon or scrambled egg x 2 and 2 x low fat sausages.

I make tomato and lentil soup which is nice too. Just 1/2 an onion with a tea spoon of olive oil in the soup maker, then add 1 tin of plum tomatoes and 3 handfuls of pre cooked red lentils. Rince the lentils. Add to soup maker with seasoning, and water up to line. Blitz when cooked until smooth.

You can eat a low fat yoghurt
An apple
Slim fast bar
Portion of raspberries
Satsuma
Melon slice
Carrot sticks
Chunk of chicken breast.

More of less whenever you want.

4 stone since last February. But not lost anything in December as first on a cruise for 2 weeks then Xmas and NY so ate treat food. I did also have some help from Ozempic but I'm terrible at exercise.

I use the fast 800 you could do that but add a few more carbs to take you to 1200 cals. You can eat loads for 1200 cals, no need to be hungry.

Absolutely this

I really dont understand why posters always jump on threads like this to say that 1200 or so is 'incredibly low'

For me to lose a pound a week, I have to have 1189 per day (rounded up to 1200 of course)

I could do half a pound a week and eat 1439 I suppose. Still lower than the random figure people throw out to say people should be eating this or that.

Porridge with skimmed milk or water for breakfast 250-300 cals. Huel for lunch 400 calls. Dinner can e things like jacket potato with tuna, fish and veg, curry with a tomato-based sauce, omelette, chicken wraps, roasted veg tray. Sainsbury's do a nice pizza that's under 500 calories.

@caringcarer yes, it was nice. I added lemon juice and grated a bit of parmesan over it. Thanks again. Loads of good ideas on this thread too.

Normal healthy meals. Cut portion in half and add in extra non starchy veg / salad to fill the plate.

Breakfast - porridge oats made with water and just a splash of milk to make it creamy, with some chopped fruit on top (I like plums with cinnamon done in microwave) very filling.

Lunches - roasted veg (I do in air fryer with some balsamic vinegar and seasonings) sprinkle of crumbled feta on top.

Chopped salads - mixtures of raw broccoli/carrots/spring onions/apple or whatever you like, I add chickpeas and do my own dressing with lemon juice/dijon mustard/honey...

Dinners - I find recipes for low cal curries/chilli/tagine, anything I can batch cook. I tend to replace rice with shredded cauliflower and dry fry with some cumin.

Breakfast: egg on toast.

Lunch: bowl of homemade veg soup with 30g cheese grated on top

Dinner: half potion of spaghetti bolognaise with salad.

Oh and try a fitness tracker. You might be able to eat more and still have a calorie deficit if you do a decent amount of exercise.

To see what degree of deficit/ food combinations work best for losing and then maintaining weight track food, exercise and weight systematically over a few weeks and look for patterns. ( I do all this on Fitbit)

I eat the meals you list in the evening and it works out at about 600 calories. I only have 2oz pasta though and have a ladle to measure the meat/sauce.
If you combine it with fasting you could have two such meals per day within your 1200. Or you could have a different lunch, I find a small jacket potato loaded with cheese and salad very filling.

I used ‘lose it’ to lose 8kg by calorie counting.
porridge with milk for breakfast, a banana mid morning, 1 egg and 2 small slices of sourdough with butter for lunch, and variable dinners. Copious cups of tea. Carrots (20 calories) instead of apples (100cal), couscous instead or rice/pasra- you really need to cut the carbs.

I’m aiming for 1200 too, today I had -
breakfast - raspberries and banana
lunch - half a baked potato (no butter) cottage cheese and salad (no dressing)
dinner - salmon, asparagus and peas
snack - low fat yogurt and babybelle
Coffee and tea through out the day
I aim for high protein, low calorie. I don’t eat meat but if I did I’d include chicken. The things I eat most are veg, quorn, fish, beans, lentils, low fat diary, soups etc I then add lots of flavour (spice, seasoning, low fat dressings, small amount of strong cheddar) to make things more satisfying.
Typical meals are - chickpea curry, quorn/lentil cottage pie, spicy sweetcorn chowder, ratatouille with fake meatballs, chilli. I don’t eat rice or bread, at least I try not to.

1200 calories is the recommended daily intake for a toddler!

Just be careful you don't do more harm than good. I would at least eat an extra 200 a day.

Its 1000 to 1400 for a toddler, so your 1400 would be the same as for a toddler too

Toddlers are little fire balls, they're growing fast, they run around a lot

Compared to a slovenly peri menopausal, cold all the time woman.

My BMR is just over 1400. My TDEE is 1689

To lose weight I need between 1200 and 1439 depending on what I want to lose

My 6 foot son has to go as low as 1200 to lose weight. He's lost 5 st and it's done him no harm.

Some really great ideas here. I struggle with snacks. I find it hard to go from lunch until dinner. What can I have with a cup of tea that is low in calories?

I have nuts or mini babybel, very small but proteiny things

I am 5ft 6 and 10 st 7lb. I'm on around 1600 a day to lose 1lb a week.
Today I've had (only about 1400, but might yet have a late night snack..)
Breakfast: chia seed pudding with apple, yogurt, honey.
Lunch: minestrone soup.
Afternoon snack: babybell and an orange.
Tea: pork and salad wrap with packet of crisps, followed by an ice lolly.
I use weight loss resources to track.. it's not free but it's very good, it links to your fitbit and works out your exercise calories. You can take a free trial for 24hrs.

Keeping busy helps in terms of struggling with snacks. For example, I can skip breakfast and go on a long run and not eat until lunch. I'm running and don't eat whilst doing that. Tbh I forget about it once the window for breakfast has passed. I sometimes think I have eaten it until I remind myself I haven't. Hunger tends to come at specific times you are expecting to eat.

Are you young and energetic?

Im 1.5 stone heavier than you and yet have to eat a lot less than you

@snowlady4

I use weight loss resources to track.. it's not free but it's very good, it links to your fitbit and works out your exercise calories. You can take a free trial for 24hrs.

But the Fitbit is free and tracks exercise calories anyway and you can enter your food intake into the free (basic level) subscription free app.

I used to do 600, slice of grilled bacon in the morning and some cherry tomatoes, weight watchers tomato soup for lunch and a whole bunch of boiled veg with a couple of squares of grilled fish for dinner. Loads of water.

I was never hungry - and very hydrated!!

I am 39. Have a busy, busy job but don't go to the gym or anything. I used to be heavier and have been alot lighter too.