1200 Calories Diet
If you are working towards weight loss goals, get this free printable 1200 calorie meal plan here!
Eating 1200 Calories a Day
A 1200 calorie diet may not be easy to stick to. But, when you are short and have a low resting metabolic rate, 1200 calories may be the only way to keep your weight in maintenance.
I was listening to a podcast this morning from a Bodybuilding nutritionist, who gets asked how she can stick with her diet when she is in a calorie deficit.
I expected her to say she adds volume with veggies or low calorie foods, or she fills up on diet soda, but she said something SO MUCH BETTER! (check out my article: can you get full by eating less)
My paraphrase of what she said was, “you have to love your life between meals more than you love food. If the BEST part of your day is your oatmeal, then you need to make some changes.”
I couldn’t agree more, and I love reframing this way. When I’m busy with things I love and enjoy, I don’t have time to focus on food, and I don’t care if what I’m eating is boring.
There is a time and place to LOVE food. Of course, there is. We all love food. But, if you are in bikini contest prep, or you are dieting, find other things in life that fill the void. Don’t let it be your food.
My goal is always to hit 1200 calories per day, which gives me a little wiggle room for impulsive and mindless eating. I generally hit 1500 calories by the end of the day.
Regardless, I think it’s so helpful to have a plan for 1200 calories and let the rest of the food be unplanned. Although I don’t always eat the same thing each day, it’s usually some variation of these meals.
My 1200 Calorie Meal Plan
- 8:00 am Breakfast Eggs with Mushrooms and avocado (protein with veggies)
- 12:00 pm Lunch Chicken Salad with cucumber, romaine lettuce, cilantro cream dressing, and grapes (protein, veggies, and fruit)
- 3:00 pm Snack Blueberries and yogurt with cucumber and ranch (fruit, protein, and veggies)
- 6:00 pm Dinner Bunless burger with lettuce, zucchini, mushrooms, and dressing. (protein and veggies)
Anyway- this is just a quick sample of what 1200 calories looks like on a typical day for me! These meals were eaten while I was following the Bright Line Eating last summer!
Breakfast on a 1200 Calorie Diet
- 3/4 cup Egg whites 65 calories
- 2 whole eggs 146 calories
- Handful of mushrooms
- 30 grams of Avocado 48 calories
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Lunch on 1200 Calories a Day
- 6 ounces cucumber 12 calories
- 4 ounces rotisserie chicken 168 calories
- 2 tablespoons cilantro cream dressing 40 calories
- 2 ounces romaine lettuce 4 calories
- 3 ounces grapes 46 calories
1200 Calories Diet Snack
- 6 ounces blueberries 97 calories
- 6 ounces cucumber 12 calories
- 1 tablespoon ranch 70 calories
- 3/4 cup plain Greek Yogurt 100 calories
1200 Calories a Day dinner
- 1/3 lb Hamburger Patty 330 calorie
- 6 ounces lettuce 26 calories
- 3 ounces zucchini 14 calories
- 3 ounces mushrooms 20 calories
- 2 tablespoons Bolthouse dressing 45 calories
Total for the day: 1200 Calorie Diet
- 1257 Calories, 116 g Protein, 73 g carbs, and 55 g fat.
- Percentage breakdown 36 % protein, 23 % carbs, 39% fat
I have several 1200 calorie meal plans, like this printable one below. Check out all the diet meal plans on the Healthy Meal Plans Category page!
PRINT THIS 1200 CALORIE HEALTHY MEAL PAN!
READ NEXT– > 1200 Calorie High protein meal plan with printable!
Download the free 7 Day Meal Plan here.
Hi
Happy New Year! Thank you for being so gracious to those who are less than polite. The tech age does have it’s drawbacks! Please keep inspiring people to eat better! I don’t eat exactly like you, as everyone is different with the spices and flavors they prefer, but I do follow your 30 day plans and strive for a balanced 1300 calories a day most days. . As a short person with small bones like you,that seems to work well for me! My labwork is the best it’s ever been! Thank you!
Thank you Joy!! Your support and encouragement is greatly appreciated!!!
Most people don’t know how much weight an extra hundred calories can add for small people like us. LOL
Hello. Can you provide a grocery list for all the items and quantities needed for this meal plan?
Hi Catherine,
I don’t have a grocery list for this one, but I do have a grocery list for this 1200 calorie, 30 day plan here https://healthbeet.leadpages.co/1200-calorie-meal-plan/
Are there any special recipes for people with health issues? I.e. Hashimoto’s Thyroid Disease, pre-Diabetes, and stage 3 Kidney Disease?
Hi Sher!
I wish! Because I’m not a dietitian, I’m not qualified to recommend recipes for chronic diseases. Someday though! I hope to go back to school for this!
Amy
Air fryer for perfect chicken with no oil is perfect and reheating is PERFECT!!!
YES! I need to use my air fryer more often!
Is there anything you can recommend I eat in place of the mushrooms (I don’t care for them). Thanks!
Hi!While I think mushrooms are definitely a super food, they don’t contribute overall to many of the calories in these plans, so leaving them out shouldn’t impact your progress. I would just skip the mushrooms!
Amy Roskelley
Zuchini
No one should be only eating 1200 calories, especially women, anything below 1400 for a woman will cause hair loss.
I definitely haven’t had any hair loss.
But if you need to create a calorie deficit to lose weight, the calories aren’t supposed to be enough. If it were enough, there would be no weight loss.
I notice you don’t include calories of things like the oil to cook the roasted veggies – I cook mine with a little olive oil and that has to be added in. Also beverages. Even healthy low-calorie beverages – like my favorite, V-8 – have calories and so does the cream (but no sugar) that I put in my coffee. Maybe you can drink ONLY water, but most of us don’t want to give up other beverages entirely. I take my coffee cream calories right off the top every day before I even begin counting the calories I eat.
Hi Lisa!I use cooking spray to cook my roasted veggies! It taste great, and cooks very well! I also like the True Lemon, 10 calorie sugar packets. They are so yummy. But I don’t drink Coffee. I don’t only drink water. I love diet soda too. The bottom line is, I definitely prefer to eat my calories!! Not drink them or use them in cooking my food. Hope that helps!
Your calorie count is way off. 6 ounces of cucumber is 26 calories, not 12. 30g of avocado is 70 calories, not 48. Please if you plan to use calories – be sure you are using correct data.
Hi Shelby,
I’m pretty careful with my calculations. I’ll send you the screenshot from myfitnesspal
I’m so glad I found you!!! I can’t thank you enough for your help. I am hypothyroid with hashimotos AI disease and have met with a dietician in the past. She helped me realize that I lose weight best by eating 1200 calories, but I struggled to come up with ideas and couldn’t stick to it. With your website, I think I will be able to make it work this time! Thank you!!!
Oh my!! Thank you so much for sharing!
I’m glad you found my site too. Keep me updated on your progress!
hi sorry but 6 oz of grapes are DEFINITELY not 46 calories haha they’re around 114 calories
Hi Rachel! Dang! You are right. When I checked in my fitness pal, it looks like I selected “6 fl.oz”, which gave me 46 calories! I’ll fix it! Thanks so much.
You never changed the grape calories. Make your content correct if you want to be taken seriously. People who want to make healthy changes deserve correct info. Thanks.
I did fix it. I changed it to 3 ounces (originally it had 6 ounces)
Thank you so much for putting all this information and meal plans together! It is a huge help! Please try to ignore all the negativity!
Thank you!!
Glad to have you as a reader
Amy
I see you have a cup of egg whites — what does that equivalent to for using fresh egg whites? (3 or 4 eggs)? I see you use white rice in the plan.. isn’t brown rice better for you? On your protein shakes — how much? what kind?
Hi Clair!
1 cup of egg whites should be 6 egg whites.
Yes, brown rice has more nutrients and fiber! White rice though is gentler on the stomach if too much fiber is a problem. Also, I just love white rice.
I like protein powder that is around 100-140 calories for one scoop. I like ISO100 and Combat!
Question, whenever u have chicken tenders or ground beef/chicken for the dinner meal, how do you cook it? Do u bake it and add spices?
Hi Bethany!
I do it a variety of ways to keep things interesting. Most often, I’ll chop it up into bite sized pieces and just throw it in a skillet with cooking spray and salt. Then, I can throw it on whatever else I’m eating. Like a salad, over zero calorie pasta, or just mixed with cooked veggies. I also put some on a cookie sheet and cook at 425 for about 15-20 minutes, depending on how thick the meat is. But this is about perfect for it not to dry out. I use a thermometer to make sure it gets cooked just right. Then, just salt! Hope that helps!