1,200 Calorie Menu Plans

For most of us, a 1,200-calorie diet represents the minimum intake to keep the body fueled for a day, and is not a sustainable level. According to the Harris-Benedict Equation for calculating caloric needs based on weight, height, age and activity level, even an 80-year-old bedridden woman requires more than 1,200 calories to sustain her weight.

That said, some people decrease their calorie levels to that level on a short-term basis for quick weight loss.

Resources

The web is full of free resources for calculating calorie needs, nutritional content and food logging, which is one of the most effective ways of losing weight.

The U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture has a particularly useful food logging site (see Resources) available at www.mypyramidtracker. Here, you can plug in your food choices for the day, and get a running total, not only of calories, but also other nutritional content.

Nutritional Content

The Institute of Medicine recommends getting 45 to 65 percent of your calories from carbohydrates, 20 percent to 35 percent from fat, and 10 to 35 percent from protein. While a reduced carbohydrate diet results in short-term weight loss, this is mostly as a result of reduced water retention, and is not recommended as a long-term nutritional plan.

The easiest way to assemble the building blocks of a balanced meal is to top a mixed vegetable salad with lean protein. A large salad containing half a cup of tuna, some grated cheese, cold boiled potatoes and green beans, and topped with a homemade olive oil vinaigrette--a classic Nicoise--contains about 320 calories, 31 percent from protein, 49 percent from carbohydrates, and 20 percent from fat.

Most health experts also recommend taking a daily multivitamin, and this is especially important when a reduced calorie diet is likely to result in lower nutrient intakes.

Meal Plan

The sample meal plan below contains just under 1,200 calories but is high in nutritional content and includes balanced snacks in the morning and afternoon. Overall, the plan derives 28 percent of its calories from protein, 60 percent from carbohydrates, and 12 percent from fat.

Breakfast
Oatmeal (150 calories)

Morning snack
String cheese and a pear (166 total calories)

Lunch
Nicoise salad (recipe makes two servings, each with 322 total calories)
Toss 1.5 cup potatoes, 2 cups green beans, 1 can tuna, 3 cups lettuce, 1 serving grated cheese, 1 tbsp. olive oil and vinegar to taste.

Afternoon snack
Nonfat Greek-style yogurt with fruit (140 total calories)

Dinner
Shrimp fra diavlo (recipe makes one serving containing 390 total calories)
Saute nine large shrimp in half a tablespoon of olive oil in a nonstick pan until pink; add 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes and red pepper flakes to taste, serve over 2 oz. of cooked whole-wheat spaghetti.

Build Your Own Meal Plan

Using food labels and the USDA Nutrient Database, found at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/, you can build your own 1,200-calorie meal plan. The database, or any other nutrient content source, helps you identify foods you like that are low in calories and high in nutritional content.

Food logging will help you learn, for example, that while your fish chowder may be tasty with salmon, it's just as good with cod, which contains half the calories. Similarly, you'll find that cereal choices vary widely in the amount of calories they contain.

Armed with a little knowledge, it's easy to build a plan that fits your needs.

Expert Insight

Many popular books and websites recommend against reducing calories to a level that results in weight loss exceeding a pound or two a week, and most also recommend that diet be combined with regular physical activity, so that you burn more calories than you take in on an average day.

In "You on a Diet," authors Michael F. Roizen, MD, and Mehmet C. Oz, MD, write, "Eating isn't all about calories, it's about staying satisfied."