A low-carb diet typically allows for just 50 g to 150 g of carbohydrates from foods such as bread, pasta, sweets and most fruits. Low-carb diets instead emphasize meats, eggs, leafy greens, poultry, fish, cheese and fats. Many of these low-carb foods are also high in calories, making it challenging to adhere to a 1,200-calorie meal plan. Specific food choices and menu strategies can help you stick to a 1,200-calorie, low carb diet. Check with your physician before beginning such a restrictive plan.
Emphasize Vegetables
At each meal, load at least half your plate with leafy, low-carb vegetables such as romaine lettuce, spinach, kale, broccoli and radicchio. Summer squash, eggplant, mushrooms, fennel, celery and bok choy are other good choices as they contain a small amount of calories and carbohydrates for large servings. You can fill up on these foods without exceeding your carbohydrate or calorie restrictions.
Plant Proteins
People who emphasize plant sources of protein over animal sources of protein while following a low-carb diet have a lower rate of mortality reports a study of more than 120,000 people followed for at least 20 years published by a collaboration of researchers from Simmons College, Channing Laboratory, the National University of Singapore and the Harvard School of Public Health in the "Annals of Internal Medicine" in September 2010. Beans, soy and lentils are higher in carbohydrates, but can still fit into a low-carb plan. A half cup of cooked lentils contains 110 calories, 9 g of protein and about 20 g of carbohydrates. Cut back on other sources of carbohydrates, such as small servings of brown rice or a slice of whole grain bread, at other meals during the day to make room for plant proteins.
Limit Red Meat
In addition to picking up calories and fat, eating more than 18 oz. of red meat per week can increase your risk of developing colon cancer reports the Harvard School of Public Health. If you eat animal-based proteins, build your menus around those low in saturated fat such as shrimp, egg whites, white-meat chicken or turkey and fish. Good menu options with no carbohydrates are 3 oz. of water-packed, light tuna, with 99 calories; 3 oz. of steamed shrimp, with 84 calories; 3.5 oz. of chicken breast with 165 calories; or 4 egg whites with 64 calories.
Heart-Healthy Fats
When restricting your menu to 1,200 calories, you may be tempted to avoid high-calorie fats. Your body needs some fat for proper functioning -- between 20 and 35 percent of daily calories is ideal says the Institute of Medicine. Instead of loading up on cheese, butter and bacon, which are low in carbohydrates but high in unhealthy saturated fats, choose heart-healthy unsaturated fats found in most plant oils, nuts and avocados. Include snacks in your 1,200-calorie menu plan such as 1 oz. almonds for 170 calories or 1 tbsp. of nut butter with celery for about 125 calories, which contain minimal carbohydrates and mostly heart-healthy fats. Dress your green vegetables with 1 to 2 tsp. of olive oil and lemon juice, instead of creamy dressings, for 40 to 80 calories. Choose salmon or another fatty fish as an occasional protein source.
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