An important step in attaining healthy weight loss is creating a balance between calorie intake and your body's nutritional needs. While you must cut back in order to lose weight, you must also get enough of the carbohydrates, proteins and fats that keep your body and mind happy and healthy. Limiting calories to 1,200 per day enables you to lose weight and still meet nutritional requirements.
Requirements
If you follow general recommendations your 1,200 calorie food plan will consist of about 45 to 65 percent carbohydrates, 10 to 35 percent protein and 20 to 35 percent fat. This equates to about 540 to 780 calories of carbohydrates, 120 to 420 calories of protein and 240 to 420 calories of fat. You can also look at this breakdown in terms of grams. Both carbohydrate and protein foods contain four calories per gram while fats contain nine calories per gram, so each day you will consume 2,160 to 3,120 g of carbohydrates, 480 to 1,680 g of protein and 960 to 1,680 g of fat.
Staying Healthy
The trick to maintaining balance is to fill your food plan with nutrient-rich foods, or foods that have a higher nutritional value than they do a caloric value. These include foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, low and no fat dairy products as well as lean meat and fish. Nutrient-rich foods exclude those containing added sugar, sodium, saturated and trans fat. When food shopping, use the perimeter of the store, rather than deep within each aisle, for the best chance of finding these types of foods.
Sample Meal Plan
A 1,200 calorie meal plan is not a bare bones diet. You can eat three meals and still have enough calories left for two snacks each day. As an example, your food plan for breakfast can include one cup of sliced strawberries with 1 tsp of sugar, two slice of whole-wheat toast, each with 1 tsp of light margarine and a 6 oz container of sugar-free, no fat yogurt. A lunchtime food plan can include a toasted English muffin with 1 oz of shredded low fat cheddar cheese, a half-cup of baby carrots and a half-cup of no fat or light ice cream. For supper, 3 oz of pork tenderloin and a half-cup of salsa on top, a medium baked sweet potato with 2 tsp light margarine and a half-cup of green beans you cook in 1 tsp of olive or canola oil rounds out your main meals. Snack options can include four reduced-fat wafer cookies and 10 grapes in the morning and one-half of a banana in the afternoon.
Considerations
Healthy weight loss means losing no more than one or two pounds each week. Combining a 1,200 calorie food plan with exercise will help you accomplish this goal, as well as help keep the weight you lose from returning. Talk to your doctor before starting your 1200 calorie meal plan and exercise program, and then start slowly, gradually increasing your time until you incorporate 60 to 90 minutes of exercise in your daily routine.
References
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute/ National Institutes of Health: Aim for a Healthy Weight
- MayoClinic: Nutrition and Healthy Eating
- Mayo Clinic: Counting Calories: Get Back to Weight-Loss Basics
- Family Doctor: Changing Your Diet: Choosing Nutrient-Rich Foods
- American Heart Association: No-Fad Diet Sample Menu Plan
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