Cutting back on your daily caloric intake is one of the quickest ways to start losing weight. A diet plan consisting of 1,200 calories per day is the lowest recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for healthy adult males and active or overweight females. Eating 1,200 calories a day can help this group lose weight at a safe rate of 1 to 2 lbs. per week on average.
Weight Loss Basics
Losing 1 lb. of body fat requires that you create a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories. A calorie deficit simply means you're burning more calories than you're consuming. If you currently consume more than 1,200 calories per day, you can create a calorie deficit by switching to a 1,200 calorie-a-day plan and thus have the potential to lose weight.
Meal Plan
Divide your daily calories equally among three main meals -- breakfast, lunch and dinner -- along with one or two low-calorie snacks between meals. Eating a small meal or snack every two to three hours will help curb hunger cravings and keep your metabolism high. Make each main meal 300 to 400 calories and each snack 50 to 100 calories. A snack may consist of a small bowl of popcorn, a cup of low-fat yogurt or a piece of fruit.
Potential
The weight loss potential on a 1,200-calorie diet varies from person to person, based on your basal metabolic rate, or BMR. A BMR measures approximately how many calories you need each day to maintain your current body weight; it's easiest to use an online BMR calculator. Simply subtract 1,200 from your BMR to determine your weight loss potential. For example, a person with a BMR of 1,700 would create a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day by switching to a 1,200 calorie plan; that's equivalent to 1 lb. of weight loss per week. Don't forget to factor in your calories burned during exercise when determining your BMR; simply add your average daily calories burned to your BMR total.
Sample Day
HHS offers a sample 1,200-calorie menu you can follow. For breakfast, go with whole-wheat toast with jelly, shredded wheat cereal with low-fat milk, orange juice and coffee. Lunch can be a roast beef sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce, tomato and low-calorie mayonnaise and a piece of fruit. Dinner starts with a 2-oz. portion of salmon cooked in vegetable oil, a baked potato with margarine, green beans, carrots, dinner roll and iced tea. For a snack, eat 2.5 cups of popcorn with light margarine for flavoring. Drink water throughout the day.
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