1200 Calorie Diet plan for weight loss is a restrictive diet that requires a person to reduce their daily intake to 1,200 calories. For some people, 1,200 calories are too low and can lead to malnourishment.
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It’s possible to lose weight quickly by following a low-calorie diet, like this 1,200 calorie-per-day diet, but you have to do it right to be sure you’re getting all of the essential nutrients you need.
Following a low-calorie diet isn’t difficult if you include lots of nutrient-dense foods. In fact, doing so is a necessity because, with only 1,200 calories, there’s no room for foods that aren’t totally nutritious.
The key: Choose plenty of low-calorie, high-fiber fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low-fat protein sources. Here are two 1,200 calorie-per-day menus to get you started.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)Trusted Source provides menu plans and other information about which foods to choose when following a 1,200 calorie diet.
What Low-Fat Foods Are Hiding From You
- The word fat has many bad meanings but in fact, it shouldn’t because there are many types of fats that are good for you. But it is this negative notion of fat that many companies exploit by marketing their foods as “fat-free” or nearly fat-free. The problem with this is oftentimes the number of calories isn’t actually dropped but rather they replace the fat with something actually much worse: sugar.
- Having too much sugar is just as bad or worse than having too much fat. Not only that but since companies remove the fat from their foods, they still need their products to have the same consistency so they use the method of hydrogenation to make fat more solid-like.
- This process uses less fat but usually produces the worst type of fats for your body: trans-fats. Thus make sure to always read the food nutrition label to make sure what is replacing the fat in your fat-free foods!
1,215 Calorie Menu With No Non-Nutritive Sweeteners
Consuming at least 1,200 calories per day has often been touted as the minimum for basic bodily functions and to stay out of starvation mode, but the amount is actually too low. A healthy amount of calories for adult women ranges from 1,800 to 2,400 calories per day and for men it’s 2,000 to 3,200 calories per day.
If you do want to use a sweetener, choosing one with no calories keeps the menu to about 1,200 calories. One teaspoon of sugar has about 16 calories,1 while honey has 21 calories per teaspoon.2
Breakfast
- One cup oatmeal
- One-half cup of non-fat milk
- One tablespoon honey
- One-half cup blueberries
- One cup of plain coffee or tea
Lunch
- Two slices of 100% whole grain bread, deli-sliced turkey breast, tomato slice, lettuce, and one tablespoon of mustard
- One-half cup of sliced carrots
- Water
Dinner
- Three ounces of baked salmon
- One cup of green beans
- Salad with one cup raw spinach, five cherry tomatoes, and one-half cup broccoli florets with lemon juice as a dressing
- Water with a slice of lemon
Snacks
- One apple with 12 almonds
- Several glasses of water
- One cup of non-fat milk
- One-half cup plain yogurt with one tablespoon of honey
- One cup strawberries
Nutrition Information
- Total calories: 1,215
- Total protein: 72 grams (23% of calories)
- Sum of carbohydrates: 185 grams (59.3% )
- Total fat: 25 grams (17.7%)
- Saturated fat: 5 grams
- Sodium: 1,402 milligrams
- Sugar: 107 grams
- Cholesterol: 94 milligrams
- Fiber: 28 grams
1,218 Calorie Menu With Non-Nutritive Sweeteners
Again, if you wish to omit the non-nutritive sweetener or use a different one, the calorie count will remain the same. Choosing sugar or honey adds a small number of calories.
Breakfast
- One cup of whole-grain corn cereal
- One packet sucralose
- One-half cup of non-fat milk
- One cup of 100-percent orange juice as a beverage
Lunch
- Salad made with two cups field greens, two ounces albacore tuna (packed in water), one-half cup cherry tomatoes with two tablespoons balsamic vinegar as a dressing
- Diet soda
Dinner
- One three-ounce pork chop
- One baked sweet potato
- One cup of steamed asparagus
- One tablespoon of olive oil
- One small glass of white wine
Snacks
- One small pita bread with two tablespoons of hummus
- One pear
- One serving of low-fat, sugar-free fruit-flavored yogurt
- One cup blueberries
- Two-thirds cup baby carrots with one ounce fat-free vegetable dip
- Several glasses of water with slices of lemon or lime
Nutrition Information
- Total calories: 1,218
- Total protein: 70 grams (22.6%)
- Sum of carbohydrates: 176 grams (56.8%)
- Total fat: 20 grams (14.6%)
- Saturated fat: 5 grams
- Sodium: 1,615 milligrams
- Sugar: 86 grams
- Cholesterol: 116 milligrams
- Fiber: 24 grams
BOTTOM LINE-1200 calorie diet plan for weight loss
See your doctor before you start a low-calorie diet to ensure it is the right choice given your health and any underlying conditions. A 1,200-calorie diet is not appropriate for every person. If these meal plans don’t fit your calorie needs, consider daily menus for 1,500 calories and 1,700 calories.
Portion and serving sizes are key to dieting success, so you’ll need a good set of measuring cups and measuring spoons, plus a kitchen scale until you get used to estimating your serving sizes.
