It’s common knowledge now that a 1200 calorie diet plan is the smartest way to go about losing weight. You can approach the 1200 calorie diet in two ways – track each calorie after you’ve consumed it, or by constructing a 1200 calorie diet menu before you begin. It’s obvious to me which option has the greater chance of success.
If you want to create a 1200 calorie diet menu, the first question you need to ask yourself is ‘what kind of eater am I?’. Do you enjoy 2-3 large meals a day or prefer 4-5 smaller ones? 1200 calorie a day diets are only successful if you work with your real life situation and natural tendencies.
Then, decide on how you want to divide your daily calorie intake. For example, if you like to dine out at night, you’ll have to take in fewer calories throughout the day. You can be flexible with this, because some days will play out against the norm, but you’ll be surprised how quickly you’ll learn how to work with these situations if you have a few calculations under your belt. The most important thing is to have a standard 1200 calorie a day diet menu you can work with on most days.
Let’s say you are a working woman has lunch meetings most weekdays. The first thing you would do is work out how many meals you need each day. If you enjoy 3 meals a day, you would then ask yourself how low in calories your ‘other two’ meals can be. If you are a smart dieter, you will know by now that without added fat and sugar, you can enjoy a highly nutritious and filling meal for less than 300 calories. That leaves you with 600 calories for your lunch meetings. In saying that, you will still need to order wisely because eating out tends to be a calorie buster if you aren’t careful.
You’d continue to form your 1200 calorie diet menu by selecting a variety of 300 calorie options for breakfast and dinner. You might stock up on ingredients for some of the following 300 calorie breakfasts:
- Fresh fruit plate
- 2 slices of wholegrain toast with 1 small tin of baked beans
- Oatmeal with fresh banana and currents
Then some 300 calorie dinners:
- Brown rice sushi
- Quinoa with steamed vegetables
- Home cooked red lentil and vegetable curry
Working with your own eating habits, a realistic daily caloric meal-split and a personalised 1200 calorie diet menu, you should be able to manage your 1200 cal diet plan for successful and long term weight loss.
For related fast weight loss tips read my article about the 1500 calorie diet.
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