Day 2 of the 7-Day Diet Plan for 1200 calories (or more) is easy! This plan requires some advance preparation and a fair amount of cooking on or before Day 1 of the sample diet menu, however, the rest of the week is quite simple. You will have much of the work already accomplished!

For Day 2 Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal is on the menu again but today we’ll pair it up with some yogurt instead of milk for a good source of protein and calcium. To keep the total calories distributed throughout the day I suggest you hold off till mid-morning to enjoy an orange for a snack and satisfy your need for a good source of vitamin C and additional fiber at that time.

Lunch is easy, especially if you like cold chicken. If you prefer your chicken to be warmed simply program your microwave for a low setting to heat for 2 to 3 minutes. While you’re waiting on the microwave, wash and cut all of the celery into snack size pieces about 4 inches in length. Save out about 5-6 pieces for your meal and refrigerate the rest. Now pour a cup of skim milk and you’re set. If you don’t like or can’t tolerate cow’s milk you may want to read Healthy Low Calorie Beverages for some great ideas on how to meet your nutrient needs with nondairy choices.

The afternoon snack calls for about 4 tbsp. of mashed avocado (about 1/2 or so of a medium sized avocado) along with some tortilla chips. You may want to go ahead and mash up the whole avocado and refrigerate the extra for Day 4. (Add a little lemon or lime juice to keep the avocado from turning brown.) Enjoy the mashed avocado plain or season to taste with zero calorie herbs and/or spices.

Dinner will require a few minutes of meal preparation to make a low calorie yet delicious Apple and Chicken salad. I am including chicken for meals twice in one day to minimize the number of ingredients needed for the week and to keep the cost down. I think the taste of the salad is surprisingly good and delightfully different from the chicken wing and leg for lunch. So hopefully you won’t even notice. I’ve posted the recipe for Low Calorie Apple and Chicken Salad on the Best Easy Healthy Recipes site.

Day 2 of the 7-Day Diet Plan for 1200 Calories Plus

Breakfast

1/2 cup Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal

1 6-oz. container Stonyfield Farms Low Fat Yogurt of your choice (130 calories)

1 cup or more of unsweetened tea, coffee, or water

Snack

1 medium orange

Lunch

1 chicken wing (skin removed)

1 chicken leg (just the leg not the thigh meat, skin removed)

2 stalks of celery (about 5-6 4-inch pieces or so)

8 oz. skim (nonfat) milk plain or make your own cafe au lait (see Healthy Low Calorie Beverages for other nondairy choices)

Snack

8 Tostitos Multigrain Chips

4 tbsp. mashed avocado (plain or seasoned to taste)

Supper

1/2 cup Low Calorie Apple and Chicken Salad

2 cups mixed salad greens

1/2 whole wheat roll by Arnold (toast lightly and you won’t feel a need to add a spread and additional calories!)

8 oz. skim (nonfat) milk plain or make your own cafe au lait (see Healthy Low Calorie Beverages for other nondairy choices)

Here’s how Day 2 stacks up for nutritional balance as rated by MyFoodDiary (the service I use to design diet menus).

(Remember to get plenty of water throughout the day.)

Total Calories = 1188

Total Fiber = 24.6

Fat = 26%

Carbs = 50%

Protein = 23%

Calcium = 1046 mg (Women between 19 and 50 years need approximately 1,000 mg a day, 51+ need 1,200 mg a day)

Iron = 10.8 mg (Women 19 to 50 years need 18 mg of iron, 51+ need 8 mg)

1300, 1400, 1500 Calorie Diet Menu

Modify the 1200 Calorie Diet Menu to fit your needs.

The iron count is on the low side if you are between the ages of 19 and 50. Today might be a good day for an iron supplement. I recommend taking your supplement at the same time you have the orange for a snack. Vitamin C in the orange will enhance the absorption of the iron in your body.

Calcium comes up a little short for women 51+. You might supplement this menu plan with a small piece of low fat cheese such as Sargento Light String Cheese or BabyBel Mini Light Cheese for an additional 50 calories. However, if you need to keep your saturated fat intake down, this might be a good day for a calcium supplement.

With the exception of iron for young women and calcium for older women, the menu is fairly well balanced for most nutrients. So go ahead and choose what you might like to add to the menu plan for Day 2 to get your additional calories!

That’s it for Day 2. Check back for Day 3 coming soon and another creative way to use the leftover chicken from Day 1 to keep things simple and minimize cost. I also plan on sharing an article about choosing the best healthy low calorie yogurts. Till my next post, watch those calories and eat healthy food!

1200 calories 1300 1400 1500 calories calories Day 2 diet diet plan healthy sample menu weight loss

A short while ago I wrote a review about the Instinct Diet. The research behind this diet is so meaningful because it supports what we already knew all too well. We eat more than we need because we CAN! We have evolved as human beings in a way that prompts us to eat when food is available. That’s normal! The problem is that food is available all too often and we no longer have a good concept of what is enough.

How has this come about? Having access to plenty of food is a blessing, something that was not experienced by most humans throughout history. Knowing what to do about the easy access to abundant food is another story. It has become harder to judge what is enough in part because the norm no longer matches our needs.

Portion sizes in restaurants and packaged foods have grown substantially over the years. What was once considered to be a large portion is now standard fare. Combine larger portions with the admonishment to clean our plates and we have a real problem. As a general rule Americans have learned to eat the food they are served. This is one way in which we limit what we eat by external cues. In many other cultures, people will more often limit what they eat based on internal cues of fullness and satisfaction. (To learn more about internal vs. external cues for eating as well as the dominant food culture in the United States read See it, Eat it with tips from Brian Wansink, PhD, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think )

Research by Marion Nestle, PhD (chair, Nutrition and Food Studies, NYU) has shown us that the trend toward bigger portions began in the 1970’s. I was a college student in the 70’s. I remember how a serving of french fries was a small amount, about 2-4 ounces totaling 210 calories. Now fries can be 6-7 ounces with a whopping 610 calories or so. Bagels were once about 3 inches in diameter and had about 140 calories. Now bagels can be 5-6 inches in size and have 350 calories or more! Beverages need an entire article of their own to cover the changes over the last 30-40 years. (You may want to read: The Beverages You Drink May be Making you Fat!)

Here’s what you can keep in mind to gain back some control over how much you eat. “Portions” refer to how much we are served by a restaurant or food packager or what we serve ourselves and it may have little to do with what we need. “Serving sizes” relate to the recommended amount of food a person needs based on sex, age, and activity level.

You can get a sense of how much you need by referring to the USDA Food Pyramid. (Be prepared to click on lots of links!) Or better yet, determine your caloric needs and then refer to the 1200 calorie diet plan or 1500 calorie diet plan I share on this site. You’ll get an idea of how many servings you need from each food group and how much constitutes a serving. (Read Calories Count to determine your caloric needs for weight loss or maintenance.)
To learn more about how much you eat and the ways in which you may need to change you may want to read about the benefits of keeping a food diary

You might also find it helpful to have a visual in your mind of the size of a serving. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has come up with some visual guidelines
to give you an easy to remember picture in your mind of the size of a serving for different foods.

What Does a Serving Look Like?

Vegetables and Fruits:

1 cup of salad greens = a baseball

1 baked potato = a fist

1 medium fruit = a baseball

1/2 cup cut fresh fruit = 1/2 baseball

1/4 cup of raisins = a large egg

Grain Products:

1 cup of cereal flakes = 1 fist

1 pancake = compact disc

1/2 cup cooked rice, pasta, or potato = 1/2 baseball

1 piece of cornbread = a bar of soap

Dairy and Cheese:

1 1/2 oz. cheese = 4 stacked dice or 2 cheese slices (Yes, my drawing only shows 3 Dice!)

1/2 cup ice cream = 1/2 baseball

Meat and Alternatives:

3 oz. meat, fish, or poultry = a deck of cards

3 oz. grilled/baked fish = a checkbook

2 Tbsp. of Peanut Butter = a ping pong ball

Fats:

1 tsp. margarine or spreads = 1 die (referring to dice)

Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

If you have been making progress with respect to eating a healthier diet then getting a handle on portion size may be your next step to successful weight loss and maintenance. Good luck!

In my next post I will share the menu for day 2 of the 7 Day Diet Plan for weight loss with a healthy 1200 calorie diet including how you can modify the plan for a 1300, 1400, or 1500 calorie diet. Till then watch those calories, portion sizes, and eat healthy food!

Maintenance weight loss