Last week I mentioned that I would have a new tool to share that would provide you with additional support for your weight loss efforts on a low calorie diet. The new tool is actually a toolbar and I’ve named it 1200 Calorie Diet.

I created this toolbar for you to have easy access to many of the very best resources online for weight loss on 1200 calories.

The toolbar can be added to Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Flock. Hopefully in the near future it will be available for more browsers. It is something you can download and install in just a few steps.

With this toolbar, I’ve included links for an excellent free nutrition and calorie calculator online. I only discovered it recently and I’ve not mentioned this site anywhere else. It’s one that I use when I want to know how many calories are in a small quantity of food. For example: how many calories in 10 grapes or 1 oz. of yellow tomato?

I still use MyFoodDiary.com when I create 1200 calorie diet sample menus and to keep track of the healthy foods in my diet as well as those I recommend for others. But there are times when the database at My Food Diary doesn’t have the information I need.

Also included with the toolbar are links to calculators for determining BMI (body mass index), BMR (basal metabolic rate), and calories burned with exercise. I have links to my latest blog posts here at the Women and Weight Website so you won’t miss a thing. And I have links to the latest posts for my Weight Loss Motivation blog. I have been writing these posts for quite some time and will soon have completed a book that I plan on sharing with my subscribers.

As I find more useful tools and sites, I’ll add it to the toolbar and you will know instantly. The updates are automatic!

You can find the download link for the toolbar on a new page I created called 1200 calorie diet. On this page I will include all of the most helpful links for information on this website related to 1200 calorie diets. Go check it out. I’ve listed many of the best links and I will be adding more soon.

Also, try the toolbar and let me know what you think!

I’m heading to Georgia to visit my mother who is in a Nursing Home but I will do my best to post another article before I return in a week. (I’m leaving at 4:00 a.m. in the morning!) Please be patient with me. I sometimes have trouble with having access to the Internet on these trips but I will do what I can. (I have an interesting article for you. I’m in the market to buy a new bathroom scale and I’m thinking of buying one of the new weight scales that also measure body fat. I’ll let you know why I think it may be a good choice.)

Till next time, watch those calories and have a great week!

A while back I wrote an article on where to find low calorie meals offered by national restaurant chains. This past week I came across some new choices to add to your list of ideas. This may be especially helpful if you are on a 1200 calorie diet. I’ve also learned of an inexpensive way to get some inspiration to exercise with some DVDs from the pros. And I have an update for you about My Food Diary, my favorite online calorie tracker. It’s the service I use to create the 1200 and 1500 calorie sample menus that I’ve been sharing.

Small Sammies are now available at Quiznos

Quiznos now has two low cal and low cost versions of their gourmet flatbread sandwiches called Sammies. For only 200 calories and just 2 bucks each you can choose from two new flavors: Balsamic Chicken or Black Angus steak.

You could team up one of these sandwiches with a side salad for an additional 130 calories (comes with either balsamic vinaigrette or buttermilk ranch dressing). That comes to 330 calories total. It sounds like it might be a reasonably nutritious choice, but I can’t comment on that till the nutrient breakdown is available. However, I’m sure this combo will come up short for calcium so you would want to get enough low fat milk, yogurt, or cheese with your other meals and snacks.

More Ideas:

I came across an article in the Wall Street Journal posted in the January 10 issue about low cal restaurant meals that might interest you. Evidently a group of reporters (?) from the Journal actually purchased a variety of low cal restaurant entrees for testing at an independent lab to see if the calorie counts matched the claims.

It seems that most of the calorie claims were in fact accurate. However, what the Journal reporters noted, and you will want to keep in mind is that the calorie counts typically did not include anything extra. An example they mentioned is the 340-calorie Subway sandwich. If you, as a customer, request variations on the original sandwich or ask for additional mayo or a slice of cheese, the calorie count will likely be significantly higher.

Something else to watch out for are the extras that come with meals, especially take out. Breadsticks, dips, or chips are only a few of the possibilities you might find in your take out bag along with the main item. For more tips and restaurant meal ideas you might want to read the article yourself.

Motivation for Exercise:

Has it been bitter cold where you live? With all the ice and snow and extreme cold that we’ve had for a quite a while now, I’ve had to put walking outside on hold. I usually don’t mind going to the gym but at 11 degrees below zero, I’m not thrilled with the idea of going anywhere. Sometimes having fresh new ideas for exercise routines I can do at home is just the inspiration I need to make time and do it!

I discovered an offer by Columbia House that might interest you as well. It seems that you can order 5 DVDs for only 50 cents a piece. This company has a good selection of just about anything you might want on DVD.

From kickboxing, to Pilates, yoga, body sculpting, keeping fit in your 50s and many more, there are plenty of choices for exercise. So if you’d like some inspiration, maybe something new and different will spark your enthusiasm. (You can check out the exercise DVDs at Columbia House by peeling away the ad in the top right corner of my website.)

MyFoodDiary.com

My Food Diary now has more than 50,000 foods listed in their database! Wow! When I wrote my review back in August there were about 45,000 food items. This is far more than any other service I’m aware of online. If you get a chance do take a look. Whether we like it or not, calories do count!

This coming week I have a new sample menu for a 1200 calorie diet. It was somewhat challenging to put together because I wanted to share one with you that does not require any cooking (other than heating something up in a microwave oven.) Achieving nutrient balance with 1200 calories can be very difficult when working with convenience foods and, in this instance, a lunch from a restaurant.

Till next time, watch your calories and stay healthy!