It’s been a little while since I’ve shared a new 1200 calorie diet menu. Yesterday I tested some mini meals to include on a new menu. My husband was out of town so I had more leeway to have fun with this and try what I wanted!

I love simple easy to prepare low-calorie meals. I think you’ll find what I have to share today to be easy yet surprisingly tasty and nutritious as well as low calorie. It is a high iron menu due in part to the Wheat Chex cereal I chose to include for breakfast. If getting too much iron is a potential problem for you, I would encourage you to substitute a different cold cereal.

I’ve been keeping up with my daily walking quite well. So I was able to add an additional 200 calories to my meals and snacks for this basic 1200 calorie menu. Getting to eat more food is a good reward for exercise in my opinion! What do you think?

Do you remember to take into account the calories you burn with exercise? If you want to learn more about your total calorie needs when on a low calorie diet or if you need a refresher, you may want to review my article: 1200 Calorie Diet: Getting Started. That article will give you all the basics. Or if you want more in depth information you may want to read another article of mine: 1200 Calorie Diet: How to Make it Work for You!

Sample Menu for 1200 Calories #14

Breakfast

1 bowl Wheat Chex Cereal (3/4 cup ~160 calories)

1/2 cup blueberries

8 oz. skim milk

1/2 cup orange juice

Snack

1 stick mozzarella string cheese (80 calories each)

Lunch

Easy Pizza:

[1 Honey Wheat Pita (about 6 inches in diameter, 180 calories)

1/2 medium tomato (about 1/2 cup) very thinly sliced tomato (layer on top of the pita bread)

6 slices turkey breast (Oscar Mayer, shaved slices 50 calories) chop into smaller pieces and scatter on top of the tomato slices

1/4 cup Reduced Fat Shredded Mozzarella (Sargento, 80 calories) spread over the turkey and tomato slices. Instead of the mozzarella you might try the Sargento low fat 4 cheese reduced fat shredded Mexican also 80 calories for 1/4 cup. I think I tried this once for a small homemade pizza topping and it had more flavor and appeal than the reduced fat mozzarella.

Season with oregano or pizza seasoning. Bake about 15 minutes or so at 375 degrees in a toaster oven.]

water, unsweetened tea or coffee, or diet soda

Snack

Low Fat Peach Yogurt (or flavor of your choice, Stonyfield Farms, 130 calories)

Supper

Veggie Frittata:

[1/2 cup egg substitute (99% egg whites, 60 calories)

1/2 Tbsp. olive oil

About 1 cup of mixed vegetables lightly steamed or cooked in a microwave (chop up fresh or use a frozen mix) See link below for more information.

Seasoning (I used an organic season-all blend with sea salt.]

1 cup Sweet Cherries

If you would like directions on how to make a basic frittata, I ran across a good article on the New York Times yesterday: How to Make a Frittata Hopefully the article is still accessible without you having to log in. I joined the site a while ago because I like to stay informed with their health and fitness information. It’s free to join.)

water, unsweetened tea or coffee, or diet soda

(Always remember to drink plenty of water throughout the day.)

Total Calories = 1206

Total Fiber = 23.6 grams

Fat = 17%

Carbs = 60%

Protein = 23%

Calcium = 1235 mg (Women between 19 and 50 years need approximately 1,000 mg a day, 51+ need 1,200 mg a day)

Iron = 22.2 mg (Women 19 to 50 years need 18 mg of iron, 51+ need 8 mg)

1500 Calorie Diet Menu

Modify the 1200 Calorie Diet Menu. As I mentioned earlier, this menu is high in iron. So if you are post-menopausal you may want to substitute a breakfast cereal that has less iron. Otherwise this is a well-balanced menu. You might increase the amount you eat (portion size) or add whatever you might like for the additional 300 calories that will fit your needs.

Both the frittata and the pita bread pizza offer a lot of possibilities for variation. Choose healthy ingredients and create your own unique versions. Let me know how it works out!

Till next time, watch your calories and eat healthy!

calories weight loss

Eating nutritious small meals is a challenge on low calorie diets. In May I shared with you eight sample mini-meals of approximately 300 calories each. Today I have four more sample 300 calorie mini meals.

Although you need to keep in mind how a mini-meal will fit into an overall balanced plan for the day, each of the ones I am providing here is already reasonably well balanced. For a convenient checklist you may want to refer to the 1200 and 1500 calorie diet plans I’ve provided to assess how you can best achieve overall nutritional balance.Image via Wikipedia

In addition to keeping an eye on the overall nutrition for the day, do make substitutions when appropriate to meet your particular preferences and needs. For example, if you don’t like or can’t tolerate cow’s milk how about soy milk? Or almond milk? Or rice milk?

I hadn’t tried almond milk till recently. I found it to be surprisingly good and nutritious. The unsweetened version has fewer calories than either cow’s milk or soy milk. In addition, it is lactose and gluten free. I’ve included almond milk in one of the mini meal suggestions.

If you don’t like milk in any form you might substitute yogurt or cheese, if appropriate, for calcium and protein as well as other nutrients.

Dinner/Lunch mini-meal:

1 Veggie Cake (Burger) - Southwest Style by Morningstar - 130 calories

Make a small salad:

1 cup Spinach leaves raw - 6 calories
1/2 cup fresh Tomatoes chopped - 16 calories
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil vinaigrette - Wishbone is a possibility or better yet make your own - 30
1 Serving Baked Beans - (about 1/2 cup) Bush beans (vegetarian) - 130

Total Calories: 312

Protein: 13.7 grams

Carbohydrates: 56.6 grams

Fat: 5.8 grams

Calcium: 119 mg

Iron: 6.4 mg

Vitamin C: 21 mg

Dinner/Lunch mini-meal:

1/2 Pita (bread) sliced to make a pocket, Honey Wheat - 90 calories
1/2 cup Tuna, chunk light canned in water - 60
1 Tbsp. Light Mayonnaise - 45 calories
8 Baby carrots
1 cup Low-fat Vanilla Almond Milk - 90

Total Calories: 309

Protein: 19 grams

Carbohydrates: 41.1 grams

Fat: 8.1 grams

Calcium: 376 mg

Iron: 2.4 mg

Vitamin C: 6.7 mg

Breakfast Mini-meal:

1 Container All Natural Vanilla Yogurt - Dannon - 150 calories
1/4 Cup Mountain Medley Trail Mix cereal - Kashi (or the cereal of your choice) - 110 calories
1/2 Cup Raspberries - 32

(Make a yogurt parfait by layering the ingredients)

Total Calories: 292

Protein: 10.7 grams

Carbohydrates: 50.8 grams

Fat: 6.4 grams

Calcium: 265 mg

Iron: 0.9 mg

Vitamin C: 17.3 mg

(Don’t like or can’t eat yogurt made from cow’s milk? Try Peach flavored soy yogurt with sliced peaches and trail mix. Be creative, there are probably hundreds of possible combinations of fruit, cereal, and the low fat yogurt of your choice.)

Snack Mini-meal:

1 cup Sweet Cherries - fresh, 73 calories
1/2 cup Blueberries - fresh, 41 calories
2/3 cup Edamame Beans - Organic - 120 calories
1 piece Mini Babybel Light Cheese - 50 calories

Take advantage of the great choices for fresh fruit (and veggies) in the summer months. Cherries and blueberries make great finger foods and a delightfully filling nutritious snack along with the edamame beans and cheese! (Edamame beans right out of the freezer and just slightly thawed are wonderful on a hot day). If you are vegan and can’t eat cow’s milk cheese how about a few nuts or veggie cheese?

Total Calories: 284

Protein: 17.8 grams

Carbohydrates: 38.2 grams

Fat: 8.4 grams

Calcium: 320 mg

Iron: 2.4 mg

Vitamin C: 27.1 mg

Coming soon I plan on giving you some new 1200 and 1500 calorie sample menus and more healthy low calorie snacks for 100 calories or less. If you’d like additional 300 calorie mini-meals, as well as ideas on how to make mini-meals work for you, don’t miss my first post (300 Calorie Mini Meals: Eat Less but Often).

Till next time, hope you are successful with healthy low calorie eating!

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