My latest 1200 calorie diet sample menu does require some cooking unlike some of my previous menus. However, you could choose to do much of the cooking ahead of time. Then you would have a number of easy, healthy, and low calorie meals that you could eat more than once during the week. (Eating leftovers is good planning but do allow for variety during the week for better nutritional balance and good health.)
As a time saver for breakfast I suggest heating up a couple of frozen waffles. The commercial brand I list here is Eggo Low-fat Nutri-grain waffles by Kellogg’s. However, if you have time to make your own waffles from “scratch” you might have a healthier meal. These waffles are O.K. but could be better. Most commercial waffles come up short for nutrition despite the impressive claims on the box covers.
In particular, I am not pleased with the way the word whole grain has been conveyed on commercially prepared products and feel that it unnecessarily confuses and misleads the average consumer. I plan to write an article soon about whole grains to clear up some of the misconceptions and to do a separate review of waffle products.
The lunch recommendation for African Peanut soup is a personal favorite. It comes close to being a full and balanced meal in and of itself. I hope you will give it a try!
For supper take note that the recommended amount of pasta is for DRY pasta (1/2 cup). The equivalent amount for a cooked serving is about 1 and 1/2 cups.
I enjoy putting together the sample menus when I can find the time. However, coming up with the most nutritionally well-balanced choices would not be possible without doing a nutrition analysis. The service I use is MyFoodDiary.com . Keep reading to learn about the great feedback I received when I finished this menu. (You’ll find it listed after the sample menu.)
Sample Menu for 1200 Calories #15
Breakfast
2 waffles (Eggo Low-fat Nutri-grain by Kellogg’s, 180 calories)
1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened (50 calories)(Fruit sauces can make a nutritious substitute for topping waffles instead of butter and syrup! However, not all fruit sauces are low calorie.)
4 oz. orange juice (56 calories)
1/2 cup egg substitute, scrambled (You might want to try cooking the eggs in a paper cup in your microwave to save time and clean up.)
1/2 tbsp. Light Butter with canola (Land O’Lakes, 25 calories)
Snack
6 oz. yogurt – low-fat strawberry yogurt (Stonyfield Farm, 130 calories)
Lunch
1 cup African Peanut Soup (280 calories)
4 oz non-fat milk
Snack
1 Clementine
1 piece Mini Babybel Light cheese (50 calories)
Supper
1/2 cup (DRY) rotini, whole wheat (makes about 1 1/2 cups cooked)
1/2 cup Marinara pasta sauce
1/2 cup Broccoli steamed
2 cups mixed salad greens
1/2 cup raspberries (35 calories, When raspberries are out of season or too high-priced, go with the good old standby of chopped tomatoes for the salad. Only 16 calories for 1/2 cup.)
water, unsweetened tea, or coffee
(Always remember to get plenty of water throughout the day. Read Water, Weight, and Women to learn more about your water needs.)
Total Calories = 1189
Total Fiber = 30.7 g
Fat = 24%
Carbs = 58%
Protein = 19%
Calcium = 1053 mg (Women between 19 and 50 years need approximately 1,000 mg a day, 51+ need 1,200 + mg a day)
Iron = 18.2 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 to fit your needs. Other than coming up a little short on calcium for women over 51, this is a healthy well-balanced menu. You can increase the total calories to 1500 by choosing larger portion sizes for any of the foods in the menu. Or you can add additional food of your choice.
As mentioned earlier, I design the sample menus with the help of the large database of nutrient information and other calculators provided at MyFoodDiary.com . When I have completed a menu, I have fun seeing the kind of feedback I get about the nutritional balance. As a nutritionist, I know when a menu is well-balanced by the results of the data analysis. But it is fun to see if we are in agreement. Each positive comment gets a smiley face. I like that!
Here’s the feedback My Food Diary gave me about this menu:
Notes
A high-fiber breakfast can help you lose weight and reduce your risk for heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes
You have eaten fiber-rich foods. This is a good indicator of a healthy diet.
Saturated fats only accounted for 6.1% of your calories. Good job staying below the 9% limit!
You consumed 354.7 mg of vitamin C. This is 473% of the recommended daily value (75 mg) for adult women
You consumed 12226 IU of vitamin A. This is 408% of the recommended daily value for women.
You consumed 18.1 mg of iron. This is 101% of the recommended daily value for pre-menopausal women.
You deserve another smiley face for having no frowns. Great job!
That’s seven smiley faces. If I were calculating my daily diet, which would include adding my water consumption and minutes of exercise, I would have received two more smiley faces. There would have been an additional one each for getting enough water and another for exercise.
If you need help with assessing the calories and nutritional balance of your diet, I highly recommend MyFoodDiary.com
Food Diary Review: My Food Diary.com
For more sample menus see: 1200 Calorie Diet Plan (scroll to the bottom of the page)
Hope this menu helps. Till next time, watch those calories and eat healthy food!
