Diet 1200 calories per day: sample menu for the week and for every day for weight loss. Proper diet and simple recipes for 1200 calorie meals for weight loss. How much weight can you lose in a month?

The daily amount of calories a person needs depends on several factors, including age, gender, activity level and body size. Consuming 1,200 calories per day can lead to weight loss.

Most men, active people, breastfeeding mothers and pregnant women, and those with certain medical conditions generally need more calories than 1,200. For those who need to lose weight, diet at 1,200 calories per day is usually safe and potentially effective.

What is the diet

The technique is based on the principles of proper, healthy nutrition. An adult, depending on physical activity, needs from 1700 to 2200 calories every day. Only if you reduce the minimum number, you can lose up to 700 g of excess weight.

The body must receive its daily intake of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, so it is impossible to reduce the number of kilocalories received to a critical minimum. This can only make things worse - just look at the reviews left about mono-diets. The “1200 calorie” diet is designed so that there is no shortage of necessary substances, so the body uses up fat reserves. If we talk about mono-diets, then the exact opposite effect is observed. The body is not supplied with the required amount of useful elements, it experiences stress, and accordingly, all incoming calories go into “reserve”. The “1200 calorie” diet is an opportunity to lose weight without harm to the body, and also not to worry that the lost kilograms will return again. Unless, of course, after its completion you start eating everything.

A significant advantage of this technique is the absence of restrictions in the list of products. Craving a burger? Of course you can! Only the menu for the rest of the day will have to be revised, reducing the calorie content of each subsequent meal.

Goals and objectives

To burn excess body fat, you need to maintain a negative balance between calories in and calories out. This is the main goal of the 1200 calorie diet. And reviews from women and men who have lost weight confirm that it really works.

To achieve your goal (get rid of fat deposits without harm to health in a relatively short time), you must follow the following rules:

Calculate the daily menu so that the number of calories consumed does not exceed 1200, but is not significantly less.
Make three main meals containing 300 kcal each, and two additional meals containing 150 kcal each.
The main part of the menu should be given to fresh vegetables and fruits.
The diet should be varied and healthy.
The “1200 calorie” diet is simple; the menu allows you to eat unhealthy foods, as long as you don’t go overboard. However, experts still do not recommend doing this, since sugars, fats and other harmful substances negatively affect the body and cause the formation of cellulite. Well, if only you treat yourself sometimes, as a nice bonus.
The diet should consist of both meat and fish.
Do not forget to drink 1.5-2.0 liters of plain water during the day. For drinks, give preference to herbal or green tea and homemade compotes, preferably without sugar.

Diet options

Not every person wants to spend the day calculating calories, and many don’t have the opportunity. What to do? You can use a ready-made 1200 calorie diet menu for a week. Moreover, there are a sufficient number of such options.

If you still want to think through the menu yourself, then this is quite possible and not at all difficult. You will need a notepad, pen, internet access and a kitchen scale. Nowadays it’s not difficult to find the caloric content of 100 g of a particular product, including boiled, baked and raw.

Regarding the choice of products, recommendations will be as follows:

Breakfast should be the most high-calorie and filling meal of the day. You can choose boiled eggs or an omelette, oatmeal, rice or buckwheat porridge with water, cottage cheese casserole, and cheese sandwiches.
Lunch must consist of hot dishes. Soups and vegetable salads are good.
Dinner includes lean meat or fish. As a side dish, for example, buckwheat.
It is recommended to make snacks from fruits or dried fruits, literally 50 g each. You can also drink natural yogurt, eat cheese or a little salad.

Recommended and prohibited products

Many people are interested in the question of what can be included in the “1200 calories a day” diet menu, and what is better to exclude. First, about acceptable products:

bread made from bran, rye and wholemeal wheat flour;
porridge from buckwheat, barley and pearl barley;
lean meat, such as rabbit, calf, as well as beef, chicken, turkey;
it is allowed to add a little lean parts of lamb and pork to dishes;
You can drink low-fat kefir and eat cottage cheese in unlimited quantities;
restrictions are imposed on hard cheese - literally a few thin slices per day;
lean fish and seafood;
boiled eggs or omelet;
fresh vegetables and fruits;
vegetable oil for salad dressing;
fresh unsweetened berries, as well as for making compote and fresh juice;
green, herbal tea, natural coffee, still mineral water.

To achieve the greatest effectiveness from the “1200 calorie” diet, reviews from girls call for eliminating harmful foods from the diet. Then the result can be achieved much faster and you can maintain good health. Among these products:

sugar and its analogues;
fried, fatty and spicy foods;
canned foods;
products made from premium wheat flour;
milk drinks;
fatty fish, meat, seafood, cheese;
salty foods;
pickled and salted vegetables;
confectionery delicacies;
alcohol;
ready-made sauces;
purchased juices and nectars, cocoa;
animal and cooking fats.

There are also foods that can be consumed on the “1200 calories a day” diet, but in limited quantities. These include:

salt and spices;
sweet fruits, dried fruits and berries;
potatoes and legumes;
oatmeal, rice and semolina;
honey.

Having already studied this list, you can easily create a sample menu. However, this is not all that is important to know. After all, the diet is based on consuming 1200 kcal per day. Therefore, one more question remains: “How many kilocalories are contained in the most popular products?”

Basic principles

A diet that is based on consuming 1,200 calories per day has its pros and cons.

You should definitely know about them when starting to lose weight along this path.

The advantages include:

the opportunity not to give up your favorite and familiar foods;
the body does not experience a deficiency in essential microelements during the diet;
you don't feel hungry;
You can eat at any time of the day, without observing the “no eating after 18” rule.

Minuses:

you need to constantly look at the food calorie table and count the calories in each meal;
Do not expect quick results right away, because the diet is designed for gradual weight loss over the course of a month.

Calorie content of foods

What is important to know before creating a menu for a 1200 calorie diet for a week is the calorie content of the most popular foods. Let's look at this in more detail (kcal/100 g).

Dairy products:

Cottage cheese with low fat content – 89.
Curd mass – 344.
Fat cottage cheese – 236.
Suluguni – 293.
Russian cheese – 366.
Dutch cheese – 352.
Milk 0-2.5% – 30/53.
Curdled milk – 57.
Yogurt 3.2% – 87.
Ryazhenka and kefir 2.5% – 53/51.
Cream 10-20% – 121/209.
Sour cream 10-20% – 118/208.

Oils:

Olive – 898.
Sunflower – 899.
Creamy – 747.

Cereal porridge:

Buckwheat – 137.
Barley – 84.
Millet – 92.
Oatmeal – 93.
Rice – 79.
Pearl barley – 102.
Oat flakes – 358.

Meat:

Lamb – 201.
Veal – 91.
Beef – 191.
Pork – 318-484.
Horse meat - 149.
Rabbit meat - 197.
Chicken – 161.
Duck – 348.
Turkey – 192.

Fish, seafood:

Sturgeon caviar – 201.
Chum salmon caviar – 250.
Carp – 95.
Pollock – 67.
Pink salmon – 151.
Octopus – 74.
Chum salmon – 138.
Sprat – 142.
Shrimp – 85.
Salmon – 200.
Squid – 77.
Boiled mussels – 53.
River/sea perch – 80/12.
Crucian carp – 84.
Sturgeon – 161.
Salmon – 222.
Herring – 248.
Mackerel – 158.
Som – 141.
Tuna – 95.
Trout – 99.
Hake – 84.
Oysters – 91.

Vegetables:

Green peas – 75.
Zucchini – 30.
Boiled potatoes – 80.
Green/onions – 21/41.
Garlic – 103.
Eggplant – 22.
Tomato – 19.
Carrots – 29.
Cucumber – 15.
Beetroot – 46.
Lettuce leaves – 15.
Olives – 111.
Radish – 22.
Bell pepper – 25.
Parsley – 45.

Fruits, berries:

Apricot – 44.
Orange – 38.
Cherry – 46.
Banana – 87.
Lingonberry – 42.
Pineapple – 49.
Grapefruit – 37.
Grapes – 73.
Pear – 41.
Lemon – 30.
Melon – 34.
Kiwi - 46.
Strawberries – 40.
Cranberry – 27.
Blackberry – 31.
Mandarin – 39.
Plum – 41.
Mango – 69.
Peach – 42.
Raspberry – 43.
Currant – 39.
Apple – 48.
Cherry – 54.
Blueberries – 41.

Dried fruits, nuts:

Cashew – 647.
Dried apples – 275.
Prunes – 262.
Walnuts – 662.
Kish-mish – 285.
Hazelnut – 701.
Peanuts – 555.
Dates – 277.
Almonds – 643.
Dried apricots – 270.

Egg:

Boiled – 153.
Steamed omelette – 181.

Bakery products:

Sliced loaf – 261.
Crackers – 335.
Lavash – 239.
White bread – 246.
Rye bread - 210.

Juices:

Apricot – 39.
Apple – 42.
Pineapple – 48.
Garnet – 58.
Peach – 37.
Lemon – 18.

Guilt:

Dessert – 175.
Dry – 66.
Semi-dry – 78.

Contraindications

Despite a fairly balanced menu, a 1200 calorie diet still has some contraindications.
There are very few of them:

undesirable for teenage girls;
contraindicated for pregnant women;
people who regularly exercise and lead an active lifestyle.

In general, you should not abuse this diet and stick to this diet for longer than necessary. Otherwise, you risk depleting your body and damaging muscle tissue.

If during your diet you want to eat a specific product that is not on the menu, then eat it. Perhaps it contains some microelement or vitamin that you are lacking, and the body signals this.

Indications and contraindications

The 1200 calorie per day diet, the menu and reviews of which will be discussed later, has a number of limitations. These are conditions in which, in principle, you cannot experiment with your daily diet:

diabetes;
bronchial asthma;
oncological diseases;
pathologies of the urinary system;
history of heart attack and stroke;
age under 16 and over 65 years;
infectious diseases;
inflammation of the gallbladder;
diseases of the cardiovascular system;
alcoholism;
pregnancy and lactation;
the need to take life-sustaining medications.

As confirmed by reviews from those who have lost weight, the “1200 calorie” diet is an excellent option for those who want to lose weight. So its only indication is excess body weight. However, people who want to choose this or another weight loss method should be examined by a doctor to identify any contraindications. A person may not know that he has any disease, which will negatively affect his well-being. Although, on the other hand, a healthy and balanced diet has never harmed anyone.

Dinner

Mixed nuts, not flavored or with added sugar;
Peach or mango are ideal for fighting sugar cravings;
½ Avocado with hot sauce;
1 serving of unsalted canned mixed vegetables;
Peanut butter on whole grain toast;
30 grams of unsalted pistachios;
1/3 cup hummus with raw vegetables;
String cheese;
½ cup chopped peaches and 1 ounce prosciutto.

Dessert

Following a 1,200 calorie diet does not necessarily mean that a person must completely avoid any specific foods. However, highly calorie-dense foods such as muffins or a piece of cake can make it difficult to consume less than 1,200 calories throughout the day and still meet your nutritional needs.

You can include in dessert:

small portions of food, such as one cookie or five potato chips;
popcorn, which is low in calories;
seasoned and flavored whole grain crackers that provide a salty flavor similar to potato chips.

Eliminating empty calories from your diet can make more room for weight loss. Some sources of empty calories include:

sweetened drinks, including sugar in coffee, alcohol and sweetened fruit juices;
white bread and pasta;
oils and butters high in saturated and trans fats;
high-calorie seasonings.

1200 calorie per day diet

The table shows the menu for the week.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Breakfast	Carrot and cabbage salad with lemon juice, 1 toast, 2 slices cheese, 1 steamed chicken cutlet	Oatmeal, boiled egg and slice of cheese	Buckwheat porridge with milk	Oatmeal with yogurt	Steamed omelette, toast with cheese	Buckwheat porridge, glass of kefir	Grainy cottage cheese with pieces of fruit
Snack	Coffee and toast with honey	Any fruit and yogurt	Apple baked with cottage cheese	Fruits	Berries	One banana	Cereal bun with glass of juice
Dinner	Vegetable soup and boiled fish	Chicken broth, boiled chicken, vegetable salad dressed with olive oil	Beef stewed with onions and carrots, bulgur	Brown rice, tomato, beef patty	Rice with steamed fish and vegetable salad	Vegetable soup of beans, tomatoes and onions, grapefruit juice, half a marshmallow	Dietary borscht, vegetable salad, steamed salmon steak
Snack	Yogurt and hazelnuts (2 pcs.)	A handful of berries	Two slices of Adyghe cheese, yogurt	Cottage cheese	Handful of raisins	One boiled egg and a mug of tomato juice	Vegetable stew
Dinner	Vegetable and seafood salad	Cottage cheese casserole	Vegetable salad and steamed cutlets	Vegetable salad, boiled egg, steamed fish	Yogurt and cottage cheese with honey	Flounder baked with vegetables, a slice of black bread	Seafood salad with avocado, durum wheat spaghetti

Many interesting dish ideas can be found in the reviews. The 1200 calorie per day diet has many fans, and some of them actively share their self-developed menus. For example, there are people who want to think through the menu for the day in the morning, at the beginning of the day. In this case, the power supply diagram outlined in the table is ideal.

300 kcal	200 kcal	100 kcal
180 g mashed potatoes with milk	150 g vinaigrette seasoned with unrefined oil	1 oven-baked potato
180 g pasta with 30 g grated hard cheese	90 g curd mass with a teaspoon of sour cream	160 g chicken broth
150 g steamed beef cutlets	Scrambled eggs from 2 eggs	120 g dietary borscht
180 g cabbage rolls	100 g cheesecake or tiramisu	80 g cottage cheese with a teaspoon of sour cream
74 g edam cheese	2 cottage cheese pies	1 apple

Menu for seven days

Sample menu for weight loss for 1200 calories, designed for seven days:

First day:

Have breakfast with porridge, a piece of whole grain bread with hard cheese, drink tea and coffee.
You can snack on an apple.
You can have lunch with soup without meat and fish, baked chicken breast fillet.
Have a snack with a glass of yogurt or kefir.
Dine with stewed cabbage or carrot salad with an apple, drink juice.

Second day:

Have breakfast with an omelette and a cheese sandwich.
For the second breakfast, you can eat a few spoons of oatmeal.
Have lunch with buckwheat with mushrooms, vegetable salad with sour cream.
For an afternoon snack, eat a banana and 20 grams of prunes.
Dine on baked pink salmon fillet with unprocessed vegetables and a glass of kefir.

Third day:

Have breakfast with rice porridge, cheesecake with sour cream, and a piece of hard cheese.
For the second breakfast, you can eat half a glass of berries or 100 grams of fruit.
You can have lunch with stuffed peppers, beet salad with prunes, and drink juice.
For an afternoon snack you can eat an orange and 30 grams of dried apricots.
Dine on baked chicken fillet with cauliflower and 150 grams of fermented baked milk.

If you don’t want to go on a diet, then exercise for weight loss is suitable for you. She will help you get your body in order.
There is a large list of natural fat burners that help you lose weight significantly -.
If you don't have a lot of money, but you still want to lose weight, then a cheap weight loss diet is suitable for you. It's written about here.

Fourth day:

Have breakfast with cottage cheese casserole with sour cream, honey, drink coffee, tea.
A snack is 100 grams of steamed buckwheat porridge or a boiled egg.
Have lunch with sauerkraut cabbage soup and steamed vegetables.
Snack: half a grapefruit.
Dine on a steamed beef cutlet, warm carrot salad, and a glass of kefir.

Fifth day:

Have breakfast with millet porridge with dried apricots.
Snack: cheese sandwich and coffee.
Have fish soup in Finnish style.
Snack: 100 grams of buckwheat steamed in kefir.
Dine on baked sea bass with rice, salad with radish and cucumber.

Sixth day:

Have breakfast with oatmeal and green tea.
For the second breakfast you can eat 100 grams of grapes.
Have lunch with seaweed salad, chicken broth, and a slice of whole grain bread.
Snack: half a glass of berries or an orange.
Dine on chicken fillet with vegetables and a glass of real low-fat yogurt.

Seventh day:

Have breakfast with cottage cheese with sour cream and coffee.
For the second breakfast, eat a banana.
Have lunch with spinach puree soup, carrot and apple salad.
Have a snack with 150 grams of steamed buckwheat porridge.
Dine on baked beef with mushrooms, vegetable salad and a glass of kefir.

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Recommendations

There are a number of useful tips that will be considered before studying the reviews and results of the 1200 calorie diet. Perhaps these recommendations will help those who are truly ready to change for the better. So, you need:

Get advice from a general practitioner and/or nutritionist.
Keep a food diary.
Weigh yourself daily to monitor your results.
Do not exceed the threshold of 1200 kcal, but do not lower it either.
Carefully develop a menu using the calorie table.
Make the menu as varied as possible.
Have dinner 3 hours before bedtime.
Drink more plain water.
In case of severe hunger, there is no need to torment the body - you can eat low-calorie foods, for example, fruits, vegetables, and diet nutrition bars.
Prepare small plates and get used to small portions.
While eating, chew your food thoroughly and concentrate solely on this process, without being distracted by other matters.
Eat more vegetables and fruits.
Plan your menu for the week in advance.
Find time for light physical activity.
Once a week you can eat any favorite dish or snack. Within reason and don't overeat.
At first, if it is difficult to sharply reduce the amount of kcal, you can create a menu for 1300-1500 calories.
It’s not just the entry into and exit from the diet that is important. The reduction in calories at the beginning and the increase after completion should occur smoothly.
The maximum duration of the diet is 21 days. Next, you definitely need a break of 1-3 months.

Diet

The fundamental rule of the 1200 calorie diet is to avoid junk food. But at the same time, the diet has other restrictions, so a well-designed menu will contribute to rapid weight loss without harm to health. If you plan it in advance for the whole week, then eating right will be much easier. This way you can avoid breakdowns.

Allowed and prohibited products

The list of foods allowed on the diet consists of foods rich in proteins and complex carbohydrates. In addition, foods in the diet of a person losing weight should be low-fat.

This diet allows the use of:

whole grain products;
fruit;
vegetables;
berries;
milk and fermented milk products;
eggs;
dietary meat (low fat content);
fish and other seafood.

You should refrain from sweets, baked goods, foods containing sugar, pickles, smoked foods, sausages, and sweet drinks. In other words, you need to exclude any junk food.

Tip: When getting used to changes in your diet, try to keep something high in carbohydrates with you. When you set limits, your blood sugar level can drop significantly, in which case eating chocolate or sweet carbonated water will help.

The results that can be achieved and the disadvantages of the diet

She is best characterized by positive reviews of those losing weight with photos. The 1200 calorie diet will give excellent results if you follow all the rules. Many girls managed to get rid of an average of 5-10 kg of excess weight in 3 weeks.

The advantages of the “1200 calorie” diet are hard to miss - it’s an opportunity to get rid of fat deposits in a short time, without limiting yourself to strict food restrictions. But it also has disadvantages. Firstly, it is difficult to calculate calories and live in the “1200” mode. Secondly, the brain itself will protest, because diet in any form is associated with restrictions, and you always want to eat something that you would not want to eat. So there is still a risk of failure. Thirdly, there is a high probability that the body will not receive a number of useful substances. Therefore, it is recommended to choose a vitamin-mineral complex.

Reviews about the 1200 calorie diet

None of the comments said that this method of losing weight was difficult to tolerate, or that some time after completing the diet, the lost kilograms returned. On the contrary, women praise the diet, calling it one of the most effective. Nutritionists share the same opinion. Experts independently calculate the critical level of daily calorie content, which can be even below 1200 kcal. Thus, effective weight loss occurs without stress to the body.

In one of the reviews, the girl writes that the nutritionist advised her not to think through the menu in advance. As already written above, the human brain can rebel against the “established” nutritional pattern. Here, rather, it all depends on the character. If it is easier for a person to eat according to the menu, then it is better to draw it up in advance. If most often he does not know what exactly he wants in 10 minutes, there is no point in thinking through the diet in advance - everything will go wrong. In this case, it is recommended to simply take and eat what you want, calculate the calorie content of the food eaten and write it down in a diary, subtracting this figure from the daily norm.

One of the few that has received almost exclusively positive reviews is the “1200 calorie” diet. Buyers of this weight loss technique also note emotional calm during this period, which is no less important for the body. The ability to eat familiar dishes and products does not negatively affect a person’s psychological state.

Although there are no reviews that this diet did not help, this can also happen. In this case, you should contact a nutritionist. A specialist will help you calculate your daily minimum kcal. Usually the lack of results indicates that the body does not have enough of it.

Experts' opinion

Most doctors recognize the 1200 calorie diet as effective and not harmful to the body. For example, according to Valentina Tolmacheva, this diet helps reduce body fat and speed up metabolism. However, the diet cannot be considered a universal means of losing excess weight, because its result largely depends on the person losing weight. In addition, the positive effect can quickly fade away if a person returns to his usual diet after finishing the diet.

Experts also characterize Dr. Nazardan’s diet positively. The list of liquid diets compiled by nutritionist Kristina Lobanovskaya includes this one. Lobanovskaya notes that media personalities, for example, Angelina Jolie, often resort to such methods of getting rid of extra pounds.

People trying to lose weight often say that the 1,200-calorie diet is difficult to stick to in the beginning, but gets easier over time. With this diet, an average person loses from 6 to 15 kg of excess weight within a month. After the diet, it is advisable to take a month's break. According to nutritionist Igor Belov, this diet can be considered safe. It is not contraindicated even for people suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys and liver.

Typically, this diet helps you lose weight fairly quickly and provides long-term results. Eating in this mode is not easy, especially for busy people. However, for the sake of speeding up metabolism and losing unnecessary pounds, it’s worth a try. People with health problems can try Dr. Nazardan's diet, in which weight loss occurs quickly. But don’t put the goal of getting your desired figure first, because health is undoubtedly more important.