I was wondering what are some sample daily menus for 1200 to 1500 calories a day. Are there things in particular you would suggest for 1200 caloires a day to keep you from being hungry? Would love to see what you suggest.

Easy.

Breakfast: FiberOne cereal with soy milk, strawberries and/or bananas
Snack: Yogurt with walnuts
Lunch: half a roast beef sandwich on WW bread with swiss cheese and natural ketchup (no HFCS)
Snack: Roasted veggies drizzled with a little olive oil
Dinner: lean protein, veggie and a complex carb (brown rice, quinoa, sweet potato, winter squash)
Snack: Popcorn

There's a looooooooooong daily calorie counting thread in the calorie counting forum. You could get a ton of ideas there!

My day looks about the same as Eliana's day. Cereal and soy milk for breakfast with a fruit as a side. I sometimes drink an extra glass of milk and skip a fruit or something later. Yogurt for snacks. Turkey and cheese sandwich with usually broccoli or another veggie. And, a pickle on the side. (Sometimes I will eat a small chicken breast instead or a frozen dinner). Dinner is usually some veggies and almonds and a piece of bread or another grain. I buy the veggies in a steam bag. Then another yogurt or fruit. I usually get around 1200 - 1400 most days.

If I feel I need more protein I have a shake that day for a lunch, and I lower my calories in other places. Some days I have canned soup as well for lunch or dinner.

I was eating a frozen waffle and sugar-free syrup for a while in the past, but it not very filling.

Oatmeal with a banana or half an apple

Rest of apple

Salad with a Campbell's Soup

Greek Yogurt

Dinner is a toss up, I just have a lean protein, veggies, and a complex carb and only have one serving of each. Maybe a glass of wine. Dessert is a single serving of frozen yogurt if I want.

1500

My GLORIOUS breakfast!: 2 egg whites, 3 oz ham in a SMIDGE of agave, half cup strawberries, and a whole wheat bagel with 1 serv cream cheese
l: taco salad made with 6 oz shredded chicken, no cheese, hard tacos shells crumbled, light sour cream, franks red hot and veggies.
d: 4 oz baked chicken, 1 cup mashed potaoto
s: banana

to keep us full? veggies! i eat alot of carrots. not all at once, 1 whole carrot, but i'll do that for snacks sometimes several times a day. it has fiber, only 30 cals. or other low cal. veggies you like. i add steamed spinach to my sandwhiches/wraps often.
beans! lentils! for a small amount a 1/2 a cup or even a 1/4 c. it's few cals, lots of fiber, protein, iron. we can all eat more beans and lentils.

i've also been avoiding noodles and rice. i will still eat them, but less than i used to. and the so called serving size is too tiny for it to be worth it to me to have often. it's more like having a few bites of the noodles or rice, with lots of veggies and lean protein. i'm also trying to use less oil. even olive oil. it's just so easy to use too much. sauted in a pan for example. baking chicken with chopped garlic on top tastes almost as good as it did with evoo. then i put some tomato sauce or something else to make up for the lack of flavor so it's just as good to me.

I have a misto! I love it! Have you seen them? You fill it with oil, pump it a few times and spray (non aerosol) so I just just a small spritz when cooking veggies...I also spray a tiny bit on my chicken before baking, with some seasonings.

Bfast--kashi go lean crunch or eggs & whole wheat english muffin
--coffee

snack--small yogurt or fresh fruit

lunch-- big salad with spinach/romaine lettuce, carrots, cottage cheese, turkey, tomatoes, cucumbers, dried cranberries/any other veggies

snack--small handful of raw almonds or walnuts or fresh fruit (berries, blueberries)

dinner--huge amount of veggies, lean protein (chicken or fish). Sometimes I'll have homemade 7 bean/barley soup or chicken chili (made with non canned beans) with another big salad. If I eat like spaghetti or even pizza, I'll have a small portion of that and fill up on a huge salad

dessert idea==fresh fruit blended with ice. A banana is all you need to sweeten ( I always hide spinach and flax seed oil in my smoothies--can't even taste it!)

Any time I get hungry in between, I eat veggies-- raw broccoli, carrots, cucumber etc. cantaloupe is another excellent filling food with low calorie count for volume. It took practice, but I can absolutely fill up on raw veggies and fruit

I'll also have a protein shake often after or before working out just because it's filling and simple/easy

_____
My very favorite salad dressing (it also goes well on a sandwich (whole wheat bread w/ spinach of course!--never buy bread that has less than 3 grams of fiber per serving!!)

(grind in a food processor)
1/2 cup Olive Oil
* 1/8 cup Lemon Juice
* 1/8 cup Red Wine Vinegar
* 2 tsp. Italian Seasoning (or Oregano spice)
* 2 to 3 Garlic Cloves
* Fresh-ground Sea Salt and Black Pepper, to taste

_____

I'll give you another secret: the only way I eat all these veggies and salads is if I chop them up and have them ready to go in Rubber maid bins right when I get home from the store. So I have rubbermaid bins of carrots, broccoli, spinach/romaine, cantaloupe, grapes etc all washed ready to eat. I have no excuse to eat something pre-prepared because it's just as easy to grab the healthy stuff Before I'd buy it and it would all rot in the fridge

hope that helps!

Breakfast:

Oatmeal with spiced apples
Kashi GOLEAN Crisp with unsweetened almond soy milk
Slice of whole grain toast with spiced apple butter, fruit on the side
mug of tea with a tbsp of light agave for all options

Lunch:

Arnold's Sandwich Thin with 2 tbsp natural almond butter, 1 tbsp SF jam
Salad

We've been trying to save money so we're eating lots of leftovers from the night before

Shrimp and steak skewers and steamed veggies
Stuffed chicken breast with sweet potatoes
Spanish pork with black beans on the side
Vitaspelt with soy crumbles and pasta sauce (totally YUM)

Any lean protein with veggies and a complex carb if you'd like

Snacks:

Greek yogurt with a tsp honey or agave, chopped walnuts or pecans
SF jello pudding cups, or to save money make a bigger batch from the boxes
Raw veggies, i love carrot chips and slices of orange bell pepper
Orville Redenbacher's Natural Lime & Salt mini popcorn bags are AWESOMEEE
No sugar added italian ices

Stephy

I don't eat either calorie count very often but had 1500 on Wednesday:

Breakfast:Lean fried bacon & 1 egg on a toasted gluten-free ciabatta roll, a multi-vit and a calcium supplement
Snack: None
Lunch: Home made pasta and roast beef casserole. (Gluten-free pasta, veggies included)
Snack: Finn Crisp crispbreads (seriously good, very thin but take a lot of chewing!) with half an ounce of cheddar.
Dinner: Casseroled mince (ground beef) with brussels sprouts (favourite veg.)
Low fat, plain, set yogurt with a Tbsp ground flax, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa
Evening treat: coffee made with lactofree longlife milk (I like the taste the longlifeness gives it)

I drank 100 floz water plus lots of black tea and instant coffee.
I ate 1500 calories, 19g fibre, 110g carbs. All my other nutrients were spot on RDA too.

these are great examples- i am tring to hit between 1200 adn 1500/day- and my days are a little less "balanced"- haha. but i'm working on it.

here was yesterday:

coke - 140
turkey sandwich- 600
coke - 140
1/2 slice of bread with avocado - 100
a few raspberries - 20
dark chocolate - 400

total: 1500

yea...i know i need to improve- LOL!

Breakfast: Bowl of oatmeal + 2 pieces of fruit

Lunch: lean cuisine or grilled chicken sandwich

Dinner: salad or veggie sandwich


Snacks: 2 rice cakes
Fiber + bar
banana
clementine
sf pudding cup

Here's a recent 1300-calorie day that I especially enjoyed:

- 2-egg omelet loaded with sauteed onions, spinach, and tomato, prepared with a tablespoon of grapeseed oil: 310

- salad of mixed greens with full-fat Italian dressing: 120

- Med. baked sweet potato with cinnamon and cardamom: 150

- Yoplait light yogurt, "red velvet" flavor: 110

- Homemade pizza (6 oz. crust from scratch and rolled thin, tomato, spinach, artichoke, 1 oz. regular mozzarella, 1 tbsp. grated parmesan, homemade sugar-free tomato sauce): 480

- More Yoplait, this time in triple berry: 110

I'm zig-zagging my calories, so some days I would eat something similar to this, but add in a glass of milk or some ham diced into the salad to bring my total up to 1500.

B- oatmeal made w/milk, fruit (apple, banana, strawberries, etc)
S- low fat cottage cheese OR yogurt OR applesauce
L- soup OR salad, 1/2 sandwich, sometimes a panini
S- 100 cal popcorn (very filling!)
D- lean Cuisine/Healthy Choice meal usually (280-340 cals)
S- chocolate mousse (Jello makes them for 60 cals) YUM!

That's usually 1200-1300.