My typical day is something like this (it hurts my pride to include the empty calories, but here we go):
Breakfast:
Kashi GoLean Crunch - 1/3 cup - 77 calories
Natural/plain yogurt - 175 grams - 100 calories
Lunch:
-4 cups of lettuce: 39 calories
-chicken breast, 3/4 cup diced: 198 calories
-parmesan cheese, 1 tbsp: 21 calories
Dinner:
-Grillissimo Hamburger Bun: 160 calories
-BBQ sauce: 60 calories
-Janes Chicken Burger, grilled - 130 calories
-cheese: 29 calories
-relish: 19 calories
-mixed greens, 4 cups: ~40 calories
Snacks:
-two egg whites, cooked: 33 calories
-Del Monte frozen yogurt bar (empty calories, I know): 110 calories
-Larabar cinnamon roll natural bar: 210 calories
-banana, whole, small: 90 calories
-Real Fibre tablets, 2: 18 calories
Small fruit salad:
-Honeydew melon - 44 calories
-Watermelon - 23 calories
-Grapes, raw - 21 calories
______
Total: ~1400-1450 calories
~25% protein, ~50% carbs, ~25% fat
I eat pretty much non-stop all day, so I rarely feel hungry. And, as you can see, I could probably substitute veggies for some of the emptier calories (Del Monte bar, BBQ sauce, etc.) and dip my calories even lower without suffering too much, so I suspect that the people eating ~1200 calories are doing just that.
Hope that gives you some ideas!