1200 Calorie A Day Menu Plan

Today's feature: The wonderful dandelion! Take the time to look up the wonderful benefits of the dandelion. On it's own, you might find it bitter, but mixed in a salad, you'll never know it's there. Dandelion tea is a different story though and is nothing like the greens. It has a wonderful and enjoyable taste. Dandelions are a great diuretic (French equivalent piss-en-lit = wet the bed) and a liver cleanser. Packed with vitamins. Look up this great green and look to incorporate it into your diet to help lose weight.

BREAKFAST - 357 CALORIES

OVALTINE AND 2 COFFEES WITH CREAM AND SUGAR

SNACKS - 150 CALORIES

V8 AND DRIED APRICOTS

LUNCH - 339 CALORIES

SALAD- BABY GREENS AND 1/2 CUP DANDELION GREENS, 1/2 C. BLACK BEANS, 1 SERVING RAISINS AND SWEET AND SOUR DRESSING

DINNER - 342 CALORIES

PLAIN POACHED CHICKEN

COOKED BROCCOLI

WINTER SQUASH

PAT OF BUTTER

1200 Calorie A Day Menu Plan

Ok, this day was about 1,228 calories. It gets a B+ report card grade on Calorie Count. I'm not too pleased with that, preferring to see A's, but we'll go with it. Still better than fast food right? And, honestly, I fudged a few things, it was really about 1300-1400 calories because I put a couple pats of butter on my broc and potato.

BREAKFAST - 388 CALORIES

2 Coffees with cream and sugar

Rich Chocolate Ovaltine

LUNCH - 321 CALORIES

About 3 oz slow cooked roast beef w/ gravy and Stove Top Stuffing

SNACKS-150 CALORIES

California dried apricots for afternoon snack and V8 for evening snack

DINNER - 369 CALORIES

1 chicken thigh

cooked broccoli

baked potato

Nutrition info

CARBS 116%, PROTEIN 109%, FAT 75%, S. FAT 100%, CHOL. 50%, SODIUM 145% (that was the gravy's fault)FIBER 50%, SUGAR 299%, VIT A 131%, VIT C 271%, CALC. 83%, IRON 67%, PTSM 77%

1200 Calorie A Day Menu Plan

BREAKFAST - 380 CALORIES

2 COFFEES WITH CREAM AND SUGAR AND 1 HIGH-PROTEIN BOOST

LUNCH- 276 CALORIES

1 HIGH PROTEIN BOOST AND COOKED KALE FROM A BOBBY FLAY RECIPE I FOUND WHICH WAS ACTUALLY QUITE NICE

DINNER-287 CALORIES

1 CHICKEN THIGH - SLOW COOKED

1 CUP RAW BROCCOLI

1 SLICE TOASTED RYE BREAD WITH A PAT OF BUTTER

SNACKS - 205 CALORIES

A BANANA AND A SERVING OF SUN-MAID DRIED PEACH HALVES

This plan was lacking in fiber and potassium, but was great in most other nutritional aspects and got me through a busy day.

CALORIES - 1,149

CARBS - 113%

PROTEIN - 96%

FAT- 76%

SAT. FAT - 76%

CHOL. - 30%

SODIUM - 72%

FIBER - 54%

SUGAR - 357%

VIT A - 412%

VIT C- 353%

CALCIUM - 93%

IRON - 78%

POTASSIUM - 59%

1,200 Calorie a day meal plan

What started out as an attempt to lose 10-15 pounds turned into an obsession with finding the perfect diet. I'm a huge fan of Calorie Count.com. I use it almost daily. It said if I wanted to weigh x pounds by this date, I'd have take in just 1,200 calories a day based on my lifestyle and other factors. No easy task! Sure, I can skip breakfast and just have my two cups of coffee, a cheap McDouble for lunch, (who can do that without the pop and fries?!) and then that would leave room for a fairly decent-sized dinner. My problem was looking at the nutritional info when I input what I was eating. Road to health disaster! I wasn't even coming close to the iron, calcium and potassium needed. That would explain a lot of my health conditions right there. So, in short, I'm sharing some of the menu plans I've come up with. Ever tweaking them, always looking for better combinations and always loving others input.

I use a rotation for dinners to simplify planning. I try to get 2 fish dinners, 1 red meat, 1 poultry, 2 vegetarian and 1 "other" type such as soup and sandwich or "cheat day".

So...here's what I'm eating today.

Breakfast was 2 coffees with cream and sugar and 1 BOOST - High Protein

morning snack was 1 8oz. Low-sodium V-8 and 7 Crunchmaster Multi-Seed Crackers followed by an herbal tea

Lunch was 1/2 c. of Dannon vanilla low-fat yogurt, 1/2 c. blueberries, 1 salad of 2c. sweet baby lettuce, 1/2 of an orange bell pepper, 1/2 package of shitake mushrooms and 1 TBSP of sesame oil (sometimes I'll use the Wishbone Italian Salad Spritzer)

afternoon snack 1 banana

dinner 1 chicken leg, 1 c. of zucchini and 1 piece of dry toast

If you're not a coffee drinker, or drink yours black, your in even better shape as you'd be able to have another evening snack.