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 Menu Plans

Tip of the week: Diet and menu plans often call for something different each day. This isn't very practical on a budget and will break the bank in no time. What are you going to do with the rest of the loaf of bread or box of cereal that appears only once or twice? There's nothing unhealthy about having the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day or every other day. In fact, it actually helps you to overcome cravings and adds to a more simple lifestyle. You're more likely to stick to something if you don't need to make a huge project out of it and complicate things. Make your variety in your suppers and some snacks that you can buy in individual amounts, such as fruits, that won't waste the rest of a package or make you feel like you need to eat all of it so as not to waste.

Breakfast - 440 calories

My coffees, since I have to have my cream and sugar, account for 200 calories here! I'm having to take a really good look at whether I really need 2. I was sort of fudging my calorie count for the day, but had to be honest about how much cream and sugar I was adding. Still working on this. One little luxury I'm not quite ready to give up.

2 coffees with cream and sugar and 1 Boost - High Protein - make note to occupy self for a few hours because that's not a super heavy breakfast. A salad starts to sound really good around 10-11:00

Lunch - 460 Calories - yes, you read right - 460 calories! This one does fill you up though. Plus, there's pineapple juice.

Salad of sweet baby lettuce (1 serving size) 1/2 oz. mixed nuts, 1 serving raisins, sesame ginger vinaigrette (any dressing with 100 calories per serving) Reese croutons - (1 serving was just 25 calories) and 1 6 oz. Dole pineapple juice

Dinner - 272 calories

Tilapia, mustard greens and 1/2 c. vanilla yogurt with 1/2 c. blueberries

(I found a good recipe for a curried tilapia on All Recipes and tweaked it a little. I put 1 TBSP of Safflower oil in the pan, heated to medium high, then mixed 1 TBSP of the safflower oil with 1 TBSP curry powder, about 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, about 1/8 tsp each of cardamom, coriander and ginger. I rubbed the fish with the oil and seasoning blend, then pan-fried on medium heat for 3 minutes on each side. I used the tilapia loins. It turned out excellent I thought. And I actually forgot about getting to have my yogurt and blueberries, but was full on just the fish and greens, so I had a green tea with the dinner and had the yogurt and berries a little later to tide me over for the night.