Article content:
An example of compiling a menu for 1200 callas for a week from simple products. What can be the harm of low calorie content.
The dream of a losing weight woman is to find a diet without hunger: effective, simple and allowing for delicious meals. The menu for 1200 kcal per day fits perfectly into the concept of proper nutrition instructions.
Where did the number come from?
A diet of 1200 kcal is not a figure for everyone and not a diet at all. Actually this daily basal metabolism of a woman up to 160 cm tall and weighing up to 47 kg. And this is without taking into account the cost of shopping, walking, cooking and household chores. A woman weighing 50 kg already needs 1300 kcal. Height also affects basal metabolism, but an increase in basal metabolism at a constant low weight will reduce daily energy requirements.
1200 kcal is required for a woman weighing 60 kg and 165 cm tall to lose weight, but this is with a very sedentary lifestyle. Such a girl will look simply exhausted. Therefore, this diet will seem like hunger to most active people. Most often, it will lead to weakness, especially if it is combined with physical activity, both strength and cardio.
For the average woman who is slightly overweight, this kind of calorie restriction would create a deficit of more than 500 calories. If you add physical activity, the result will appear, but the body will lack nutrients a little.
Main nuances
On the positive side, eating 1200 kcal develops useful skills:
- Teaches you how to choose healthy foods, form portions and limit junk food.
- Provides possession of a kitchen scale, weighing for accurate calculation of calories.
- Helps to understand that for every cookie eaten there is a serving of other healthy food. Teaches choice.
The simplicity of the diet sets a positive mood for a woman who cannot get out of a diet just to start eating right. The name "diet for 1200 calories per day" is conditional, since sooner or later this figure will vary depending on goals, weight and amount of excess fat.
For example, the meal plan suggests:
- for breakfast, an omelet from one egg and a slice of ham;
- snack on whole grain bread with sweetener jam;
- lunch - tomato soup, pasta with paprika and cucumber;
- a baked apple for an afternoon snack;
- Grilled vegetables for dinner.
Without any analysis, it is clear that this menu lacks protein and healthy fats. Therefore, we can immediately name the main drawback of schematic diets - the lack of calculation of the body's need for macronutrients or BJU:
- without proteins, immunity decreases, the condition of the skin worsens, diseases of the internal organs appear;
- without fat, depression develops, wrinkles appear, vision deteriorates;
- without carbohydrates, the load on the kidneys and liver increases, weakness appears.
Therefore, proper nutrition should be built according to an approximate scheme:
- Breakfast: cereals + protein.
- Snack: protein + fats + fruits / vegetables.
- Lunch: cereals + protein + vegetables + fats.
- Afternoon snack: protein + fruits / vegetables / fats.
- Dinner: protein + vegetables.
Any low-calorie menu should be balanced, even based on simple products. The creators of the 1200 kcal diet forgot that it is protein that gives long-term satiety, and carbohydrates are pure energy.
The addition of lean skinless poultry meat, veal, dairy products and eggs is necessary for the normal functioning of the nervous system, replenishment of essential amino acids - building materials for new cells.
Sample menu for the week
Proper nutrition includes three meals and snacks, scheduled by day of the week:
Monday:
- Breakfast: omelette with asparagus and chicken (two eggs, 50 g of asparagus and 50 g of fillet), tomato.
- Snack: whole grain bread (40 g) with low-fat cheese (30 g).
- Lunch: buckwheat (100 g) with steamed chicken cutlets (120 g), vegetable stew (100 g).
- Snack: nuts (30 g) and homemade low-fat yogurt (150 g).
- Dinner: baked meat (100 g) and grilled vegetables (250 g).
Tuesday:
- Breakfast: oatmeal (whole grains, not cereal - 50 g), dried fruits (50 g) and cheese (30 g).
- Snack: fat-free cottage cheese (150 g) and berries (50 g).
- Lunch: stew with vegetables and rice, tomato with pepper and yogurt.
- Snack: cheesecakes without frying with raisins.
- Dinner: chicken giblets with low-fat sour cream and asparagus beans.
Wednesday:
- Breakfast: cheesecakes with oatmeal and raisins, a handful of nuts and an apple.
- Snack: whole grain bread with chicken, cucumber.
- Lunch: chicken meatballs with rice (150 g), cabbage salad with cucumber and vegetable oil (200 g).
- Snack: unsweetened yogurt with berries (150 g).
- Dinner: baked fish (150 g) with vegetables (200 g).
Thursday:
- Breakfast: cottage cheese (100 g), dried apricots and two walnuts.
- Snack: egg and tomato juice.
- Lunch: durum pasta (100 g), cabbage salad with tomatoes, cheese (25 g).
- Snack: banana, oatmeal and cottage cheese cookies, cheese.
- Dinner: veal chop (150 g) and grilled vegetables (200 g).
Friday:
- Breakfast: two whole grain breads with soft cottage cheese and greens, a tomato and an egg.
- Snack: fruit salad (100 g) and soft cheese (30 g).
- Lunch: fish stewed in tomato sauce, whole grain bread, two potatoes, vegetable salad.
- Snack: coffee with milk, cheese (30 g), fruit (100 g).
- Dinner: stewed cabbage with meat, bean salad.
Saturday:
- Breakfast: flaxseed porridge, egg and orange.
- Snack: walnuts (30 g) with a small spoonful of honey, coffee with milk.
- Lunch: lean borscht with chicken breast, vegetable salad and grain bread with cheese (30 g).
- Snack: cottage cheese casserole with honey and raisins (150 g).
- Dinner: chicken chop with mushrooms and cheese, boiled cauliflower.
Sunday:
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs with tomatoes, chicken pastrami.
- Snack: guest almonds, a glass of kefir.
- Lunch: pumpkin soup, egg, leaf lettuce.
- Snack: whole grain toast (bread) with cheese (30 g).
- Dinner: okroshka from kefir, eggs, cucumbers and chicken fillet, lettuce.
Serving Size:
- meat dish - about 90-120 g;
- vegetable dishes - 150-250 g;
- liquid - 200 ml;
- dairy - 100-150 g.
This will help meet the specified calorie content and fill the diet with useful substances.
The harm of low calories
Nutritionists are unanimous that such a menu of proper nutrition for weight loss due to the low calorie content of 1200 kcal is not suitable for most people. With high physical activity, drowsiness, irritability, fatigue, muscle pain will be observed. When calculating daily calorie content, a combination of weight and height, age and gender, and lifestyle are taken into account.
When energy consumption exceeds intake, the body will begin to "eat" itself. First of all, muscle tissue is consumed and fluid is lost. The logical effect of a calorie deficit will be adaptation to hunger, namely, a decrease in the rate of metabolic processes. Therefore, a return to a high-calorie diet will inevitably lead to the accumulation of fat.
Experienced nutritionists will say out loud - fast, but not longer than three days. On this, schemes with alternating calories are built. Even the most accurate 1200 calorie weekly and hourly diet should be a temporary measure that disciplines and reinforces the habit. Start by cleaning your diet from high-calorie foods, sugar, convenience foods. Fill your meals with vegetables, healthy fats and proteins. Don't starve yourself: just add half an hour of physical activity a day to increase your calorie burn, and eat right.
