What do you all eat in a day ~ 1,200 calories

I never thought I would say this, but I am having a hard time getting to 1,200 calories per day unless I eat some crap. Tis the season for goodies but I don't really want to add that on a permanent basis.

For those of you that are at 1,200 calories a day or more - what do you eat - including amounts?

My surgeon doesn't want us to snack in between meals except for having protein shakes which is about 300 calories per day if I have 3 and I often only have 2. That would mean 300 calories per meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner to get to 1,200 calories. Breakfast and lunch are hardly ever close to 300 calories and dinner is sometimes - especially if I go out to eat, but not always. I can only eat 2-3 oz. of dense protein at a sitting and it is usually a lean choice like chicken or fish, sometimes lean beef.

I could always add nuts - higher in calorie and a healthy fat with little carbs and some protein. What are some other healthy choices that won't make me too full?

Here is a link to MFP so you can get an idea of my typical day - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/parbaugh

Paula

Typical day for me:

Breakfast 1: Protein Shake, 123 cals (20 grams protein)

Breakfast 2: Fage 0%, 3/4 cup, 1/4 cup wild blueberries, 2 tsp chopped pecans - 150 cals, 18 grams protein

Lunch: 3 oz chicken breast, 1/4 -1/3 cup green beans, 2 oz sweet potato, 1 tsp butter: 206 calories

Afternoon snack/post workout: Quest Bar, 160 cals 20 grams protein

Dinner: repeat of lunch

Evening snack: repeat of Breakfast 2 with the addition of 1/2 cup unsweetened whipped cream (adds another 65 cals)

That's roughly 1100 calories for the day. I will also add almonds to the mix to boost calories if I'm hungry. 

HOWEVER, I could not eat like this when I hit goal at 7.5 months out. That's why I added calorie dense foods to my diet to stop losing weight - BIG MISTAKE!!!!! If I had it to do over, I would have added cheese and nuts and butter and cream and switched to full fat yogurt - something other than eating food with sugar. What I did was start eating frozen yogurt every day. That easily added 250+ calories and even though I ate no added sugar fro yo when I could, it still was really a big mistake. 

For me, I largely control my calorie intake (increase and decrease) with fats. When I need calories, I make my meals/snacks 'richer' (not bigger). I add a wedge of Brie cheese, 4% Greek yogurt, small handful of almonds, 18% cream in my coffee, tablespoon of nut butter, fattier cuts of meat, bacon, seeds, full fat cottage cheese, wedge of avocado, full fat sour cream, gravy, butter and/or olive on my veggies, etc.  Fats are very high calorie, so require very little volume to add a couple of extra hundred cals per meal.  When I need to decrease calories, I remove fats.

oh and I need to take my own advice instead of using extra calories to eat sweets

Thanks - that gives me some ideas. I could add a protein bar (have not found one I really like yet though) or some nuts or maybe even a 4th healthy meal (if I have time in my day to consume it), It is so tempting to add in the sweets to increase calories but I know that is a slippery slope for sure!

Paula

Paula, have you tried the "Premier Protein" bars? You can get them at Sams or Walmart. I really like them. Love the texture and taste. 

Karen

I have not tried them - might have to add that to my list of things to try! I have tried a few Quest bars and Pure Protein and have found them to have a funky after taste