1200 Calorie High Protein Diet

1200 calories is quite a low calorie count when compared with the standard calorie requirement of a healthy adult. And when it's a 1200 calorie high protein diet, you are restricting yourself from consuming carbohydrates and fats, making the options of foods limited. This low calorie and high protein diet is normally suggested to people wanting to lose weight quickly. To keep the calories within the range of 1200, you need to keep a check on the amount of food you are consuming everyday. Thus, calorie counting becomes important when following a high protein 1200 calorie diet. So how do you chalk out your diet regimen? Read the content below to find out.

Breakfast
Start your day with a heavy breakfast and consume maximum calories during the morning hours. You can also include a small portion of complex carbs and a little fatty acids in the unsaturated form. The calorie count for your breakfast should be 400. Moreover, when you are depending on proteins for deriving maximum nutrition, the portion of servings could be moderately large. Apart from this, have water based fruits in the morning and dairy products. You can incorporate the following foods in your breakfast.

• Skimmed milk, 1 glass
• Toasted brown butter, 2 slices
• Peanut butter, 2 tsps
• Cantaloupe, 4 slices
• Watermelon, 5 pieces
• Apple, 1
• Hard-boiled egg, 1
• Scrambled egg white, 2
• Oats, 1 bowl
• Cornflakes, 1 bowl

Lunch
Keep your lunch light as compared to your breakfast. Some of the richest sources of protein are animal products. Chicken, turkey, beef and lean meat contain high amounts of protein and you can prepare plentiful dishes from them, keeping the calorie count in mind. 300 calories is the ideal value for lunch and this low value could be maintained by cooking meals with minimum amounts of oil. Use extra virgin olive oil and flax-seed oil in cooking. Here are a few menu ideas for lunch.

• Roasted chicken breast, 3 pieces
• Grilled fish, 2
• Beef jerky, 1 serving
• Rib steaks, 2
• Wheat tortillas, 2
• Baked turkey, 250 grams
• Mushroom salad, 1 plate
• Green vegetables salad, 1 plate
• Boiled chicken, 250 grams
• Beef stew, 1 bowl
• Chicken stew, 1 bowl

Dinner
Keep your dinner as light as possible and combine proteins with fibers during dinnertime. The last meal of the day should contain vegetables, pulses, lentils and legumes. Plant products are rich in vitamins, minerals and fibers. Avoid spicy and heavy foods that might cause digestion problems. A high protein diet menu for dinner is recommended. Avoid carbohydrates completely and eat proteins derived from dairy products. Your dinner menu options are listed below.

• Cabbage soup, 1 bowl
• Zucchini salad, 1 plate
• Boiled carrots, red beet, 1 bowl
• Lentils/pulses soup, 1 bowl
• Leafy vegetables raw, 1 serving
• Sour cream, 1 tsp
• Low fat butter/cheese, 2 tsps
• Skimmed milk, 1 glass
• Fat free yogurt, 2 scoops

Snacks
If the gap between breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner is too long, then you are bound to feel hungry. Therefore, you have to depend on snacks to relieve yourself from hunger pangs. To complete the diet, the total value of snacks should not be more than 250 calories. Selecting only healthy foods for snacks and eliminating high carb foods becomes important for benefiting from this high protein diet plan. The options for healthy snacks include:

• Fruit smoothies, ½ glass
• Fresh fruit juices, 1 glass
• Popcorn, 1 bowl
• Plain hummus, 3 tsps
• Banana, 1
• Protein bars, 2
• Whey shakes, 1 glass

I hope this 1200 calorie high protein meal plan has proven useful for you. Now that you know the menus, you can easily prepare the recipes at home. Switching all of a sudden to such a low calorie diet might lead to nausea, vomiting and gastrointestinal problems initially. Therefore, make a slow transition by gradual reduction in calories and once your body gets acquainted to it, you can implement the low calorie diet plan. Make sure you are back to a balanced diet regimen after achieving the quick weight loss that you intended to.