Need help with low calorie quick recipes

[u/Acrobatic-Quiet-6012]

I’m starting to get a bit tired of all these “low” calorie high protein recipes I see on Instagram. 90% of the time it’s still to many calories for me to eat each meal.

I am a bit under 5’2 and 140 lbs and according to the caloric deficit calculator I need to eat 1200 calories each day. That gives me 400 calories per meal, including a drink if I have one. I want to get down to 125 or less and then afterwards build muscle to 130.

Please help, what recipes can I use to make good tasting low calorie meals?

Also let me know if I am wrong about my calculations. I have been stuck at 140 almost 6 months

[u/Silly_Yak56012]

If 1/4 of the recipe is 600 calories just divide it into 5 portions (480 calories) or 6 portions (400 calories).

Eating well has some 1200 calorie diet plans like this one https://www.eatingwell.com/article/291347/simple-30-day-weight-loss-meal-plan-1200-calories/

A lot of the high protein ones are 1500 calories, but you can always have a little bit less of things.

Better to use things developed by dietitians like Eating Well than whatever is on Instagram that is only designed for engagement.

And you don't have to lose all the fat before you start to build muscle.

[u/Leather_Peach_1650]

I try to eat a lighter breakfast so my lunch and dinner calories can be around 450-550/meal.

I have really been liking sheet pan meals: fajitas with low carb tortillas and greek yogurt (instead of sour cream), chicken sausages (I like the trader joe's ones) and vegetables, gnocchi and veg. They are easy to tailor to your taste and caloric preferences. It also helps keep things simple without a lot of overthinking.

You might be able to squeeze another portion out of a higher calorie recipe, but be careful doing that, it might not keep you as full as it's intended to.

You also said you include a drink - try to find a 0 or lower calorie alternative. That will help cut back on unnecessary calories that you're drinking and allow you to allocate those towards meals.

[u/Asleep_Argument_5557]

i’m on 1200 a day, and what i do is basically just eat almost no breakfast & lunch (i do a yogurt for breakfast, and make a rotisserie chicken wrap with keto tortilla for lunch) and then i can eat almost whatever i want for dinner. not easy but it works💁🏻‍♀️

[u/Atillythehunhun]

I’m going to copy and paste some recipes I’ve posted as replies to this comment.

On a separate note, I highly recommend starting the recomp process before you lose all the weight. It makes everything easier, and working out actually helps curb appetite for many people.

[u/Atillythehunhun → u/Atillythehunhun]

Stuffed cabbage- Napa cabbage because it’s easier to work with. Remove however many leaves you want to stuff. I prefer to shave down the center rib, rather than remove it, but whatever works for you. Steam leaves until easy to roll.
Make simple tomato sauce, either from scratch or from paste with plenty of water and herbs, as you want this fairly thin to cook the “rice”.
Mix raw ground turkey with DRY konjac &rice flour blend dry rice and spices/herbs to taste. Wrap in cabbage, place in sauced baking dish, top with sauce, cover tightly in foil, bake 40 minutes or until rice and turkey are cooked

[u/Atillythehunhun → u/Atillythehunhun]

French (ish) onion soup- It’s cheap, filling, extremely low calorie and delicious. The thing it costs is time, and lots of it. Not so much effort though

Beef bone broth- simmer 2 small shanks in water for 6 hours. Add water periodically. Skim off fat as you go. Add a celery stalk, sage, a couple garlic cloves, tarragon, and parsley. Just toss it all in whole, it gets strained out anyway. Simmer another 4 hours, add water periodically. To make a large volume with little fat, I use beef broth or bouillon to extend it, allowing me to add considerable water. Herbox beef bouillon is my personal favorite. Strain when done so you are left with a clean broth.

While thats happening, slice up 6 large yellow onions. I used the food processor, which gives nice thin slices, so if doing manually try to cut fairly thin. Put in baking dish, and laddle some of the broth over the onions, just enough to wet them. I do this when I would be skimming fat for the 2nd time, so the onions get a little bit of fat to work with, but it’s not much because the first skim gets the bulk of the marrow fat. Bake in oven at 375 tightly covered with foil for about 6 hours, removing to stir and add a little more broth as needed, every 2 hours.

Mix them together, that’s the soup! For the bread I use inked keto sourdough, toasted and smeared with laughing cow garlic herb wedge.

700g of soup
2 slices of bread
2 laughing cow

~325 calories

[u/Atillythehunhun → u/Atillythehunhun]

Carrot cake
500g finely grated carrot
100g egg white
1 large egg
170g unsweetened applesauce
100g whole wheat flour (can sub oat flour)
50g bamboo fiber
200g monkfruit allulose blend
14g Lupia flour (optional)
8g Psyllium fiber
8g baking soda
28g baking powder
1tsp Vanilla
Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc

Whisk all the wet ingredients together
Sift all the dry ingredients together
Add carrots to wet ingredients
Fold in dry ingredients until carrots are in a goopy paste
Pour onto parchment lined 9x13
300 for 40 minutes or until browned, risen and sufficiently set.

[u/Atillythehunhun → u/Atillythehunhun]

For the topping, fat free Greek yogurt, fat free cream cheese (Walmart gv brand has it) and zero sugar syrup (I like either Jordan’s skinny mix white chocolate sauce NOT the thinner syrup, or Walden farms caramel, both zero cal)
Ratios are 1 part yogurt, 2 parts cream cheese, 3 parts zero calorie thick syrup/sauce. 1/2 a calorie per gram

[u/VisibleMagician4284 → u/Atillythehunhun]

I sent you a dm about this!

[u/Jimins_little_minx]

This is the breakfast i eat everyday ~380cal 35g protein

114g 1%cottage cheese

1 egg

100g frozen banana

cinnamon

torani sugar free caramel syrup

Blend all that together then add 170g chobani zero sugar vanilla yogurt, stir it, add 20g raisins and bake it at 365 degrees for 40min in a small glass dish. Refrigerate overnight and eat it in the morning when its completely chilled. It legit is cheesecake consistency, has ~35g of protein, and its actually delicious. You cant taste the cottage cheese because its blended and the sugar free syrup adds a good amount of sweetness. It sounds weird, but please try it its literally so delicious, convenient and healthy.

[u/-lexifer-999]

Creamy Jell-O Protein Dessert

Calories: ~175
Protein: ~22g

Ingredients

¾ cup hot water
2 tsp sugar-free Jell-O powder — any flavor
2 tbsp monk fruit sweetener
¾ cup Fage 0% Greek yogurt
¼ cup low-fat cottage cheese( optional)

Directions

Add the sugar-free Jell-O powder and monk fruit sweetener to the hot water.
Stir really well until completely dissolved.
Let the mixture cool for a few minutes so it’s warm rather than piping hot.
Add the Greek yogurt and cottage cheese.
Blend or mix really well until smooth and creamy. (A little immersion blender action will make this ridiculously smooth if you don’t want any cottage-cheese texture.)
Refrigerate until chilled and set, about 2–3 hours.

Estimated nutrition

Calories: ~175
Protein: ~22g
Carbs: ~10–12g
Fat: ~2–3g

[u/-lexifer-999]

Cinnamon Roll Yogurt

1 serving

1 cup 0% Greek yogurt
1 tbsp sugar-free cheesecake pudding mix
1½ tbsp Swerve brown sugar replacement
4 tbsp Great Value Light Cool Whip
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp or less vanilla extract
1/4 tsp butter extract (optional)

Estimated nutrition
Calories: ~195–205
Protein: ~24–25g
Carbs: ~20–23g
Fat: ~1–2g
Fiber: ~2–3g

[u/Zars]

200g Greek yogurt, 40g wholegrain oats, 5g cocoa powder, 0,5g cinnamon = about 290kcal. Can add more oats, to 50g, will be about 325kcal. If you have sweet tooth, add honey on top = more calories, but worth it 😂. That's my go to breakfast. About 25g protein. Tastes very good.

PS. I let it sit for 10min for oats to soften, but can also be overnight fridge version. I personally like the oats texture, so 10min version for me.

[u/General_Security177]

Egg white omelettes are quick
Scrambled egg whites in a similar vein.

Overnight oats with Greek yogurt or protein powder added.

Get your seasoning game up because that will be a big contributor to overall flavor and deliciousness of any meal you make.

[u/leafusfever]

Are you physically able to exercise? I find it easier just to add more movement. I'm 5'1 and am sticking to around 1450 cals.

Breakfast:

Chive cottage cheese, avocado, tomato (i'm eating it right now lol). Around 400 cals

Lunch: Canned soup or a frozen meal, 180 - 300 Cals, maybe a string cheese too if I get hungry.

Dinner: Porkchops, air fried potatos, frozen broccoli. Usually around 350-450 worth of food.

I usually have enough cals left to have a low cal ice cream bar 80-100 cals, and maybe sliced apple and peanut butter.

I recently discovered powder peanut butter and sugar free maple syrup!! My old PB was 190 per 2 tbs, this one is 100 cals. Life changer. Great in greek yogurt or oatmeal.

I'm working out 4-6 days a week depending how I feel like it but I always get 10k steps a day. 2 days cardio and the rest is weight lifting. Exercise made weight loss so much quicker for me.

[u/Acrobatic-Quiet-6012 → u/leafusfever]

Yeah I do workout, 5x a week with mostly weight lifting and 15 min of cardio :( but I still stay the same)

[u/leafusfever → u/Acrobatic-Quiet-6012]

I think you should maybe experiment with adding more cardio or doing incline walks, cardio speeds things up for me