Help me eat 1200 calories a day

[Anonymous]

Here is an example of my 1200 calorie diet. While some people will look and this and tell me to nix the sweets or bacon, I've lost more than 30 lbs so far -- going from a size 16 to a 10 -- and I do not feel deprived in the least. I feel that diets need to be sustainable to be effective in the long term; eating no carbs, going paleo, or never having a treat is not sustainable to me.

The key to 1200 is controlling your portions. While you can eat anything this way, you begin to see certain foods have more value. Bread and pasta have a lot of calories per serving, so I often choose to not eat those kinds of foods, or I simply eat less of them. Bacon and eggs fill me up in the morning (more so than oatmeal), so I eat them to prevent my overeating at lunch. I make nearly everything from scratch, so I know what I'm eating (and how many calories they have).

I just had a physical and got all good reports.

Breakfast:
one egg, 2 slices bacon, 1/2 piece of toast

Snack:
one apple, 3 caramels

Lunch:
Tomato soup and grilled chicken breast (or spinach salad with chicken, or lentil soup, etc.), carrot sticks

Snack:
fromage blanc and muesli, fruit (orange, blueberries, bananas)

Dinner:
protein (usually chicken) and veggie

Treat:
usually something under 100 calories (fudge pop, popcorn, etc.)