How Many Carbs, Fats, and Proteins You Need on a 1,200-Calorie Diet?
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How Many Carbs, Fats, and Proteins You Need on a 1,200-Calorie Diet?

How Many Carbs, Fats, and Proteins You Need on a 1,200-Calorie Diet?
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Jody Braverman, CPT, FNS, RYT
Updated on September 2, 2025
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This eating plan is considered a fad diet. Fad diets often promote quick weight loss that is unsustainable and may severely restrict what you eat. They may be harmful and generally do not have long-lasting health benefits. Talk to your healthcare provider before making any major changes to how you eat.

If you’re following a 1,200-calorie diet to lose weight, you’ll want to be sure you’re consuming enough vital nutrients. The right amount of carbs, fats, and proteins can boost energy, improve overall health, and enhance your results.

Why Are Carbs, Proteins, and Fats Important?

Carbs, proteins, and fats are macronutrients. They each play a crucial role in providing your body with energy and helping it function properly.

Carbs

Carbohydrates are your body’s preferred source of energy. Your brain relies on the glucose from carbohydrate metabolism for proper functioning.

 If you’re exercising, which is another key component of weight loss, your muscles need carbs for energy and to recover after strenuous workouts.

Carbohydrates also provide dietary fiber, the parts of plant foods that your body can only minimally digest. Fiber is crucial for optimal digestive function and heart health, and it also aids weight loss.

 According to a study published in Nutrition, a diet high in fiber can promote weight loss even without calorie restriction.

Proteins

The same study that found high-fiber diets lead to weight loss in the absence of caloric restriction came to a similar conclusion about protein. Protein is also digested slowly, creating lasting fullness and aiding appetite control.

In addition, protein has a higher diet-induced thermogenic value than fats or carbs. Thermogenesis is the increase in metabolic rate caused by food digestion, which accounts for about 10 percent of the calories you burn in a day. Your body expends 20 to 30 percent of the caloric content of protein just to digest it, while it expends only 5 to 10 percent for carbs and less than 3 percent for fats.

Fats

You need fats for good health, especially polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats from plant foods, which help control cholesterol and protect heart health.

That doesn’t mean you should overdo it though. Fat is higher in calories than protein and carbs, gram for gram. One gram of fat has 9 calories, while 1 gram of protein or carbs has 4 calories.

How Many Carbs, Proteins, and Fats Do You Need on a 1,200-Calorie Diet?

According to the U.S. government’s dietary guidelines:

  • Between 45 percent to 65 percent of your calories should come from carbohydrates. In a 1,200-calorie diet, that’s roughly 540 to 780 calories from carbs. That equals about 135 to 195 grams of carbs daily.
  • Between 10 percent and 35 percent of your calories should come from protein. That’s around 120 to 420 calories in a 1,200-calorie diet, which is the equivalent of 30 to 105 grams of protein a day.
  • Between 25 percent to 35 percent of your calories should come from fats. In a 1,200-calorie diet, this is about 300 to 420 calories from fats, or around 33 to 47 grams of fat per day.

How Does a 1,200-Calorie Diet Claim to Work?

The 1,200-calorie diet mainly works by calorie restriction. When you consume fewer calories than your body burns, you begin to burn stored fat, which can result in weight loss.

While this diet may be beneficial for some people, it might not be healthy for everyone. The amount of calories you need depends on factors like your age, activity level, height, weight, and more. Generally, it’s recommended that women consume between 1,600 and 2,400 calories a day, depending on their activity level. For men, it’s between 2,000 and 3,000 calories a day.

What Can You Eat on a 1,200-Calorie Diet?

In general, you can eat what you want on a 1,200-calorie diet, as long as you stay within the specified calorie range. However, for best results, you should aim to consume nutrient-dense foods that contain fiber-rich carbs, lean proteins, good fats, vitamins, and minerals. These types of foods may keep you feeling full longer, so you won’t be as hungry throughout the day.

Carbs to Include

The healthiest carbohydrates are complex carbohydrates from vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. Complex carbohydrates are rich in fiber, and their more complex chemical structure means your body takes longer to digest them.

Examples of healthy carbs include:

  • Brown rice
  • Millet
  • Quinoa
  • Broccoli
  • Kale
  • Red peppers
  • Raspberries
  • Blueberries
  • Lentils
  • Black beans

Some complex carbs are higher in calories than others. These include whole-grain breads and pastas, potatoes, and sweeter fruits such as bananas and pineapples. This doesn’t mean you can’t eat these foods — just know they will take up more of your calorie quota.

Proteins to Include

Lean protein is your best choice on a 1,200-calorie diet. Fatty meats, cheese, full-fat milk, and yogurt are rich in protein, but they are also high in fat and calories. Instead, choose protein-packed foods that are lower in calories, such as:

  • White meat and skinless chicken
  • Beans and tofu
  • White-fleshed fish
  • Nonfat or low-fat Greek yogurt
  • Low-fat cottage cheese
  • Lean beef
  • Egg whites

Fats to Include

The majority of fats should come from plant foods and fish. Nutritious sources of healthy fats include:

  • Nuts
  • Seeds
  • Olive oil
  • Avocado
  • Fish

Foods to Avoid

On a 1,200-calorie diet, you’ll want to limit foods that are high in calories but low in nutrients. Some examples include:

  • Fried foods
  • Candy and baked goods
  • Sugary drinks
  • High-calorie fast food
  • Processed snacks
  • White bread and pasta
  • Alcohol

Potential Benefits of a 1,200-Calorie Diet

Many research studies have found that low-calorie diets, such as a 1,200-calorie diet, can result in weight loss.

For example, a recent meta-analysis of 21 different studies involving people trying to lose weight ahead of laparoscopic surgery found that a low-calorie diet helped them shed more than 6 percent of their body weight, on average.

Some past studies in animals have shown that very low-calorie diets can extend lifespan and delay many age-related diseases.

Potential Risks of a 1,200-Calorie Diet

There can be drawbacks to drastically restricting your calorie intake. Some possible downsides include:

  • Nutritional deficiencies: It can be difficult to get enough essential vitamins, minerals, fiber, and macronutrients on a low-calorie diet.
  • Muscle loss: Research has found that extremely low-calorie diets can promote muscle loss.

  • Unsustainable weight loss: Many people find that a 1,200-calorie diet is difficult to maintain long-term.
  • Impact on metabolism: Consuming too few calories for too long can backfire. That’s because your metabolism slows down to help conserve energy.
  • Potential for disordered eating: An extremely restrictive diet may promote an unhealthy relationship with food, which could lead to a poor body image.
  • Social isolation: Following a strict diet, like the 1,200-calorie diet, can make it hard to eat socially.
  • Dangerous for some people: A very low-calorie diet may not be healthy for people who are very active, pregnant, or breastfeeding, as well as those who have a chronic medical condition, such as heart disease, thyroid conditions, or diabetes.
  • Gallstones: Calorie-restrictive diets can increase your risk of gallstones, which can cause stomach pain and may require surgery.
  • Other side effects: Following a calorie-restrictive diet can lead to side effects, such as headaches, irritability, nausea, and fatigue.

Is a 1,200-Calorie Diet Right for You?

A 1,200-calorie diet can be difficult to sustain long-term. It may work for some people, but it may be too restrictive for others. In some cases, it can be unsafe or even harmful. You might need more calories if you are very active, male, pregnant, or breastfeeding, or if you have an eating disorder or certain medical conditions. You should always talk to your healthcare provider before starting any new diet.

The Takeaway

  • A 1,200-calorie diet can help you lose weight, but it’s not appropriate for everyone.
  • When restricting calories, it’s important to incorporate vital macronutrients, including carbs, proteins, and fats, into your diet.
  • It’s a good idea to talk to your healthcare provider before you decide to follow a 1,200-calorie eating plan.

Additional reporting by Julie Lynn Marks.

EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
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Kayli Anderson, RDN

Medical Reviewer
Member of American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Kayli Anderson has over a decade of experience in nutrition, culinary education, and lifestyle medicine. She believes that eating well should be simple, pleasurable, and sustainable. Anderson has worked with clients from all walks of life, but she currently specializes in nutrition therapy and lifestyle medicine for women. She’s the founder of PlantBasedMavens.com, a hub for women to get evidence-based, practical, and woman-centered guidance on nutrition and cooking, hormone health, fertility, pregnancy, movement, mental well-being, nontoxic living, and more.

Anderson is board-certified in lifestyle medicine and serves as lead faculty of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s (ACLM) "Food as Medicine" course. She is past chair of the ACLM's registered dietitian member interest group, secretary of the women's health member interest group, and nutrition faculty for many of ACLM's other course offerings. She is the coauthor of the Plant-Based Nutrition Quick Start Guide and works with many of the leading organizations in nutrition and lifestyle medicine to develop nutrition content, recipes, and educational programs.

Anderson frequently speaks on the topics of women’s health and plant-based nutrition and has coauthored two lifestyle medicine textbooks, including the first one on women’s health, Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan.

She received a master's degree in nutrition and physical performance and is certified as an exercise physiologist and intuitive eating counselor. She's a student of herbal medicine and women's integrative and functional medicine. She lives with her husband in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where you’ll find her out on a trail or in her garden.

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Jody Braverman, CPT, FNS, RYT

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