1200 Calorie Indian Diet Plan: 7 Days, Vegetarian and Non Vegetarian

By The DietGhar Team. Last reviewed 13 October 2026.

Searching for a 1,200 calorie plan usually means one thing: you want a fixed menu with numbers you can check. This page gives you that. Seven days of Indian home food for vegetarians, seven for people who eat eggs, chicken and fish, with the quantity and the calories of every item.

It also tells you who should not use it. 1,200 is a low number. For many women it is already close to the lowest sensible level, and for most men and anyone who is active it is too low. Read the next section before you copy the menu.

Who this plan suits

• Adult women of small to medium build who sit most of the day and want to lose weight slowly. The ICMR NIN 2020 reference figure for a sedentary 55 kg woman is about 1,660 kcal a day, so 1,200 sits about 460 kcal below it. That gap is close to the usual rough basis for about 0.5 kg a week.
• People who have already been told by a doctor or a nutritionist that a low calorie phase is fine for them.
• Short phases, about 4 to 8 weeks, followed by a step up to 1,400 or to maintenance, not months at the same level.

Who should not use it

• Most men. The ICMR NIN reference for a sedentary 65 kg man is about 2,110 kcal, so 1,200 is nearly 900 below. That is a crash diet, not a plan.
• Anyone who walks a lot, trains, lifts, or does physical work. You will lose muscle and strength first.
• Under 18s, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and older adults who are losing muscle.
• Anyone with diabetes on medicine, kidney or liver disease, thyroid problems that are not settled, or a past eating disorder. Talk to your doctor first.
• Anyone who is already in a healthy weight range and just wants to feel lighter.

If you feel dizzy, cold all the time, your period changes, or you start thinking about food from morning to night, 1,200 is too low for you. Move to the 1,400 plan and speak to a doctor.

A rough way to pick a level: about 500 kcal a day below what you use gives about 0.5 kg a week, as a general pace and not a promise. Our calorie calculator gives you a starting estimate for your own size. The same plan at other levels: 1,400 calorie plan and 1,500 calorie plan.

7 day vegetarian plan, 1,200 calories

One katori means a standard 150 ml bowl. Cooked rice in a level katori weighs about 120 g, dal and sabzi about 100 to 150 g. The number in brackets is the kcal of that item, and the column on the right is the meal total. Roti means a 6 inch roti made from about 30 g of atta with no oil on it.

7 day non vegetarian plan, 1,200 calories

Eggs, chicken and fish on most days, with dal and vegetable days between them. Chicken and fish weights are raw, before cooking. Eggs are medium, about 50 g each.

How the numbers add up

Every item is a sum of its ingredients. We took energy and protein per 100 g from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy), multiplied by the raw weight used, and added the ingredients up. A meal is the sum of its items and a day is the sum of its meals. Spices, salt, lemon, green chilli and coriander are not counted. They come to under 10 kcal a day. Last checked 13 October 2026.

Vegetarian week

Non vegetarian week

Every day lands within 0.3 percent of 1,200 kcal. Home cooking varies, so treat each day as accurate to about 10 percent in real life: a katori filled a little higher, a spoon of oil a little heavier.

One page shopping list for the week

Amounts are for one person for seven days, rounded up. You may already have most of the staples. Salt, spices, lemon, ginger and green chilli are not listed.

5 swaps that keep calories level

Each pair is within about 5 percent. Swap one for the other and the day stays at 1,200 kcal.

Winter note: October to December

October to December is a good time for this plan. Palak, sarson, matar, gobhi, gajar and mooli are cheap and fresh, and they fill the plate for very few calories. Guava, kinnow or orange, pomegranate and apple cover the fruit slots.

Winter hunger is real. Keep the hot things: dal, a bowl of vegetable soup, the evening tea. They count in the plan already. Do not add gajar halwa or a handful of gajak on top and call it level.

Swap greens freely. Palak, methi, bathua and sarson are all between roughly 20 and 50 kcal per 100 g raw, so changing one for another moves the day by under 20 kcal.

Adjusting protein

A common target for people losing weight is 1.0 to 1.3 g of protein per kg of target body weight. Use the weight you are aiming for, not today's weight. This is general guidance. If you have kidney disease, check with your doctor before raising protein.

On this plan the vegetarian week averages 51.4 g a day and the non vegetarian week 61.1 g. If your target is higher, add one of these and take out a roti (102 kcal) or a fruit so the day stays level:

More ideas are in our high protein Indian diet chart and the vegetarian protein food list.

Common mistakes

1. Staying at 1,200 for months. A low plan works as a short phase. After a month or two, hunger, poor sleep and muscle loss can build up. Plan a step up to 1,400 or to maintenance.
2. Going lower when the scale stalls. A stall at 1,200 does not mean 1,000 is the answer. Check oil, drinks and weekend meals first. Going lower is where muscle loss and rebound eating tend to begin.
3. Too little protein. At this level the vegetarian week averages about 51 g of protein, which is below 1 g per kg for anyone over 51 kg. See the protein section and add dal, curd or paneer where you can.
4. Measuring oil by the spoonful of "a little". One teaspoon of oil is 5 g and about 44 kcal. A kadhai that "looked dry" and got three teaspoons adds roughly 90 kcal, which is a whole mid morning fruit and some.
5. Skipping meals to save calories. A skipped lunch often turns into a large evening of namkeen and biscuits. Keep the six small meals, they are spaced to prevent exactly that.

Questions people ask

Is 1,200 calories enough for an Indian woman?

For some, for a short time. It is below what most adult women need to hold their weight, which is the point of a weight loss plan, but it leaves little room. Many women do better at 1,400 and lose weight at a similar pace because they can stay on it. If you are active, pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18 or on medicine for a health condition, do not use 1,200 without asking your doctor.

How much weight will I lose on this plan?

About 0.5 kg a week is a fair general pace for a steady plan. The first week can show more because of water, and some weeks show nothing. This is not a promise for any one person. Look at the trend over three or four weeks, not a single morning.

Can I use this plan if I am a man?

Most men should not. A sedentary reference man needs around 2,110 kcal, so 1,200 is far too low. Look at the 1,500 plan only if you are small and sedentary, and ask for a personal plan if you want a safe number for your size.

Do I have to weigh the food?

Weigh it for the first week, then you will know what a katori of dal and a 30 g roti look like. After that, a measuring katori and a teaspoon are enough. The oil is the item people get wrong most often, so measure that one longest.

Can I repeat the same day all week?

Yes. Every day is within about 1 percent of 1,200 kcal, so you can repeat the days you like. You can also swap a lunch from one day with a lunch from another. Use the swap table to keep the total level.

Keep reading

• 1,400 calorie Indian diet plan
• 1,500 calorie Indian diet plan
• Calorie count of popular Indian foods
• Indian vegetarian weight loss diet chart
• Calorie calculator
• Calorie deficit calculator
• BMR and TDEE calculator
• DietGhar plans and prices
• All diet plans