If you've grown up in western society, you've grown up in a place where calorie counting is often looked-down upon and ridiculed.  For decades we've been an "eat what you want, when you want" culture, and our waistlines now show it.

It's time to get back to good nutrition, and that starts with the 1200 calorie diet.  Gone will be the TGIFriday's appetizers, or the ColdStone Creamery sundaes.  These are things that you'll have to cut out of your life completely - and for your own good! - if you want to get fit and healthy.

Front and center for the 1200 calorie diet are lean proteins like chicken, eggs and fish.  The best of the fish is salmon, prefarbly wild caught.  Wild caught salmon tends to be higher in omega-3 fatty acids when compared to farm-raised salmon, which is higher in omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids.  These latter two don't share the same anti-inflammatory properties of omega-3, and are therefore not as beneficial to your body in reducing overall swelling and inflammation.  That's not to say farm-raised salmon is bad for you - you could eat it every day and be perfectly health - just that wild caught happens to be that much better.

Another staple of the 1200 calorie diet will be fruits and vegetables.  "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," the old saying goes, and that's mostly right.  Apples are a great regulator of blood-sugar, meaning you won't get hunger pangs in between meals, meaning that it'll be easier to stay to your 1200 calorie diet.  Other great fruits and vegetables in this realm are bananas, carrots and grapes.  You can chow down on all of them and eat pretty much as much as you want.  It's best to have little snacks between meals, and in each instance the best snack is a piece of fruit or a handful of vegetables.

If you're overly hungry between meals, feel free to eat a handful of nuts - almonds, walnuts or the like.  Avoid peanuts, and try to only buy fresh, non-processed and preferably unsalted nuts.  They'll be a little bland at first, but as you get used to your 1200 calorie diet you'll see your tastes changing and your appetities for natural foods growing.

Finally, you must learn portion control.  It's one of the hardest things to master in America today, especially when going out to eat.  Just one appetizer at a chain restaurant can run between 500-2000 calories.  You do the math - that just doesn't fit into the 1200 calorie diet.  So avoid that type of thing at all costs, and remember that Rome wasn't built in a day!