The 1,300 calorie diet is a plan that will help to facilitate a slow and gradual weight loss in healthy adults. The diet includes enough calories to ensure that you receive all your essential nutrients, but it is still low enough in calories to promote a weight loss of roughly one to two pounds per week.
Counting Your Calories
The 1,300 calorie diet is pretty simple: you simply limit yourself to no more than 1,300 calories from food and beverages per day. The easiest way to do thiis is by counting the calories you ingest. You can count calories by reading the nutrition labels on the foods and beverages you consume. When you read a nutrition label, look for the serving size and the number of calories per serving size. Remember that if you consume two servings, you have to multiply the number of calories by two. If you do not have access to the nutrition label, you can always go online and search for the food or beverage and find its nutrition information.
Achieving a Balanced 1,300 Calorie Diet
The calories that you consume on the 1,300 calorie diet should come from a variety of nutritious foods. This will allow your body to get all the necessary vitamins and minerals that it needs on a regular basis. While you can ingest 1,300 calories of fast food and soda and still lose weight, it is much healthier to make sure that your calories come from healthy foods, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains and low-fat dairy and protein sources. Vegetables, in particular, are an excellent food group for the 1,300 calorie diet. Nonstarchy vegetables, such as tomatoes, carrots and broccoli, are very low in calories but high in nutritional value.
Potential Health Benefits
If you have a few extra pounds you need to shed, then the 1,300 calorie diet may be just what you need. Most adults expend about 1,800 to 2,000 calories per day, so by following the 1,300 calorie diet, you will lose weight at a slow and healthy pace. The benefit of weight loss, especially if you are overweight or obese, is that it will lower your risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and some cancers.
Sample Menu
The following diet includes 1,300 well-balanced calories and would be appropriate for any healthy adult following the 1,300 calorie diet plan.
Breakfast: 1 slice whole grain toast, 2 tsp. sugar-free jam, 1 scrambled egg, 1/2 small grapefruit, coffee with 2 tbsp. nonfat milk
Lunch: 1 low-fat frozen entree with 300 calories or less, an additional 1 cup of frozen vegetables to add to the frozen entree, 1 small apple, 1 cup light yogurt with 6 almonds, 16 oz. water
Dinner: 4 oz. grilled trout, 1 cup steamed broccoli and cauliflower, 1/2 cup corn, 1 1/4 cup strawberries with 2 Tbs. light whipped cream, 16 oz. water
Snack: 3 cup low-fat popcorn
Don't Forget to Be Active
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly recommend that American adults achieve a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each day. Additional activity, particularly vigorous-intensity physical activity, will allow you to burn more calories and lose more weight. Try performing at least 30 minutes of activity each day. Physical activity can include jogging, biking, walking and swimming, but most importantly, try to find something that you enjoy doing on a consistent basis.
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