Unless you are under the guidance of a medical practitioner, it is not recommended that you pursue a diet of fewer than 1,200 calories daily as a woman or 1,500 as a man explains Medline Plus, a service of the National Institutes of Health. You are better off accepting a gradual rate of weight loss amounting to just one or two pounds per week. If you are committed to following a 1,000 calorie per day diet, follow some specific strategies to make it as healthy as possible.
Eat Often
Do not save up all your calories for one large meal. Make each one contain about 300 calories and enjoy one, 100-calorie snack or two, 150-calorie snacks between meals. Skipping meals is likely to lead to dieting frustration and poor choices when you do sit down to eat.
Focus on Nutrition
Choose highly nutritious foods for every meal as 1,000 calories may still leave you deficient. Base meals around low-calorie dense foods like watery green, red, yellow, purple and orange vegetables. These foods offer fiber to help you feel full and keep digestion regular as well as numerous vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Flavor foods with herbs, spices and citrus juices rather than high-calorie cheese sauces, dressings or butter. Accent your vegetables with a 2 oz. of a low-calorie protein like shrimp, egg whites, water-packed tuna or turkey breast. Eat a ½ cup serving of grains or a slice of whole-grain bread at every meal to meet the minimum U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Pyramid recommendations.
Eat Fat
While fats are calorie dense, your body needs healthy unsaturated fats to provide fuel, assist in hormone production, absorb vitamins and make you feel satisfied says Joanne Larsen, R.D. of Ask the Dietitian. The minimum amount of fat recommended by the Institute of Medicine is 20 percent of daily calories, which means at least 200 calories of your day should come from foods like nuts, plant oils, fatty fish or seeds.
Keep It Short
Do not try to maintain a 1,000 calorie per day for more than a day or two, unless directed to do so by a physician. A very low calorie diet followed for the longterm can lead to nutritional deficiencies, decreased immunity, nausea, dehydration, loss of lean body mass, headaches, fatigue, dry skin and sleep disruptions warns Larsen. When you lose weight rapidly on a very low calorie plan, chances are you will regain the weight.
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