If you are considering a diet, be sure you choose a program that fits your lifestyle and one that does not deprive you of essential nutrition. Many diets simply cut out important foods to cut down on calories. A 1,500-calorie diet should not eliminate any one food group completely, but rather provide appropriate serving sizes of each food group to reduce your daily caloric intake.
Breakfast and Mid-Morning Snack
Your breakfast should consist of about 400 calories. Include some grains, like two slices of whole-wheat toast or 1 cup of bran cereal, some dairy, such as 1 cup of nonfat milk or yogurt, a piece of fruit and a protein-source, like an egg or Canadian bacon. Drink 8 oz. of water along with breakfast. Have a mid-morning snack totaling 150 calories. Options include 4 tbsp. of hummus with a dozen baby carrots, 15 almonds or cashews, or 2 oz. of tuna salad with three saltines. Drink 16 oz. of water with your snack.
Lunch and Mid-Afternoon Snack
Eat a 350-calorie lunch that includes one main food item, a side-item and water. The main food item can be 3 oz. of grilled chicken on pita or a tuna sandwich on two slices of healthy wheat bread. Other options include a 3 oz. salad consisting of chicken, turkey or tuna with beans, or one bowl of soup with two saltine crackers and a small salad with 2 tbsp. of reduced-fat oil and vinegar. A side-item option is 1 cup of nonfat or 1 percent milk with 1/2 cup applesauce. Wash it all down with 16 oz. of water. Mid-afternoon snacks can consist of 1 tbsp. of peanut butter with half an apple or 1 cup of of nonfat cottage cheese and 1/3 cup of pineapple chunks. The snack should total about 150 calories.
Dinner and Evening Snack
Plan on consuming a 300-calorie dinner consisting of an entree with two healthy side dishes. Entree options include 3 oz. of chicken, fish, shellfish or tofu, two fat-free hot-dogs or 2 oz. of deli meat. One side dish should always be a vegetable, such as 1 cup of broccoli, spinach or mushrooms, while the other side dish should consist of protein and fiber, like 2/3 cup of beans and rice, whole-wheat pasta or couscous. One cup of lentils is another good side dish option. Drink 16 oz. of water with your dinner. Treat yourself to an evening snack containing approximately 150 calories. Choices include a 100-calorie snack pack with 15 grapes, two rice cakes with 1 tbsp. of peanut butter, or one string cheese with three saltine crackers.
Serving Sizes
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, provides daily serving size recommendations that can help you gauge how much food and which types of food you eat. Be sure to keep track of how many servings you are consuming daily from each food group. Since daily values for foods are based on a 2,000-calorie diet, you will have to ensure that the amount of foods you eat equal 25 percent less than the USDA's recommendations.
Essential Foods
Since a 1,500-calorie diet plan provides 500 fewer calories than what is recommended by the USDA, it is important that you eat foods that are essential to a healthy lifestyle. Just cutting down on calories and eating foods that have no nutritional value is unhealthy and will, in most cases, not help lose weight. Be sure you eat foods from all the major food groups from the Food Guide Pyramid. They include the bread, cereal, rice and pasta group, vegetable group, fruit group, dairy group, meat and meat substitutes group and fats, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Member Comments