Eating just 1500 calories a day is pretty extreme when compared to the average American diet, but it can be healthy, sustainable and in accord with what health experts recommend we eat. As with any calorie reduction diet, it's important to choose what you do eat with care. Since you can only eat so much, you need to make what you do eat count.
Calorie Basics
Losing weight is an exercise in applied physics. You take in calories when you eat, and burn them during activity throughout the day. If you take in more calories than you use, you store the excess as fat and gain weight. If you use more than you take in, you lose weight by burning fat to make up the difference. Eating 1500 calories per day provides fewer calories than even most sedentary people use in a day's worth of activity.
1500 Calories
The USDA recommends a diet of 2000 to 2500 calories per day. However, USDA research indicates that most Americans eat closer to 3000 calories each day. According to health counselor Maya Paul, the maximum healthy and sustainable weight loss 1 to 2 lbs. per week. Because it takes a calorie reduction of 500 calories per day to lose 1 lb., a 1500-calorie diet can lead to healthy weight loss if you eat what you should.
Nutrition Content
According to Walter Willett, Harvard nutritionist and author of "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy," the best foods to eat on a restricted calorie diet are those with a high level of nutrition as compared to their calorie content.Vegetables are a prime example of this. Many vegetables contain high levels of key nutrients, while containing very few calories by bulk. On the opposite side of this are refined grains, sugars and fruit juices. These carry very little nutrition, but are high in calories.
Low Glycemic Foods
The higher a food's content of refined sugars, the higher its glycemic index. High glycemic index foods, writes Willett, cause wild fluctuations in your blood sugar levels. Whenever those fluctuations hit a low point, you experience hunger cravings. When you're already on a 1500-calorie diet, those cravings can become irresistible. Low glycemic index foods, like whole grains and proteins, result in even blood sugar levels and fewer hunger cravings.
Multivitamins
Both Willett and "You: The Owner's Manual" author Mehmet Oz recommend taking a daily multivitamin while on a calorie-restricted diet. This fills in any nutritional holes left by reducing the amount of food you take in.
Meal Planning
According to celebrity personal trainer Bill Phillips, planning your meals is a success strategy on a 1500-calorie diet. If you decide what you're going to eat ahead of time, according to your calorie budget, it's easier to stick with your diet than if you're making it up as you go along. Oregon fitness coach Ben Cohn recommends pre-preparing meals to make it that much easier.
References
- "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy"; Dr. Walter Willett, et al.; 2006
- "You: The Owner's Manual"; Michael Rozien & Mehmet Oz; 2005
- HelpGuide: Healthy Weight Loss and Dieting
- "Body For Life"; Bill Phillips; 2006
- Ben Cohn; Fitness Coach; Hillsboro, OR
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