A slow and steady rate of weight loss may be your best chance of achieving and then maintaining your goal weight, and you can do this by eating slightly fewer calories than you use, or burn. If you have determined that your diet plan will include 1,500 to 1,600 calories per day, focus on eating healthy foods. Remember to consult your doctor before starting a new diet.
Meeting Nutrient Needs
A 1,500- to 1,600-calorie diet is relatively low in calories. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends choosing healthy foods to meet your daily nutrient requirements while staying within your calorie limits. A nutrient-dense food is high in essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals or dietary fiber and low in unhealthy saturated fat, trans fats and sugars. Some nutrient-dense foods include vegetables, fruit, reduced-fat dairy products, legumes, nuts and whole grains.
AMDR
The Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges describe the percentage of calories that you should get from fat, protein and carbohydrates to help you eat a balanced diet and maintain a healthy weight. You should get 20 to 35 percent of your calories from fat, 10 to 35 percent from protein and 45 to 65 percent from carbohydrates. For a 1,500-calorie diet, this means getting 300 to 560 calories from fat, 150 to 560 calories from protein and 675 to 1,040 calories from carbohydrates.
Discretionary Calories
If you choose nutrient-dense foods, you should be able to meet your nutrient needs within your calorie limits and still have a few calories left over. You can use these calories as discretionary calories so that if you want, you can choose foods with calories from added sugars, alcohol or fats. A 1,600-calorie diet should allow you about 182 discretionary calories per day.
Food Group Recommendations
Someone on a 1,600-calorie diet should eat four servings of vegetables per day, including a variety of dark green, orange and starchy vegetables. A 1,600-calorie diet should include five servings of grains with at least three whole grain servings. In addition, you should have three servings of fruit, three milk servings, 5 oz. of meat and beans and 22 g unsaturated oils.
Preventing Hunger
If you are on a 1,500 to 1,600-calorie diet to help you lose weight, don't give up because you feel hungry. Instead, choose your foods carefully to reduce your hunger. You are likely to feel full after you eat a certain amount or volume of food regardless of the exact number of calories, so you should choose foods that have a big volume and are low in calories. Good choices include most fruits and vegetables, clear soups, reduced-fat dairy products and lean protein such as chicken or tofu.
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