How you lose weight is up to you. But no matter what diet you follow, the only tried-and-true way to lose weight is to reduce your calorie intake. To lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you need to limit your daily calorie intake by 500 to 1,000 calories per day. Following a reduced calorie diet consisting of 1,200 to 1,600 calories can help both men and women reach their weight loss goals.
Healthy Eating Plan
A healthy eating plan is designed to help you meet your nutrient needs within your daily calorie goals. When reducing your calorie intake, you need to pay extra attention to the foods you select to maximize your nutrient intake. A healthy eating plan on a 1,200 to 1,600 calorie diet should emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean sources of protein and low-fat dairy foods.
The Diet Plan
An exchange diet is a healthy diet plan that can help you control your calorie intake for weight loss, while allowing you to meet your nutrient needs. An exchange diet divides foods into groups including starches, meats, vegetables, fruits, milks and fat. A serving of food within each group contains about the same amount of calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat. To balance your intake on an exchange diet, you eat a certain number of servings from each food group based on your daily calorie needs.
The Exchanges
On your 1,200 to 1,600-calorie diet, you can have 5 to 9 servings of starch, 4 to 6 servings of meat, 2 to 4 servings of vegetables, 3 servings of fruit, 2 servings of milk and 3 servings of fat. Men and women who weigh more than 165 lb., or exercise regularly, can lose weight eating the higher number of servings.
Serving Sizes
Use measuring cups, spoons and food scales to help keep your portion sizes under control. One starch serving includes 1 slice of bread, 1/2 cup of cooked cereal or 3 oz. of baked potato. One meat serving includes 1 oz. of meat, poultry or fish, one egg or 1 oz. of low-fat cheese. Make most of you meat choices lean, such as white meat poultry, fish and lean red meat, to save calories. One serving of vegetables equals 1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw. A fruit serving includes 1 small apple or 1 cup of fresh berries. Milk choices and serving sizes include 1 cup of nonfat or low-fat milk, 6 oz. of low-fat or nonfat plain yogurt or 1 cup of sugar-free fruit-flavored yogurt. One fat serving includes 1 tsp. of margarine, butter or oil, 1 tbsp. of salad dressing or 8 large black olives.
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