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Lose Weight With a Flexible 1,500 Calorie Diet

May 7, 2009 by Jennie Viv  
Filed under Weight Loss

You can lose weight while still eating a healthy diet that won’t leave you bored of eating the same foods over and over again or feeling hungry all of the time. You can eat a 1,500 calorie diet and lose weight easily – you just have to choose foods which are nutritious and will still make you feel full.

Portions have grown ever larger in the US and unfortunately, so have our waistlines right along with these super sized meals. These larger portions result in weight gain as we eat far more calories than we actually need. Processed foods are especially to blame for obesity. Even a small portion of many of these foods have more calories than you should have in an entire meal!

What’s wrong with a lot of diet plans is that they cut certain foods out of your diet entirely, which can mean missing out on some important nutrients in the bargain. You should steer clear of any diet that tells you to avoid entire food groups. There is also a negative connotation to the word “diet” itself. Many of us think that anything called a diet means that we are going to be constantly hungry or something which certainly does not have to be the case.

Many doctors advocate a calorie count of 1,500 for healthy weight loss, but most recommend not dropping below this figure as it could be damaging to your health and you’ll need those calories in order to keep your body functioning optimally.

There are plenty of between meal snacks which can satisfy your hunger while not adding a lot of calories to your diet. For example, a half cup of strawberries is only about 23 calories! Half a cup of grapes is only 31 calories or so, a small apple around 55 and half a cup of watermelon only about 23 calories.

These low calories snacks can keep you from feeling hungry in between mealtimes while keeping you on rack for a 1,500 calorie diet. You can have these kinds of healthy snacks and still have three full (healthy) meals per day.

Working with this 1,500 calorie figure isn?t as difficult as you may think. You can plan out your meals to incorporate your favorite foods even on a diet.

One way you can do this is to have grilled chicken for dinner (but a smaller portion than you may normally eat) accompanies by a very large salad, this way, you’ll be full after you meal while still sticking with your target caloric intake.

You can make a very filling salad which has only about 15 calories (before any kind of dressing). Think it’s impossible? Just follow this – half a cup of shredded lettuce is only 2 calories, half a tomato is about 6, a sliced mushroom another two and about four more calories for a few cucumber slices! This is a great way to fill up while staying well within your calorie limit for the day. You could also choose to have a small baked potato instead of the salad. This is almost as filling, but comes to around 115 calories.

There are plenty of charts available which can help you to count your calories and plan a diet which will allow you to get all of the necessary nutrients, enjoy a variety of foods and of course, still lose weight.

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