wth do people eat on 1500 calories?

sdonovan4

Veggies and lots of them

trud72

Veggies and lots of them

THIS /\

Bob Harper says...you don't get fat on broccoli ! AND ITS TRUE :bigsmile:

ecdce

I don't know about anyone else but I had sickness symptoms when I first switched to primal-style eating. I assume it was due to the sudden drop in carbs. I had a near-connstant, nagging headache, upset stomach, etc for days. I was tired and moody all the time, no matter how much I ate, drank, or slept. Not to mention insatiable cravings, even though i wasnt hungry at all. It was a very unpleasant, miserable experience.

And then it was over. It was like my body was going through carb-withdrawal. It may just be that you have to wait it out. Honestly, I'm not sure I could've suck to it if I had to go in to work and be pleasant to people every day (I work remotely), so maybe its a transition best left for a holiday or long weekend - I took a nap one day and slept three hours accidentally, but I still woke up feeling tired and grumpy. I definitely recommend doing it cold turkey, as any slip up during that 'transition' made me ravenous for grains and potatoes all over again, which just made the whole process more difficult.

MyJourney1960

your menu is fine but you can cut a little to get it down to 1500. if you are going to be consistently exercising LESS, you will probably not feel as hungry anyway. It sounds like you are afraid you will be hungry cause you're used to the food, but you're used to the food because you NEED it (for the exercise). give yourself some time to adjust.

what i would do:


- breakfast: 3 eggs, 1 pat butter, 1 piece rye, large coffee w 2 sugar & cream
I would have 2 eggs, add fruit or veg, and yes i would cut the sugar and cream

- lunch: 1/2 cup rice, 1/2 cup black beans, I think 4 oz chicken, 1 cup sauteed red peppers; 2 cups spinach salad w OO & balsamic
Lunch - i would have the chicken or the beans not both.

- snack: 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese, .4 oz walnuts, 10 grapes
snack - I would have the cheese with vegetables, not nuts and grapes.

- dinner: 1 cup black bean chill, 30 grams veal, 1/2 cup rice, 30 grams yogurt
again - veal or beans (if you cut the beans from lunch, then have them here), try to cut out the rice and add a big salad.

candylilacs

I just don't get why the headache means you need to eat. Maybe you just had a headache. Secondly if it's from low glucose, a piece of fruit would be best.

Thirdly, try the eggs with one less yolk at first. Stay away from any dairy more than 2 percent and try roast beef instead of turkey. It's slightly more calories but sometimes you need more iron.

pkingfox

It is funny that I always had thought of myself as that "could NOT live W/O carbs" person....so not the case...it just takes time to adjust. I have backed way off on my pasta/rice/breads consumption over time. I feel much better now that I try to keep to a 40/30/30.....it's hard to do some days - but the best way to get proteins up are with tuna and cottage cheese - they are my highest proteins and wish I could find more.....just keep researching food on the glycemic index and trying different combos of items! I hate to use any man made sweeteners and have found that over a little time I have gotten use to coffee with just cream but always fat free....you can get use to anything with a little time.....now if I can get rid of my one vice alcoholic beverages...I would prob be much more successful in my weight loss efforts! Looking forward to fall for sure !! Good luck and let us know how it is going for you!

Francl27

That rice is a killer. Sorry. I'd have the beans or the rice, and not rice twice a day. I have nothing against carbs but that's a lot of not very nutritious calories in a day. More veggies, fruit, and see a doctor to figure out what your headaches come from? And I hardly have salads anymore because of those olive oil calories... I just nuke some veggies.

It happens to me too that I feel that I'm starving, but that's usually just a few days a month though, and I still do fine on 1700 calories, and that's including 150ish calories of 'junk' every day.

LB2812

- breakfast: 3 eggs, 1 pat butter, 1 piece rye, large coffee w 2 sugar & cream
- lunch: 1/2 cup rice, 1/2 cup black beans, I think 4 oz chicken, 1 cup sauteed red peppers; 2 cups spinach salad w OO & balsamic
- snack: 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese, .4 oz walnuts, 10 grapes
- dinner: 1 cup black bean chill, 30 grams veal, 1/2 cup rice, 30 grams yogurt
- headache so: 1 piece rye, whole grain mustard, 4 slices roasted turkey breast
- BANANA AND ASPIRIN

stats: F/135/5'7, maintenance 2+ yrs (very recent regain of 10 lbs, spent most of it around 125 and DO NOT want to go up)

So what makes the difference between that, and 1500? What corners do people cut, out of curiosity?

I eat a little more calories then you do, but I just wanted to add that maybe you need to reduce your calories slowly? So your body can get used to eating less. If I tried to suddently cut out a few hundred calories I'd get a massive headache too. But if you go 100 cals less for a week, you will get used to that, then another 100 the next week. Might help. Also if your not exercising now, your body will adjust and not be as hungry.

Your day looks really good to me actually, if you want to cut something, maybe do half whole eggs and half egg whites, less butter & maybe reduce the sugar/cream. Maybe reduce the rice & watch how much olive oil your using for cooking & on the salad.

ksy1969

I don't know about anyone else but I had sickness symptoms when I first switched to primal-style eating. I assume it was due to the sudden drop in carbs. I had a near-connstant, nagging headache, upset stomach, etc for days. I was tired and moody all the time, no matter how much I ate, drank, or slept. Not to mention insatiable cravings, even though i wasnt hungry at all. It was a very unpleasant, miserable experience.

And then it was over. It was like my body was going through carb-withdrawal. It may just be that you have to wait it out. Honestly, I'm not sure I could've suck to it if I had to go in to work and be pleasant to people every day (I work remotely), so maybe its a transition best left for a holiday or long weekend - I took a nap one day and slept three hours accidentally, but I still woke up feeling tired and grumpy. I definitely recommend doing it cold turkey, as any slip up during that 'transition' made me ravenous for grains and potatoes all over again, which just made the whole process more difficult.

^^^^^This - Giving up or severely decreasing your carb intake is no different than quitting smoking or drinking for some people. They are an addiction and you go through withdrawals for a few days. Before I get a bunch of responses saying this person or that person didn't have any trouble let clear things up by saying not everyone would experience these withdrawal symptoms.

angieroo2

People are telling you to cut the sugar from your coffee, but there's only 16 calories in one teaspoon. So you have to be consuming an awful lot of coffee to see a benefit from that. Swap the cream for milk (dairy or non). That will cut calories and fat. It will taste weird at first, but keep doing it and you'll get used to it.

With your headache, if it was in fact from not eating enough, you just might be able to eat some fruit instead of bread. It may not be the carbs your missing.

jonnythan

Fewer grains, more veggies and lean meats. All that rice and bread is not filling.

SJVZEE

I naturally eat around 1,400-1,600 calories a day-this is eating until full and never being hungry. I eat a whole foods, plant based diet and my carbs are usually in the 250-275 range each day.

I eat a large green smoothie every day, a couple servings of a whole grain (1 cup brown rice, oats, a whole grain tortilla etc), usually 1 cup of beans, a veggie/mushroom based dish, like a salad or sauteed veggies, and then nuts and/or seeds. With some misc. things like raisins, olives etc. These foods are very filling and I have no problem with my calories-I actually come in under what my maintenance target is most days.

I'm 5ft, 6in, 123.5lbs and in maintenance

jonnythan

I naturally eat around 1,400-1,600 calories a day-this is eating until full and never being hungry. I eat a whole foods, plant based diet and my carbs are usually in the 250-275 range each day.

I eat a large green smoothie every day, a couple servings of a whole grain (1 cup brown rice, oats, a whole grain tortilla etc), usually 1 cup of beans, a veggie/mushroom based dish, like a salad or sauteed veggies, and then nuts and/or seeds. With some misc. things like raisins, olives etc. These foods are very filling and I have no problem with my calories-I actually come in under what my maintenance target is most days.

I'd strongly recommend that you significantly increase your protein intake.

TavistockToad

can i ask why you need to go from 21-2300 cals to 1500?

SJVZEE

I naturally eat around 1,400-1,600 calories a day-this is eating until full and never being hungry. I eat a whole foods, plant based diet and my carbs are usually in the 250-275 range each day.

I eat a large green smoothie every day, a couple servings of a whole grain (1 cup brown rice, oats, a whole grain tortilla etc), usually 1 cup of beans, a veggie/mushroom based dish, like a salad or sauteed veggies, and then nuts and/or seeds. With some misc. things like raisins, olives etc. These foods are very filling and I have no problem with my calories-I actually come in under what my maintenance target is most days.

I'd strongly recommend that you significantly increase your protein intake.

My daily protein levels are usually at or above what the CDC and the WHO recommend for someone my age.

jonnythan

My protein level is at or above what the CDC and the WHO recommend for someone my age.

Yes, and those recommendations are for people who are maintaining their weight and are not very active.

The research and collective experience of the fitness world are absolutely and unequivocally clear: the protein recommendations of the CDC and WHO are inadequate for people who are losing weight and/or are very active. You need significantly more protein than standard RDA values in order to maintain lean mass while losing weight. There's really no room for debate on this topic.

dodihere

It is not easy at all. I felt like I was starving to death the first two weeks and I am being completely honest. There isn't anything you can eat that will take that feeling away. I had to mentally tell myself "I love the feeling of hunger". Then eventually, I could tell when my body was REALLY hungry.

I drink coffee, a hard boiled egg and a piece of fruit for breakfast. Usually that is my breakfast and my mid morning snack. I suppose you could have 2 hard boiled eggs.

At lunch, I have a salad and a vegetable, like cooked carrot, spinach or sweet potato or whatever is in season. Or cottage cheese with fruit. Or chicken or tuna salad with one slice of whole grain toast, or no bread at all and just lettuce.

The afternoon I will just drink water or have another piece of fruit.

For dinner I will have a normal size dinner meat, starch, veggie.

Usually that is right around 1200 calories.

eburnett1

I eat about 1500 cal per day:

Breakfast: 250ml smoothie (I usually have the vitality one from Waitrose)

I then take the dogs for a walk and then cook my lunch which is usually something similiar to:

140g lean beef mince, 75g basmati rice, 400g chopped tomatoes, 65g sweetcorn, 100g kale.

This is approx. 600-700 cal depending on whether I add peppers, mushrooms etc.

I split this into 2 equal sized meals and have one as my mid-morning snack and one for lunch.

After each meal of these I have a cup of green tea.

I'm usually find I'm not that hungry after these but it took about a week to get used to eating smaller portions.

Mid afternoon I have 2 ryvitas with either low fat cream cheese and ham or tuna and light mayo with either sliced cucumber or tomato and a banana

For dinner: 2 ryvitas with the same as above or low fat rice cakes with light cream cheese and smoked salmon.

I also allow myself a treat during the day at some point so either low fat yoghurt, 3 squares of green and black dark chocolate etc.

I eat approx every 3 hours and don't feel hungry or sleepy and generally have good energy throughout the day. Also I make sure I have 2 litres of water a day.

I think switch the sugar for sweetener in coffee or try and phase out coffee completely and switch to a green tea (speeds up metabolism and suppresses hunger!!) Also I think try basmati or brown rice if you are not already

lima013

I read that sometimes headaches are related to high sodium on a diet. (Just saying )