wth do people eat on 1500 calories?

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Replies

  • CkepiJinx
    CkepiJinx Posts: 613 Member
    I have few different breakfast options I go with:
    Dannon light & fit Greek yogurt ( 80 calorie cup) mixed with, go lean crisp cereal and no sugar added peaches, and one or two cups of coffee with stevia and sugar free creamer. 323 calories.

    2 egg whites , one whole egg omelet with 1/2 c low fat cottage cheese and 1/2 c turkey sausage crumbles plus my above mentioned coffee 349 calories you can add an English muffin with 1/2 tbsp butter which makes the calories 504 calories

    1 cup or 3/4 cup depending on the particular cereal of go lean crisp with unsweetened vanilla almond milk also a cup or 3/4 c I like the same ratio cereal to milk and my coffee 335-352 calories

    If I am running short on time a jimmy dean delight breakfast sandwich they range in calories from 230-250 calories

    For lunch I like about 3 oz tilapia with a big garden salad only about 200 calories. I use Pam cooking spray and low calories dressings on my salad, I love Maple Grove Brand, you could easily add some rice and still have plenty of calories and more fish 3.5oz only has 112 calories. Skinless boneless chicken breast is great if you dislike fish. Ham and pork are also low cal options.

    Dinner is sometimes steak, a burger, pork loin, chicken my dinners vary a lot. But are usually not a huge meal but I have plenty of calories for a big dinner if I want one.

    I am a snacker and this allows me plenty of snacks throughout the day.

    Good luck
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
    my goal is 1570.. i do end up around 1700-1800 often.. but just as often i end up under.

    Open diary if you wanna see.
  • CookNLift
    CookNLift Posts: 3,660 Member
    what kind of turkey sandwich and a banana equals 200 calories? lol

    I eat bacon.
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
    Hi new everyone who chimed in, thank YOU now!

    Excuses? No. I did really well maintaining on 2200 for a long time, and I lost my weight (55 pounds) on 2000, including all kinds of foods. I always had a big appetite, growing up, and was always within normal weight range. (The gain was in adulthood, from depression & related meds.) Ordinarily I move around a lot & am kind of fidgety, & burn lots of non-exercise cals.

    The headache from not eating enough is lifelong, and predictable within 99% accuracy. It happens on days I am not psychologically food-focused (eg, too busy to eat breakfast). Btw I am not, actually, "food-focused", I'm not like an emotional binger or anything.

    I'm trying to cut to 1500 because all at once, I got both upper and lower MSK problems that make many movements painful, & there's about 10 pounds I'd like to lose. I don't want to push it on my own this time, I have a few hypermobile joints & think there's stuff going on with my stabilizers that's wonky & I'd be compensating in funny ways, so, am waiting for a physio program to properly rehab first.

    Re beans and meat: I did try with just the beans, but was hungry, so added meat. Re rice: another reason I had it with beans was to max protein synthesis. BUT I hadn't considered that fruit might help with headache just as well as starches, that's something I could try if I'm having like a steak and broccoli.

    Suggestions *really* appreciated, all, thanks muchly! Please be kind to each other, everyone is just offering experiences, and I sincerely appreciate them all, as I do the critiques :)
  • caseythirteen
    caseythirteen Posts: 956 Member
    This might have already been said, but that's a pretty big jump all at once. No wonder it didn't work well! You should slowly take them down a hundred or so at a time. After a few weeks your body will likely adjust and you won't be as hungry. A few months ago I had to do the same thing due to an injury and by the 3rd week I was down a few hundred calories a day and it was tolerable because my body had also adjusted to the lack of exercise. If this is something you are going to need to do for a while than I would definitely recommend taking it a bit slower. And the working in all the recommendations you think you can do from this post.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Re rice: another reason I had it with beans was to max protein synthesis.

    ..What?
  • KristyAnn81
    KristyAnn81 Posts: 128 Member
    It's called portion control and eating more filling things.
    I'm on 1500 a day and I don't really ever find myself hungry, wishing I had more.
  • cadaverousbones
    cadaverousbones Posts: 421 Member
    I eat around 1600 calories, more if I exercise.

    I usually have eggs/toast for breakfasts on weekends and on weekdays I'll have yogurt & coffee and sometimes a breakfast sandwich if I am really hungry

    Lunch is usually sandwich or something to that effect. usually without mayo or light mayo, spicy mustard, veggies, turkey, 1 slice of cheese because I LOVE CHEESE

    nuts are good snacks, string cheese, granola bars etc.

    dinner is usually some kind of meat like chicken or fish, dont eat beef very often, veggies and salad as side dishes, sometimes brown or wild rice

    Maybe you need to just find "healthier" versions of the foods you are already eating that have more nutritional value in them to keep you fuller for longer.. have little snacks in between your three main meals

    instead of white rice have brown rice or wild rice

    instead of regular pasta get whole grain pasta, etc

    cook using olive oil or coconut oil, they are healthier for you

    try fat free cream instead of whole fat for your coffee. maybe switch to a natural sweetener like stevia to cut out some extra calories

    DRINK LOTS OF WATER 8 + OZ. if you are hungry feeling/headache maybe you are not hydrated enough

    Add extra veggies to everything, even things like mac & cheese! I like to add tuna and other stuff.

    also cutting your calories down slower might help your body adjust faster

    if you are used to 2000+ dont cut them by 1000 all at once.

    message me if you want any more advice
  • challenger9509
    challenger9509 Posts: 286 Member
    I dunno but I had Wendy's pretzel burger today and had around 1500 for today.

    Not to be off topic..but those things are really awesome :)
  • challenger9509
    challenger9509 Posts: 286 Member
    I think it would be hard to drop so quickly to 1500 for you. I agree with some of the others and reduce it down by 100 calories at a time if you are able to do that and it will get easier as you do it. Best of luck and I know those headaches are tough..but usually if you get through the first few initial days of that it gets a little bit better for most.
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
    Re rice: another reason I had it with beans was to max protein synthesis.

    ..What?

    as far as i understand, with beans, you need to add a bit of rice to complete the protein. i could be wrong? or maybe i misspoke
  • kdub67
    kdub67 Posts: 181 Member
    I get by pretty well on 1500...I have a protein shake after working out (with just water, so less cals), greek yogurt for breakfast, usually a pb&j for lunch, a snack of around 220 cals, and dinner is usually something I make from Cooking Light, sparkpeople, etc...dinner is well rounded: protein, starch, plenty of veg. I still have a couple hundred cals left over for a bit of chocolate in the evening. I've maintained for 8 months doing this and am not hungry:)
  • xampx
    xampx Posts: 323 Member
    I eat 1600ish and most days look like this.

    Breakfast, mug cake made with whey powder, an egg & almond milk

    Snack - coffee with almond milk (I can't drink proper milk but admit almond milk isn't that great tasting)

    Lunch - a bag of salad greens, 150g cooked chicken or ham, 150g cottage cheese, sometimes some seafood sticks & dressing

    Snack - greek yoghurt such as chobani or danio

    Dinner could be anything, I usually have about 700-900 cals left by this point. Tonight I am throwing a load of stuff in a 3 egg omelette.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Re rice: another reason I had it with beans was to max protein synthesis.

    ..What?

    as far as i understand, with beans, you need to add a bit of rice to compete the protein. i could be wrong?

    Not sure what you're getting at. There's no such thing as "completing the protein." Proteins are strings of amino acids. Your body breaks down any protein you eat into individual amino acids and uses those to create its own proteins.

    Protein quality is sometimes rated based on the amino acid content. There are certain "essential" amino acids you must get in your diet. Some sources, particularly plant sources, don't necessarily have all of them. However, there's no need to "complete the protein" (ie, to get all of the essential amino acids at the same time). On top of that, rice is a very, very poor source of protein. It hardly has any at all.

    So, in other words, there's no reason to add rice to your beans to "complete the protein." Just focus on getting enough grams of protein by the end of the day.
  • tburkett1915
    tburkett1915 Posts: 25
    Maybe you can try picking foods depending on their glycemic Index number. Foods over 50 will raise your blood sugar level and can cause weight gain. You have many options and there's not much you'll need to do to cut calories. It will take some getting use to (i.e. headaches) eating less, but your body will adjust.

    Good Luck
  • Carmella9
    Carmella9 Posts: 171 Member
    I stick to 1,200 a day but im only 5 ft 4 and eat a lot of fruit and veg!

    What id cut from that is
    1 egg
    Sugars and cream in coffee= substitute splenda and skimmed milk/coffee mate if you like it creamy (sugar and cream are not needed)
    Lunch is fine! but if you are frying then use fry light instead of olive oil (you can get your fats from fish)
    Dinner substitute veal for fish

    I would also go for something like baked potatoe in the evening as its lower cal or something like sweet potatoe, just because you are having rice twice a day.

    This is only based on what I would do in order to lower calorie intake, not everyone would like to do the same :)
  • Carmella9
    Carmella9 Posts: 171 Member
    Also it takes a while to get used to lowering calories, id say most people dont get on with it the first day but your body needs time to adjust to eating less.
  • xxghost
    xxghost Posts: 4,697 Member
    I dunno but I had Wendy's pretzel burger today and had around 1500 for today.

    So delicious.
  • smelons
    smelons Posts: 450 Member
    I eat around 1350 a day, but used to eat 1500. I like to fill up on vegetables. I'm usually satisfied on that, but have a handful of nuts, or some protein wrapped in nori as a quick snack if I'm starving. My diary's open if you want to look.

    I'm 5 inches shorter than you though and don't do much exercise, so don't need so many calories. Do you need to cut them so drastically?
  • marthahorn
    marthahorn Posts: 23
    Reading up on the South Beach Diet helped me a lot - im not diabetic but sensitive to carbs. there are good ones and bad ones (glycemic index) and it made a WORLD of difference for me. Good luck!
  • nikamar
    nikamar Posts: 83 Member
    I dunno but I had Wendy's pretzel burger today and had around 1500 for today.

    OMG those are SO good. I had one for lunch on Sunday and was still under my calorie goal for the day (~1700)
  • TheDoctorDana
    TheDoctorDana Posts: 595 Member
    Hope this takes you to the recipe. If not message me and I'll send it to you.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/edit/29331096

    152 calories a serving (8 oz) and very, VERY filling. I think I could starve to death stuffing myself with it. It is very good too. I add siriacha, balsamic vinegar, and Tony Cashere's to mine.
  • fitpam90x
    fitpam90x Posts: 197 Member
    I personally have trouble getting to 1200-1300 calories sometimes.

    Breakfast: 3 egg whites + toast with salsa or turkey breast and spinach OR a nonfat greek yogurt with a fruit of some sort.
    Lunch: A spring mix salad with grilled chicken (4oz), fat free house italian dressing, feta cheese (1/4 cup), tomato, sweet pepper and santa fe tortilla strips OR a turkey sandwhich on whole wheat bread with lettuce, spinach, and honey mustard.
    Dinner: Whatever we're having for dinner that night but usually some sort of baked fish with a side of vegetables or rice.

    Snacks I keep to a minimum ad consist of fresh fruit and maybe the occasional frozen yogurt.
  • Rollie277
    Rollie277 Posts: 20 Member
    Look into 'Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition ' or CRON dieting. It's a lifestyle some people adopt because there is some evidence in rat studies (no really human studies yet) that reducing your calories consumption to 70% what what your BMR says will increase your lifespan.

    http://www.nbrhd.net/CR/CR.htm this person's website has examples from their own food journal.

    http://www.optimal.org/peter/cron.htm goes into the philosophy behind it

    so you can just read materials that are already online about this method to find foods that will meet all your nutritional needs and perhaps (hopefully) not leave you feeling deprived.

    You will almost certainly have to work your way slowly from 1900 calories to 1300, or your body will rebel against you.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    We are not rats and no one should go on a VLCD without express physician supervision.

    Please don't recommend VLCDs on MFP.
  • EddieHaskell97
    EddieHaskell97 Posts: 2,227 Member
    Reduce carbs and you can do 1,200 - 1,500 calories/day easily, while still feeling full from protein and good fats.

    Add exercise every other day on top of that and you've got a recipe to burn almost 40 lbs in two months.
  • skkouts
    skkouts Posts: 1
    Sounds like hypoglycemia. I used to get that way after eating just carbs on an empty stomach. Now I am diabetic and get that way if I do not eat with my medication.
  • heather_hearts_travel
    heather_hearts_travel Posts: 864 Member
    These are great suggestions - I need them, too!

    For myself, I used to get high-cal starbucks drinks, then I switched to nonfat cappuccinos with two raw sugars, then I cut the sugar, and now I'm on straight espresso. Cheaper, better for me. Though I do still get cappucinos when my friend reminds me I need the calcium in the milk. :)

    Ah, carbs. I still enjoy carbs, just a lot less of them. I measure rice and pasta (it looks like you do, too), and I generally only eat bread if it's REALLY good.

    My biggest stumbling block is sodium. Apparently, I love salt.
  • funsized045
    funsized045 Posts: 3
    I consume around 1200 calories per day. I find that I can eat a lot of fresh fruit or fresh veggies for very few calories. And the reason you are experiencing headaches is because you're eating the wrong food at the wrong times. Start your day off pretty much the way you did although you might want to switch out the cream in your coffee for skim milk. Then spend the rest of the day munching. I keep green grapes in the freezer because it takes longer to eat a frozen grape. I'll walk past the freezer a few times and pop two or three of them and spend a few minutes eating them. The constant nutrition keeps my blood sugar steady and keeps me from binging or snacking on carbs or unhealthy foods. I used to have the same problem with headaches and the runs but once I started doing this my headaches went away (well that and I cut out caffiene). As far as the runs go it's just your body getting used to your new dietary choices. It will level itself out in my experience. Best of luck!
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Reduce carbs and you can do 1,200 - 1,500 calories/day easily, while still feeling full from protein and good fats.

    Add exercise every other day on top of that and you've got a recipe to burn almost 40 lbs in two months.

    So you think 97 pounds is a good weight for a 5'7 female?

    Nice.

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