What's a typical 1500 calorie day for you?

Here's what my day looks like:
Breakfast: English muffin with 2 egg whites, smoked turkey (because ham doesn't agree with me, but you can switch it), a slice of cheese
Snack: half a cup of greek yogourt 0%MF with homemade oatmeal cookie
Lunch: protein like beef, chicken or pork, with rice, veggies, fruits for dessert
Snack: nuts or an apple and cheese
Dinner: protein like fish, beef, chicken or pork, with rice, potatoes or a small tortillas/pita, veggies.
Snack: a small treat like a bite of chocolate (that would be around 10g, that's really just a bite or 2!) or a homemade energy ball.

Of course, it all depends on the servings... I weigh and measure everything. If you want more details, add me. My diary is open.

My diary is also open! I don't do low fat or low calorie or low carb or any of that. I did that in the past and it didn't work for me long term. There are some people that have metabolic issues that require them to limit certain macros, but for most of us, macros don't really matter in weight loss, just total calories.

I was sticking to about 1500 because I was really shooting for 1600 and wanted to account for under reporting. I had a back injury and 1500 was my "sedentary" target based on my BMR/TDEE for my target weight of 65 kg and 20% body fat. If I do at least an hour's worth of movement, 1600-1700 seems to work better for me, which fits with a TDEE factor of 1.3 instead of 1.2 for sedentary. I calculated my own BMR/TDEE using a mix of different equations and took the average rounded down. I did this for my current weight, my target weight, and different points in between. This is helping me to set realistic weight loss goals (I'm already ahead of where I predicted which is awesome).

Because MFP adjusts with you if you log your weight, I'm using MFP's estimates, sedentary + lose .25 kg per week, and that gives me a daily target of about 1800. The point is, if I do go over my 1500 target, I know as long as I stay under 1800 I'm likely still technically in enough of a deficit to see some weight loss.

Breakfast for me varies, but is typically 2 pancakes with 1/2 T grade b maple syrup (more maple flavor means I use less), eggs benedict (1 egg/ham/tomato on just one half of the english muffin, the other half of the english muffin is to sop up the extra hollandaise), or if I'm in a hurry or not feeling that hungry I might just have a crumpet or english muffin with butter and a little jam, or even just a bowl of muesli or no-sugar added cereal with whole milk and a sliced banana. I also have 2 cups of coffee and about 1/4 cup of whole milk in each cup (total of 1/2 cup of whole milk).

Lunch is all over the map, either leftover dinner or something quick. One of my favorite low calorie quick lunches is heat up a can of Amy's vegetable lentil soup with a sliced up hot dog. I also like ramen noodles with vegetables, leftover meat, and an egg (Koyo is a smaller serving than the regular ones and the seasoning packet is decent, but I can still never finish a bowl of it). In the fall/winter I like soups and in the spring/summer I start wanting salads. Quick things include a small chopped salad with a hot dog with ketchup, mustard, and relish or a cheese quesadilla with sliced tomato (I make my own tortillas with lard because I can't find any using lard in the grocery store anymore).

For dinner, I've started using the America's Test Kitchen Cooking for Two cookbook (it's just me and my husband) and even though they claim the recipes serve 2, it's really more like 3-4. They have all kinds of stuff in there including desserts you can make in very small quantities. So, if you are tempted to binge on the whole chocolate cake, well, it's just a 6" diameter chocolate cake or you make 2 1-cup bundt cakes. I think yesterday I made the chicken and rice with chicken thighs plus some steamed broccoli, that fed me and my husband, and we had a guest, and we still had one serving leftover. The other day I made a lasagna (they have you make it in a bread loaf pan) and just ate 1/4 of it instead of the full 1/2 serving. I think a full serving would be like 700 calories so even if you did eat the whole thing it's not a big deal. I think the key thing is, don't restrict what you eat, just don't eat too much. And honestly, if you're eating a full fat thing, you will feel full and satisfied on a lot less.

Because I get hungry around 4-5pm, I just eat dinner early and have a dessert or snack around 7 or 8 when I'm hungry again. If I'm not able to eat dinner at that time, then I'll have a small snack (cheese and crackers or beef jerky are my favorites) and just plan on eating a smaller serving of dinner (or just something lower calorie like a baked fish thing). I don't like to skip dessert, it's my reward for staying within my calorie goal. If there isn't room in my calories for me to have dessert, then I'll have a cup of decaf vanilla chai, unsweetened, with a little milk (the cinnamon helps with the sweet craving). I also get mini versions of candies like Justin's Peanut Butter cups and Lindt Pralines Minis. So if I don't have enough space in my calories for a proper dessert, I can have one of those with my chai tea and not go over (or if I do it's not by more than maybe 50 calories).

I do about 1550 cals a day

Breakfast is usually
two eggs
banana
coffee with almond milk
8 oz of unsweetened coconut milk

Lunch is
2 cups of vegetable soup
turkey burger without a bun
1/4 cup of nuts and 1/4 cup of raisins
orange

Snack is
Apple or fruit of sorts
with a 1/4 cup of almonds

Dinner is
Tilapia baked in the oven with lemon butter
mixed vegetable medley (Cooked from frozen) with 1 tsp of butter on it
Side salad with apple cider vinagraitte

Lunch: Salad with grilled chicken, black beans, corn, red pepper, avocado and Bolthouse Farms avocado dressing

Snacks: Apple, carrots and hummus, dill pickles, Fage Greek yogurt or a protein bar of sorts.

Dinner: This week so far it's been chicken thighs & asparagus, tri tip steak & caesar salad, and salmon with green beans.

I also have coffee creamer in the morning, and will throw in a piece of toast/rice/potato with my evening meal if I'm still hungry.

The days where I eat that low it usually contains
Quark, protein powder with greek yogurt, chicken breast or egg whites and the rest of the calories is usually veggies.

1500 is a major deficit for me. I mostly eat 1800 a day. Yesterday I was at 1600 because I have something big on Friday I'm saving up for.
This is what I ate yesterday
Coffee - 9 calories
6 eggs - 420
Cliff bar - 130
8 oz mahi mahi - 190
Lettuce - 16
Blue cheese yogurt dressing - 70
Golf fish crackers - 280
8oz chicken - 220
Ranch yogurt dressing - 45
Lettuce - 15
Fish oil supplement - 15
Pickle - 15
G2 Gatorade - 60

jandsstevenson887 wrote: »

Can anyone see my diary? I thought it was open.

I can see your diary!

My diary is open and 95% of the days are filled in since Jan 2 of this year. I eat anywhere from 1300-1800 cals per day, depending on working out. 5'7" and currently 160 lbs. I have lost 15 lbs since Jan 2 without feeling much deprivation at all. I recently have been trying to watch my carbs (past two weeks) because I have been having intense sugar cravings, but before that, all I was concerned about was calories.

My diary is open. I vary between 1350-1450 most days. Feel free to add me!