How To Plan A 1500 Calorie Menu

Getting in shape often involves a diet change, and a good way to do this is to know how to plan a 1500 calorie menu. Every packaged food item states that the average person needs 2000 calories a day to sustain themselves, but if the scale says you’re more than average, it’s time to cut back and tweak your daily menu choices. And this sounds like torture, but truthfully, it might be as simple as replacing one or two fatty snacks with healthier alternatives. In order to plan a 1500 calorie menu, follow these simple rules:

1. Keep a food journal. This is, by far, one of the most essential dieting tools a person can use. Whether you wish to keep a written journal or an online journal, put everything you stick in your mouth into writing and list the calories, fat content, protein, fiber, sodium, cholesterol, and so forth. EverydayHealth.com offers a free online food journal that tracks all these things as well as exercise and water intake. This will prove to be a crucial implement when you plan a 1500 calorie menu.
2. Look at the labels. If you’re trying to drop that spare tire or just lose a few pounds to feel better in your mankini, you can’t eat crap food like hot dogs and chicken nuggets. Preserved stuff is very dense with fat, calories, and salt, and this includes just about everything in the frozen foods section. Try to keep these kinds of foods off your menu because eating them is an act of absolute diet seppuku.
3. Non-carbonated. Soda is full of what are commonly referred to as empty calories: lots of calories, but no feeling of satisfaction or fullness afterward. This means after drinking that 200-calorie can of sugar and syrup, you’ll be eating something. If you really need your pop fix, drink diet sodas, but it’s best to keep carbonation off the menu.
4. Simple is vital. It requires a little effort to make something healthy from scratch, so if you’re dieting, don’t be lazy and reach for a TV dinner. There are countless easy and healthy meals you can make for yourself or your family in under a half an hour. Even cooking your own burgers at home with an indoor grill will result in fewer calories than buying a mystery-meat meal from a fast food chain’s menu. If you can’t find the energy to throw together a salad in a big bowl, or you don’t know how to bake a chicken breast because it doesn’t come in a microwave-safe plastic-wrapped dish, you’ve got worse problems than your diet.
5. Eat real food. Odds are, if what you’re eating comes in a box or a bag and it tastes good, it’s bad for you and you should avoid it while dieting. Eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, yogurt, skim milk, and sugar-free snack foods. A lot of it won’t taste as good as a dripping, greasy pizza, but your arteries will thank you by not getting blocked off with plaque and kicking your heart in its metaphorical testicles. In order to plan a 1500 calorie menu and have it be successful, cut the garbage food out of your menu. And no, breaded cauliflower and Chinese food with vegetables do not count as healthy menu choices either.
6. Eat enough. Some folks may find that a 1500 calorie menu is actually too much, and that’s okay. But try not to go below 1000 calories as far as daily calorie intake because then your body will get all screwy and start feeding off your muscle and organs because it will think you’re starving it. Even if you’re 300 pounds. There’s a middle ground you must find between too much and too little.
7. Eat a variety. Simply put, a diet doesn’t mean eating the same thing every single day. You can have a very broad 1500 calorie menu right at your fingertips with a little planning. Simple things like vinegar and lemon juice can add amazing flavors to stir-fry, and you can make delicious smoothies with frozen berries, yogurt and unsweetened apple juice, just to name a couple.

Sources
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: Eat Right