How exactly does one eat 1500 calories a day?

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨chrischryse@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

I’m trying to lose weight and was told that hwo I eat about 800-1000 calories a day is too low and lowers my metobolism which will prevent weight loss. I’ve looked up some meal plans and can’t really afford stuff like chicken breast, steak, or salmon every week. So that is why I’m wondering how I can eat 1500 calories a day. Are there some alternatives that I can do?

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tilefan@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
you’re eating a thousand calories a day and not losing weight? what’s your height, weight, and sex currently?

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Croquette@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Look up the YouTube series on that very topic from Renaissance Periodization. It helped me loss 30 pounds and keep them off for more than 6 months now.

Extreme low calorie diet are not sustainable for long, especially if you are starting out.

First thing first, count your calories for a week or two to get the baseline calorie consumption for your current weight. Try to not change your normal food consumption while taking your first baseline calories because it will make the first weight loss cycle more difficult than it needs to be.

Then, start by removing 250 calories from your diet and burn 250 calories every day for 6 to 9 weeks.

Then, go into maintenance where you slowly add a bit more food and stabilize your weight. If you see that you are gaining weight during the maintenance, just cut back a little bit and keep that calorie intake as your maintenance intake. That will become your calorie baseline for the next cycle.

Repeat until your goals are met. Don’t hesitate to take a longer maintenance break if you feel like it.

That will give you a sustainable way to lose weight and you will also learn to count calories without weighing everything you eat.

If you can easily cut 250 calories without any problem, try to cut more calories the next cycle, and see how it goes. If it’s too hard, then go back to 250/250 calories cut.

As for the food, I don’t know where you live, but nutritional yeast is a cheap way to add protein to any meals and add a cheesy flavor to the meal.

As for fat, cheap nuts or neutral oil can help meet your needs.

And for carbs, seasonal fruits and vegetables are usually cheaper, so go with that.

The only thing you should take from this post is that slow and steady is the name of the game. You are fighting millions of years of evolution, so it won’t be easy.

TLDR: slow and steady. Cut 250 cal from your diet and burn 250 calories from activity for 6-9 weeks. Maintain for the same amount of time. Repeat.

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krellor@fedia.io ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I've read through your comments, and highly suggest a good diary for at least a couple weeks ago you really understand the calories in things you are eating.

Yes, your body does modulate its resting metabolic rate over the long term based on things like average daily exertion, food, etc, but that is largely inconsequential to weight loss.

As a rough guideline, you want about 50% of your calories to be carbs, preferably the fiber or complex variety, 30-35% protein, and the rest fat. If you run a lot, then a few more carbs. If you lift weights a lot, then a little more protein.

Protein will help you feel fuller, longer, so I like to go my ratio of protein a bit.

Meals that I enjoy: steal cut oats and peanut butter, pan seared tofu with salad and a light dressing, bean chilli, tacos or tostados using those low carb tortillas, bowl of rice, refried beans, salsa, and guac, etc

But you really, really need to have a good understanding of portions and actual calories. Most people are way off.

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- chrischryse@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  For protein would protein powder be a good option? And I’ll try a diary too see if that helps
  
  Also I usually try not to eat them all back I’ll sometimes eat like 100-150 back but trying to stop
  
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  - krellor@fedia.io ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Like the other person said, getting the ratio and amount is more important than the source. But you should ask yourself why you are taking the supplement? Are you sure you're not getting enough from your food? Your body can really only prices 20-40 grams of protein at once, so if you are loading up more than that at a time, you are just piking on calories.
    
    Personally, depending on your current weight, you might think about focusing more on weight loss than bulking muscle mass. Absolutely work out of it is helpful, but don't worry about mass gains while trying to lose fat. You will develop muscles regardless of whether you micromanage your protein intake or not, and you can optimize better after losing some fat.
    
    But again, you need to check, with, and measure the calories in every portion of food until you develop an accurate read on the calories in things. Like peanut butter having about 100 calories per tablespoon (half ounce).
    
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  - howrar@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Whole food is generally preferable, but protein powder is absolutely fine if that’s the best you can do. Just take the route that’s easiest to adhere to. You’ll get much bigger benefits from simply hitting your macros than optimising their source and micronutrients and all that other jazz.
    
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Akareth@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Instead of trying a bunch of different conflicting methods for weight loss from these comments, I would recommend you instead first understand the science of it with:

The Aetiology of Obesity

Solving the Two-Compartment Problem
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- Southern_Yankee@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’d be cautious stating that these videos represent science. People are free to make their own dietary choices of course, but ‘water fasting’ and ‘low-carbohydrate high-fat’ diets are questionable. Also, FYI, Dr. Jason Fung is a Kidney doctor.
  
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- jonwyattphillips@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I have found that after doing a 5 day water fast, it was much much easier to limit myself to whatever daily calorie goal I was aiming for.
  
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Cagi@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I loose weight by eating 2 big meals a day. My go too seems to be frozen pizza (1000 cal each) and and curries (500-600 for curry, another 200 for my naan in butter). I eat 1600-1800 calories a day and feel like a glutton while my scale keeps going in the right direction. 50lbs down so far.

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bender223@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
According to Dr Jason Fung, who does a lot of research on the pancreas and insulin, avoiding carbs and sugar is the most beneficial. The basic idea is that sugar and carbs trigger your pancreas to release insulin the most. Insulin is the hormone that tells your body to store fat.

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Kalkaline@leminal.space ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Try being a pescatarian, shrimp and tilapia are fairly cheap, and finding non-animal protein is actually fairly easy if you branch out a little.

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- Irremarkable@fedia.io ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  shrimp and tilapia are fairly cheap
  
  This varies hugely based on location, primarily distance from the ocean. Pound for pound, beef and pork are far cheaper than basically any seafood in my region.
  
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- chrischryse@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That’s only a fish diet right?
  
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LordCrom@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
My sifu gave us this advice.

Eat colorful foods. Don’t eat white foods. Take 1 or 2 less bites of everything. Leave the table just a bit hungry. Drink plenty of water. Don’t eat before bed.

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SirNameHere@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Dry beans, rice, oatmeal, eggs and milk. Buy the plain bulk containers if you want the best unit cost. While eggs and milk have gone up in price, they can still be found cheap enough at the warehouse stores.

Don’t skimp on a variety of greens and fruits!

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NENathaniel@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
One recommendation is a food tracking app. Personally I use MacroFactor, which gives custom calorie intake recommendations based on how fast/slow you’re losing/gaining weight.

This is great as it allows you to select a slow, healthy, sustainable weight loss speed and the calories are simply adjusted to match that (weighing in regularly will be necessary)

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zero_spelled_with_an_ecks@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17469900/ just read the abstract if nothing else.

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- Scipitie@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Whelp that’s not helpful on its own though to be honest. “long term lifestyle change” is the key word I am aware which is… Well at least I didn’t manage it so far. “just do X” is like telling an alcoholic to “just stop drinking, oh but you need a sip every other hour”.
  
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  - zero_spelled_with_an_ecks@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Did you not read the abstract?
    
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credo@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
On apple there is an app called mynetdiary. HIGHLY recommended to help answer your questions. It sounds like finances are an issue, but the paid version really helps you dial in nutrition with detailed nutrient info and meal plans. The key feature of this app for me was the predicted weight loss trend line… and then seeing my results line up perfectly. It’s almost like they knew what they were talking about.

DO NOT go below bmr…

If you are going into deficit, stave off the full effect of adaptive thermogenesis (“starvation mode”) with weights and higher levels of protein.

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- whynotzoidberg@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Poor advice, IMO. Going below BMR is ok, starvation mode is largely a myth, and, while nutrition is important, it is not necessary for caloric-deficit weight loss.
  
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  - credo@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    No the poor advice is to go below bmr by some rando who says, “No it’s cool. Nutritionists don’t know what they are talking about.”. But go for it. Do like everyone else who is in a rush and turn your diet into a roller coaster.
    
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- lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  As is always the case when people say it’s on Apple/iPhone, it’s also out on Android
  
  Here’s their website with buttons to both stores: www.mynetdiary.com
  
  It’s cheaper and easier to release on Android, and almost twice as many people use it, of course every single Apple iTunes app is going to be on the Google Play Store as well
  
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Mediocre_Bard@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
My brother.

Do not eat before 11am and do not eat after 7pm.

Drink water.

Weigh yourself daily, in the morning, right after you piss and shit, and then look at yourself in the mirror.

Eat as you please during your open window, don’t lie to yourself about what you are eating. Trash is trash.

Let this truth wash over you as you buy your food. The shame will drive you to make better purchases.

To be successful, you must hate yourself as you are and love yourself as you want to be.

Good luck.

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ChadCMulligan@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
7 Hostess Iced Jumbo Honey Buns, and a Coke

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