What to eat for 1000-1500 calories

by Lorey

I am 21 years old, 5feet 4inches tall. I have always maintained my weight around 115-120 and never had a gut or big thighs.

I have noticed that in the past 1 year or so I have blown up like a balloon and the people I'm close to have noticed too. I don't think it was me starting college, or me getting older but I know I have gained weight.

I have been watching my calories for the past 2 weeks now and have lost 4 pounds. I am trying to stay between 1,000 and 1,500 calories a day.

I was wondering if you had any good low calorie meal plans and how much exercising should I be doing to try and get back to that 115 -120 range?

Thanks for the help!

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Lorey,

Thanks for writing and good job on your weight loss so far. You're losing at a very nice rate (2 pounds per week).

Check out the quick meals section of the website for fast, healthy menu ideas and see the free sample meal plans for examples of calorie controlled menus.

As far as the exercise goes, keep in mind it takes a 3500 calorie deficit to burn through one pound of body fat. The number of calories you burn in an exercise session depends on many factors including how long and how intensely you exercise. If you burn 300 calories per session, it would take ~12 days to lose one pound for example:

300 calories x 12 days = 3600 calories (1 pound of body fat = 3500 calories).

You need to find an amount of exercise that's reasonable and sustainable for you! I'd suggest working toward exercising most days of the week.

Keep up the good work!

Suzette