The 500 Calorie Diet Plan For Weight Loss – What To Include For Breakfast, Lunch And Dinner?

These days there are various diets that are catered towards weight loss, helping you shed those extra pounds. A 500 Calorie diet is one such diet plan. It can help you lose up to 6 pounds in a week. This diet also helps prevent various other health problems that are associated with obesity.

Every woman requires 1500 to 2000 calories in a day while for males the count is 2000 to 2500 calories a day. A 500 calorie diet is way below these daily calorie requirements. Another name for the 500 calorie diet is ‘very low calorie’ diet. Usually this diet is for those who are very obese and have a body mass index over 30. But if this diet is done under the guidance of a professional healthcare expert, anyone can give it a try.

It is advised that every diet plan should be monitored and well-balanced by an expert or dietician. The basic 500 calories diet weight loss plan which would help you is stated below.

500 Calories Per Day Weight Loss Plan

1. Breakfast:

• No hearty breakfast is allowed, when you are on a 500 calorie diet.
• A typical 500 calorie diet breakfast can have 8 ounces of decaffeinated tea or skimmed milk.
• For sweetening, use saccharin or stevia.
• You should only eat low calorie fruits like melons, oranges, grapefruits or grapes.
• Also try to avoid eating cereal or bread and don’t forget to drink plenty of water, as it is very important that you stay hydrated.

2. Lunch:

• For lunch too, avoid eating grains or breads.
• Your lunch may include vegetable soup made with cabbage, spinach, broccoli, or any leafy vegetable.
• Small amount of boiled chicken or fish can also be eaten.
• No oils or salad dressing are allowed, instead you can eat uncooked vegetable salad with a little lemon juice.
• Drink at least 16 ounces of water at lunch.

3. Dinner:

• Dinner will be somewhat similar to lunch.
• Raw vegetable salads, soups and small amount of chicken or fish should be the things on your plate.
• Again, don’t forget to drink water.

It is quite possible that you will get hunger pangs throughout the day as it is basically a starvation diet. But by dividing your 500 calories into small snacks, you can ease the hunger pangs. Small snacks may include fresh juice without sugar, few peanuts, celery or some unbuttered popcorns.

There are some risks that are associated with this plan of weight loss on 500 calories a day, which you should keep in mind before you opt for this diet. Those are as follows:

1. Nutritional Deficiency:

If you cut calories in your diet you will surely cut some essential nutrients too, that are required by your body. It is possible that you may have constipation, diarrhea or some other digestive problems due to nutritional deficiency.

2. Eating Disorders:

Since this diet is not a balanced one, it is possible that you may encounter any eating disorder. This means, you may develop few eating habits such as those seen in anorexia or bulimia.

3. Ketosis:

As we know, a 500 calorie diet is a starvation diet. Sometimes, while being deprived of the required amount of nutrients, our body starts using stored fats in order to produce energy. And as the fats are burned, ketosis develops. Though, in a short term it is not a serious problem but developing of ketosis can result in kidney stones, gout or organ failure. Ketosis can simply be detected through a basic urine test.

4. Other serious problems:

A 500 calorie diet can also result in some other serious problems too, like high cholesterol that increases the risk of stroke or heart attack. It also increases the risk of osteoporosis and some cancers.

It is advised that adults with anemia, kidney problems, low blood pressure, heart problems, stomach problems or who are over the age of 50, should strictly avoid opting for this diet. Even pregnant or lactating women or children under the age of 18 should avoid going for this diet.

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