Best 500 Calorie Diet Meal Plan for Weight Loss

There are a number of weight loss diet plans these days that can help you in shedding your extra pounds. The 500 calorie diet plan is one among them that can help you shed up to 6 pounds in a week. This diet plan can also help you in preventing various other obesity related health problems.

500 Calorie Weight loss plan

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Normal calorie requirement for a male is around 2000 to 2500 calories per day, and for females it is 1500 to 2000 calories. You might be wondering how this 500 calorie diet can be good for health then. This diet plan, also known as ‘very low calorie’ diet plan is way below the daily calorie requirements. This diet plan is usually suggested for those people who are very obese with body mass index over 30. But, anyone can try this diet under the guidance of a professional healthcare expert.

If you are planning to undergo this diet plan, do it under the monitoring and guidance of an expert dietician. This will help you follow a well balanced diet. Let us see what you can include in a basic 500 calorie diet plan which includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.

500 calorie diet weight loss program plan:

Breakfast:

  • Under a 500 calorie weight loss diet, you cannot expect to have a hearty breakfast.
  • Eight ounces of decaffeinated tea or skimmed milk is what you can have under a typical 500 calorie diet as breakfast.
  • Avoid sugar, and use saccharin or stevia for sweetening. They are the natural sweetening agents with low sugar levels.
  • You can have melons, oranges or grapes. Try to stick to them since they are the fruits which are low in calorie. It is important to have some fruits in your diet
  • Cereal and bread should be avoided from your diet, and include plenty of water since it is very important to keep you hydrated.

Lunch:

  • Avoid having grains and breads for the lunch also.
  • A vegetable soup might be a good idea for your lunch. Make one with cabbage, spinach, broccoli or any leafy vegetable.
  • You can have uncooked vegetable salad with some little amount of lemon juice. But avoid any kind of oils or salad dressing along with it.
  • You can also try having small amounts of boiled fish or chicken.
  • You should drink at least 16 ounces of water at lunch time.

Dinner:

  • Dinner has to be almost similar to what you had for lunch.
  • Soups, raw vegetable salad, small amount of boiled chicken or fish are the things that you can add to your plate.
  • It is important to drink lots of water at dinner time too. Having lot of water daily is important to keep you hydrated. Having less food doesn’t mean that you have to compromise on daily drinking water.

Since this is basically a starvation diet, it is quite possible that you will have hunger pangs throughout the day. 500 calories per day is not sufficient to meet a normal human being’s energy requirements. But this can be eased if you divide your 500 calorie into small snacks. You can include few peanuts, fresh juice without sugar, celery or some unbuttered popcorn as part of your small snacks. Have your meal as small snacks with few hours’ duration between each. This would help you feel full and keep you in diet.

Before deciding on going on this diet plan to lose your extra pounds, there are some things that you have to keep in mind. There are some risks associated with following this very low calorie diet plan. They are the following:

It can lead to ketosis and other disorders:

When the amounts of food we intake comes down, our body will start to use the fats stored in our body in order to produce enough energy for our requirements. Ketosis is developed when these fats are burned. As this 500 calorie diet is way below the energy requirements of a normal person, it is a kind of starvation diet. So, when you follow this diet, it is sure that your fats will get burned. Development of ketosis is not a serious problem over a short period of time. But over a period of time, it can lead to kidney stones, or gout or organ failures. A basic urine test can help you detect presence of ketosis. So better not risk yourself too much for the sake of shedding a few pounds of your weight.

It can lead you to eating disorders:

You might undergo some eating disorder since this diet is not a balanced one. This can lead you to have some eating habits such as those seen in bulimia or anorexia.

It can lead to other serious problems too:

If this diet is not taken under proper guidance, this 500 calorie diet might lead you to some serious trouble. One among them is high cholesterol. This starvation diet can increase your cholesterol levels, which will ultimately increase your risk of stroke or heart attack. This diet can also increase the risk of some cancers and even osteoporosis.

You can suffer from nutritional deficiency:

When you cut on your calories, this will surely reduce the essential nutrients that you take in, which are required for your body. This nutritional deficiency can cause problems such as diarrhoea, constipation or some other digestive problems.

If you have any kidney problems, heart problems, stomach problems, anaemia or low blood pressure it is suggested not to take this diet plan. This diet plan is also not suggested for people of age above 50. They should strictly avoid this diet. Children under age of 18 and pregnant or lactating mothers also should not opt for this diet. So it is better to choose yourself for this diet only after proper guidance from an expert or otherwise you will be simply starving. Eat wisely and live well!!!

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