Pages

Sabtu, 01 Juni 2013

1400 Calorie Diet Menus

Following a 1,400-calorie-a-day diet can help you lose excess weight, but it takes some careful planning. Plan your meals in advance, especially when you are new to dieting. After a while, you will begin to learn which foods you can eat and still stay within your 1,400-calorie limit. Create a few 1,400-calorie-diet menus to get you through the first couple of weeks and help you plan your grocery list.

Calorie Distribution

    Decide how you will divide your calorie allotment throughout the day. If you eat a 700-calorie breakfast, you won't have many calories left for the rest of the day and will end up feeling hungry.

    Try dividing the 1,400 calories by the number of meals you plan to eat in a day. If you'll eat only three meals, then each meal should contain approximately 465 calories. A daily menu on this plan might be an egg, cheese and ham omelet on a toasted English muffin for breakfast, a salad with chicken for lunch and spaghetti with a low-fat meat sauce for dinner.

    You could also eat five smaller meals of 280 calories or three 400-calorie meals with two 100-calorie snacks. Eating a little throughout the day can help you stay full. For example, have a cup of cereal with a half-cup of skim milk and three strawberries for breakfast, a bowl of soup with four saltine crackers for lunch, grilled chicken and green beans for dinner, and an apple and carrot sticks with hummus for a snack.

Portion Sizes

    An essential part of planning a 1,400-calorie menu is measuring portion sizes. Don't think that you can just eyeball a portion. Especially when first getting started, you'll need to use your measuring cups. For example, a cup of cereal could be just 100 calories, but an actual bowl full of cereal could be two or three cups---doubling the calories you thought you were eating. Additionally, you must pay attention to the serving size listed on the box. Some cereals have a serving size of just half a cup.

    In situations where you may not be able to measure the portion sizes, use a proven estimation technique. According to the American Cancer Society, a portion of meat should be about the size of a deck of cards, a portion of pasta should be about the size of a tennis ball and a medium potato is about the size of a computer mouse. You can eat as many raw vegetables as you want.

Low-Calorie Snacks

    Finding low-calorie snacks that you enjoy is the key to reducing hunger and staying within your calorie limits. If you want a treat, try the 100-calorie packs of your favorite snack. Most fresh fruits and vegetables also make good choices for low-calorie snacks, and they keep you full longer because they contain fiber. A few crackers with a piece of low-fat cheese is also a good choice. When you combine low-calorie snacks with healthy meals, it's easier to stick to your diet.

0 komentar:

Posting Komentar