Tracking the 1,600 Calorie Diet Plan

The 1600 Calorie Diet

This plan may be excellent for women who are of average height. In our opinion, it's a bit too skimpy in caloric values for males.

Identifying Food Group Recommended Serving Sizes

The recommended energy sources mirror the 1,400 caloric diet located here. Basically the daily requirements include:

- Five ounces equivalents from both the grain and protein groups.
- Two cups of vegetables.
- 1.5 cups of fruit.
- 3 cups of dairy.

Please refer to the link above for detailed data, nutritional notes and information related to the Food Group recommendations.

Example Menus, Tips

So many times people assume that while they are on a weight loss plan they must starve - when in fact, this is the worst thing they can do as it will work negatively rather than positively in their results. More often than not, the metabolic rate will slow and pounds will be more difficult to lose.

Therefore, be sure to get all of your caloric values into your meal plates and snacks throughout your day. Your lunch or dinner plate might look something like this:

3 ounces of roast beef
1/4 cup of beef gravy
1 roasted potato, 1/2 cup of roasted carrots
1/2 cup of English peas
1 slice of whole rye bread

While trimming the fat is a wise idea for anyone - not just the dieter, some fat is necessary for optimum nutrition. Therefore, it's fine to enjoy a serving of margarine - or better yet, reduced fat margarine on the bread. The beef and the gravy will also contain dietary fat - as will the remaining foods on the menu, albeit minimal.

There are hot spots in all menus. For example, in this particular one the gravy is minimal in kcals at 40 per 1/4 cup. But if we went a bit wild with the gravy boat and coated our entire plate with it, then we could get into some damage. As to the vegetables, if we decide to add butter or margarine, then the values will spike significantly.

Another area is the beverage. If we opt for ice tea with sugar - then we're looking at 100 plus calories, depending upon how much sugar we like in our tea.

Let's review another menu and see if we can identify the hot spots:

1 cup of chili, with chili sauce if desired
shredded cheese
whole grain crackers
chopped onion

While lean varieties of chili are great and can be a part of a healthy plan, if we opt for the fattier versions they can more than double the caloric values of the leaner varieties, making them unwise choices for our plan.

Another hot spot is the cheese. We can slash fat grams as well as the kcal content by choosing to add the reduced fat variety to our meal. And another hot spot is the amount of cheese that we choose to add. The values can quickly add up and damage our plan so it's always best to measure the amounts used to ensure that we're not going overboard.

In Summary

The 1600 calorie diet contains enough food to satisfy most female dieters and can work to generate a safe rate of fat loss. We strongly suggest that the individual continues to eat the same types of food that they did before they started their plan, working to trim the fat from the meals, as well as sugar, cholesterol and sodium content. In addition, serving sizes should be as accurate as possible.

Let's review an example to assist; Jan decided to lose weight and she had planned to serve fried chicken for dinner. She should go forward with her meal plan BUT she should change the main entree to roasted rather than fried chicken. If she had planned to serve pasta with the meal, serving whole grain pasta would make a healthier choice - or rice.

By making a few changes to the current daily eating plan, those pounds will soon be a thing of the past for Jan.

Example of 2,200 Calorie Diet | Example of 2,400 Calorie Diet | Example of 2,600 Calorie Diet | Example of 2,800 Calorie Diet

Return to Pyramid Diet Index | Return to Body Fat Index of Articles

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