What Do 300 Calorie Meals Look Like?
Here is a selection of meals that are in the 300-400 Calorie range. The visual representation gives an idea of portion size.
Breakfast - 290 Calories
1 whole wheat English muffin
2 pats low fat butter
1 hard boiled egg
1/2 cup of fruit
8 oz fruit juice
8 oz water
Cereal - 300 Calories
1 cup of cereal
8 oz 2% milk
1 banana
1 coffee or tea
Baked potato - 305 Calories
1 medium baked potato
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons salsa
1 cup sliced melon
12 oz water
Oatmeal - 325 Calories
1 cup oatmeal with raisins
1 cup of fruit
1 cup coffee or tea
1 banana
Soup - 350 Calories
1 bowl of soup
1 small tossed salad
2 tablespoons reduced fat oil and vinegar dressing
12 oz water
4 saltine crackers
Chicken - 345 Calories
6 oz of chicken
1 cup of green beans
2 pats of low-fat butter
1 small tossed salad
2 tablespoons reduced fat oil and vinegar dressing
12 oz water
Chicken Salad - 350 Calories
1 large tossed salad
2 tablespoons reduced fat oil and vinegar dressing
6 oz sliced chicken
1 cup of low fat wheat thin crackers
12 oz water
Scrambled eggs - 360 Calories
2 scrambled eggs
2 strips of turkey bacon
1 piece whole wheat toast
1 pat of low fat butter
1 coffee or tea
8 oz water
Fish - 365 Calories
6 oz broiled white fish
1 cup of mashed potatoes
1 pat of butter
1/2 cup of peas
8 oz diet iced tea
Chicken and Rice - 395 Calories
6 oz cooked chicken
2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce
1 cup of mixed vegetables
1/2 cup of brown rice
1 small tossed salad
2 tablespoons reduced fat oil and vinegar dressing
12 oz water
Consumption
It's hard to believe that the average American consumes around 3,800 Calories per day. That's more than all the food shown on this page. Highly processed foods are very easy to overeat.
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it seems to me that alot of people on here are mis-informed. to lose weight, protien should be the staple of your diet. A proper macronutrient breakdown for your calories is the correct way to go about losing weight. basically, you want about 1-1.5gms of protien per day. try to get a ratio of maybe 30/50/20 carbs/protien/fats. then figure out how many calories you need and decide what these percentages give you for how many calories you should get from each group, then divide it up by 4, 4, and 9 to figure out how many actual grams you should eat.
say what you want, but along with cardio and weights this helps me to burn fat and keep muscle like no other
Replywow those are pretty low numbers for how much people should eat. 1800 for men? are you joking? i'm 150lbs, a very small guy, and i need to eat between 2500 and 3000 calories per day just to maintain my weight. in order to gain slowly, (trying to gain muscle but keep fat gains low) i eat between 3500-3900. i know guys that need to eat 4000 just to maintain, and some eat 5500 per day during their gain phase (however i do disagree with this because your body can only build so much muscle as it can build and eating alot more will not help gain any more muscle)
ReplySorry - should have been more specific that the calories that I mentioned should be used for weight-loss goals. If you don't mind me asking, what is your age Joe? You would have to be fairly young and pretty active to need that much just to maintain your weight. The average person about 20 years of age who is about average height (5'8"-5'10") weighing 150lbs would need around 2500-2900 calories daily to maintain weight - and that is if they are only moderately active.
But as you mentioned in your other post - what calories you get is just as important (I thought about mentioning that). And its also not just "carbs" - you should certainly get a mix of complex and simple carbs - simple carbs for energy, and complex in order to slow the digestion of everything else - again, to maintain an even metabolism.
But yes, even you would do just fine on an 1800 calorie diet. An adult male body-builder, who weighs about 200 lbs, and is about 5'10" could maintain weight on 1800 calories - and in fact, that is what many of them do.
ReplyYeah....All yanks are dirty fatties though, enit.
ReplySarah just wishes she could be one of us, fat or not fat!!!
ReplySeeing as how we "yanks" invented the internet, politely get off if you don't want to behave when addressing the only super power in the world right now.
ReplyIt's not what you eat ...It's how you eat ,you fat disgusting pigs
ReplyThat is absolutely brilliant. There is just nothing as great as a photograph, is there? Well done.
Cheers!
ReplyWow! I never realized that 300 calories could be put in a little food! Thanks for writing this diet-blog! You help me out so much!
ReplyHere's a great idea: Eat whatever you want, get off your lazy ass, and exercise! Screw 300 calorie meals, I don't want to eat something that will leave me just as hungry as before I ate it. Id rather eat three 800 calorie meals and then run a few miles, and still be able to have a snack in between. But yeah, walking around all day being hungry is the fun thing to do *rolls eyes*.
ReplyThat's nice for you, but most people need to actually pay attention to both diet and exercise to lose weight. If I had 2400 calories of food every day, I likely would not be able to be active enough to burn off enough of those calories to maintain weight, much less lose. (Indeed, I've tried the "eat whatever the hell you want and get off your lazy ass" approach. Did not work. I addressed the problems with my diet and now I'm down a pants size.)
You know, it's kind of funny to see someone being all high and mighty about stuffing their face on a diet blog.
Reply
ReplyNot to mention that 3 800 cal meals a day are not good for metabolism, digestion, or blood sugar. 6 400 calorie meals a day would be highly superior.
Except that all that does is cause your metabolism to adjust to the amount of calories your intaking per day... slowing down to less than 1,000 calories even, which is more unhealthy than if you were eating 2,000 a day.
The best way to diet is this:
maintain a healthy 2-3k calorie intake for about a week, your body adjusts it's metabolism to match, then drop down to 1,000 for one or two days, then jump back up to 2-3,000, your body doesn't have enough time to adjust, and will burn fat to compensate for the lack of fuel, the trick is to eat less than 1500 calories in a way that prevents you from having hunger pains or feeling weak.
ReplyWow i will definetly try that. Good tip. I suspected this a while back but was unsure.I kept within my recommended daily calories intake, then increase my calories abit, surprisingly my weight remind the seem.
ReplyNote that this post is simply displaying images of meals that come in at around 300 calories. There is no mention that these are the ONLY types of meals one should eat to maintain a healthy, low-calorie, low-fat diet. On the website noted, each day's meal plan consists of Breakfast, Lunch, Afternoon Snack, Dinner and Evening Snack, which end up totaling around 1200-1600 calories per day. Check out their sample menus. There are 600 calorie lunches and 700 calorie dinners, too. Some days are higher than others but that's what eating every day is all about.
The bottom line is to be aware of how many calories (and fat grams) you are consuming, and to learn how to visualize your portions so you no longer NEED to be tied to a diet program or some calculator. You learn to visualize and put that into practice, and pretty soon you are eating healthier, more well-balanced meals all on your own ... hopefully for the rest of your life.
ReplyWow, I didn't know eating a bowl of pasta with a couple pieces of Italian bread was "Stuffing my face".
BE MORE ACTIVE!
ReplyMost normal people have an organ called the pancreas that produces this neat hormone called glucagon, maybe you've heard of it...
ReplyGee, and I didn't know that eating an amount of food that causes me to actually lose weight without having to run a marathon every day to burn off 1000 extra calories that I never needed in the first place meant that I must be constantly fainting from hunger pangs.
Not everyone has the metabolism of an Olympic athlete. Just because you can afford to eat more doesn't make you somehow superior.
ReplyRun 20 minutes a day and you'll burn about 2400 calories every week AND build lean muscle. I'm sorry but I have no respect for lazy people who think they can be healthy as long as they have a low calorie diet and no exercise.
ReplyWhat? That crap looks disgusting. Btw mia, that's short for bulimic...are you bulimic? Those foods look nasty.
ReplyEven if they DID look good to eat, you KNOW they will taste like garbage. Healthy foods often taste like shit.
ReplyChicken girl, you think YOU'RE all high and mighty because you exercised, ate right and lost weight. Seriously, congrats, if you feel better, awesome. Everyone should feel comfortable and good about themselves. But ya don't have to lose weight or be thin to be happy or to feel confident in yourself.
ReplyI'd like you to quote for me where I said I don't exercise. You can't, because I never said that.
In fact, I distinctly remember bolding the word both in the phrase "both diet and exercise". *scrolls up* Yep, there it is.
Replylooks yummy !!
ReplyYou also never said that you do. It's cool that you assume I'm a mind reader though.
ReplyYou assumed that I'm a lazy person who thinks I can be healthy on a low-calorie diet with no exercise, despite statements to the contrary.
Since you seem to need it spelled out for you, though: I spend 45 minutes on a treadmill every day. I've gained muscle, even. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for my jog.
ReplyTrue, I guess it does depend on pace. I'm a runner so I'm use to about a 4:40/mile pace for a 5K. Figured about a 7:30/mile would be ideal for someone in shape and exercising. Still though, lean muscle burns calories much more efficiently. Exercise + balanced 65/25/10 > 1000 cal diet.
ReplyDIET TIPS
Reply1. If no one sees you eat it, it has no calories
2. If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar,
they cancel each other out.
3. When eating with someone else, calories dont count
if you both eat the same amount.
4. Foods used for medicinal purpose have no calories.
These include any chocolate used for energy,
brandy, cheesecake, and ice cream.
5. Cookie pieces contain no calories, because breakage
causes the calories to leak out.
6. If you eat food from someone else's plate, the
calories don't count.
7. Movie related snacks are much lower in calories because
they are part of the entertainment, and not ones
of personal fuel.
You said most people, you never once said yourself, I'm not a mind reader, I don't know who you're talking about when you say "most people".
So along with your base metabolism of 1500-2000 calories you wouldn't be able to burn off another 200/day through exercise? (assuming during the day you walk around and burn about 500 calories doing everyday stuff).
make up your mind. Are you currently exercising or just dieting? I told you I'm not psychic. You get on my case and say you made it clear, but you obviously didn't.
ReplySure, I'll quit my job and become a pro athlete, since exercising for 150m 4x a week and 180m 2x a week, with only 60-120m on my rest day, isn't being active enough. If I get a sponsor, I can get a full 8-10h of exercise a day, that should be active enough to eat massive amounts of food in one sitting.
Yeah, and I don't know if you've heard that when it produces a crapload of insulin at once because you ate 800 calories worth of food in one sitting, you then later have a massive drop in blood sugar, which makes you crave food like say, candy.
I don't follow a low-calorie diet. I eat an average of 2,000-2,400 calories a day, which for a 5'1" 127lb woman is a lot of food. I just don't think that eating this in 3 huge meals is good for your health. I eat 6-7 meals a day. You assumed I don't eat and assumed I don't exercise when I do a lot more than your "20m a day" prescription, and yes, it is at a high intensity.
ReplyI think the problem is all of these diet plans are promoting these "low cal diets" which is creating this impression in most people that an 800 calorie meal is a "huge meal." One glass of milk, 1 cup of white rice, and a bran muffin is an 800 calorie meal, and guess what...It's healthy. A 12oz steak, a scoop of mashed potatoes, and a ear of corn on the cob is an 800 calorie meal. An 800 calorie meal isn't going to produce as large of an insulin increase are you're suspecting, especially if you remain active during the day (even if its going for a 5 minute walk around the block) you're not going to "crash," and if you do, I would consult a doctor as you may have an underlying problem.
If you're unable to maintain a healthy weight exercising as much as you do on a 2000-2400 calorie diet then I would seriously consider consulting a physician.
ReplyApart from the milk, I don't think that's healthy. Plus, the real point Jan is making is that if you're going to eat X calories in a day, it's better to eat X/6 calories 6 times a day rather than X/3 calories 3 times a day. Heck, I'm a bodybuilder and I avoid eating more than about 600 calories in a sitting.
ReplyDid I say I was unable to maintain a healthy weight? My weight is in the Healthy Weight Range, if you are into that BMI sort of thing, and my body fat is 19.5%, putting me right on the line between "healthy" and "athletic".
I don't exercise for punishment because I want to lose weight. I walk and run with my dog, walk to and from the gym, and lift weights and do intervals on the treadmill or a spinning class cause I enjoy it. It makes me sleep better, since I'm very hyperactive. Twice a week, I'll also do Pilates because it is a good ab workout. I also walk to run errands, since I dislike driving and don't own a car, and I like to rollerblade on weekends when the weather is nice. I don't want to lose weight at all, my weight fluctuates maybe 3lb either way, and I'm happy this way.
Reactive hypoglycemia is a much more common problem than you think, though. Throughout evolution, there wasn't the massive amounts of refined carbs and sugar we have available now, and a lot of people can't handle it without negative reactions.
Yep. 6oz of steak 3h apart is better for your muscles than 12oz of steak with a 6h interval between meals.
ReplyCereal - 300 Calories
2 cups of cereal
8 oz 2% milk
1 banana
1 coffee or tea
Oatmeal - 325 Calories
1 cup oatmeal with raisins
1 cup of fruit
1 cup coffee or tea
1 banana
^^^And you consider that to be any more healthy?
And I'm a runner, if I didn't eat large 1000 calorie carb loaded meal the morning before my race, I doubt I'd be able run a 13:50 5K. Your point?
My point is it is completely possible to have a healthy 2400 calorie/day diet if you remain active and don't load up on a bunch of empty calories, that is what causes most people to be hungry again an hour after eating. Also don't expect to eat a bunch of fruit and salad and expect it to keep you full for long, it's 95% water, which is going to go right through you.
A 300 calorie meal just doesn't provide enough energy for most active people (use me as an example, where I will burn more calories during one 15 minute race than is contained in any of the meals listed on this page)
Reply2400 calories is about twice as much as I normally eat in a day. It's 1200 extra calories over and above any amount that I actually need. I'm currently running on a calorie deficit of 750 calories/day (1.5 lbs/week). If I added 1200 extra calories to my diet, my deficit would turn into a 450 calorie surplus -- enough to make me gain almost a pound a week at my current activity level. To break even, I would have to spend 3 times as much time exercising as I currently do.
Or, y'know, I could just eat a sane amount of food in the first place.
I said I addressed the problems with my diet and started losing weight. I didn't say I got back on my lazy ass. You assumed that.
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ReplyConvenient of you to leave that part out.
I absolutely do not. As humans, we should mostly stay away from grain. Long distance runners are a very different perturbation of humanity though, so knock yourself out. You misunderstand; I like neither these 300 calorie people's ideas nor yours. For exercise, I believe in shorter bouts of intense work. At 45 minutes, I leave the gym, even if I didn't finish my workout. For diet, I believe in highly animal diets. Red meat, pork, whole eggs, full fat dairy, fatty fish, etc. After that comes vegetables and fruits.
ReplyFair enough.
ReplyHa, feed these to an athlete
ReplyThat's what I've been saying. I have to take in about 4000-5000 calories a day when I'm training.
Reply