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.
350 Comments
Add Your Comment
ADVERTISING
New
- FROM DIET BLOG
- On-Off Fasting: Does It Work?
- 400 Calorie Fix
- 5 Factor World Diet
- Quick Giveaway: Powerhouse Weight Loss Game
- FORUM
- Low Carb Atkins Diet- Tips to Cut the Carbs.
- How Can I Gain a Healthy Weight and Keep it?
- How Do I Eat Healthy at University?
- Starving Myself and Exercising, But Not Losing an Ounce?
Categories
| Body Image Celebrities Diet Pills Diets Exercise |
Fast Food Funny Stuff Success Stories Teens and Kids Tips and Tools |
RSS Feed
Follow @DietBlog on Twitter
Apologies for being snarky, Jake, but some people try to keep to 1200 calories a day. They're often very fine people who are well worth getting to know.
ReplySilly, don't you know there's no such thing as different body types or different lifestyles? Everyone's supposed to eat like an athlete and spend all of their free time trying to burn it off. Even the ones who are 5'0" and wouldn't have enough hours in the day to burn off 4000 calories. :p
ReplyThe only problem I really see w/ boosting from 3 meals to 5-6 or w/e is that its just not really plausible when you consider the time it takes to prepare etc, even though it does make sense from a biological viewpoint.
ReplyGood visual- people need to see this! However, the cereal example is not correct- 2 cups of cereal, 8 oz. of 2% milk, and a banana for 300 calories..impossible, and the cereal pictured is raisin bran! Also, alot of calories wasted on low fat butter- there are herbs and other ways to flavor veggies...I would rather have another 100 calories of food, instead of low fat butter.
ReplyJust a note...the cereal breakfast is listed as 300 calories. The photo depicts Raisin Bran and the description lists 2 cups of cereal, 8 oz. of 2% milk and a banana. 2 cups of Raisin Bran alone is 340 calories. A banana is between 90 and 120 calories, and (I don't drink 2% milk) a full 8 oz. of skim milk is 90 calories. Even if one was to use a low-cal cereal like Rice Krispies and skim milk, the meal would still be well over 300 calories.
ReplyDave-
Please do not be unfair. This is a weight-loss article. I would not post all over an article about good meals to eat before running a 5-K saying that "only big fatties could eat so much" or something hurtful like that. My father is a runner and an athlete. I see how much he can eat and maintain his healthy weight. I am a 19-year-old 5'6" 129 lb. dancer. I eat 1550 calories and hit the treadmill for 40 minutes every day to slowly and steadily lose weight. If you ate what I ate, you would probably die, honestly. If I ate what you ate, my weight would skyrocket.
Allow me to quote Dr. Seuss--"Goose Juice, NOT Moose Juice is juice for a goose. Moose Juice, NOT Goose juice is juice for a moose."
Could we please agree that everything is relative?
ReplyA lot of those meals are very inaccurate.
ReplyThree hundred calorie meals aren't necessarily part of a starvation diet, especially since many people are going to lighten their breakfast and lunch and eat a "normal" dinner.
Even if that's not the case three light meals plus snacks plus beverages can add up to a healthy total. Though my current job doesn't lend itself to it, I actually prefer to have two or three meals like these during the day and graze throughout the rest of the day.
Agree with the rest of your comment though. :)
ReplyREAD THIS PLEASE!!!!!
To anyone who is just starting to diet, good luck! I am 16 years old and just went on a diet in april 2007. I have already had great results. I went on a different diet last year and not only did I lose weight but I gained it back and then some!!!! Heres some advice try to get someone to diet with you or at least exercise with you. I know what your thinking this is just a kid who has no idea what being big is like.Well im here to tell you that I do. I have battled with my weight for almost my whole life. Im only 16 but im well over 200 pounds! Last year I was in a size 9 at the begining I was in an 18 and it was getting tight. I was at the point that whenever I went shopping for clothes I would just start crying. I knew I needed to lose weight so I did, but I ended up getting so close to my goal weight and pigging out at the begining of this diet an 18 wouldn't even fit me!! I started tis diet and its wonderful im never starving and its working even faster than my other diet!!
ReplyThanks!
Weight loss = calories out - calories in.
For someone who's obese, eating 900 to 1200 calories of well-balanced food per day (fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fiber) can be a healthy way to lose weight. It's extremely *difficult* to restrict calories so radically, but it's not unhealthy as long as you're actively losing weight and exercising to maintain muscle mass.
Caloric restriction works and can be done healthfully. But it's very hard!
Replyman that sounds good
ReplyWith the possible exception of the 3 chicken meals,these dishes aren't very suitable for type 2 diabetics,such as myself.According to my own doctor as well as countless articles on diabetes nutrition I've read,english muffins,bananas,potatoes,tomato soup,saltine crackers,bacon,rice and yes,even whole wheat toast all should be considered off limits.Too bad,because it all looks delicious--I'll cherish the memories of when it was actually OK for me to eat these foods.
ReplyMC, I don't want to question your doctor's advice, but the typical diabetic diet, as per the ADA etc., does include carb. They should be balanced with protein and healthy fats, but they wouldn't say anything of the foods you mentioned were off-limits, other than bacon in the case of a Type II diabetic that also had high blood pressure or other associated diseases.
ReplyThanks for sharing! If we kept our meals to 300 calories, we can eat 5 times a day, feel full, and help our metabolism. It's eating out that kills me, but restaurants are hating the "sharing" thing and sometimes charging to share, but it seems ridiculous for my husband, me and my 10 year old to order three meals or even two grown up meals and 1 kids meal when 2 grown up meals are more than enough because they give way too much food.
Reply
ReplyTerrific Posting. Thanks for the reality check!
ReplyThese seem like underestimations to me.
For Example breakfast one:
100ml of juice = 50 cal
1 whole english muffin > 2 slices of bread = 200 cal
Normal butter over 2 pieces of bread = 200cal So low fat butter might be 100 cal at best
Egg = 100 cal
Fruit maybe about 20 cal
Even generously this adds up to be at least 470 cal.
Replyoh my gosh. that's like a snack to me. I'm 5'2" and weigh less than 94 lbs, small built asian!
ReplyAs an Asian I eat a big bowl of rice + fried/stir fry heap of beef briskets + soup + fried vegs every single meal.
I gained a bit of weight last year from eating all-western meals for a year when living bymyself, but to count the calories I ate, I consume more calories eating Asian foods ! I dunno, mayabe all those Chinese takeaways putting too much crap to my digestion or someth. I wanna gain weight so bad.
This is very true, but I think that you are looking at this wrong. For maximum metabolic efficiency, you should be eating 5-6 meals a day anyway, which would be anywhere from roughly 1400-2400 depending on the food choices you make. Definitely an acceptable range for most people.
A lot of people (myself included) have used VLCDs (diets of less than 800 calories) to lose weight faster. Most of them are people that are very obese, BMI 40+, and who have or are starting to have health problems associated with their weight. For these people, having three 300-calorie meals per day would actually be beneficial if used short-term.
People that have gastric bypass are on a clear liquid diet for a full month before the surgery, and tend to lose 25-50 pounds in that month of very low intake. Most people don't really have any health issues come up as a result of having very low intake for a short period of time, and in fact many doctors prescribe VLCDs to people who don't want to have gastric bypass, and many of those people actually have better outcomes than with gastric bypass. It's a simple and effective way to reduce bingeing and combat other disordered eating behavior in the obese as well.
ReplyActually:
Smart Balance Low Fat Butter: 40cals (1tbl is plenty for two slices of toast)
Egg: 60
Normal English Muffin: 70 calories
2 Slices Multi-grain Wheat Bread: 140 cals
Fruit: 25-60 calories depending on choice.
100ml of OJ: 30-50
So 350 at highest, and 225 at lowest. Calories are incredibly hard to guess at, so it's always good to look it up. :) I keep having to learn this lol, I'm the worst at trying to eyeball everything. :D
Replyhell I eat all that in one setting and nothing the rest ofd the day - and I feel Stuffed
Replythank you so much for posting this. investing in a kitchen scale is not a bad idea. it's true...we think that more is more filling. my friends tell me that i eat miniscule portions, but now I see that I'm eating the correct portion sizes. thank you so much for posting! I will add this site to my favorites.
ReplyJust a quick aside about weight guys - a persons body fat percentage is far more important than their overall weight. There are plenty of very healthy people with good body fat levels whose BMI would class them as obsese just because they are very muscular, and as we all know muscle weighs more than fat.
In my opinion the only diet that is really effective is a healthy diet coupled with regular exercise - both CV and resistance work. Short term diets rarely work because they're not sustainable. The best way to lose weight is to live a more healthy, active life. People are unhealthy because they live unhealthy lives, and unless they make changes to the way they live, they will forever be yo-yoing up and down and always looking for the next 'fad' diet.
Just my tuppence worth... :o)
ReplyArrogance toward people's struggles with weight loss ("it's easy -- just burn off 4000 calories a day by becoming a marathon runner," etc.) is apparently one of the last socially acceptable types of bigotry.
ReplyP.S. to my earlier post -- here are some articles that help show that (like anything else), the genetic playing field is not level when it comes to weight loss/gain --
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Strongest_genetic_marker_for_obesit_04122007.html
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/52196/
Sure, it's possible to become fat by abusing your body by overeating and avoiding exercise -- LOTS of people do this -- but the stereotypes and blanket assumptions have got to go.
ReplyLet's look at one of these meals. The first one -- the 290 calorie breakfast. Using USDA National Nutritional Database data, and using the fruits and juices actually pictured, we find:
1 whole wheat muffin: 134 calories
2 pats low fat butter: 70 calories (1 tablespoon, 14 grams)
1 hard boiled egg: 78 calories
1/2 cup whole strawberries: 23 calories
8 oz. orange juice: 109 calories
TOTAL: 414 calories
Not exactly the 290 calories advertised, is it? It is no wonder that people have such a difficult time dieting and eating right, when even sites that purport to help them can't get their math right.
ReplyThat's 600 calories. This thing is basically a lie.
ReplyRE: The calorie counts. I'm sending a query to the people who created these pictures (MyphotoDiet). IT seems the first two are incorrect.
I suspect the cereal one should read 1/2 a cup of cereal instead of 2 cups. 2 cups is a LOT of cereal.
The addition of a juice drink in the meals also seems to be pushing the calorie counts over the limit.
ReplyYay, look at all those empty carbs! You can eat all that stuff and still be hungry, and still gain weight and be miserable.... or you can just do the Atkins diet, which DOES have a metabolic advantage.
Fat takes more calories to burn than glucose. Switching your body into a fat-burning mode (liposis/ketosis, not to be confused with diabetic ketoacidosis) DOES help you lose weight. Faster. Without being hungry.
For all those going "yeah, right, shut up and go eat some bacon"...have you read the research? Have you read the book? Or are you just responding to the silly stereotypes you heard in the media? Right, then. Ignorance is bliss.
Go Atkins! I'm eating more veggies and tasty stuff than I ever was, eating boring carbs and restricting calories and eating like a rabbit. I haven't been hungry since I've started Atkins 2 weeks ago, and it's working great and I'm losing weight and feeling energized and healthy and happy.
ReplyFor Regina W. Yes, there is a lowfat butter that is not full of artificial ingredients. Kroger's house brand offers a butter with half the calories and fat, and most of the flavour. The secret ingredient? Tapioca. No soy (good news for the soy-insensitive).
Replyjoin the crew team...you burn 5000 calories a day
Replymia you correct what you just commented has been proved right after research. We tend to eat more because our food doesnt give us nutrition.
ReplyJunk food has made us obese. Also not to mention MSG. No matter what the MSG lobby is trying to prove i have my personal experience that it makes you fat and gives you headache. And no MSG is not used in homes in china and asia because MSG was commercially availabel to the world well after 1930 and asians culnary history goes back atleast a 500 years.
I have observed that taken a vitamin supplement with your food makes you eat less.
no rice??? we gott have some rice in the diet. it's a great visual though
Replyfor me 20 minutes of runnign a day only translates to 1400 cals burned a week, sheesh.
ReplyHey man... That looks great!!
... If you're someone who lives in yup-ville USA, powerwalks each morning with their ipod nano and matching ADIDAS joggin' suit, then goes and gossips with their fellow ADIDA's joggin' suit friends about the neighbors, and--Ah, ya get me.
Yeah, yeah... I just totaly stereotype'd and that ain't cool... Man, to all of you people that can eat so little and stay cool with it, more power to you... Man, more power...
But man, a glass of water, an orange slice and 5 Special K chips ain't a breakfast. Man, just eat somethin' good... And eat till you're satisfied and not stuffed. But hey man! Do what you dig! If a Denny's grand-slam everyday is what you dig... Go with it! It's probably more healthy than left-over cold pizza anyway.
Peace,
Lynn-a-Lee!
Replyeach of the portions displayed on this page looks about the amount i eat in a meal. i don't eat meat/dairy however and i eat mostly high fiber whole grains and fresh produce. i have 3 meals a day with snacks and probably eat around 1200 calories.
i believe my caloric intake matches my lifestyle.
i'm not athletic and i don't enjoy exercising just for the sake of it. i'm active in my own way despite my occupation being sedentary. doing chores, cooking healthy meals, and working on projects in my spare time.
i don't feel hungry, deprived about my food or crave anything. i do not starve or binge. nor do i judge other people who wish to eat differently then me.
i don't think that makes me automatically lazier, or inferior to someone who works out and eats all protein. the funny thing is, that most people assume i do because i'm so slender. and *gasp* i'm not perfect but i look pretty decent in a bikini. 32B", 24", 33"
i am not saying my way works for everyone, i'm merely sharing what works for me. i feel i need to represent another lifestyle option for those who also love carbs and hate regimented exercise. you can choose what you are willing to commit to feel your health/body is satisfactory.
Reply