What Do 300 Calorie Meals Look Like?

FYI - 6 ounces of chicken alone has 300 calories, so many of the calorie counts for these meal are incorrect.

I agree that portion size needs to be taken into consideration but mostly for calorie dense foods. For instance an entire bag of spinach or leafy greens is only about 2.5 servings and the calorie content is so minute that you can completely go to town and eat the entire bag and feel good about it. When you add toppings that's where you want to start getting careful. Like putting about 6oz of chicken on top and making sure that you don't drown your salad with high calorie, high fat dressings or a load of cheese. The foods that you can afford to splurge on are usually a lot of vegetables while eating a serving of quality protein and portioned controlled everything else. Eating this way has been worked for me my whole life.

I actually agree with Debbie. Yes you do want to eat smaller meals to lose weight but it's imperative that the meals are enough to get you through the day. There is hardly any variety other than breakfast and unless you have the time to eat often you'll definitely be hungry and wind up binging. However, your point is extremely valid

Visualization is great but what size plate it it and what type of cereal is in the bowl. I have found a great kitchen tool that weighs foods and calculates calories simply by identifying the food. It also calculate calories when you have a nutrition facts label.
Google nutrition scales and take a look at these products. They range from 40 to 100 dollars depending on what you are looking for.

I ate less than that a day but broke it down in sections to keep my digestion going. Did not know I have an eating disorder.

I think its a nice example of 300 calorie meals!
all I want to say its that 10 days ago I went to a weight lose clinic
because after havin my 3 rd child I had only lost only 6 lbs! 6lbs- u guys! anyways the doctor prescribed me phentermine an appetite suppresent but he told me he would prescribe it just to help me start eating 300 calories every 4 hours - and to walk a block a day .he also told me to tell myself a block at a time. I thought that was silly n that I was going to b hungry. but I am surprised I am not hungry at all! infact I can't believe that I am always feeling real full. I eat anything I want but if I want to eat @ mcdonalds I just eat 4 chicken nuggets and a few fries n I still stay in my 300 to 400 calories by the ways since uve been eating all day ur really not hungry so u don't eat as much! the pounds u start to loose just makes u want to eat like this forever. I started @ 196 - 10 days later I weight 177.4.

tip if iam hungry I eat a whole medium melon. n never miss my walking or joggin around the block
I hope this helps anyone out there.
I am really thankful to my doctor

ive been doing this for about 2 weeks and i cant believe the results its giving me. I eat everything I want as long as i eat my 300 calories and i walk or jog.
start weight 198
weight @ this moment: 177
goal weight: 150

very useful diet recipe, i love to collect diet recipe,already add in to my blog and share with my readers.

thanks Diet-Blog.com

to guide people better

These recipes are awesome! My mother is diabetic and these would be perfect for her 6 meals a day. I agree about the super-sized meals you get at restaurants. That is why when we go out to eat I automatically cut everything in half and only eat that amount. It's nice to get two meals out of what they charge you for anyway:)

Low cal diets are old school. The world health organization determined that anything under 2100 calories a day is starvation. That figure is for everyone! When you dont take in enough calories your body decreases your metabolism because it thinks you are starving. I'm a nursing mom, so low cal diets were out for me, but I really wanted to lose the baby weight, so I did my research and found a diet that works wonders. The eyou diet(www.elementalyou.com) is not low cal and does not make you feel starved.
I am losing and my baby is not!! I like some of the recipes here, but not the portions. I'm a firm believer it's what you eat (not how much) and how active you are that makes the difference.

I'm eating about 300 a day...;

Its 2 bowls of oatmeal uncooked with no calorie sugar.

The 1 serving intake is 150 calories. And I'm alive but slowly dying of hunger. ;F

Anyways dispite those tiny meals, most foods americans eat are really high in calories. A single soda is around 120, while most Americans who drink them have about 7 a day.

This post takes me back to the days when I was doing the zone diet.

I remeber eating smaller meals and feeling full. The trick was to eat lean protein and low glycemic carbs.

I think it's a good strategy to eat a few lower calorie meals.

thanks! i follow a food plan of 3 - 500 calorie meals and a 300 calorie snack. i printed these out for some quick ideas. for me it's easier to break down my calorie allowance throughout the day and spreat it out evenly then to just say "1800 calories daily". I don't have to count all the time - i just have my list of 500 calorie healthy meals.

thanks!

Looks sooo nasty. I'd rather stay fat than eat food that I have to think about and hate eating.

Awesome Post! Those look delicious and certainly big enough to satisfy the appetite. It really makes it easier to create your own healthy meals at home given these proportions. Thanks :)

Calories. Calories. Calories. From fat, carbohydrates, and yes, from protein. You want to lose weight, decrease the number of calories you intake, and increase the number of calories you burn. That simple. You want to lose weight and be healthier, change the source of calories you are going to intake. Good indicator: Get ride of the white stuff. Potatoes, white bread, white rice, corn, etc. Empty calories and less fiber--eat whole grains instead. Will make you feel fuller for longer, and also have vitamins and minerals for healthy eating.

Also, you shouldn't eat just 300 calories a day. That's just stupid in the other direction. 1200 is about as low as you should go. And nursing/pregnant women should definitely talk to a doctor and not just do something the internet tells them to.

Water does not have any calories at all.And the biggest meal you should have is at lunch time.And if youre wondering about the weight issue--think about this--it takes 12 hours for food to digest .so every time you put food into your mouth and swallow it takes 12 hours each to digest.And youre not supposed to eat any solid food at least 4 hours before going to bed,If you drink 16ozs of water before each meal it will fill you up and you will not feel hungry enough to have large servings and drink a glass of water 2 hours before bed and it will help in the weight loss and the digesting of the food.IT does not matter what you eat either--its how much and how often---and lots of water.

Your post is so delicious! I'd love to grab on one of those.. thanks for sharing it with us.. :)

Wow, thanks for putting things in perspective! Great posting and comments.

It feels good to just say what you think. I like that. Some of you know-it-alls about weight loss - keep in mind that fat people know what it takes. You're proffing to the choir as they say.

I get sick and tired of those fat people who always have to tell you it's diet & exercise! You're not eating enough! do this! do that! Just shut up, will you!!!

Got this friend who had lap-band,could only eat an egg a day lost immense amounts of weight and is still alive. so Bite me you know-it-all, freaky fat people.

Hello, there are people that ae on a diet and keep on eating, thats really not good! When i am on diet i just eat what is prescribe for me and do my exercise also well and i done this for one month. I had lost 29lbs. That was really nice!

Hello, there are people that ae on a diet and keep on eating, thats really not good! When i am on diet i just eat what is prescribe for me and do my exercise also well and i done this for one month. I had lost 29lbs. That was really nice!

This is great, but I don't eat meat, pork, or chicken/poultry. I will eat eggs and dairy though. I have lost 23 pounds, from 144 to 121. Trust me, eating 300 calorie meals three times a day, and 200 calorie snacks twice a day really work. I exercise rarely, due to laziness, but do a few hundred crunches/sit-ups 4-5 times a week. The rest of it is just daily activities, such as walking up and down stairs at work, school, and home, instead of taking elevators. Another advice, if you love coffee/espresso, be picky. Instead of a vanilla latte, get an americano with one shot of sugar free vanilla or 2 tsp splenda and room on top, so you can add some soymilk or nonfat milk.

Other quick meals for around 300 calories:

French toast and fresh fruits with black coffee (270 kcal)
-one slice whole grain bread
-crisco cooking spray
-half and egg
-1/8 cup soymilk or nonfat milk
-1/2 cup raspberries
-1/2 banana
-cup black coffee
(mix egg with milk, and soak bread on both sides evenly)(take a pan and turn stove on high heat, and spray on some cooking spray)(toast bread on each side, and serve with fresh fruits and coffee)

Bbq Tilapia and mixed veggies (300kcal)
-5oz tilapia
-1cup mixed veggies(broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, yellow squash)
-2tbs bbq sauce
-tsp lemon juice
-12 oz iced tea
(steam mixed veggies)(grill tilapia with lemon juice)(serve with bbq sauce on top and with black iced tea)

Celery and Hummus (150kcal) AMAZING SNACK
-3 cups celery
-4tbs hummus
(serve celery with hummus dip)

PS. It may seem time consuming to do this all, but trust me, it works.

I lost 40 pound, I find the holidays especially bad. I end up gaining 10 pounds every year. I always end up going on a diet after Xmas. The program I use is www.smartfolife.com, I eat their cookies and it helps. Any suggestion?

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That is so depressing... 300 calories is nothing and the amount of food is nothing. :o(

i am 45 years old and i have diabetis and high blood presure and had akidney transplant and heart problems and poor cerculation in my legs all i eat is a turkey sandwish with coffie in the morning and no lunch and my dinner is 2 drumsticks with a cucumber with a glas of watter.but iam hungry all of the time can somebody guide me with a healty 3 day meal plan im not sure what to eat any more..

Well done. Your pictures are clear and attractive. The food is varied and looks delicious.

This was like watching grass grow. Is this suppose to be the food a prisoner gets in a week? I can get way more creative with 300-400 calories.

Brilliant and very useful to see a picture of a meal and what the calories are - a great guideline

Great post! Not only have you given the reader a visual of how much food 300 calories really is, you've provided the menus themselves. This is so important because, as i've learned from many of my clients, people are so busy in today's world they don't have the time or energy to research this themselves.

Giving people as many tools as possible to help them lead a healthy life has been a goal of mine for many years, and i'm happy to see others in the fight with me.

Those look really yummy! A lot more appetising than i had imagined!

x

I know, "don't feed the troll".

It is easier to avoid the calories than it is to burn them off. A 200lb person would only burn 780 calories running 6 miles. At 5000 calories, that leaves quite a bit to burn.

Now, go play your playstation. The adults are having a conversation.

Really great article. I am going to take this into account when making food changes and making a nutrition plan with my online fit4lyfe plan. I highly recommend it for everyone. www.fit4lyfe.webs.com

a little food and often. that's how to make sure you are never hungry and never want to over eat.

that's my own little creative spin on the superfoodsplan.com diet which was great, but not something you would want to do for more than 3 months at any one time.

Is there any one out there with tips on how to surpress a sweet tooth? I eat healthy, i steam, grill, or boil my foods which is good. I am very mindfull of my calories consumption. However my problem lies with my sugar addiction as i call it. I love pastries and i never feel full after having a meal without eating some time sweet. I am very selective with my sweets, very few chocolates i will eat and i can count the number of times i eat chocolate a month. Not a big cookies fan as well.It's just my craving for pastries that's killing me.
Any tips please help.

Although I appreciate the effort made in this article, I can't help but feel horrendously depressed when I look at the meals given as examples. The chicken and rice looks particularly unviting - dry and unimaginative. I would feel cheated if I ate that, and would be rummaging in the fridge for something nice asap!! Why not heap your plate with a gorgeous mixed, colourful salad, plenty of nice low fat dressing and large piece of steamed fish? Add a fat free yoghurt to finish! Absolutely gorgeous, low in fat - whats more you won't feel cheated!! People on 'diets' have to eat real food otherwise I believe they will get bored and won't stick to it. I don't believe it IS about quantity - eat as much as you like of healthy items (fruit, veg, fish) and have an occasional treat. I lost 5 stone thinking like this, and have kept it off for two years. I can honestly say that I am never hungry - quite the opposite in fact!

Also, why are you measuring water???