50 Meal Prep Recipes for Weight Loss | Under 500 Calories (2024)

FAQs

What is an example of a 500 calorie meal? ›

14Salmon tacos with papaya salsa

Topped with fresh papaya salsa, these tasty tacos are under 500 calories per serve.

Some low-calorie, high-volume foods that can help you feel full on a 500-calorie diet include non-starchy vegetables like spinach, kale, broccoli, and bell peppers. These foods are high in fiber and water content, which can help fill you up without adding a lot of calories.

You need to burn 3500 calories a day to lose one pound a day, and you need anywhere between 2000 and 2500 calories in a day if you are doing your routine activities. That means you need to starve yourself the whole day and exercise as much as to lose the remaining calories.

To lose 10 pounds in one week, you'll need to burn between 3,500 and 5,000 calories more than you consume each day by restricting your diet to small portions of nutritious yet low-calorie foods, and significantly increasing your aerobic exercise with interval training, sports, and other vigorous activities.

In general, if you cut about 500 calories a day from your usual diet, you may lose about ½ to 1 pound a week. But this can vary depending on your body, how much weight you want to lose, your gender and activity level.

Losing 5 pounds a week comes to reducing your food intake by 3500 calories over seven days. The value that represents the decrease in calorie intake is known as the calorie deficit. If you want to lose 5 pounds in a week, you will need to reduce your food intake by 17,500 calories, which is a huge calorie deficit.

Can you eat chicken and rice every day? Yes, you can, but do you really want to? Fernando also warns these two elements alone don't make a balanced meal because you're missing out on the recommended half-plate serving of veggies.

If you're new to meal prep, start by prepping just a few meals a week. Focus on nutritious options for meals when it's harder for you to eat healthy. Set aside an hour or two for meal prep day, make a grocery list from recipes found online, and shop the day or two before.

What is the 2 2 2 method diet? ›

What Is 2 2 2 Method Metabolism? 2 2 2 Method Metabolism is a 6-week journey divided into two phases. The first two weeks focus on eating two meals a day rich in carbohydrates and protein, including things like pasta, omelets, pancakes, and bacon. During this time, your body learns how to burn carbohydrates properly.

Danger of deficiencies

The greatest dangers associated with a 500-calorie diet relate to vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can lead to many health problems. In fact, most people cannot meet their vitamin and mineral requirements if they eat less than 1200 calories per day.

Smith says the first 2 is for two different types of meals: fatty meals and carb-heavy meals. The second 2 represents non-food related aspects like weekly weigh-ins and introspective journaling, while the third 2 represents exercise consisting of bodyweight and/or high intensity interval workouts.

In general, 500 calories can be a reasonable amount for a meal for some people, but it may be too much or too little for others. For example, a sedentary person who is trying to lose weight may need to consume fewer calories per meal, while a very active person may need to consume more.

Although every person's daily caloric intake is individual, based on their personal goals and needs, nutrition experts estimate that average daily consumption at each meal should be broken down as follows: 300 to 400 calories for breakfast, and 500 to 700 calories each for lunch and dinner.