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

FAQs

How many pounds will I lose if I eat under 500 calories a day? ›

So researchers thought burning or cutting 500 calories a day led to losing 1 pound a week. But this isn't true for everyone. In general, if you cut about 500 calories a day from your usual diet, you may lose about ½ to 1 pound a week.

A 500-calorie diet is an extreme form of a very low-calorie diet (VLCD). It requires you to drastically reduce the amount of food you eat, usually to a maximum of 800 calories per day. VLCDs use meal replacements like drinks, shakes, and prepared food bars instead of meals for at least two meals a day.

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.

To lose 30 pounds in four to seven months, you must create a calorie deficit of 500 to 1,000 calories per day. A tried-and-true way is to reduce your daily intake by 500 calories and add moderate-intensity exercise on most days.

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.

But do you really know what's realistic? Over the long term, it's smart to aim for losing 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week. Generally to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day, through a lower calorie diet and regular physical activity.

For most people with overweight, cutting about 500 calories a day is a good place to start. If you can eat 500 fewer calories every day, you should lose about a pound (450 g) a week. Always talk with your health care provider to determine a healthy weight for you before starting a weight-loss diet.

What is the 2 meal a day diet plan? ›

The premise of 2 Meal Day is that by eating just two meals in a day — either breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner, thus introducing a daily 16-hour fasting period — you can retrain your body to become "fat adapted," meaning you burn stored body fat for energy, rather than being dependent on sugars from food.

This is where you eat normally at certain times and then fast during other times. There are different versions, but the 5:2 diet involves eating a normal, healthy diet for five days every week and 'fasting' on the remaining two days. On a 'fast' day, you would typically consume between 500 and 600 calories.

If you can eat 500 fewer calories every day, you should lose about a pound (450 g) a week. Always talk with your health care provider to determine a healthy weight for you before starting a weight-loss diet.

The 500-calorie diet is a very low-calorie diet that can help you lose weight. Doctors prescribe this diet pill to overweight and obese patients with a high BMI (over 30) and whose lives are in danger. Remember, this diet is not recommended for pregnant and lactating women.