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Should you try a 1400 Calorie Diet To Lose Weight?
If you’d like to lose an average of one pound per week and keep it off for the long term, then yes, you should try a 1400-calorie diet. Health experts believe that women can eat 1,400 calories a day (and 1,500 calories for men) and still lose weight healthily.
Reduced Calorie Diets
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Magazine, caloric deficit of 500 calories per day leads to one to five pounds loss per week. Thus, a diet consisting of 1400-calorie consumption everyday is for people who are trying to lose weight. Because you will be eating fewer calories than you are using (assuming that you burn at least 1,900 calories), your body will pull from its fat storage cells for more energy, leading to a decrease in weight.
While these are already known facts, you might be wondering what’s significant about the number 1,400. This amount of calories actually promotes a safer rate of weight loss without having to extremely deprive yourself. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also notes that a safer rate of weight loss, which is one pound per week, actually increases the likelihood of you keeping the weight off for a longer term than with other more extreme diets.
Is There an Exercise Option?
The 1,400-calorie consumption is recommended for those who live a sedentary lifestyle, and the rate of weight loss actually depends on your current daily activity and rest energy expenditure. For example, the average 35-year-old 150-pound woman with no exercise burns about 1,900 calories per day; if she eats 1,400 calories daily, she would lose about one pound per week.
However, if the same 35-year-old 150-pound woman starts exercising and burns up to 2,400 calories per day, her weight loss rate would increase. If you exercise more than two hours per day, you might find 1,400 calories not enough to support your lifestyle.
Approaching The Diet
While consuming 1,400 calories a day would be easy for those who already eat less than 2,000 calories, if you are dieting for the first time, do not expect that you can eat 1,400 calories without feeling any cravings. If you usually eat about 2,000 calories per day, don’t head straight into restricting your daily consumption to 1,400 calories. Instead, reduce your diet by 100, 150, or 200 calories daily until you find yourself comfortable eating 1,400 calories a day.
It is also best that you distribute the calories throughout the day; either create three 400-calorie meal plans and two 100-calorie snacks, or five 280 minimeals are also good.
Not only should you only consider the amount of calories, but you should also note the types of food you will eat. As recommended by The Harvard School of Public Health, dieters should include lean proteins, healthy carbohydrates, and monounsaturated fats. These include skinless chicken, lean beef cuts, beans, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and olive oil.
Sample Meal Plan
Here is a sample plan consisting of three meals and two snacks. If you would like to eat only three meals per day, remember to add a few more calories (should be 460 calories each).
For breakfast, you may have one-and-a-half cups of Cheerios cereal, one cup of skim milk, and one whole of a medium-sized orange. Then morning snack should consist of one cup of cantaloupe.
As for lunch, you could try a turkey burger, one cup of tossed salad with two tablespoons of low-calorie dressing, and one cup of skim mik. In the afternoon, have four ounces of carrot sticks with four tablespoons of prepared hummus as your dip.
When dinner comes, you can eat grilled chicken, one cup of cooked brown rice, one-half cup of steamed spinach, and four ounces of fresh pineapple.
To be successful with this diet, remember to never skip meals just so you can eat more calories in the following meal or snack. Always plan ahead so you wouldn’t be tempted, and when time comes that your lifestyle changes and you burn more calories, you can increase the amount of calories you consume daily.
Gustavo
July 25, 2012 at 2:21 am
This amount of calories may seem like a lot for those who have never counted calories nor bothered to notice how many calories various foods contain. But the fact is that this would be a real good amount of caloric intake for anyone who is active, especially someone who exercises for 30 to 40 minutes for 5 or 6 days per week. I would say that you can eat even more and still lose fat.
Admin
July 25, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Hey Gustavo,
This is actually around 500 to 1000 calories less than the daily recommended amount. However, if you are smart with your menu planning each day and you only eat healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, then you can eat quite a lot of food before you reach 1400 calories.
- Sara
Carmelo
July 25, 2012 at 1:53 pm
I have always hated counting calories that is why I went with a diet that you count carbs on or just stay away from them and you can pretty much eat anything else. Even though it limits you a lot on what you can eat it works. I will have to try this though because I am getting bored with what I can eat right now. Could you do both and still lose?
Admin
July 26, 2012 at 8:03 pm
Hey Carmelo,
As long as you are eating a healthy, balanced diet and getting daily exercise you can combine the two.
-Sara