A full day of eating, including calorie counts, from someone who lost 15lbs using the same principles that built this meal plan.
After successfully keeping off 15 pounds for over a year, I no longer track my calorie intake on a regular basis. However, tracking was a huge part of my initial success. For anyone who can stick with it mentally, it’s a great avenue for weight loss.
Right now, I’m coming off of a big trip to Italy where I ate whatever I wanted and am about to roll into 3 weeks of alcohol-infused travel from Paso Robles to NYC to Costa Rica. That means I’ve been focusing on trying to eat healthily and move my body a little extra to maintain my body weight while accounting for those upcoming less-stringent times.
At this point in my “fitness journey,” I know how many calories are in most meals that I cook. So, while I’m not tracking, I am watching what I eat by focusing on mostly whole foods (and mostly plants) and cooking more at home. I thought it would be fun to track for a day when I know I’m watching what I eat and see where I net out.
For reference: my maintenance calorie allotment is around 1900 calories, so when I’m focusing on being a bit more strict I aim for 1400–1500 calories. I am a 5’2 woman with 22.8% body fat. You are not me, and I am not your doctor, so do not apply my numbers to yourself. If you are aiming for the same caloric intake, though, feel free to use this daily meal plan for yourself!
I was pretty proud to realize as I input all of these figures that I hit the nail right at 1479 calories. Without further ado, here’s what a 1500(ish) calorie day looks like.
Breakfast: Barry’s Bootcamp copy-cat Superfood Flex Smoothie
Even though it’s fall, it’s still 80+ here today in Los Angeles. That means I’m still on the smoothie for breakfast kick.
Smoothies are a great way to lose and maintain weight, as they contain protein, fibre, healthy fats, and greens. I have a plethora of recipes I rotate through, but this copycat smoothie from Barry’s Bootcamp was my choice this morning. Pro tip: meal prep 2 smoothies at a time 😉 — this was already ready for me when I woke up.
When I input this meal into Myfitnesspal, you can see I got a great kick of protein, carbs, fat, and fiber. I also added my morning latte in here. I make my own macadamia nut milk which is impossible to figure out in Myfitnesspal, so I used Elmhurt’s Unsweetened Cashew Milk which is the closest in terms of nutrients and ingredients (aka just nuts and water, baby!).
Total so far: 441 calories
Lunch: Italian Salad
I had this salad in Montepulciano, Italy and have been chasing it ever since. This tuna brand I found at Eataly has been my favourite so far, but it’s definitely not the same as what I had in Italy. And it’s expensive!
Anyhow, this salad is a delicious combo and packs a good amount of protein, carbs, and fats all from whole food sources. I’m already at the recommended amount of fibre at this point in the day. Since the tuna is in olive oil, I don’t personally feel like I need a dressing at all.
For meal prep, I hard boiled a few eggs earlier this week and steamed the green beans. Everything else is super easy to throw together in minutes.
Total so far: 798 calories
Snack: Fig + Pistachio Scone
I might actually be obsessed with these. It was very hard to not eat the entire pan-full when I made them last night.
Homemade scones
I found this recipe on Chalkboard Mag and it will definitely be added to the rotation. I like a snack between 4–5pm every day and while they vary from day to day, this will be on rotation until I eat them all.
In terms of nutrition, it’s mainly carbs and fats. But all from unprocessed sources. Plus, they are so delicious and still fit pretty nicely in my calorie allotment.
Total so far: 1,042 calories
Dinner: Miso Chicken Furikake bowl
Last but not least was dinner. We love this recipe because it’s super easy and requires minimal ingredients. You just need to marinate the chicken the night before.
Forgive me as I forgot to take a picture before I ate this (I was so excited to eat it!), so you’ll have to enjoy the perfectly styled version from Goop directly.
To make this even tastier, we like to cook the rice in lite coconut milk.
Screenshot from Myfitnesspal.
Grand Total
Drum roll please…. Just kidding, I told you the total up top.
Here’s how the day netted out:
GRAND TOTAL: 1,479 calories
Screenshot from Myfitnesspal.
This day of eating fuelled my body using whole foods and variety with lots of flavour all day. I wouldn’t say I was full after lunch and dinner, but I wasn’t hungry either. I was satiated.
As a quick side note, you’ll see I did not include the calories I burned working out in these totals, even though Myfitnesspal did. Experts explain this better than me here, but the gist is you have no idea how many calories you actually burned (nor really if you’re tracking properly tbh), so it’s better to ignore that figure and focus on the amount you need to eat to lose weight from your maintenance calories. When I looked at my maintenance calories and picked 1400–1500 as the goal, I already assumed I would be burning 150–350 extra calories based on my activity level.
I hope you found this food “day in the life” while watching what I eat helpful! Like anything in life, there’s a delicate balance of how far you can take things. Please take this entire article with several grains of Maldon sea salt — eating, diet, lifestyle are so personal and even if you eat this exact meal plan, I can’t guarantee you’ll lose weight.
Don’t kill yourself tracking calories or starving yourself because life is meant to be enjoyed, even if it means you weigh a few extra pounds.
