Low calorie diets and mini meals were made for each other. If you are on a 1200 to 1500 calorie diet, making each calorie count matters. The best way to ensure nutritional balance and to keep from feeling hungry is to spread your meals and snacks throughout the day.

Try to eat something nutritious every 3 hours or so. Most or all of your calories are best consumed from breakfast through supper. If you follow this system you won’t have many calories, if any, left for the evening. Choose nutrient dense foods that are a good source of fiber whenever possible.

Eating small meals often helps keep your metabolism running smoothly, which assists you in burning fat (see note that follows). Mini meals also provide you with a steady influx of important nutrients. Here are some sample plans of how your calorie breakdown might work.

[Note: For the BEST fat burning information you will find anywhere read my review of Tom Venuto’s book “Burn the Fat”. I don’t anyone who knows more about burning fat with healthy eating (no diet pills or supplements) and exercise than Tom.]

1200 calorie diet

3 main meals (breakfast, lunch, supper) about 300-350 calories each
2 snacks of about 100-150 calories each

Or

3 main meals of 300 calories each
3 snacks of 100 calories each

1500 calorie diet

5 mini-meals (breakfast, lunch, supper, plus 2 snacks) of about 300 calories each

Or

3 main meals (breakfast, lunch, supper) of about 350-400 calories each
3 snacks throughout the day of 100-150 calories each

Today I’m sharing eight 300-calorie mini-meal possibilities for breakfast, lunch, supper, or snacks. Some of these come from 1200 calorie sample menus I’ve already provided but other examples are new.

I hope these samples give you an opportunity to think about the many ways you can mix and match mini-meals for a nutritious daily menu of your own. Keep in mind that each mini-meal will not necessarily be nutritionally balanced by itself.

That’s why it’s important to have a sense of how each of your choices fits in a nutritionally balanced plan for the day. If you would like to see how well you are doing with your choices, refer to the 1200 or 1500 calorie diet plan on this website for a checklist.

You might also want to try a membership with MyFoodDiary.com (see my review of their service) to better assess your overall nutritional balance for a day. I’ve been a member for quite a while now and I have found the nutrient database they provide and the system for checking nutritional balance to be invaluable whenever I create 1200 to 1500 calorie sample menus.

To give you a variety of choices I will be sharing more mini-meals over time. I will include samples to meet different needs. Some will require a little cooking, others are heat and serve, and others can be purchased on the run from a grocery store or restaurant. Keep in mind that pre-prepared foods whether canned or packaged from a grocery store or meals from a restaurant tend to be high in sodium. Image via Wikipedia

Mini-meals for Breakfast:

2 Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes 178
1/2 Tbsp. Land O’Lakes Light Butter made in part with Canola Oil 25
2 Tbsp. Light Syrup 48
4 oz. Orange Juice 52

303 calories total

1 Large Egg Scrambled with 2 tsp. margarine or butter 137 *
1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread 90
1/2 Tbsp. Jam 25
4 oz. Orange Juice 52

294 calories total

*[Or choose to use 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp.) of an Egg Substitute for fewer calories–about 30 calories for the egg and 67 calories for 2 tsp. butter totaling 97 calories for the scrambled eggs.

That brings the total calories to 254 giving you a chance to add 1/2 glass of milk or some low fat yogurt (about 40-50 calories) to add some protein and calcium to round out the nutritional balance.]

Mini-meals for Lunch:

1 cup Vegetable Soup by Health Valley 55
1/2 Sandwich (or have an open-faced sandwich with one slice of bread)

1 Slice 100% Whole Wheat Bread 90
6 Slices Honey Ham 70
1 Slice Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese 60
1 tsp. Mustard 60
1 Slice Tomato 13

291 total calories

1 Martha’s Vineyard Salad from Arby’s 277
4 oz. Skim Milk 40

317 total calories

Mini-meals for Supper:

1 cup Four-Cheese Whole Wheat Ravioli 256
1/4 cup Low Sodium Marinara Pasta Sauce 20
1/2 cup Steamed Broccoli 26

302 Total Calories

1 Spa Lean Cuisine Classics Salmon with Basil 230
8 oz. Skim Milk 80

310 Total Calories

Mini-meals for Snacks:

1 oz. (about 1/4 cup or 28 nuts) whole natural plain almonds 170
1 medium Apple 80
1 small square of Dark Chocolate 50

300 Total Calories

1 cup Low-fat 1% Cottage Cheese 160
(1/2 cup 2% Cottage Cheese has about 100 calories)
1/2 cup blueberries 41
Drizzle a LITTLE (1 Tbsp.) real Maple Syrup over the blueberry-topped cottage cheese 50
2 Whole Grain Crackers (such as Crispbread Rye Crackers) 72

293 Total Calories

Hope this helps!

Have a great week, watch those calories, and stay healthy!

1200 calorie diet burn calories calories diet Health low fat Maintenance weight loss

I believe the best healthy diet plans of 2008 will be the same plans that were available in 2007. All of these are variations on what most health professionals recommend for a nutritious, well-balanced diet. Some of these diet plans will be familiar to you and some won’t.

The plans you may hear about most often in the news and online may have more to do with marketing than health. Diets with successful consumer outreach and marketing are not necessarily the best for you, many are anything but!

Have you read that the best diet plan is one you can stick with? There is merit to that statement but it needs to have an added word of caution. Losing weight on a diet is not the only goal. If tackling the challenge of weight loss, I would imagine you’d like to not only lose weight but keep it off as well. That requires adopting a healthy diet you can stick with for life, period.

There is plenty of research to document the importance of reducing your calorie intake (within reason) and for including all food groups in a healthy diet. If the diet you choose provides you with not only balance and variety with respect to nutrients and fiber as well as a healthy dose of antioxidants from foods such fruits and vegetables, you’ve likely made a good choice.

Here are my top recommendations in no particular order. I will cover each briefly. I will also add to the list as I become aware of new choices. Remember if you are looking for a basic 1200 calorie diet or 1500 calorie diet you can find healthy plans right here on this site. I will continue to add free sample menus for each diet as time permits.

1.The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan: Feel Full on Fewer Calories by Dr. Barbara J. Rolls and Robert A. Barnett

The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan developed by Dr. Barbara J. Rolls, a professor of nutrition at Penn State University, is based on many years of food research. What Dr. Rolls looked for in her research are patterns of healthy eating that are not only satisfying with respect to meeting hunger and other needs but are also enjoyable. The diet is based on consuming low energy-dense foods (low calorie) that are high in water and/or fiber. This diet includes fruits, vegetables, low-fat milk, cooked grains, lean meats, poultry, fish, and beans.

2. You on a Diet by Dr. Michael Rozen and Dr. Mehmet Oz

The idea behind You on a Diet is that by having a better understanding of how your body works, you will be more well prepared to make healthy choices for eating and exercise. With that in mind, the authors wrote a book to teach you how food affects your chemistry and metabolism thereby giving you the knowledge to achieve healthy weight loss more easily.

3 Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less: A Flexible and Delicious Way to Shrink Your Waist Without Going Hungry by Mollie Katzen and Dr. Walter Willet

The core concept of this diet is to make gradual changes in your diet over time to healthier choices. Eating healthy can be both delicious and slimming. Walter Willet chairs the Nutrition Department at the Harvard School of Public Health. He and Mollie Katzen have packed this diet book with sound nutrition concepts to help you not only lose weight but also achieve better health. (You may recognize Mollie’s name from her work co-authoring some of the Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks.)

4. The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss by Dr. Arthur Agatston

This diet book is basically a healthy version of the Atkins diet that’s backed by science with respect to fats and heart disease. The concept behind this diet is that choosing “good” carbs helps to stop insulin resistance, curbs cravings, and in turn makes it easier to reduce calorie intake and lose weight.

5. The Sonoma Diet: Trimmer Waist, Better Health in Just 10 Days! by Dr. Connie Guttersen

The Sonoma Diet is a variation of the Mediterranean way of eating. The diet is centered around fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, lean poultry, small amounts of meat, wine, olive oil, and nuts. This type of diet is better known for the link with reducing risk for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes than weight loss. However, the secret to weight loss is simple. Just watch your calorie intake. The basic concept behind this diet is that choosing the “right” kind of carbs and fats along with wine, and certain “power foods” you will achieve weight loss along with better health and energy.

(UPDATE: I have now written a more in depth review of Mediterranean diets in general and The Sonoma Diet in particular. See: A Mediterranean Diet Plan for Weight Loss)

Be looking for more in depth reviews coming soon. Till then, remember to eat healthy, watch your calorie intake, and stay healthy!

Diets/Diet Plans Reviews