Understanding the 1800 Calorie Diet

The 1800 calorie diet is a safe, effective plan which generally allows its followers to lose approximately 2lbs every week. Men and women with medium-large frames and who are less physically active but still need to lose weight can benefit greatly from this plan.

That is not to say that the 1800 calorie diet is 100% sufficient; you must still exercise, since physical activity is essential to your basic health. But with this diet, it is possible to successfully achieve weight loss while performing gentle exercise such as walking and yoga, in place of a hard-core daily workout.

And unlike many drastic, low calorie diets, this plan permits 3 full meals and 3 snacks a day, which means your body’s nutritional needs (including protein and carbs!) will be met and you will be more energetic as a result. It’s a win-win situation for all!

The Daily Plan

Each day, you need to make sure that all your nutritional requirements are being met. How? The 1800 calorie diet is actually fairly low-maintenance and meals are stress-free.

Nuts, low-fat yogurt, eggs or cottage cheese, raw fruits, raw vegetables, etc.—all of these items are easily prepared and/or simply eaten as is and make for simple snacks and lunches. Even breakfast and dinner can be painless.

Here are some sample meals and snacks you can try:

Breakfast

Strawberry Cheese Delight

• 1 cup of strawberries
• 1 cup of low-fat cottage cheese
• A dash of ground cinnamon on top

Scrambled Salsa Surprise

• 4 egg whites and 1 egg with yolk, scrambled
• Tomato salsa on top
• 1 cup of sliced honey dew melon on the side

Snack Ideas

• ½ cup of low-fat Greek yogurt, any flavour
• 1 cup of nuts (raw, unsalted, no sugar, peanuts, cashews, soy nuts, almonds, etc.)
• Raw celery or carrot sticks
• Raw broccoli or cauliflower
• Hummus and baby carrots

Lunch

Colorful Raspberry Chicken Salad

• A large bowl of rainbow chard (use both leaves and chop up the stalks. You can also use kale, bok choy or spinach)
• 1 cup of fresh raspberries
• 1 tangelo or mandarin orange, broken into wedges
• 1 cup of raw, neatly chopped red peppers, celery, carrots and tomato
• 6oz of grilled chicken breast
• ½ cup of pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons of raspberry salad dressing (reduced-calorie version)

Dinner

Mango Chicken & Broccoli Stir-Fry

• 3oz of chicken breast, diced or cut in strips
• ¾ of 1 small mango, cubed
• 2 cups of broccoli
• Fresh bok choy (1 large head will do)
• 5oz of cubed tofu
• 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of minced ginger
• 2 teaspoons of light soy sauce
• 1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic, diced fine
• ½ small red onion, diced fine
• ½ cup of brown and wild rice, steamed
• Sauté the chicken with the broccoli, onion, garlic, soy sauce, tofu and ginger in a pan with the oil. Add the spinach and mango just at the end and sauté for 1 minute only, then serve over rice.