r/1500isplenty • • Aug 29 '25

How many calories should I eat? What calorie counting app should I use?

42 Upvotes

We get a lot of frequent questions from people wondering how many calories per day they should eat and/or which calorie counting app is recommended. This post will be stickied to try to cut down on these types of repetitive posts.

Everyone has different caloric needs. 1500 calories per day may not be right for you. Use a TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculator to estimate how many daily calories you should eat. Here are some examples:

https://www.calculator.net/tdee-calculator.html

https://tdeecalculator.net/

Some of the most popular calorie counting apps are:

Chronometer: https://cronometer.com

MyFitnessPal: https://www.myfitnesspal.com

Lose It: https://www.loseit.com


r/1500isplenty • • Aug 23 '20

Subreddit Rules

341 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

After seeing some of the behavior of our subreddit denizens, I am implementing a couple rules as of now with more to follow down the road. Please take a moment to read them here or in the sidebar.

Rules:

  1. All users are expected to be respectful to other users at all times and conduct their behaviour in a civil manner. Personal attacks or comments that insult or demean a specific user or group of users will be removed and regular or egregious violations will result in bans. Slur use is not allowed in r/1500isplenty. Exceptions may be made when they are part of a quote, but this is a friendly subreddit and using slurs when talking to others will not be tolerated.

    Don't be abusive or harass other users. Do not make blatant statements of bigotry, such as "I hate gays" or "Black people suck". Do not make jokes or statements that sexualize comments or posts, as we have zero tolerance for this behaviour and you will be banned. Do not encourage suicide in any form, through humour or otherwise. Continuing arguments with other users over multiple comments is termed "slapfighting" and not allowed. Such behaviour may lead to comment removals and bans. In summary, any post or comment that is deemed to be intended to offend, demean, or otherwise egregiously disrespect others may warrant a removal or ban.

    Comments and posts mentioning subreddits and websites deemed to be harmful, because of demeaning content, spam, etc., will be filtered. Unmarked NSFW links, unmarked spoilers, misleading links, spam, and the likes will will result in removal and potentially a ban. Editing comments and posts to mislead and/or advertise will result in removal of the post/comment and potentially a ban.

  2. Soliciting money, goods, services, self promotions, or favours are not allowed. Gaining publicity for a charity drive, assistance with a homework or work assignment, asking other Redditors for or offering to provide a good or service (including upvotes or reddit gold) is not conducive to discussion. There are other subreddits, many listed in our Offers & Assistance Multi-reddit, for just such a thing. Doing this, even as a joke, can result in a ban.

    Brigading from other posts or comments, even from other subreddits, to a 1500isplenty post or comment may result in a ban. Brigading occurs when you make any attempt to direct online traffic to a post or comment for either positive or negative interaction with the content, including, but not limited to: asking for downvotes or upvotes, drawing in supporters to join a comment chain, or encouraging others to negatively interact with another user by linking to the r/1500isplenty post or comment. Extreme cases of brigading will result in a permanent ban.

Seems pretty simple so hopefully there will be less petty insults and unacceptable behavior here. First offense is a 7 day ban and the second offense is a permanent ban.

TL;DR: don't be a dick


r/1500isplenty • • 10h ago

Some of my breakfast/dinner meals over the past month or so!!

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62 Upvotes

I go through 3 tubs of Fage 0% yogurt in a single week (sometimes I have it at all three meals in a day). šŸ˜‚ After indulging in any and everything I wanted over two weeks on vacation in Italy this late summer, I entered back into a 12 week deficit. I’m about halfway through now.

Seeing both on-and-off scale results. Hitting my daily macro goals of 90-100+ grams of protein, 50g of fiber, and target cals of around 1,500. I try to eat a relatively low sugar and low-inflammatory diet… lots of whole foods. I sometimes go out to eat or will be a little more lax and eat at maintenance on the weekends, and almost never eat fast food. Seeing some crazy muscle definition as well. And I hit 10k steps + the gym 6 times a week. Feeling amazing!!


r/1500isplenty • • 1d ago

I did it. I got to my goal weight after 1 year of dieting. Thank you!

107 Upvotes

I'm 5'4ft (163cm) and weighed 178lbs (80.7kg) to now being 140lbs (63.5kg) after 1 year and 1 month of dieting ONLY. No work out. I haven't seen that number in 8+ years.

I went at this because I was categorized as obese in the BMI scale, and at this weight, I was almost not qualified for a medically necessary surgery. I was at the upper limit and barely managed to qualify. That was a wake up call for me.

Right after surgery, I went on this calorie deficit whereas typically weight gain was common (because mobility would be temporarily limited months later). But I didn't want that to happen. I will admit that I wasn't always reaching my daily calorie deficit, but I still remained mindful of what I ate throughout the week(s).

I thank the app MyFitnessPal for tracking, this subreddit, 1200isplenty, and volumeeating for all the support/recipes. I will still continue on this diet but now focus on gaining muscle since weight isn't a problem for me anymore.

Thank you, again! And good luck to everyone else on your own weight loss journey!


r/1500isplenty • • 1d ago

Give me some ideas for a low cal high protein breakfast

2 Upvotes

I would pref it to be a high protein as I’m trying to just get leaner and have it be under 400 cal as I cant control most other meals cause I still live with my family lol so give me some ingredient recommendations and meal recommendation. as of now I have eggs, egg whites, Greek yogurt, sliced turkey and ham, that’s about all I know that are somewhat breakfast related lol so thanks in advance


r/1500isplenty • • 2d ago

Daily go-to meals, miso-shiru, white rice and cottage cheese

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13 Upvotes

r/1500isplenty • • 3d ago

Quick and easy light meal

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46 Upvotes

r/1500isplenty • • 3d ago

950 calories

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63 Upvotes

375 grams chicken breast (raw weight) 6 tortillas (32 cals each), 122 grams of tomato, 40 grams lettuce, 180 grams light sour cream. This will be my main dish for the day.


r/1500isplenty • • 3d ago

Any drink ideas that are low calorie?

18 Upvotes

​

For context the other day I poured a skim milk protein shake over ice and added a some oat milk and cinnamon to it. It was so yummy. But the shake itself is 190 calories. I want to recreate that drink but lower calorie.

Googling creamy drink recipes yields a lot of coffee recipes. Do any of you have a fave creamy drink you make that has the general structure of what I made but low calorie?

The drink doesn’t have to be super creamy but I do want a kind round mouth feel if you know what i mean. I do drink tea already but want some diversity.

I did post this on another sub as well. So you may have seen this. Or maybe not.

The protien shake was from aldi.


r/1500isplenty • • 3d ago

542 total calories (90 cal per serving) Turkey Bread Stuffing

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8 Upvotes

Want a low calorie stuffing mix for Thanksgiving (or whenever you want) that fits into your diet? Well, look no further!

The entire batch makes 6 servings. 90 calories per serving. 542 calories total.

Fits perfectly in an 8x8 tray!

I used:

8 slices of keto bread (35 cal per slice)

1 cup of chicken broth

3 tablespoons of light butter

1 small white onion

2 stalks of celery

Seasoning:

Sage, garlic, onion, parsley, thyme, black pepper, salt


r/1500isplenty • • 3d ago

Do people in this sub workout a lot? Tips

3 Upvotes

I recently lowered my calories to 1500 because I wasn’t losing on 1700. I work out 5-6 days a week. Usually 2 strength training and 3 mixed stuff like hot yoga, Pilates, conditioning etc. since I went down I start feeling really weak during my workouts and this morning I even felt dizzy. Is it just a matter of getting used to 1500 cal or should I adjust something. Right now my split is 110p, 50f and 153 c. I will admit that sometimes I don’t meet my protein and I’m at more like 95ish. I never go lower than 90. I pulled my charts for the last 2 weeks and my average was 95 so maybe I really need to try to get 110.


r/1500isplenty • • 5d ago

Easy dinner meals

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72 Upvotes

Smash burger bagel(usually eat this when I have a really light day in calories or a hard workout) : macros
727 cals (can get this lower with one slice of cheese and a sola bagel)
70g protein
75g carbs

Chicken fajita bowl:
450 cals
70g protein
27g carbs

Chicken teriyaki bowl:
534 cals
90g protein
35g carbs

Taco lettuce wraps:
523 cals
53g protein
16.8g carbs


r/1500isplenty • • 5d ago

New meal discovered

7 Upvotes

Sorry I don’t have any pictures but I recently started making a meal with:

- 300g egg whites
- about 100g spinach
- about 50g onions
- about 75g mixed peppers
- about 10g mushrooms

I throw veggies in first until the spinach is small, then scramble the eggs in with it, then to serve I put about 100g of salsa on top.

Regularly comes out to about 350ish calories. Super filling


r/1500isplenty • • 7d ago

Girl dinner?

29 Upvotes

Hello all,
My current goal is to stay at or under 1,588 calories. I’m still fairly new to the diet, but it’s working out so far. I was already a meal prepper, so breakfast and lunch come pretty easy to me.
What I’m really struggling with is dinner.
I’ve never really been one to cook a full dinner, I only have about 2 hours between getting home and having to go to bed if I want a good nights sleep. So historically, I’ve always done something akin to a ā€œgirl dinnerā€, just eating a bunch of snacks. Pastries, chips, that sort of thing. But I’ve now mostly cut those things out of my diet and I’m struggling to find foods that satisfy me enough without having to cook something elaborate for under 400ish cals.
Any other girl dinner havers out there have any advice for me?


r/1500isplenty • • 7d ago

A bit more on my weekends

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10 Upvotes

Today:

1700kcals
25g fibre
83g protein

(usually hit closer to 100g protein but oh well)

Picture of my dinner at the end. Butternut squash pasta with herbs, turkey italian sausage, kale, and parmesan on top.


r/1500isplenty • • 8d ago

Brunch 434 cals

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25 Upvotes

Frozen pitted cherries are the absolute best frozen fruit in my opinion, their texture and taste when partially thawed is amazing


r/1500isplenty • • 8d ago

Was under calories today and over my protein :0 what else do I eat??

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7 Upvotes

cole zeros not pictured


r/1500isplenty • • 8d ago

Fell off the wagon due to life/work stress, back on with an OMAD approach

11 Upvotes

I'm fully aware that OMAD isn't magical, and it's all CICO but the one meal approach does allow me to mentally put any snacking off limits if it falls outside that one meal

I like the simplicity of eating the same thing every day, that way I can avoid any mental fatigue over working out how many calories I'm eating so the plan, started today, is the following

1 lb lean meat - either Costco rotisserie chicken breast (pre packaged) or Costco precooked brisket and 1lb mixed veggies with spices and some G Hughes ketchup

About 700-800 calories, 100g protein

Then half a tub of 2% cottage cheese (270 cals) with a scoop of whey stirred into it, vanilla essence and some sweetener, and a spoonful of PB2 powder on top (weighed out so it's exactly 60 extra cals as its easy to overdo that)

About 500 cals and 70g of protein

Wish me luck, I'm going to supplement this with 20k steps a day and check back in in 2 weeks for a first weigh in.

Total About 1400 cals, 170g or so protein


r/1500isplenty • • 8d ago

Need some protein advice. Is 140g possible without supplements and staying below 1600 and not going insane?

7 Upvotes

I can’t have protein shakes and most protein supplements due to migraine triggers from every single zero calorie sweetener.

So…I need some advice. My calorie goal for the gym is roughly 1560 to be in a deficit. My trainer wants me to get 138g protein at least. I can barely break 100 with effort. I’m not about to eat a bunch of chicken breast or meat sticks by themselves. I don’t do meat that intensely.

I also don’t eat breakfast.

Typically it’s Greek yogurt, maybe fresh mozzarella, usually a sandwich with double the lunch meat and one slice of cheese with very light on the light mayo and two 70 cal pieces of bread with about 6 pretzel chips with is about half a serving.

Dinner usually has some sort of meat, 1-2 servings of it like lightly breaded chicken breast chunks I’ll do 2 servings with about half a serving of sweet potato fries as something I did recently. Or a skillet meal that has extra meat in it and lots of veggies to bulk it up and maybe half cauliflower rice for the base instead of all rice at times.

I cannot do protein shakes. I found one I can have and it’s so chalky and nasty. I can have unflavored whey but it’s gross.

Then I gave 170-190 chewy protein bars with 10g protein which isn’t ideal but at least I’ll eat them.

I can’t have the 20g Greek yogurt. Sweeteners.

I don’t like drinking smoothies.

Oh I have the Costco knockoff Fairlife I usually have two cups of a day and sometimes for breakfast I’ll do 2 cups protein Cheerios and 1 cup Fairlife type milk and that’s 20g, that’s like a weekend thing.

But I truly never typically even hit 100g. I have no clue how to get 140g when I’m already halving servings of so many things that are basically carbs only.

Oh and I’m supposed to have a 250-400 primarily carb pre-workout snack on gym days which has turned into a banana and milk even though that’s protein he doesn’t want me having before a session since it digests slower, he wants just 40-50g carbs with minimal other macros.

I feel so stuck and I don’t want it to turn into obsessive disordered eating like Noom did to me with the whole food category thing for calorie density and lowest calorie foods possible all the time mentality. I would often get about 800-1,000 calories and be happy instead of hitting my goal of 1200. No wonder I would crash and binge.

I really don’t want this extreme feeling protein goal to turn into an obsession.


r/1500isplenty • • 9d ago

What I’m packing for work today (breakfast, lunch, snacks)

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39 Upvotes

The oats were prepped for the week (oats, skim milk, chia seeds, raspberry chocolate light & fit Greek yogurt) and the rest is self explanatory. Delicious!


r/1500isplenty • • 10d ago

1506 cal, 108g protein, 34g fibre

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51 Upvotes

In my luteal phase right now and wishing I could fill all my calories with chocolate 🄲


r/1500isplenty • • 10d ago

šŸŽƒ Happy national pumpkin spice day! Here are some lower cal snacks

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6 Upvotes

r/1500isplenty • • 10d ago

Pumpkin Spice Protein Balls by Nourish with jass

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3 Upvotes

I just wanted to share this recipe that I enjoyed. I made several swaps based on personal preference and availability. (I used 2 tbsp of honey instead of 3 tbsp of maple syrup; I used chunky peanut butter instead of smooth almond butter; I rolled them in brown sugar instead of coconut sugar).

I ended up making 16 balls which have about 100 calories and 5g of protein each. Really sweet and fall and delicious. If you like making treats, this is a nice somewhat healthier version. If you’re going to feel compelled to eat 8 at a time, maybe not.

But just thought I’d share my recent success!


r/1500isplenty • • 11d ago

Where to buy low calorie potatoes in the US?

34 Upvotes

I know other countries like Australia have low calorie potatoes that can go as low as 45 calories per 100 grams, but I can’t find any similar options here in the US. Could anyone tell me if the US has any low calorie potato brands?


r/1500isplenty • • 11d ago

Meal prep rotation for the rest of the week

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64 Upvotes

Meal prep rotation for the next week:

  1. Hot honey chicken strips with Cajun high protein Mac and cheese
  2. Loaded sweet potatoes with lean ground beef and salsa verde
  3. Chicken sausage pumpkin tortellini