How These 500-Calorie Meals Can Help You Lose Weight
Pictured Recipe: Black Bean-Quinoa Buddha Bowl
The best way to lose weight is to set a daily calorie goal and keep yourself accountable to that goal by keeping a food diary. But how do you cut calories from your diet sensibly and in a way that will be sustainable in the long-run? The answer: by setting specific, short-term goals that actually feel doable. Saying to yourself, "I will never eat out again" is not a realistic goal. "I will cook at home more often" is better, but it leaves the door wide open to procrastination (oh, OK, didn't get it together tonight…maybe tomorrow). Even better is a more specific goal: "For the next month, I will cook a healthy 500-calorie dinner 5 times a week". This straightforward goal is actually realistic and leaves room for those nights when you're out with friends or just don't feel like cooking for yourself Give this 500-calorie dinner challenge a try and see how easy healthy eating can be.
Read More: How To Set Weight-Loss Goals You Can Actually Achieve
Why 500 calories? Most people can lose weight eating 1,500 calories a day and when we break down the calorie totals by meal, 500 calories is a healthy amount to have at dinner to stay satisfied throughout the evening. To help make it as easy as possible to stick to that goal, we went ahead and created these healthy and delicious 500-calorie meal plans and recipe collections so all you need to do is follow along!
Browse this 1,500-Calorie Meal Plan to see what a full day of healthy eating for weight loss looks like.
Weekly Meal Plans: 500-Calorie Dinners
Healthy habits are easy to stick with when you make it easy to do them. These weekly meal plans make healthy eating simple, with a full 7 days of delicious 500-calorie meals already planned out for you. All that's left to do is follow along!
Delicious 500-Calorie Dinners to Help You Lose Weight
5 Tips for Making Clean Eating Breakfasts
High-Protein 500-Calorie Dinners
7-Day Dinner Plan: 30-Minute 500-Calorie Dinners
A Month of 500-Calorie Meals
This month of easy 500-calorie dinners is a great way to kick-start healthy eating habits for weight loss. The balanced meals in this month-long plan are a great choice for anyone looking for healthy dinner options, and are especially helpful for those trying to lose weight. With the meals already planned for you and the calories tallied up, all that's left to do it cook and enjoy.
30 Days of Easy 500 Calorie Dinners
Delicious 500-Calorie Recipe Collections
Browse these 500-calorie meal categories to find the dinner recipes that will work best for you and your family.
500-Calorie Dinners: Vegetarian
More 500-Calorie Dinners