500 Calorie Diet Plan

By the time I'm thin, fat will be in. - Anonymous

If you're like me, chances are, you've spent days, weeks and months in a constant endeavor to lose weight - sometimes I think, I was born on a diet. The funny thing is the change in the definition of a diet. In the days of yore, a diet was defined as 'the kind of food that a person, animal or community habitually eats', and that's exactly what a diet meant. Now, a diet refers more to a meal plan that's exclusively followed to promote weight loss. There are good days in every diet, as there are bad days, days when you fall off the wagon, days when the box of chocolate beckons with the promise of real true happiness for the 45 seconds that it stays in your mouth. The thing is, that the majority of us don't really get off a diet - you eat, you don't eat, you deny, you reward, and the weighing scale only veers to the right, or not at all. There's a diet and diet tips to suit every size, every weight, and every time frame, and they get scarier by the day. Think I'm kidding? Read on.

500 Calorie Diet Meal Plan

Before we get started on the intricacies of the 500 calorie a day diet, let's first discuss the pros and cons. The most glaring advantage is obviously weight loss. Let me put it this way, a normal healthy woman's recommended daily calorie intake is between 1800 and 2000 calories. When you cut that calorific intake drastically, by more than a third, you're bound to lose weight. That's about it as far as the advantages go. The disadvantages? To begin with, many people report feeling physically weak, which is fairly obvious, since you're not giving your body much to work with. Second, you're going to feel very, very hungry. Third, after a given amount of time, your body will begin to burn muscle tissue which is counter productive. In addition, denying yourself food to almost starvation levels can pose significant health risks, complicated by nutrient loss and insufficient calorie intake. Having said that, some people, strangely enough, feel the advantages are worth the disadvantages. For those of you who'd like to take the plunge, the following is a 500 calorie diet menu listed below.

• Breakfast - Tea, coffee, in any quantity, which can be consumed throughout the day. One spoonful of milk is allowed through the entire day, and you can use saccharine or stevia as a sweetener.
• Lunch - Combine the four following options by choosing one of each: 100 g of skinless chicken breast, veal, lobster or shrimp, boiled or grilled without any oil or fat. Any one of the following: spinach, chard, chicory, tomatoes, celery, cucumber, asparagus, cabbage, beet greens or onions. One breadstick or melba toast. One apple, orange or half a grapefruit.
• Dinner - The same options as lunch.

The 500 calorie diet plan is also referred to, for obvious reasons, as the Very Low Calorie Diet or VLCD for short, and is not recommended to begin with, and certainly not for the long haul. While you will lose weight fast if you stick to it, its myriad side effects can be multiplied manifold if you continue with this calorie deprivation for any length of time. If healthy weight loss is your goal, (which is what it should be) there are a number of ways to achieve this without subjecting yourself to such extremes - cut down calories by all means, but ensure that your body receives adequate nutrition in the bargain, by following a balanced diet. Get rid of unhealthy eating habits, exercise regularly, and as for the 500 calorie diet plan - be kind to yourself and don't do it!