2000 Calorie Diet: Reference Daily Intake, Easy Meal Planning and Clean-eating Food List to Lose Weight or Eat Healthier
2000 Calorie Diet
Reduce weight or eat better, includes meal planning tips and clean-eating suggestions - healthy reference daily intake.
The 2000 calorie meal plan is designed to help you lose weight. It is important to talk to a dietician before starting any low-calorie diet.
The Guidelines
2000 Calorie Menu Plan Guidelines
The 2000 calorie meal plan consists of a reduced calorie, whole-foods diet that is low in added sugar, refined carbs, and processed food. Please consult with a physician before beginning and do not continue if you have any other health concerns like diabetes or high blood pressure.
Meal planning and prepping your meals ahead of time will help reduce temptation and make eating healthy easier.
To improve your overall health, expand the meal plan to include a variety of foods. This ensures that you get enough vitamins and minerals from most food groups. A well-balanced meal plan should include lean proteins, whole grains, starchy vegetables, legumes, healthy fats, and non-starchy vegetables.
Your Weight Loss Goal
If you want to lose weight, you need a diet that contains fewer calories than your body needs. A great way to do this is by following a meal plan based around calorie counting.
The rate of weight loss depends on your caloric intake. To lose 1 pound per week, cut 500 calories from your daily food intake. For faster results, cut 1000 calories from your diet and add 30-60 minutes of exercise a few times a week. This will result in approximately 2 pounds of weight loss per week.
Always avoid crash dieting. An active adult male should not dump down to 1200 calories per day, for example. This would eventually lead to the loss of lean muscle and slow their metabolic rate.
The 2000 calorie menu can result in weight loss. Combine diet with regular exercise to see faster results. We have plenty of easy workout ideas that will fit within your schedule.
Your Caloric Needs
Determining how many calories you need a day will guide and help you reach your weight loss goals. Calorie requirements are based on your estimated metabolic rate, activity level and goal. Use this daily calorie calculator to find your starting point.
Sample Menu
Sample 2000 Calorie Menu Plan
The easy daily meal plan shows you exactly how to create quick, healthy menus in minutes. We show you how many calories and macronutrients are in each low-calorie recipe, so it’s easy to swap out items if you want to cut or add extra calories for an upcoming workout.
Here is the sample 2000 calorie plan.
| Protein | Fats | Carb | Calories | |
| Meal 1: Breakfast: Cereal: Raisin Bran | 19.32 | 5.14 | 87.38 | 434.27 |
|
1.1/2 cups -- Raisin Bran Cereal 1.1/2 cups -- Milk, 1% |
||||
| Meal 2: Snack: Fruit: Grapes, red or green | 1.09 | 0.24 | 27.33 | 104.19 |
|
1 cup -- Grapes, green or red |
||||
| Meal 3: Lunch: Chicken and Rice | 38.32 | 6.69 | 70.04 | 502.46 |
|
1 breast -- Chicken, breast, skinless 2 tablespoons -- Soy Sauce 1.1/2 cups -- Brown Rice |
||||
| Meal 4: Snack: Fruit: Frozen Blackberries | 1.78 | 0.65 | 23.66 | 96.64 |
|
1 cup -- Blackberries, frozen |
||||
| Meal 5: Dinner: Beef Steaks Provencal | 28.71 | 9.76 | 77.07 | 511.34 |
|
1/4 tsp -- Spices, pepper, black. 1/4 tsp -- Salt, table. 1/2 tsp -- Oil, olive, salad or cooking. 2 large -- Squash, zucchini, baby, raw. 4 cherry -- Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, November through May average. 1 clove -- Garlic, raw. 2 oz -- Beef, short loin, porterhouse steak, separable, lean only, trimmed to 1/4" fat, all grades, raw. 1 oz -- Pasta, fresh-refrigerated, spinach, as purchased. 1/2 tsp, leaves -- Spices, basil, dried 1/4 tbsp) -- Cheese, parmesan, grated. 5 large -- Baby Carrots: raw. Preparation InstructionMix garlic, basil and pepper in a small bowl. Take half of the garlic mixture and add evenly onto both sides of the cubed steak. Then, set the steak aside. Inside a large nonstick frying pan, add oil and turn heat to medium. Then, add tomatoes and zucchini to the pan. You should only cook for 1 minute, then remove the vegetables and sprinkle some cheese on them. Turn heat to medium-high, then pan-broil steaks for 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the steak once. Season with salt and serve with vegetables and pasta or rice. |
||||
| Meal 6: PM Snack: Fruit: Banana & Peanut Butter | 9.51 | 16.57 | 37.32 | 309.2 |
|
1 tbsp -- Peanut Butter 1 large (8" to 8-7/8" long) -- Banana |
||||
| TOTAL | 99.21 | 39.15 | 328.92 | 1984.35 |
Resources Coming Soon
New Menu Plans and Resources Coming Soon
♥ Calorie free cheats.
♥ Clean eating plans.
♥ Diet planner app.
♥ Low cholesterol plans.
♥ More low-calorie options.
Help Me
The Best Meal Plan App
Using the latest science and research, the team at changingshape.com offers plans developed by certified nutrition and fitness professionals. Join the changingshape.com calorie counter app free today.
