Skip to main content

Common Challenges: Quick ideas for 500 calorie dinner meals

Ideas for 500 Calorie Dinner Meals

Every evening at dinner time I feel hungry, rushed, and discombobulated.  Frankly, I’m a complete mess.  The day is unwinding, my children are tired and starving, and I keep going through the list in my head that I didn’t get completely finished.  Most of my clients voice that they feel the same way with the addition of the considerations of likes and dislikes of the family they are cooking for or eating with.

I always think a great rule of thumb is to keep a meal less than five hundred calories with snacks fewer than two hundred.  Here are some examples of some five hundred calorie dinners I put together.  Take a look and try them out.  Are you surprised by the amount of food? Do you think you’d be able to feel satisfied with these?  Good luck and be well.
Day 1  Calories
5 oz baked chicken breast
125
K.C Masterpiece Honey Terriyaki Marinade 1.5 T50
1/2 cup brown rice

160
1 1/2 cup green salad
50
1 T Italian Dressing

45
1 T  sunflower seeds (on salad)
50



0










Total480
 
Day 2  Calories
5 oz Baked Salmon
227
Dill Herb Seasoning 3/4 tsp10
1 tsp butter on fish
45
1/4 cup cous cous
40
1 cup sauteed spinach50
1 tsp olive extra virgin olive oil45
1/8 cup sliced almonds (sauteed with spinach)85
Salt to taste
0



0


Total502
 
Day 3  Calories
1 cup whole wheat cooked spaghetti160
1/2 cup generic spaghetti sauce80
3 ounces of 95% Lean Ground Beef150
2 tsp Parmesean Cheese
30
1 1/2 cup green salad
50
1 T Italian Dressing

45












  Total515
 
Day 4  Calories
5 oz Generic Turkey Meatloaf225
1 T ketchup
15
1cup steamed fresh green beans50
1 tsp butter
45
1/2 cup Mashed Potatoes80
8 oz skim milk
85












  Total500
 
Day 5  Calories
2 C Low fat Turkey Chili
200
1/2 T Daisy Sour Cream
15
1/4  2 % shredded cheddar cheese80
1 1/2 c green salad

50
1 T Ranch Dressing

80
1/4 Avacado (on salad)
75




  Total500
 
Day 6  Calories
4 oz london broil
200
1 Tablespoon Italian dressing (marinade for above)45
1 1/2 green salad
50
2 T blue cheese crumbles70
1 T Balsamic Vinegar45
1/4 avacado
75




  Total485
 
Day 7  Calories
5 oz pork tenderloin

150
1/4 cup cream of mushroom (on pork)50
1 cup brocolli

50
1 tsp Parmesean Cheese (on brocolli)15
Medium Baked Potato
110
1 tsp butter

45
8 ounces of skim milk
85








  Total505

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Family Nutrition: What’s the deal with Multivitamins?

This is definitely one of my top ten questions from clients and frankly it’s a hard question because there isn’t a generic answer.   The internet and such stores as the Vitamin Shoppe and GNC continue to place a lot of focus on vitamins and minerals and some of my clients swear by their regimen.   I’ve even had some clients tell me they can tell a difference within hours of taking certain supplementations.    Since this is a subject I try to tame my responses too, I was very glad to see the article “Multivitamins, So Many Types, So Many Labels” by Melinda Beck in the Wall Street Journal published June 21, 2001.   Did you know that the multivitamin is the number one dietary supplement producing $4.8 billion back in 2008 and that one third of American’s take multivitamins religiously?   As Melinda points out there are many different varieties of multivitamins yet there is no specific formulation that specifies what a multivitamin should look like.  ...
4 comments
Read more

Food Trends: A note about Stevia (zero calorie sugar substitute)

We’re all on the lookout for that sugar substitute that withholds calories, tastes good, and is natural and safe.   Recently I was asked what my thoughts were on Stevia?   Well to tell you the truth I didn’t have many thoughts on the product because basically I didn’t know much about it, except that in my mind it was a zero calorie product that could be substituted for table sugar.   I put this thought in my attic with the hopes of getting more acquainted at a later time. As I get myself more familiar lets start with the derivation.   Stevia is an herb that comes from South America and has been used by the Guarani Indians of Paraguay for over 100 years.   This is advertised on the Stevia website along with a statement that it provides zero calories because the body doesn’t metabolize glycosides from the leaf or processed forms.   Essentially Stevia is absorbed by the gut and broken down into Stevol which is excreted from the body as a waste.   Th...
5 comments
Read more

Food Trends: Plant vs. Animal Protein

In my practice I see a lot of vegetarians who have a lot of questions about the types of protein they eat.   In case you need a refresher, animal proteins are proteins derived from meat, dairy, and eggs.   Plant protein is derived from nuts, seeds, beans, legumes and soy.   Most animal proteins are higher in saturated fat as well as cholesterol which have been proved to increase risks of arteriosclerosis, a precursor to cardiovascular disease.   A lot of the general public, not just vegetarians, are starting to focus on decreasing intakes of animal proteins and focusing on plant sources to decrease total calorie, fat, and cholesterol intake.   It’s important to know that most generally healthy individuals only need .8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.   Basically this means that a 150 pound man or woman requires about 54 grams of protein in an entire day. Protein is made from amino acids.   Although there are many amino acids, ther...
Post a Comment
Read more