Is 1500 calories weight loss or maintenance for me?
I’ve been sharing my full day of eating for 6 days in a row on Instagram, and for now, I’m going to keep going? I like sharing my full day of eating record for several reasons:
- It keeps me accountable. Generally, I’ll eat a lot of untracked foods, and then ‘wonder’ why I keep gaining weight. LOL. But, when I take a photo or video, log the meals, and share everything I tracked, I’m much less likely to eat things I’m not tracking.
- I prefer sharing meal ideas to recipes. The older I get, the fewer recipes I follow. I like to put meals together with whatever ingredients I have on hand, and make sure they are balanced, and full of nutrients.
- I like having a personal record to look back at! Just this morning, I was wondering what I was eating in the spring of 2022, because that’s when I ran my fastest paces (and fastest marathon) ever.
So, without further adieu, the last 5 days are posted below!
Table of Contents
- Day 1 1497 calories, 166 g protein, 107 g carbs, 46 g fat, 18 g fiber
- Day 2 1,421 calories 144g protein, 106g carbs, 47g fat, 25g fiber
- Day 3 Calories: 1,446, Protein: 109g, Carbs: 107g, Fat: 65g, Fiber: 9g
- Day 4 1,579 calories, 128g protein, 180g carbs, 40g fat, 24g fiber
- Day 5 1,325 calories, 102g protein, 117g carbs, 51g fat, 18g fiber
- FAQ Is 1500 calories this your maintenance calories?
Day 1 1497 calories, 166 g protein, 107 g carbs, 46 g fat, 18 g fiber
What I ate day 1 as a grandma looking for more energy, more protein, and to stop grazing!
Full day of eating high protein low calorie day 1
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BREAKFAST 284 calories 29g protein, 22g carbs, 9g fat
- 39g sourdough bread
- 9 tbsp egg whites
- 28g reduced fat mozzarella
- Cooked mushrooms
- Cherry tomatoes
LUNCH 457 calories 39g protein, 22g carbs, 21g fat
- 4 oz chicken breast
- 28g roasted pepitas
- 1/8 cup craisins
- 2 tbsp G Hughes sugar free poppyseed dressing
DINNER 421 Calories, 54g protein, 17g carbs, 16g fat
- 5 oz chicken breast
- Mission low carb tortilla
- 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1 tbsp Bolthouse ranch
SNACK 335 calories, 44g protein, 46g carbs, 0g fat
Day 2 1,421 calories 144g protein, 106g carbs, 47g fat, 25g fiber
What I ate in a day to be in a calorie deficit!
BREAKFAST
- 1/3 cup oats
- 1/3 cup 2% cottage cheese
- 4 tablespoons egg whites
- 100 grams blueberries
- 30 grams sugar free syrup
LUNCH
- 4.5 ounces cooked chicken breast
- 3 tablespoons seasoned croutons
- 1/8 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese
- 4 cherry tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons Bolthouse ranch dressing
DINNER
- 5 ounces rotisserie chicken breast
- 100 grams sweet potato
- 2 cups roasted cauliflower
- 2 ounces grated parmesan cheese
SNACK
- 2/3 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 10 grams protein powder
- 2 ounces raspberries
Day 3 Calories: 1,446, Protein: 109g, Carbs: 107g, Fat: 65g, Fiber: 9g
What I ate in a day while dogsitting my granddog, while sharing some of my food with him. LOL Also, this was a Sunday, which means I was making a dessert as well as enchiladas for my kids, niece, nephews, and anyone else who wants to come for dinner. I did fit a cookie into this day, and stayed under my calorie target!
This day ended up being 1,446 calories and I skipped my snack today so I could have a big dinner and a cookie with my kids for our Sunday dinner.
I made cream cheese enchiladas (recipe on my blog) and Churro copycat crumbl cookies.
Learning how to fit real life foods into my calorie goals makes this sustainable.
Breakfast, 327 calories
- 9 tbsp egg whites
- ¼ cup shredded mozzarella
- 52g sourdough bread
- 18 raspberries
Lunch, 355 calories
- 4.5 oz chicken breast
- ¼ cup shredded mozzarella
- 2 tbsp Bolthouse ranch
- Baby carrots
- Cucumbers
- Cherry tomatoes
Dinner + Dessert, 764 calories
Dinner tonight was these cream cheese enchiladas
- Mission low carb tortilla
- 3 oz rotisserie chicken breast
- 2 tbsp cream cheese
- Shredded Colby Jack cheese
- 1 cup Taylor Farms Mediterranean Crunch salad
- 1 Crumbl cinnamon sugar cookie
- 1 tbsp buttercream frosting
- *I see the photo shows rice, but I didn’t end up eating it.
Day 4 1,579 calories, 128g protein, 180g carbs, 40g fat, 24g fiber
What I ate this day after running a 5K, and placing first in my age group!
Today was Memorial Day. There’s a local race that I entered, and I was able to run an 8:28 minute/mile. I know I can run faster, but I’m either feeling extra fatigued as I get older, or I just haven’t run enough this season for it to feel easier. Hopefully, my race pace improves some over the next few months.
What I ate today after placing first in my age group at a 5K
Pre-run & Snacks 385 calories 13g protein, 81g carbs, 7g fat
Breakfast 422 calories 28g protein, 35g carbs, 18g fat
- 1 egg
- 9 tbsp egg whites
- 52g sourdough bread
- 19g shredded Mexican cheese
- 93g strawberries
Lunch 297 calories 30g protein, 28g carbs, 8g fat
Dinner 475 calories, 57 g protein, 36 g carbs, 17 g fat
- 6 oz rotisserie chicken breast
- 150g sweet potato
- 1 cup roasted cauliflower
- 1 oz parmesan cheese
Day 5 1,325 calories, 102g protein, 117g carbs, 51g fat, 18g fiber
What I ate today on an upper body workout day! I’m cutting back to 2 days of upper body days and 2 days of lower body training per week. And, I plan to take 2 days off from running every single week.
That upper body workout was:
- Lateral raise machine (4 sets)
- Shoulder press machine (3 sets)
- Lat pulldown cable (3 sets)
- Seated Row (2 sets)
- Reverse fly machine (3 sets)
- Bicep curl dumbbell (2 sets)
- Tricep press machine (3 sets)
Breakfast 245 calories, 21g protein
Low carb tortilla with egg whites and strawberries
- 1 Mission Low Carb tortilla
- 12 tbsp egg whites
- 93g strawberries
- 2 tbsp sugar free Reddi Wip
Lunch 199 calories, 20g protein
Rotisserie chicken salad plate
- 3 oz Costco rotisserie chicken breast
- 4 baby carrots
- 2 tbsp Bolthouse Ranch dressing
- 1 oz feta cheese
Dinner 691 calories, 56g protein
Homemade lasagna night
- 270g homemade lasagna
- 52g sourdough bread
- 1 cup roasted cauliflower
- 1 oz parmesan cheese
Snack 190 calories, 17g protein
- FitCrunch Chocolate Peanut Butter bar
FAQ Is 1500 calories this your maintenance calories?
I DO think 1500 calories would be maintenance for me if I stuck to it consistently. But I’ve been having several high days recently, so 1500 gets me back to the weight I like…. So do I call it a deficit or maintenance!? 😂 Not sure!!
Every single year I commit to the world that I’m gonna figure out how to maintain my weight loss, and every year I struggle to be consistent enough to find it!
But for simplicity, yes! I have lost 2 lbs this week on 1500, so for right now, it might be a deficit!
