Mind & Body
What does 600 calories a day look like? Some examples
Maybe you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to drop a pound or two — now there’s a novel idea! — and you’re thinking intermittent fasting might be worth a try. But you wonder: How on earth can you eat just 600 calories a day?
Good question. So here are a few sample menus to show you how feasible it is. With each of these, when no beverage is specified, you can have any you want, as long as it’s water (or diet soda or black coffee).
STORY: Intermittent fasting, or IF, gains ground as a dieting tool
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A day's worth of meals
Breakfast
1 cup corn flakes: 100 calories
1/2 cup of 1% milk: 50 calories
Total: 150 calories
Lunch
1 apple (3-inch diameter): 95 calories
Total: 95 calories
Dinner
3-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast, grilled: 128 calories
1 medium baked potato (2 1/4 to 3 1/4 inches diameter): 168 calories
1 pat of butter (1 inch square by 1/3 inch high): 36 calories
1 cup of chopped broccoli, boiled and drained: 27 calories
Total: 359 calories
Total for the day: 604 calories
Two meals a day | If you cut back to just two meals a day, you can go a little crazier at each of them.
Breakfast #1
1 large scrambled egg: 91 calories
1 slice of whole wheat toast: 75 calories
4 ounces of orange juice: 58 calories
Total: 224 calories
Dinner #1
3-ounce broiled hamburger (90% lean to 10% fat): 184 calories
1 hamburger bun: 117 calories
2 pickle slices: 2 calories
1 tomato slice: 4 calories
1 tablespoon of chopped onions: 4 calories
4 spears of asparagus, boiled and drained: 13 calories
1 chocolate sandwich cookie with cream filling: 56 calories
Total: 380 calories
Total for the day: 604 calories
Breakfast #2
1 small cinnamon-raisin bagel (3 1/2 to 4 inches diameter): 191 calories
Dinner #2
3-ounce braised round steak trimmed of fat: 182 calories
1 cup of green beans, boiled and drained: 44 calories
1/2 cup of cooked white long-grain rice: 97 calories
1 cup of whole strawberries: 46 calories
1 tablespoon of light whipping cream: 44 calories
Total: 413 calories
Total for the day: 604 calories
To be eaten at a time of your choosing | If you forget about any semblance of balance in your diet, you can even indulge in your guilty pleasures. For example:
Meal #1
1 medium serving of French fries: 378 calories
16 ounces of non-diet Coke: 202 calories
Total: 580 calories
Meal #2
1 burrito with beans and beef: 460 calories
1 ounce of tortilla chips: 136 calories
Total: 596 calories
Meal #3
2 slices of a 14-inch pizza, pepperoni topping, regular crust: 626 calories
Total: 626 calories
Meal #4
1 cup of high-end ice cream: 580 calories
Total: 580 calories