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See what a day's worth of food looks like on a 1,500-calorie diet. Plus, get a sample meal plan to help you lose weight with healthy ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

When you're trying to eat better or lose weight, sometimes you just want someone to tell you what to eat. Following a meal plan that's designed by a registered dietitian is a great place to start, but first you need to calculate your daily calorie goal.

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How to Calculate Your Daily Calorie Goal

Most people will lose weight following a 1,500 calorie diet. If you want to be even more precise about how many calories you should eat each day to lose weight, this simple calculation will give you a daily calorie goal that can help you lose a healthy 1 to 2 pounds per week.

To estimate how many calories you need each day to stay at the weight you are right now, multiply your current weight by 12.

To lose 1 pound/week: Cut 500 calories/day

To lose 2 pounds/week: Cut 1,000 calories/day

Example:

If your current weight is 160 pounds and your goal is to lose 1 pound per week:

160 [lb.] x 12 = 1,920 [calories]

1,920 [calories] – 500 [calories] = 1,420 calories

This formula is used in many clinical weight-loss trials and assumes the person using the equation is sedentary. If you're an active person, you may find you need more calories than what you calculated to feel satisfied during the day. The best gauge for whether you're at the right level is how satisfied you feel (you shouldn't be hungry all day!) and whether you're losing weight. If you're losing weight on 1,800 calories a day and you feel great, stick with that. The calculation is just a suggested starting point. As you lose weight, you may want to run the calorie-target calculation again, since your calorie needs will have changed.

For healthy weight loss, we don't advise losing more than 2 pounds per week. If you calculate a daily calorie goal that's less than 1,200, set your calorie goal at 1,200 calories. Below that, it's hard to meet your nutrient needs-or to feel satisfied enough to stick with a plan.

If you're not sure, start with a 1,500-calorie meal plan (a calorie level that most people will lose weight on). Here we show what a day's worth of food looks like on a 1,500-calorie diet. And when you're ready for more, try our 7-Day Diet Meal Plan to Lose Weight at 1,500 Calories.

Want to take this meal plan to go? Pack everything up in our favorite meal-prep containers:

For Breakfast: These larger glass glass meal-prep containers (To buy: Glasslock Food Storage Set, bedbathandbeyond.com, $20 for a set) are a nice for storing meals or meal-prepped items of different sizes.

For Snacks: These leakproof glass meal-prep containers (To buy: OXO Good Grips Smart Seal Containers, bedbathandbeyond.com, $30 for a set) mean you don't have to worry about your breakfast making a mess on the way to work or wherever you're headed.

For Lunch: Mason jars are the original meal-prep containers and are still just as useful now, so pack up today's lunch in one. To buy: Ball® Glass Regular Mouth Jars, bedbathandbeyond.com, $12 for 4.

Some original reporting by Nicci Micco, M.S.

Breakfast on a 1,500-Calorie Meal Plan

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For breakfast, choose something between 300 and 350 calories.

Sample Breakfast:

Avocado & Arugula Omelet (344 calories)

1 cup green tea (2 calories)

TOTAL: 346 calories

Other breakfast ideas for a 1,500-calorie diet:

Morning Snack

Aim to keep snacks around 100 calories. Try these easy 100-calorie snacks here.

Sample Snack:

1 medium apple, sliced and sprinkled with cinnamon (95 calories)

TOTAL: 95 calories

Lunch on a 1,500-Calorie Meal Plan

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Aim to make lunch 350 to 400 calories. Try some of these great lunch ideas for work.

Sample Lunch:

TOTAL: 400 calories

Afternoon Snack

Use your afternoon snack to fill out the rest of the day's calories.

Sample Snack:

1 cup cucumber slices (16 calories)

1 medium carrot, cut into sticks (25 calories)

1/4 cup hummus (104 calories)

TOTAL: 145 calories

Dinner on a 1,500-Calorie Meal Plan

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Aim for dinner to be between 425 and 525 calories. Browse these healthy 500-calorie dinners for a 1,500-calorie diet.

Sample Dinner:

Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Pesto & Shrimp(447 calories)

2 cups mixed greens (18 calories)

Dressing: 1 tsp. olive oil + 1 tsp. Dijon mustard + 2 tsp. red-wine vinegar + a pinch each of salt and pepper (49 calories)

TOTAL: 514 calories

Daily Total: 1,500 calories, 79 g protein, 91 g carbohydrates, 31 g fiber, 100 g fat, 2,026 mg sodium