The 1,500-Calorie Summer Diet

Eat right to lose weight with tips from a nutritionist—plus our healthy recipes
by Dana Lilienthal, MS, RD

Summer Diet

R emember your New Year's resolution to lose weight before warmer weather came along Stainless steel tea infuser? You may not have been able to keep it, but there's no need to despair, because the season is on your side as you rebalance your diet and lose those last pounds. With summer's abundance of low-calorie, high-fiber produce, along with warmer evenings and increased outdoor activity, now is the time to reset your goals and reach them.

To lose one pound a week, you need to decrease your overall caloric intake by 500 calories per day, for a total deficit of 3,500 calories per week. This can be done by reducing caloric intake, increasing exercise (we recommend the customizable SELF Workout Builder), or a combination of both. If you're not sure what your caloric needs are Business Education, here are some guidelines to help you:

    A healthy weight loss, for both men and women, is one to two pounds per week.
    An active adult female should consume about 2,000 calories every day, but if weight loss is your goal, lower your calorie consumption to about 1,500 calories.
    An active adult male should consume about 2,500 calories a day, but to lose one pound a week, your daily intake should not exceed 2,000 calories.


Believe it or not, it's surprisingly easy to plan a week's worth of meals that hit your calorie goals—and we've done most of the work for you! Follow our low-calorie summer meal plan, and all you need to do is shop for ingredients to start dropping pounds dc motor.