Obviously, if you are looking to lose a lot of weight then the goal would probably be to try and keep the calorie intake too 500 calories or less per day. Important to note though, this is not the type of diet that should be a long term diet since the human body needs a certain minimum amount of calories per day to maintain itself in a healthy fashion. Remember before going and doing a diet like this, that your body requirements are 1200 calories per day.

Another thing to realize when attempting to have your body go on a 500 calorie a day diet is that your body should only lose two pounds a week without actually causing a health risk to your body.

But if you are serious about such a diet then you probably should be staying away from most meats while on this diet. It might be alright to eat a little bit of chicken, baked and never fried and make sure that all of the skin is removed. You can eat the chicken with vegetables or you can add it to a salad making sure that you either have oil and vinegar or try using the new salad dressing spritzers that are out on the market.

Another suggestion would be for steamed vegetables seasoned with sea salt, no butter or margarine and you should stay away from mashed potatoes, you’ll be tempted to add gravy or margarine. Add a little lean beef to this and cottage cheese with some apple slices and cinnamon for dessert.

Another meal you could include in this diet would be steamed chicken, rice and carrots. This makes for a filling meal, which is what you will need to help curb the cravings the body will have on such a low daily caloric intake.

You also might want to add fresh baby spinach leaves to your diet and it is OK to include fish as part of your caloric intake.

Pita bread is a good item that can be filled with chicken, fish, lean meat along with spinach leaves, carrots, celery, etc. Then consider spraying with the salad dressing spritzers that are available, to add more flavor. Cucumbers and mushrooms would also be additions to this type of sandwich.

Fruits that would be good on this type of diet would be bananas, grapes, papaya, cherries, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew and any other fruits in the melon family.

Legumes and wheat products are always good for this type of diet and are both good for the digestive tract as well, which is highly important when on such a strict diet.

Beverages that you might consider would be small amounts of milk, green tea, regular tea, diet sodas, herbal tea and plenty of water. The last thing you want to do while you are on a diet is to become dehydrated, so it is vital that you drink as much fluids as possible.