1500 Calorie Meal Plan: 7 Days, 100 g+ Protein a Day (2026)

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title: "1500 Calorie Meal Plan: 7 Days, 100 g+ Protein a Day (2026)" description: "A 7-day 1,500 calorie meal plan with calories and protein for every meal, built from USDA data. Who 1,500 kcal suits, who it is too low for, vegetarian swaps, a grocery list and how to adjust it." publishedAt: "2026-10-06" updatedAt: "2026-10-06" category: "Nutrition" tags: ["1500 calorie meal plan", "1500 calorie diet", "is 1500 calories enough", "1500 calorie high protein meal plan", "weight loss meal plan", "7 day meal plan"] keyTakeaways:

• "1,500 kcal a day is a weight-loss intake for most women and for smaller, less active men. For a sedentary 30-year-old woman at 165 cm and 70 kg, Mifflin-St Jeor puts maintenance near 1,700 kcal, so 1,500 is a modest deficit."
• "It is too low for many men and for active people. Harvard Health advises not going below about 1,200 kcal a day for women or 1,500 for men without a health professional's supervision."
• "The 7-day plan below lands between 1,494 and 1,500 kcal and 112–148 g of protein every day, with four meals each. Figures come from USDA FoodData Central and are approximate."
• "Weigh cooked meat, fish and grains. Portion guessing is the most common reason a 1,500 plan turns into 1,800."
• "Judge it by your weekly average weight after 2–3 weeks. Losing nothing means add nothing and recheck your logging. Losing more than about 1% of body weight a week means eat more." faq:
• question: "Is 1,500 calories enough?" answer: "For most women and for smaller, sedentary men, 1,500 kcal is enough to function and lose weight at a steady pace, as long as protein and food quality are good. For taller, heavier or active people, especially most men, it can be a deficit of 1,000 kcal or more, which is harder to sustain and costs more muscle. Estimate your maintenance first with our TDEE calculator."
• question: "How much weight will I lose on 1,500 calories a day?" answer: "It depends on the gap between 1,500 and your maintenance. NHLBI guidance links a deficit of 500 to 1,000 kcal a day with losing about 0.5–1 kg (1–2 lb) a week. A woman whose maintenance is 2,000 kcal would expect roughly 0.5 kg a week at first. A small, sedentary woman whose maintenance is already near 1,500 may lose very little."
• question: "Is 1,500 calories too low for a man?" answer: "Often, yes. Harvard Health suggests men not go below about 1,500 kcal a day without medical supervision, so 1,500 is the floor, not a target. A sedentary 35-year-old man at 180 cm and 90 kg has an estimated maintenance of about 2,230 kcal. Most men do better on 1,800–2,000 kcal."
• question: "How much protein should a 1,500 calorie diet have?" answer: "Aim for at least 1.2 g per kg of body weight, and 1.6 g/kg or more if you lift or want to keep as much muscle as possible. In practice that is 90–130 g for most people. The plan here gives 112–148 g a day, which is 30–40% of calories."
• question: "Can I do a 1,500 calorie diet as a vegetarian?" answer: "Yes. Use the swap table: tofu, tempeh, eggs, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt and lentils replace the meat and fish. Most swaps add 5–110 kcal and cost 1–10 g of protein, so trim a little rice or bread to stay near 1,500."
• question: "Do I need to count calories exactly to follow this plan?" answer: "Not to the calorie, but weigh the calorie-dense items for the first week or two: oil, nuts, peanut butter, rice, pasta and meat. Those are where a plan drifts. Vegetables and fruit matter much less."

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Callie is our app. This page is a meal plan, not an app review, and Callie comes up once near the end.

The 30-second answer

A 1,500 calorie meal plan works for weight loss if 1,500 is 300 to 750 kcal below your maintenance. That covers most women and some smaller, sedentary men. It is too low for many men and active people, and Harvard Health advises not going under about 1,200 kcal (women) or 1,500 kcal (men) without medical supervision (Harvard Health). The 7-day plan below hits 1,494–1,500 kcal and 112–148 g of protein a day, with every meal's numbers taken from USDA FoodData Central.

Who 1,500 calories suits, and who it doesn't

Whether 1,500 kcal is a sensible target depends on your maintenance calories (TDEE). The usual estimate is the Mifflin-St Jeor equation for resting energy, multiplied by an activity factor (Mifflin et al., 1990). Here is what that gives for five example people. Each cell shows estimated maintenance, then the daily gap you would have at 1,500 kcal.

The NHLBI's clinical guide pairs a deficit of 500–1,000 kcal a day with losing about 0.5–1 kg (1–2 lb) a week (NHLBI Practical Guide). Reading the table that way:

1. Good fit (gap of roughly 300–750 kcal). Most women of average height and weight who are sedentary to lightly active, heavier women, and smaller or older men who sit most of the day. Expect steady loss of around 0.3–0.7 kg a week at first.
2. Too little deficit (gap under about 200 kcal). Shorter, lighter or older women who are sedentary. 1,500 may be close to maintenance. Moving more works better than cutting further toward the floor.
3. Too aggressive (gap over about 1,000 kcal). Most men who are lightly active or more, and anyone who trains hard. The faster loss comes with more hunger and more muscle loss. A 1,800–2,000 kcal plan such as our high protein meal plan is the better fit.
4. Needs medical supervision. For men, 1,500 sits right on the floor Harvard Health names. The NHLBI guide sets 1,200–1,600 kcal for men in clinician-run programs, which is a different setting from a plan off the internet.

For your own number, use the maintenance calories (TDEE) calculator, then see how many calories to eat to lose weight for picking a deficit.

How this plan was built

• Calories and protein come from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy entries) per gram, multiplied by the portion and rounded to whole numbers. The figures are approximate. Brands, cuts, varieties and cooking change them, so check the label of anything packaged.
• Weights are for cooked meat, fish, grains and legumes, unless the table says dry. Rice, pasta and quinoa roughly double to triple in weight when cooked, so weigh them after cooking.
• Four eating times a day: breakfast, lunch, dinner and one snack. Lunch and dinner carry 33–51 g of protein each.
• About 1 teaspoon of olive oil per cooked meal. Cooking oil is the most commonly forgotten 100 kcal in a day. If you use more, log it.
• Every day totals 1,494–1,500 kcal and at least 112 g of protein. The day total is the sum of the four meal rows.

Daily totals at a glance:

The 7-day 1,500 calorie meal plan

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Vegetarian swaps

Swap like for like at the same meal. Plant proteins carry more carbohydrate or fat per gram of protein, so most swaps add calories and lose a few grams of protein. To stay near 1,500 kcal, take 50–100 g of cooked rice or potato off the same day, which is roughly 45–130 kcal.

Two things make a vegetarian week easier. Keep Greek yogurt, cottage cheese and eggs in the plan, since they do most of the protein work. And if a day comes in under 100 g of protein, a 170 g pot of Greek yogurt adds about 17 g for 100 kcal.

Grocery list for the week

Quantities are what the 7 days use, as eaten. Buy a little extra raw meat and dry grains to allow for cooking losses and gains.

Protein and dairy

• Chicken breast (cooked): 720 g
• Greek yogurt 0%: 1,040 g
• Cottage cheese 1%: 400 g
• 5 eggs
• Egg whites: 200 g
• Canned tuna in water (drained): 240 g
• Salmon fillet (cooked): 220 g
• Cod fillet (cooked): 170 g
• Shrimp (cooked): 150 g
• 95% lean ground beef (cooked): 120 g
• Turkey breast (roasted): 100 g
• Skim milk: 450 ml
• Whey protein: 15 g
• Feta: 20 g
• Hummus: 50 g

Grains, starches and legumes

• Rolled oats (dry): 180 g
• Brown rice (cooked): 300 g
• White rice (cooked): 385 g
• Quinoa (cooked): 185 g
• Couscous (cooked): 170 g
• Whole-wheat pasta (cooked): 170 g
• Whole-wheat bread: 4 slices
• Whole-wheat pita: 1
• Potato (baked): 535 g
• Sweet potato (baked): 250 g
• Lentils (cooked): 180 g
• Chickpeas (cooked): 100 g
• Edamame (shelled): 50 g

Vegetables

• Tomatoes: 650 g
• Cucumber: 450 g
• Broccoli: 300 g
• Zucchini: 250 g
• Green beans: 250 g
• Red pepper: 150 g
• Romaine lettuce: 150 g
• Spinach: 80 g
• Carrot: 100 g
• Asparagus: 120 g
• Frozen mixed vegetables (cooked): 150 g

Fruit

• Pear: 270 g
• Apple: 180 g
• Banana: 160 g
• Orange: 150 g
• Strawberries: 200 g
• Blueberries: 150 g
• Raspberries: 120 g

Pantry

• Olive oil: 60 g
• Almonds: 53 g
• Peanut butter: 16 g

How to adjust it for your weight and activity

1. Start from your maintenance estimate. If the TDEE calculator puts you at 2,000–2,250 kcal, run the plan as written.
2. If your maintenance is above about 2,300 kcal, add 200–400 kcal from the table below so your deficit stays near 500–750 kcal. Above 2,500, use a 1,800 kcal plan instead.
3. If your maintenance is under about 1,700 kcal, don't cut further. Keep 1,500, walk more, and give it longer. Maintenance also falls as you lose weight, so the same 1,500 kcal slowly becomes a smaller deficit. The NIDDK Body Weight Planner models this over time.
4. On days with a long walk, run or gym session, add one item from the table. Fitness watches tend to overestimate exercise burn, so don't eat back the whole number.
5. If you weigh more than about 85 kg and lift, raise protein toward 1.6 g/kg with the Greek yogurt, whey or chicken rows. The protein calculator gives your exact range.

Easy add-ons (USDA values):

After 2–3 weeks, check your weekly average weight, not single weigh-ins:

If the numbers don't move and you think you're on target, read how to track calories accurately. Unweighed portions and unlogged oil explain most stalls.

When a different plan is the better choice

• A registered dietitian if you have diabetes, kidney disease, a history of disordered eating, or you are pregnant. They can set a calorie and protein target around your health, which a fixed plan can't.
• A higher-calorie plan if you are a man, tall, or train most days. The table above shows how fast the gap grows past 1,000 kcal.
• Cronometer's free tier if you want to check micronutrients on a low-calorie diet. It tracks 84 nutrients and includes a barcode scanner, with ads (Cronometer).
• No app at all if you will eat the same seven days on repeat. Print the plan, weigh the oil and grains, and you are done.

Logging the plan

If you follow the plan with swaps, eat out, or cook for a family, you need to log what you actually ate. In Callie you log a meal by photo, voice or text, and a photo scan opens a review screen where you correct foods and portions before anything is saved. Callie also builds daily diet plans matched to your BMI, so you get a starting plan like this one sized to you. It is a subscription after 3 trial logs: $34.99 a year in the US.

Related reading

• Maintenance calories (TDEE) calculator
• How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
• High protein meal plan: 7 days at 1,800 kcal
• Protein calculator
• How to track calories accurately

Sources

1. Harvard Health Publishing. "Calorie counting made easy." Accessed October 6, 2026. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/calorie-counting-made-easy
2. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH). "The Practical Guide: Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults." NIH Publication No. 00-4084, October 2000. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/guidelines/prctgd_c.pdf
3. Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, Hill LA, et al. (1990). "A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals." Am J Clin Nutr 51(2):241–247. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2305711/
4. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2018). Accessed October 6, 2026. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/
5. NIDDK. Body Weight Planner. Accessed October 6, 2026. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/bwp
6. Cronometer Support. "Subscription Types." Accessed October 6, 2026. https://support.cronometer.com/hc/en-us/articles/360028026971-Subscription-Types