For those following a 1600 calories a day diet meal plan, be mindful to read nutrition labels in order to get proper nutrients in your daily diet.

Image Credit: AnnaPustynnikova/iStock/GettyImages Eating a 1,600 calories per day diet can help you shed excess pounds and improve your health, especially when also following a regular exercise routine.

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 Tip For those following a 1,600 calories a day diet meal plan, be mindful to read nutrition labels in order to get proper nutrients in your daily diet.

1,600 Calories Per Day Diet

Following a 1,600 calories per day diet is a healthy, balanced approach to weight loss. Losing weight requires creating a calorie deficit, which involves either eating fewer calories or burning more calories than you need via exercise. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the best way to lose weight is to do both.

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  Sticking to a 1,600 calories a day high-protein diet may also be of benefit. Extremely low-calorie diets can lack many important nutrients, putting you at risk of becoming malnourished. By eating more protein, you provide your body with quality calories that will fuel the body. Crash diets that lack calorie intake and quality and other weight loss myths may result in gaining back any pounds that were lost.

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 The Cleveland Clinic also explains that people who lose weight slowly tend to keep the weight off rather than gaining it back.

Read More: Can I Still Lose Weight on 1600 Calories A Day?

Healthy Weight Diet Tips

The Mayo Clinic healthy weight pyramid is a guide to make smart diet choices that can promote weight loss. The pyramid offers a chart to determine the average calorie levels needed for healthy weight loss, based on sex and current weight, along with recommending 30 to 60 minutes of moderately vigorous physical activity on most days of the week.

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 The pyramid recommends fueling your body with good fats, such as olive oil, avocado, nuts and nut butters, protein choices that are low in fat and calories, including fish, skinless white-meat poultry, egg whites and legumes, whole grain carbohydrates like whole-wheat bread, whole-wheat pasta, oatmeal and brown rice, fresh vegetables of the dark green, red and orange varieties and whole fresh, frozen and canned fruits without added sugar. Limit sweets to 75 calories or less per day.

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 Read More: 1600 Calorie Dash Diet

Quality Control Your Calorie Consumption

Calories provide a measure of how much energy you get from a serving of food, states the Food and Drug Administration. The calorie section of a nutrition label can help you manage your weight, whether you want to maintain, gain or lose pounds. A general guide is that 40 calories is low, 100 calories is moderate and 400 or more calories is high in one serving of food.

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 How you distribute calories in a meal or within your schedule is beneficial when trying to lose or maintain your weight. As weight management depends on calories taken in versus how many calories are burned, the quality along with quantity of your calories consumed is important. A healthy diet will provide enough of each essential nutrient along with adequate calorie intake based on your age, height and level of activity.

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  references
  
      Cleveland Clinic: "The Very Best Way to Lose Weight & Keep it Off"
    
      Mayo Clinic: "Healthy Weight Pyramid"
    
      Food and Drug Administration: "How to Use and Understand the new Nutrition Facts Label"
       




  references
  
      Cleveland Clinic: "The Very Best Way to Lose Weight & Keep it Off"
    
      Mayo Clinic: "Healthy Weight Pyramid"
    
      Food and Drug Administration: "How to Use and Understand the new Nutrition Facts Label"
    




For those following a 1600 calories a day diet meal plan, be mindful to read nutrition labels in order to get proper nutrients in your daily diet.

Image Credit: AnnaPustynnikova/iStock/GettyImages

Image Credit: AnnaPustynnikova/iStock/GettyImages

For those following a 1,600 calories a day diet meal plan, be mindful to read nutrition labels in order to get proper nutrients in your daily diet.

      Cleveland Clinic: "The Very Best Way to Lose Weight & Keep it Off"
    
      Mayo Clinic: "Healthy Weight Pyramid"
    
      Food and Drug Administration: "How to Use and Understand the new Nutrition Facts Label"