In this article, you’ll find a sample 2000 calorie diet plan that I created for one of my best friends. It’s a full 7 days of food, and I thought to share it here to help others who are also eating 2,000 calories per day. Even if your calorie budget is slightly lower or higher, you should be able to mix and match foods here, or even combine some to align with your personal needs.
I follow a very simple yet powerful home workout & eating plan that helped me lose 15 pounds and drop 3% body fat in a few short months. It inspired me to start writing articles on health & nutrition, and a few of my friends reached out for assistance with how to eat properly. Everyone who has followed what I’ve taught so far has lost significant weight in a short time.
My friend is about to start my program, so we calculated her calorie deficit and found that 2000 calories a day will help her gradually lose a significant amount of weight every month.
I’m going to quickly address a few issues people encounter when it comes to counting calories and measuring food.
Then we’ll get right into the sample 2000 Calorie Diet Plan.
People Have Trouble Counting Calories
I told my friend how simple it is to actually count food calories. However, she needed some major motivation. She had no idea where to even begin to accurately measure calories in food. What exactly could she eat and when? Would this eating plan be low carb or restrictive?
The quick answer here is that you do not need to eat low carb or follow any fad diet to lose weight. The only thing you need to understand is how many calories you must eat per day to lose weight.
I’ve been writing so many articles on how to eat at a reasonable calorie deficit to help people drop pounds, but in this article, you could literally just take the meals below and implement them into your daily life. If you’re on a 2,000 calorie diet, then you’re in luck, cause I’ve laid out a 7-day plan below with exactly what to eat.
The foods below are all either prepackaged or chain restaurant items. I did this so you don’t have to do the hard work of counting the calories or weighing the foods yourself. Prepackaged items have labels that tell you exactly how many calories you’re eating. Foods from chain restaurants already have the calories for their meals listed on their websites.
How I Decided On The Foods For This 2,000 Calorie Plan
You’re going to find a lot of foods on this list that aren’t necessarily “healthy”. In fact, you’ll find pizza, Chicken McNuggets, burgers, tater tots, chocolate, and even Funyuns on it.
The reason I got into my ideal shape after years of hitting brick walls is that I finally let go of restrictions. I let go of the low-carb lifestyle of eating 5 to 6 small meals per day. I now eat what I want as long as I follow two simple rules:
THE RULES
- Don’t go above your daily calorie budget (in this case, 2,000 calories per day)
- Always eat enough protein (in this case, 128 grams per day)
If you don’t know how many calories or how much protein you need per day to lose weight, you’ll find both calculations at this link here.
The meals you’ll find on this list are meant to make your eating life enjoyable, while also getting the right nutrients into your body each day. These particular foods were selected based on my friend’s food preferences. You won’t see lots of veggies in these meals below because I usually don’t count the calories in non-starchy vegetables anyway. But I do encourage that you eat at least 2 servings a day.
THE FOODS
My friend loves chicken and steak, so I added those items below. She also wants to be able to drink a glass of wine or a cocktail each night. I added drinks into this meal plan as well. They take up about 128 – 300 extra calories per day, so if you don’t drink, just swap out those calories with another food. It’s that simple.
Let’s get to the actual eating plan.
Day 1 Meals
1,998 Calories
130 G protein
DAY 1 LUNCH
423 Calories
38 G Protein
- Protein Shake170 calories
20 g protein
- 2 scrambled eggs143 calories
13 g protein
- 1 slice of toast110 calories
4 g of protein
- 1 Snickers Fun Size Bar80 calories
1 g of protein
DAY 1 DINNER
881 Calories
44 G protein
- Chipotle Burrito Bowl665 Calories
44 g proteinMain filling – chickenRomaine lettuce, guacamole, fajita veggies, pico de gallo, cheese, corn salsa, green salsa
- 1 mini bottle of red wine152 calories1 vodka & diet sprite
64 calories
DAY 1 SNACK
694 calories
48 G protein
- 1 Ultra Thin Home Run Inn Personal Pizza – sausage & pepperoni380 calories
21 G protein
- 2 scrambled egg whites34 calories
7 G protein - 1 container of Halo Top pistachio ice cream280 calories
20 G protein
Day 2 Meals
2,006 calories
135 g protein
DAY 2 LUNCH
480 calories
34 g protein
- Subway Turkey Breast Spinach Wrappepper jack, lettuce, mustard, pickles, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions
480 calories
34 g protein - Diet Coke0 calories
DAY 2 DINNER
866 calories
70 grams protein
- Perdue Perfect Portions Chicken Breast2 Chicken Breasts
260 calories
62 grams protein
- 2 tablespoons buffalo or barbecue sauce50 calories
- 1 cup of cooked rice200 calories
4 grams protein
- Steamed broccoli or any other steamed veggie10 calories
- 1 Pepperidge Farm Stone Baked French Artisan Roll130 calories
4 grams protein
- 1 mini bottle of red wine152 calories
- 1 vodka & soda64 calories
DAY 2 SNACK
660 calories
31 G protein
- 1 bagel250 calories
9 G protein
- 2 scrambled eggs + 1 egg white160 calories
17 G protein - Bag of m&ms;250 calories
5 G protein
Day 3 Meals
1,996 calories
140 G protein
DAY 3 LUNCH
550 calories
68 G protein
- Core Power Protein Drink (42-gram protein option)230 calories
42 G protein
- Subway 6 inch oven-roasted chicken breast on Italian or wheat270 calories
23 G protein
- Add pepper jack cheese50 calories
3 G protein
DAY 3 DINNER
859 calories
43 G protein
- 1 Aldi Petite Sirloin Steaks190 calories
23 G protein
- Mushrooms and veggies sautéed in half tablespoon of olive oil
60 calories - 10 mini potatoes225 calories
8 G protein
- Light & Fit Greek Yogurt80 calories
12 G protein
- 2 mini bottles of red wine304 calories
DAY 3 SNACK
587 calories
29 g protein
- 1 container cookies & cream Halo Top Ice cream
320 calories
24 G protein - 5 squares of signature select dark chocolate with almonds & blueberries
267 calories
5 G protein
Day 4 Meals
2,011 calories
131 G protein
DAY 4 LUNCH
540 calories
47 g protein
- Tyson air fried chicken nuggets – 10 pieces320 calories
30 G protein
- Ore Ida Tater Tots – 12 pieces130 calories
2 G protein
- Oikos Triple Zero Greek Yogurt90 calories
15 G protein
DAY 4 DINNER
873 calories
52 G protein
- Homestyle Turkey Meatballs (Target) – 8 meatballs280 calories
28 G protein
- 60-second penne pasta – full pouch360 calories
15 G protein
- ¼ cup of ragu traditional pasta sauce35 calories
1 G protein
- ¼ cup reduced-fat shredded mozzarella cheese70 calories
8 G protein
- 2 vodka sodas128 calories
DAY 4 SNACK
598 calories
32 G protein
- 2 scrambled eggs143 calories
13 G protein
- 1 egg white17 calories
4 G protein
- Kraft singles pepper jack cheese – 1 slice45 calories
4 G protein
- 1 bagel250 calories
9 G protein
- Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Covered Mini Pretzels – 6 pretzels143 calories
2 G protein
Day 5 Meals
2,003 calories
140 G protein
DAY 5 LUNCH
650 calories
65 G protein
- McDonald’s 10 piece chicken nuggets420 calories
23 G protein
- Corepower Protein Shake230 calories
42 G protein
DAY 5 DINNER
803 calories
50 G protein
- Jalapeño Beef Burger (Target)310 calories
26 G protein
- Kraft singles pepper jack cheese – 1 slice45 calories
4 G protein
- Aldi Hamburger Bun100 calories
3 G protein
- Ore-Ida Tater Tots – 12 pieces130 calories
2 G protein
- Oikos Triple Zero yogurt90 calories
15 G protein
- 2 vodka sodas128 calories
DAY 5 SNACK
550 calories
25 G protein
- Bagel250 calories
9 G protein
- 2 slices Kraft singles pepper jack cheese90 calories
8 G protein
- 1 slice aldi ham30 calories
5 G protein
- Snickers ice cream Bar180 calories
3 G protein
Day 6 Meals
2,005 calories
133 G protein
DAY 6 LUNCH
525 calories
52 G protein
- 1 can of Hormel Turkey Chili (No beans)380 calories
46 G protein
- 1 slice Kraft singles pepper jack cheese45 calories
4 G protein
- 1 bag Snyder’s pretzels100 calories
2 G protein
DAY 6 DINNER
918 calories
63 g protein
- 2 Perdue Chicken Breasts280 calories
52 G protein
- 1 bag Uncle Ben’s roasted chicken rice380 calories
8 G protein
- Mushrooms & veggies cooked in 1 teaspoon olive oil40 calories
- Hawaiian bread roll90 calories
3 G protein
- 2 vodka sodas128 calories
DAY 6 SNACK
562 calories
18 G protein
- 1 bagel250 calories
9 G protein
- 1 egg72 calories
6 G protein
- 1 m&ms; cookie sandwich240 calories
3 G protein
Day 7 Meals
2,001 calories
141 G protein
DAY 7 LUNCH
500 calories
65 G protein
- 1 can of Healthy Choice chicken noodle soup190 calories
22 G protein
- 5 Ritz crackers80 calories
1 G protein
- 1 Corepower protein shake230 calories
42 G protein
DAY 7 DINNER
921 calories
55 G protein
- 1 Bag of Frontera Chicken Taco Skillet (use cooking spray to cook)380 calories
44 G protein
- 1 slice Kraft singles pepper jack cheese45 calories
4 G protein
- 3 El Milagro Corn Tortillas150 calories
3 G protein
- 1 tablespoon light sour cream18 calories
- 5 mini potatoes112 calories
4 G protein
- 1 mini bottle of red wine152 calories
- 1 vodka soda64 calories
DAY 7 SNACK
580 calories
21 G protein
- ½ a Bagel125 calories
5 G protein
- 1 slice Kraft singles pepper jack cheese45 calories
4 G protein
- Small bag of Funyuns110 calories
1 G protein
- 1 Hershey’s Chocolate Bar (43 g bar)220 calories
3 G protein
- A glass of skim milk80 calories
8 G protein
That’s One Week Of 2,000 Calories A Day
I hope this article helped you with food ideas if you’re on a 2,000 calorie per day diet. And if you’re eating slightly above or below 2,000 a day, hopefully, you were able to use the foods above to mix and match into your own eating plan.
I know that a lot of these foods aren’t necessarily what we regard to be as healthy, and it was meant to be a good balance of nutrition from different sources of food.
The idea here was to demonstrate that following an eating plan can actually be fun and non-restrictive. If you eat at a 2,000 calorie deficit and combine it with a powerful workout plan, you will see incredible changes in the mirror in just. a few short months.
If you have any questions or comments at all regarding anything discussed in this article, please leave them below. I’d love to hear any food ideas you have that you incorporate into your own eating plan as well. Thanks so much for reading. I really appreciate you being here!