What is your current eating plan? How does it fit with your weight loss and fitness goals? Will you go raw vegan, low carb, paleo, keto, vegetarian, or eat clean? Will you be following a specific book or plan? It can be very confusing and that is why research is important. If you haven’t done your research and embraced an eating plan, it’s time to do that.
My #1 tip for meal planning: Don’t just decide on a daily calorie goal or way of eating (paleo, low carb, etc.) Set daily goals for carbs, sugar, fat and protein intake as well. Having a goal for calories and nutrients is a more effective way to plan out your meals.
- Use an online weight loss calculator to help you decide on the numbers that work for you. Here are some helpful calculators: www.webmd.com, www.myfitnesspal.com or www.freedieting.com. I’ve also included some general guidelines below that you can use as a starting point.
- Please keep in mind that you have to do your own research and work to figure out what works for your needs. Someone with blood sugar issues is not going to eat a high carb diet. Someone with pancreas or gallbladder issues can’t just put an eating plan together without considering how much fat they will be eating. There is no “one size fits all” plan. Here is some additional guidance.
– Protein has 4 calories per gram – A good place to start is eating .7 to 1.2 gram per pound of bodyweight depending on you exercise needs and how much weight training you are doing.
– Carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram – A good starting point is .5 to .9 gram per pound of bodyweight.
– Fat has 9 calories per gram – Start with .3 to .5 gram per pound of bodyweight.
– Break down your calories by percentage. For example, 30% carbs, 40% protein and 30% fats.
– Going Low Carb – Going low carb can be very helpful of fat loss. We are talking between 50 to 150 grams of carbs per day depending on your needs.
One of the number one reasons people don’t get results, is because they don’t go into weight loss with a clear plan and clear, reasonable goals in mind. When it comes to eating, it’s very easy to get off track, eat too much or eat too little food. If you haven’t lost weight in the past year, could it be that you didn’t commit to a balanced eating plan and give it time to work? Could it be because you really couldn’t find a way of eating that worked for you? Let’s change that and stop the endless dieting cycle. There are tons of recipes and meal plans online for free to help you get started.
Tools
- Eat This Much – Meal Plan Creation Site
- Fooducate – Online tool and app that can help you research healthier food choices.
- BWLW’s Free 4 Week Vegetarian Meal Plan
- If It Fits Your Macros – A great site about counting macros instead of calories.
- List of Free Meal Plans
- Cooking Light’s Weeknight Meal Planner
- Meal Plans from Whole Foods
Articles
- Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail: Making the Decision to Change
- How to Create a Personalized Diet Plan
- How May Calories Do You Need to Eat to Lose Weight?
- Lesson: Portion Control and Portion Sizes
- Beginner’s Guide to Meal Planning – My Fitness Pal
- The Basics of Weight Loss
- 5 Best Meal Planning Apps
- The Best Diet Plan – These articles from ACalorieCounter.com are excellent! It’s a step-by-step guide for creating a unique eating plan to support weight release. Make sure that you check out this resource.
- 15 Tips for Better Weekly Meal Planning
- Clean Eating Foods List
- How to Create a Diet Plan That Doesn’t Suck and Actually Stick to It
Books
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