A First Meal Plan Should be Simple and Begin to Teach you how to Eat Properly…
I wasted about 3 months in the beginning of my transformation journey haphazardly eating whatever I thought was healthy.
A simple way of eating has been shown to keep the weight off long term. BUT I WAS MISSING the mark on three things, needed lessons I wish I had learned early on.
I share these so you can avoid wasting valuable time like I did.
- I wish I had focused on eating clean raw foods instead of processed “so called healthy” alternatives.
- Failure to plan out my meals each day, and prep them accordingly.
- And finally I did not have a tracking system so there was no accountability.
Below is my first serious meal plan. It has some processed items, but mostly healthy foods. The reason for this was to acclimate myself slowly to eating healthier while not feeling starved or having cravings.
In total it is about 2100 calories. This was enough for me to sustain a deficit to lose weight. I was never really hungry on this diet and I spaced each meal about 2 hours apart.
GCHANMAKO SAMPLE MEAL PLAN
Breakfast:
1/4 Cup of Dry Quick Oats Oatmeal which cooked out to about a cup or so
Top with 1/2 cup of Berries – Blueberries or Strawberries or Both
1 Packet of No Calorie Stevia (Honey is a substitute)
Extra Large – Egg White, 6 egg whites (sometimes I use fresh salsa on it).
Hillshire Farm – Turkey Lil Smokies, 5 links (can use other types of lower fat sausages like turkey sausage).
Total Calories: 357
Carbs: 39 Fat: 9 Protein: 50 Sodium: 845 Sugar: 7
2nd Breakfast or Morning Snack:
1 Clif Bar – Crunchy Peanut Butter Energy Bar, 1 bar (68g)
Top with Oikos Triple Zero Vanilla Greek Yogurt – Greek Yogurt – Nonfat, 0.5 cup.
Dole – Fresh Blackberries, 1 cup (144g) 60 14 0 2 0 7
you can also substitute a protein bar, like Pure Protein with 20g of protein per bar
Total Calories: 400
Carbs: 70 Fat: 5 Protein: 23 Sodium: 230 Sugar: 35
Lunch:
1 Cup of Spaghetti Squash
1/2 Cup of Red Potatoes Oven Roasted
1 Cup of Shredded Crock pot Chicken
2 tsp of Hot Sauce for the Chicken (Tapitio, Cholula, or La Costena Green Sauce)
1/4 Cup of Parmesan Cheese (not from the shaker can)
Total Calories: 357
Carbs: 40 Fat: 7 Protein: 31 Sodium: 267 Sugar: 6
2nd Lunch or Afternoon or After Workout Snack:
1/2 Cup of Fairfield Chocolate Milk
1 – 1/2 Cup of 1% Low-fat Milk
1 Scoop of Protein Powder
Total Calories: 420
Carbs: 41 Fat: 12 Protein: 41 Sodium: 478 Sugar: 26
Dinner:
1 Cup of Grilled Asparagus
1 Cup of Broccoli or Spaghetti Squash
1/2 Cup of Red Potatoes
1 Cup of Shredded Crock pot Chicken
2 Tsp of Hot sauce
Total Calories: 343
Carbs: 45 Fat: 4 Protein: 30 Sodium: 332 Sugar: 10
2nd Dinner or Nighttime Snack:
1 Container of Triple Threat Oikos Yogurt (there are many flavors to choose from)
Total Calories: 120
Carbs: 19 Fat: 0 Protein: 12 Sodium: 45 Sugar: 18
TOTAL DAYS CALORIES:
Total Calories: 2000
Carbohydrates: 254 Grams
Fat: 37 Grams
Protein: 187 Grams
Sodium: 2197 milligrams
Sugar: 102 Grams
Meal Plan Explanations
The main reason for this type of meal plan was that I wanted to feel like I was full. And that all of my taste buds (sweet and salty) we being satisfied. I know that from a nutrition standpoint it is not ideal.
But it was the start that I needed to understand meal plans, macros, and nutrients. Remember when I said you should start slowly, well this was one of the ways I did that.
For Breakfast you should start with a bigger meal. Try to get a lot of protein at this time. Egg whites are a great way to get a lot of protein. If you do not like oatmeal you can substitute with a whole wheat bagel or toast and all natural peanut butter.
The mid-morning snack should be fun and satisfying. It should allow you to power through till lunch. I had an energy bar, topped with Oikos Triple Threat Vanilla and then some fruit. You can substitute cottage cheese here, or turkey avocado rolls.
Are you Hungry Yet? Eating 6 meals a day takes getting used to…
During lunch you will follow the portion rule of thirds. Fill your plate with one third protein, one third vegetables, and the final third of a starchy carbohydrate.
In this case the chicken, vegetables, and potatoes will keep you full. Feel free to switch out the protein with another lean protein, and the potatoes with brown rice or sweet potatoes.
At the afternoon snack you may feel like you want to lay down and take a nap. Its kindergarten all over. A carton of milk and a blanket and you are ready to hit the pillow. But in this case our pillow is the Gym.
And you down this sweet snack right after. It gives you plenty of protein and some quick acting sugars to help build muscles right after a tearing down at the gym.
For Dinner it is back to the thirds rule. Have some chicken or fish, some vegetables, and brown rice or potatoes. It will fill you up and keep you satisfied to you hit the sack.
Before bed, and about 2 hours after dinner have your final meal. A nice container of Oikos Greek Yogurt in your favorite flavor.
Some Take A Ways from My First Meal Plan
This is only a sample plan that worked well for me. I had plenty of energy and in most cases found it hard to eat all the food.
Feel free to substitute as needed, and to add or delete depending on your daily caloric needs. If you recall when we first talked about this I mentioned a few details I wished I had paid more attention to.
I will mention them again. There is some processed food here. The energy bars, powders, milk, yogurt, oatmeal, sausage and so on. In hindsight I should have reduced those.
But the goal here is to get used to eating differently. Simply. As you lose weight you calorie needs go down as well. As you learn to plan your meals and eat more raw foods you can substitute these items out.
Success came when I tracked my food in myfitnesspal.com and put it in a meal plan form. Then I simply prepared everything on the weekend and had it ready to go during the week. Easy grab and go.
Also I wish I had used items with a lot less sodium and sugar. But as I said I wanted to go slow and easy and adjust my taste over time. I really believe in looking back that this is what helped me keep weight off.
After a while I moved to a more simple meal plan. This was when I was adding some good muscle in the gym and I was starting to lose inches in the waist and other body measurements. You can review this plan here.