Looking for a weekly diet plan...
- Thread starter danmur93
- Start date
I've got good news and bad news, and both are the same news. Here's the thing: in general, the method by which you eat isn't very important for results, but the principles behind that method are important. Alas, it sounds like you want specific meals figured out for each specific time of day, and that's all method. You'll have to figue out what method is easiest to adhere to through your own experiene. Some people eat lots of small meals each day, others eat a few big meals each day, others have some other strategy. So long as the principles behind how you eat are met, it doesn't appear to make much difference.
The principles are all nutrition. You have 2 basic areas of nutrition: micro-nutrients and macro-nutrients. Micros are your vitamins and minerals. Macros are your carbs, protein, fat (and, depending on who you ask, alcohol). Macros all combine together to make your calorie consumption. Supposedly carbs and protein provide ~4kcal/g, and fat provides ~9kcal/g (I'm not convinced that these estimates are accurate, but I've tried several times and have not found any scientific literature that gives an accurate amount of calories per dose of each macro-nutrient, just the same estimations repeated ad infinitum). Your body functions well when it has all the nutrition it needs -- both macro and micro. The struggle is getting into weightloss territory without comprimising nutrition.
My approach to the issue is a bit of an Occam's razor approach. Protein is important, and increasingly so as your levels and intensities of activity go up. My perspective is fitness-related, so from my perspective a lot of protein should be consumed. Of course, if you don't exercise, this would become less directly important. A certain amount of fat is also good for your hormones and your health, contrary to what we've all been taught for the last few decades. Carbohydrates are important for an immediate source of energy, and a certain amount of them is good for your health, as well as for muscle-sparing when losing weight. However, the average person consumes far too much sugar with little-to-no other nutrients alongside it, and so a reduction in that sort of food is a simple way to approach weight loss with minimal sacrifice to other areas of your nutrition. If you reduce sugar, you might even find yourself replacing it with other, more nutrient-dense foods, that are more filling (which tends to be the case with foods that aren't sugar; although potato crisps prove that there are exceptions) and thus help you out both nutritionally and appetite-wise.
My recommendation would be to eat a lot of meat (red, white, poultry, fish all included) throughout the day, some eggs, some dairy, some fruit and/or nuts, some grains/legumes, and a lot of vegetables. Drink milk and water, don't drink much juice, soda or alcohol. Try and eat well 9 meals out of 10, and allow yourself some "sanity" food here and there (sanity food being all the stuff that isn't helping your weight loss, like ice cream, chocolate, cake etc)....so long as it doesn't excede a 1 meal out of 10 ratio with the rest of your diet, you should be okay. The only foods you should really, seriously avoid for pure weightloss purposes are "trigger" foods, which are the ones that turn your stomach into a bottomless pit. You can probably already think of one or two foods off the top of your head that, once you start eating them, you could plough through a week's worth of calories in one sitting and still be good for more. They might not even be the foods you'd suspect. Pizza and soft drink are obvious culprits, but yours might be peanuts. Who knows. Anyway, if there's a food that triggers you to binge every time you go near it, you should probably treat it the same way I treat alcohol (I haven't drank since 2009).
The principles are all nutrition. You have 2 basic areas of nutrition: micro-nutrients and macro-nutrients. Micros are your vitamins and minerals. Macros are your carbs, protein, fat (and, depending on who you ask, alcohol). Macros all combine together to make your calorie consumption. Supposedly carbs and protein provide ~4kcal/g, and fat provides ~9kcal/g (I'm not convinced that these estimates are accurate, but I've tried several times and have not found any scientific literature that gives an accurate amount of calories per dose of each macro-nutrient, just the same estimations repeated ad infinitum). Your body functions well when it has all the nutrition it needs -- both macro and micro. The struggle is getting into weightloss territory without comprimising nutrition.
My approach to the issue is a bit of an Occam's razor approach. Protein is important, and increasingly so as your levels and intensities of activity go up. My perspective is fitness-related, so from my perspective a lot of protein should be consumed. Of course, if you don't exercise, this would become less directly important. A certain amount of fat is also good for your hormones and your health, contrary to what we've all been taught for the last few decades. Carbohydrates are important for an immediate source of energy, and a certain amount of them is good for your health, as well as for muscle-sparing when losing weight. However, the average person consumes far too much sugar with little-to-no other nutrients alongside it, and so a reduction in that sort of food is a simple way to approach weight loss with minimal sacrifice to other areas of your nutrition. If you reduce sugar, you might even find yourself replacing it with other, more nutrient-dense foods, that are more filling (which tends to be the case with foods that aren't sugar; although potato crisps prove that there are exceptions) and thus help you out both nutritionally and appetite-wise.
My recommendation would be to eat a lot of meat (red, white, poultry, fish all included) throughout the day, some eggs, some dairy, some fruit and/or nuts, some grains/legumes, and a lot of vegetables. Drink milk and water, don't drink much juice, soda or alcohol. Try and eat well 9 meals out of 10, and allow yourself some "sanity" food here and there (sanity food being all the stuff that isn't helping your weight loss, like ice cream, chocolate, cake etc)....so long as it doesn't excede a 1 meal out of 10 ratio with the rest of your diet, you should be okay. The only foods you should really, seriously avoid for pure weightloss purposes are "trigger" foods, which are the ones that turn your stomach into a bottomless pit. You can probably already think of one or two foods off the top of your head that, once you start eating them, you could plough through a week's worth of calories in one sitting and still be good for more. They might not even be the foods you'd suspect. Pizza and soft drink are obvious culprits, but yours might be peanuts. Who knows. Anyway, if there's a food that triggers you to binge every time you go near it, you should probably treat it the same way I treat alcohol (I haven't drank since 2009).
Its actually really easy to create your own plan
Use an online maintenance calorie calculator to find your maintenance calories then lower that by 500 and thats the amount of calories you want to be eating to lose weight.
Then divide that number of calories by 5 or 6 depending how many meals you want to eat.
Then its just a matter of doing a little bit of research to find out the calorie values in food and you can create your own plan with great healthy food you enjoy
Use an online maintenance calorie calculator to find your maintenance calories then lower that by 500 and thats the amount of calories you want to be eating to lose weight.
Then divide that number of calories by 5 or 6 depending how many meals you want to eat.
Then its just a matter of doing a little bit of research to find out the calorie values in food and you can create your own plan with great healthy food you enjoy
I cannot give a perfect diet routine to you. Just read all of my recommendation carefully and make your own diet plan by yourself.
Dieting should be simple to follow. If it’s simple, all you need is the will to stick to your diet and you’ll see real result quickly.
Weight loss, in the most basic sense, comes down to simple arithmetic. You must eat less calories than you burn. And the best way to go about creating this caloric deficit is a combination of diet and exercise. But you already knew that. Let’s get to the meal plan.
I can sum the meal plan up in six simple words: Eat small well balanced frequent meals. Eat 3 meals and 2 snacks each day. And if you must, you can add a third snack. Space each meal or snack about 3 hours from the previous meal or snack.
Eat and drink the following with reckless abandon:
• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Green, Red, or Yellow Pepper
• Cucumber
• Apples
• Asparagus
• Cauliflower
• Green Beans
• Kale
• Celery
• Pretty much any green leafy vegetable with the exception of iceberg lettuce
• Water
Eat 2 – 4 servings of the following throughout the day:
• Carrots
• Bananas
• Berries
• Peaches
• Plums
• Oranges
• Pretty much any fresh fruit you like
Eat one 4 – 6 ounce lean serving of the following with each meal. Preparation should be grilled, steamed, baked, or stir fried – no breaded and fried foods:
• Turkey breast
• Chicken breast
• Steak
• Pork
• Fish
• Also consider eggs (2 or 3)
Eat one serving of the following with each snack. Truth is told, I recommend you avoid dairy during your weight loss quest, but if you feel you need it, eat it with you snacks:
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Cashews
• Natural peanut butter (no sugar, no salt added)
• Yogurt
• Low-fat cottage cheese
• Low-fat milk
Eat these only with your meal that follows your fitness training and only in limited portion:
• Oatmeal
• Brown rice
• Legumes
• Potatoes
• Whole wheat bread
• Whole wheat pasta
• Other whole grain food items
Use the following in extremely limited portions or not at all:
• Salad dressing
• Butter
• Cheese
• Other condiments
Now I believe that you got a clear idea which item you should add in your daily diet routine and which item you should not add in your daily diet routine.
Dieting should be simple to follow. If it’s simple, all you need is the will to stick to your diet and you’ll see real result quickly.
Weight loss, in the most basic sense, comes down to simple arithmetic. You must eat less calories than you burn. And the best way to go about creating this caloric deficit is a combination of diet and exercise. But you already knew that. Let’s get to the meal plan.
I can sum the meal plan up in six simple words: Eat small well balanced frequent meals. Eat 3 meals and 2 snacks each day. And if you must, you can add a third snack. Space each meal or snack about 3 hours from the previous meal or snack.
Eat and drink the following with reckless abandon:
• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Green, Red, or Yellow Pepper
• Cucumber
• Apples
• Asparagus
• Cauliflower
• Green Beans
• Kale
• Celery
• Pretty much any green leafy vegetable with the exception of iceberg lettuce
• Water
Eat 2 – 4 servings of the following throughout the day:
• Carrots
• Bananas
• Berries
• Peaches
• Plums
• Oranges
• Pretty much any fresh fruit you like
Eat one 4 – 6 ounce lean serving of the following with each meal. Preparation should be grilled, steamed, baked, or stir fried – no breaded and fried foods:
• Turkey breast
• Chicken breast
• Steak
• Pork
• Fish
• Also consider eggs (2 or 3)
Eat one serving of the following with each snack. Truth is told, I recommend you avoid dairy during your weight loss quest, but if you feel you need it, eat it with you snacks:
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Cashews
• Natural peanut butter (no sugar, no salt added)
• Yogurt
• Low-fat cottage cheese
• Low-fat milk
Eat these only with your meal that follows your fitness training and only in limited portion:
• Oatmeal
• Brown rice
• Legumes
• Potatoes
• Whole wheat bread
• Whole wheat pasta
• Other whole grain food items
Use the following in extremely limited portions or not at all:
• Salad dressing
• Butter
• Cheese
• Other condiments
Now I believe that you got a clear idea which item you should add in your daily diet routine and which item you should not add in your daily diet routine.