Meal Planning

[bodylogicbyjeff]

I don’t know about you, but I cannot eat plain chicken, veggies and protein shakes for all my meals.   I have to eat things I like, to be able to sustain my plan for life.

Healthy WrapBroccoli BreadGranola & Fruit ParfaitHealthy Chicken Nachos

After you’ve calculated how many calories you need per day (use caloriecalculator.net) you need to decide what foods to eat.

To maintain my current weight of 165 pounds and taking into consideration the amount of calories I burn every day, I would need 2,329 calories to maintain my weight.  For every pound of weight I want to lose per week, I need to subtract 500 calories per day; 1,000 calories per day if I want to lose 2 pounds per week.  Below is a sample of the meals I eat.   The total for the day is 1,354 calories which is 975 calories under my maintenance calories.

Post Workout Snack:  Chocolate Whey Protein Shake, 6 oz. milk

Breakfast:   Kashi Cinnamon Waffle, Peanut Butter and half banana

Mid-Morning Snack:  Greek Yogurt Parfait with Granola and Fruit

Lunch:   Vegetable Wrap, Low Carb Tortilla, 2.5 oz. Rotisserie Chicken

Afternoon Snack:  Chocolate Whey Protein Shake, 6 oz. milk

Dinner:  3-5 oz lean chicken, pork, turkey or beef with veggie and 1/3 cup whole grain pasta

(Calories: 1,354; Fat 49g; Carbs 121g; Sodium 2,404 mg; Protein 136g)

[SunsetRunner]

I agree totally, @bodylogicbyjeff ! Your meals look wonderful. I have to watch my carb counts (to avoid taking meds for Type 2 Diabetes) so here are a few tricks I’ve picked up.

• For the wraps, try the Ole Extreme Wellness versions. They are whole wheat and flax and it is the flax that lowers the net carbs to 4g. And they taste good!
• To keep the wrap sandwiches interesting and moist, I sometimes add a little hummus, especially if I’m doing a veggie wrap. I’ve also discovered the Boathouse Farms Yogurt dressings. Very tasty and only 3 net carbs per serving. 

We can still eat well while eating healthy ... even while watching carbs. It’s amazing what a difference a few simple changes can make! 

[bodylogicbyjeff]

Thanks for the tips Carol, I will try them 😁

[SunsetRunner]

I have just recently found these in the store. I really like them and trying to think of different wants to use them!

[emili]

I don't have diet restrictions per se, however, if I want my body to walk, run, sleep, lift or any other number of things I ask it to do every day, I need to treat it right. So I make sure every meal is high nutrition without a ton of calories- I save those up for the weekend. My meals are mainly veg, fruit, fish, healthy carbs and good fats. I will confess that every day with my lunch I eat a Nonni biscotti- because that 110 calories makes everything good in my day 🙂