Advice for a Newbie: Looking for Meal Plan Ideas

rmhowell11

Hello everyone..while I am not new to MyFitnessPal, I am new to really wanting to have a plan. I am a crocheter. While that has nothing to do with diet and health, I have an analogy that works. If I have a pattern I can make anything. Left to my own devices, I can do a simple repetious pattern in different colors. Meal plans are the same thing. If I had a blueprint to follow it would be great. Can anyone give me some guidance as to where I can find some meal plans to get started and get ideas? Thanks in advance.

AustinRuadhain

Hi there!
You are on the right track, but I am not sure anyone else can do this for you. People eat differently based on personal preferences, their health, their goals, etc.

Your meal plan should be based on your goals, your requirements, the foods that you like to cook and eat. As a start, look at how many calories you have to work with. If you go to the Goals section of MFP, you can enter your height, weight and activity level (your job, not your workouts). That will give you a calorie count to shoot for. Then decide how you want to split those calories up between the meals that you eat. Some people like to eat multiple small meals a day, some 3, ands some people pare it down to one large meal a day. It is a lot of work and takes some time but gets easier as you go along.

I got started by figuring out a breakfast that I could eat every day that worked for me, and next identified dishes/portions for lunch and dinner. It was a building block thing, kind of like crochet squares. :-)

Lillymoo01

I would strongly suggest seeing a registered dietitian. That way you can get a pattern that is tailor-made to your preferences, goals and eating styles.

rmhowell11

AustinRuadhain wrote: »

Hi there!
You are on the right track, but I am not sure anyone else can do this for you. People eat differently based on personal preferences, their health, their goals, etc.

Your meal plan should be based on your goals, your requirements, the foods that you like to cook and eat. As a start, look at how many calories you have to work with. If you go to the Goals section of MFP, you can enter your height, weight and activity level (your job, not your workouts). That will give you a calorie count to shoot for. Then decide how you want to split those calories up between the meals that you eat. Some people like to eat multiple small meals a day, some 3, ands some people pare it down to one large meal a day. It is a lot of work and takes some time but gets easier as you go along.

I got started by figuring out a breakfast that I could eat every day that worked for me, and next identified dishes/portions for lunch and dinner. It was a building block thing, kind of like crochet squares. :-)

Thanks for the advice. I also love the crochet analogy...it really helps

clairew931

Hey, the best advice I can give you is to try to focus on making healthy things you enjoy! Steamed veg and plain chicken may work for some, but in m y experience it really doesn't work for the majority of my clients... Also, depending on who else you cook for might change what or how you put together your meal plan. Feel free to drop me a message and I can give you some examples of things that some of my clients have tried!

sarabushby

How many calories are you looking to consume per day?
Do you prefer 3 meals a day or 5 meals? Snacks?
Everyone has different work/home/life priorities too so what works for one may not work for another.
I’ll try to put in this message two meal plans for 2136 cal/day, one high carb, one low carb, but they are intended for someone who’s training regularly hence the multiple small meals & snacks and relatively high calories.
If you’re after something lower like 1200 you can just google ‘1200 calorie meal plan’ and I think you’ll get plenty of options. Or you could break down your day and google say ‘300 cal breakfast ideas’.

sarabushby