How do I determine or get a meal plan?

LivinLikeLivia

Right now I do not follow a meal plan and mostly just look up meals or make up some of my own as time goes by. I want to find a weekly meal plan so i dont have to worry about trying to figure out what to eat for my 1200 daily goal. My goal is to lose fat but retain muscle as much as possible. My first weigh in was 156 and right now im at 149 (in a span of about 4-5 weeks) my ultimate goal is to hit 140. Could you guys help me in my quest or have any tips for as to what i should eat to meat my goals and what to kick out of my meals. I do track macros my percentages are Carbs 135g (45%) Protein 105g (35%) Fat 27g (20%) are these good macro goals for burning fat but retaining muscle?

kimny72

All you need to lose weight is a calorie deficit. What you should eat or should not eat is highly personal - you need to prioritize foods that fill you up, and reduce portion size or frequency for those that don't.

Unless you are quite short, considering your weight you should be set to lose no more than 1 lb per week.

If you are concerned about retaining muscle there are I think three things to be concerned about:

1. Don't lose weight too quickly. The faster you lose, the better chance you'll be sacrificing muscle.
2. Get enough protein - usually recommendation is 0.6g-1g per lb of your goal body weight.
3. Do some kind of strength/resistance training.

Honestly your fat seems a little low, fat is important for your health.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1

I've never used a meal plan - I just eat what I want to eat. I pre-log as much as I can and play around with the portions until my numbers look the way I want them to.

Terytha

1) Figure out what you like to eat.
2) Decide what days to eat those things.
3) Bam, meal plan created!

I don't write it down all formal like, but when I grocery shop I usually plan my week roughly in my head. Chicken and rice Monday, chicken pot meal Tuesday, tacos Wednesday. That kinda thing.

grimendale

I made a spreadsheet of the recipes that I already know I like, aren't hard to make, and work with my weight loss/fitness goals. When I'm deciding what to cook for the week so I can go shopping, I pull ideas off my list (each of which has the required ingredients listed) and boom, I have meals for the week and my shopping list in one fell swoop. Saves me a lot of time and hassle.

shidevlin

Skinnytaste.com is my favorite. She posts a weekly meal plan, and her recipes are excellent! Secondly, when I am really on a roll, I will track everything I eat in My Fitness Pal. Thirdly, I use the app "Plan to Eat" to save recipes, make meal plans and help create my shopping list. It costs about $40 per year, but first 30 days are free so you can try it before you even give them a credit card number. Good luck!

Lorleee

sorry, made an error.

lemurcat2

Are you having difficulty hitting your calorie goal? (I'm setting aside the question of whether it's the right goal for you.) I'm not sure I understand why you feel like what you'd been doing isn't sufficient.

Following someone else's meal plan would make me miserable and increase cooking times. Instead, what I did was figure out a basic template (standard breakfast, some common lunches, and a protein, starch, veg typical dinner) and then to the extent I was not hitting my goals I looked at the day and what went wrong and figured out some tweaks.

There are meal planning options like: https://www.eatthismuch.com/, but you might get better information just by looking at your logs.

NovusDies

It is very common to think you need a meal plan. The reality is you know how to eat because you have been doing it your entire life. Just eat and start logging then look for easy things you can do to stay in your calorie goal. Once you have that down take a look at your protein and make sure you are getting enough of it. After you get comfortable hitting your protein goal then look at your nutritional choices and see if there is anything you feel you need to add to your day or week. Once you get all that done 6 months will have probably gone by and you can nitpick your diet for any other changes you think you should make.

Sharon_C

Success in maintaining your weight loss will come from learning how to eat while losing weight. Meal plans do not teach you how to eat. IMO, it's a trial and error period that everyone should go through. You'll come out the other side much more knowledgeable about food and what works for you and what doesn't.

VioletRojo

Would you really want to eat food someone else picked out for you?

I used to plan my week of meals every Sunday evening. I'd sit down and pick a dinner for every night that week. Then I'd write down the ingredients I needed to buy to make those meals, plus whatever we were going to eat for breakfast, lunch, snacks, etc. That made shopping on Monday really easy and making those meals was simple because I'd already done all the thinking on Sunday.

LyndaBSS

Sharon_C wrote: »

Success in maintaining your weight loss will come from learning how to eat while losing weight. Meal plans do not teach you how to eat. IMO, it's a trial and error period that everyone should go through. You'll come out the other side much more knowledgeable about food and what works for you and what doesn't.

I couldn't have said it better.