Daily template for designing your menu - anyone have one?

SolidGoaled

I want to tighten up my diet this week. I am adjusting to thinking in terms of calories in/out, but now I feel I need more guideance on composition of those calories - for example, how many servings of nuts should I have per day? How about lean protein? How about beans? Dairy?

A couple of days this week, I did well with calories, but man - it was mostly nuts or nut butter - definitely not enough veggies in general -

So, I think it would help if I had a template to go by. If daily, I allowed myself:

2 servings of dairy
1 serving of nuts
3 servings of beans
3 servings lean protein
The rest is fruit and veggies

Would that work?

callipygianchronicle

You might have more flexibility if you try and even out your nutrients over the span of the week, versus day-by-day. An example would be Alton Brown’s plan that aided him in losing 50 pounds:

daily

fruits
whole grains
leafy greens
nuts
carrots
green tea

3x/week

oily fish
yogurt
broccoli
sweet potato
avocado

1x/week

red meat
pasta
dessert
alcohol

0x/week

fast food
soda
processed meals
canned soups
“diet” anything

Abrewe223

eat 5 or 6 small meals a day spaced 2-3hr apart
dont eat anything 3 hrs before bed (if you must eat something hight in protein) like cottage chees or protein shake
eat 1 serving of fruit a day (fuit is high in carbs and sugar)
have 2-3 servings of veggies a day (raw or steamed)
Make sure you get enough calories bc if you dont get enough you metabolism will slow down and come to a dead stop
Make sure you are eating lean meat like (turkey and chicken)

My meal
5am -protein shake
8 am- protien dairy
11am- protein,veggie,carb
2pm-furit,protein
5pm- protein,carb,veggiex2
8pm- protien

SolidGoaled

This kind of advice is EXACTLY what I was looking for! Never thought about looking at it a week at a time - cool...

susanswan

Wow, I had never heard that about Alton Brown before! Good for him and working with food all day long, too. He has it mastered! I think it looks like a very sensible approach. The more fiber and fresh veggies that I eat, the more satiated I feel. I really feel like I've eaten because the volume is large! I'm glad I'll eat any veggie, and the combos and seasonings are endless! I also make my own salad dressing with olive oil and different vinegars. It is delicous beyond compare to the icky store brands! I think real food is healthier than diet anything. I like his zero times a week list! Thanks for the helpful tidbit!