Can you please judge my meal plan?

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gettingto65
gettingto65 Posts: 78 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi!

So I am a creature of habit, if I have a set plan I might be able to stick to it!

Breakfast: oats with raspberries OR scrambled eggs
Lunch: Brown rice with broccoli and green beans with soy sauce OR oats with raspberries (if not for breakfast)
Snack: Quest bar or almonds, depends on whether or not I go to the gym
Dinner: Chicken and vegetables OR vegetarian stir fry

Does that all sound reasonably 'clean' to you? Portion/calorie wise I think il stick to around 1300/1500 a day, I've not yet decided.

Thank you x

Replies

  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
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    Nothing inherently wrong with that meal plan apart from the fact that it seems overly restrictive and possibly quite difficult to achieve 1300-1500 calories with.

    Pre-planning meals is a good way of doing things but variety tends to make this easier to stick to. A lot of people mention the 80/20 method with 80% of your calories coming from nutrient dense food leaving 20% of your calories for treats, meaning that you do not have to give up on things entirely.

    I would personally add in things like Greek yogurt, pulses and legumes such as black beans and maybe a larger variety of vegetables

    At the end of the day it comes down to creating a calorie deficit in a way that you find sustainable and if you think long term, then a healthy diet that you can continue with once you have achieved your goal weight and that is something that is down to personal preference

    Good luck with your weight loss
  • bebeisfit
    bebeisfit Posts: 951 Member
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    ^ agreed. Add in mushrooms, spinach, peppers or broccoli to those eggs. Instead of the Quest bar, you may want real food (I'm not a fan of the bar) try an ounce of almonds or walnuts and an apple. Soup is a wonderful food. Really easy to make and filling and typically not a ton of calories. Right now I'm loving lentils. Explore new recipes, include beans and vegetables (the more variety, the better) and it'll keep you full. 1300 calories is not a lot and you may end up hungry. Remember this isn't a quick fix, do something that you can maintain throughout your life.
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Calcium. Make the oats with a cup of milk. Or add some cheese to something. Yogurt at night?
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    edited January 2016
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    I'd suggest having a protein source at every single meal. Also add more healthy fats and a bigger variety of vegies and fruit.

    If I was restricting my calories that much I wouldn't be "wasting" them on oats and rice - i prefer volume though, and would go for more vegies over grains.

    Eating "clean" is a meaningless term that can be applied differently by people depending on what they deem it to mean. Eating "clean" isn't necessary for health or weight loss - focus on your calories. Eat foods you enjoy in portions to suit your calorie goal.
  • mallory_2014
    mallory_2014 Posts: 173 Member
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    You need protein in there. There doesn't look to be much.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
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    No need to be that strict with your food plan. Variety is the spice of life and you'll get bored eating that way and just give up.

    The way you should plan your day is to focus on these things in this order:
    1. calories (you can eat it if it fits your calories goal). I tend to know about how many calories I want to eat at each meal/snack and it allows me to adjust as I plan and still have calories left for later in the day.
    2. protein. Very important to hit your protein goal.
    3. fat. also important to hit and the combination of fat/protein is important to keep you feeling full
    4. fiber. its good for you and helps with satiety.

    I highly recommend that you think about your calorie goal and how you want to break those down at every meal. For example, I tend to eat around 1600 calories a day (more on running days). I break them down like this:
    breakfast - 300-400 calories
    lunch - 450-500 calories
    dinner - 550-600 calories
    snack - whatever is left, usually 200 or more

    It's so much easier to plan when you have goals to aim for.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Clean doesn't have any meaning when it comes to diet, but are you asking if your diet plan looks healthy? I think it does, but I would try to get in more variety. You can do that while still follow a structured plan (and that is a good idea, in my opinion) by thinking in categories, instead of exact foods. I would also add some more greens and proteins in there, and save the "bars" for treats. For instance:

    Breakfast: Porridge or cereal with fruit or berries and raw veggies OR eggs and veggies
    Lunch: Starch (preferably whole grain) with veggies and meat/fish/eggs/seafood/beans/tofu
    Snack: Nuts, fruit and raw vegetables
    Dinner: Vegetables, meat/fish/beans/tofu, and maybe starch
  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
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    It's easy to find clean, healthy recipes online. I would have about 5 recipes for breakfast (even if they are just variations on oatmeal: add nuts, or coconut, or flax, etc) and maybe 5-10 variations for lunch and dinner just to keep myself from getting bored of eating the same damn thing... cycle them around as you like, but don't ax variety. There are thousands of spices, fruits, vegetables, nuts, berries, etc out there! Yes, loosing weight is nice, but you can do it without having a completely boring diet.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Not alot of variety there. Also lacking in protein quite a bit.
  • johnnylakis
    johnnylakis Posts: 812 Member
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    I prefer Kind Bar over Quest Bar.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    johnnylakis wrote: »
    I prefer Kind Bar over Quest Bar.

    The Quest bar has 21 grams of protein, the Kind bar has 6. I don't think one really substitutes for the other, they appear to be designed to meet totally different needs.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    johnnylakis wrote: »
    I prefer Kind Bar over Quest Bar.

    The Quest bar has 21 grams of protein, the Kind bar has 6. I don't think one really substitutes for the other, they appear to be designed to meet totally different needs.

    Pretty much.
  • flabassmcgee
    flabassmcgee Posts: 659 Member
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    Protein. Needs more protein. And fat!
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    Since you asked...I'd give it a 3 out of 10

    Severely lacking in protein and fat
    Severely lacking in information (specifically - portion sizes)
    Severely lacking in variety
    Severely lacking in ice cream
  • truelight_photo_craig
    truelight_photo_craig Posts: 347 Member
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    juggernaut1974 wrote: »
    Since you asked...I'd give it a 3 out of 10

    Severely lacking in protein and fat
    Severely lacking in information (specifically - portion sizes)
    Severely lacking in variety
    Severely lacking in ice cream

    This...

    And especially this...

    Severely lacking in ice cream :s
  • Ohwhynot
    Ohwhynot Posts: 356 Member
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    toadhunter911 wrote: »
    juggernaut1974 wrote: »
    Since you asked...I'd give it a 3 out of 10

    Severely lacking in protein and fat
    Severely lacking in information (specifically - portion sizes)
    Severely lacking in variety
    Severely lacking in ice cream

    This...

    And especially this...

    Severely lacking in ice cream :s

    ...and booze.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited January 2016
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    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Clean doesn't have any meaning when it comes to diet, but are you asking if your diet plan looks healthy? I think it does, but I would try to get in more variety. You can do that while still follow a structured plan (and that is a good idea, in my opinion) by thinking in categories, instead of exact foods. I would also add some more greens and proteins in there, and save the "bars" for treats. For instance:

    Breakfast: Porridge or cereal with fruit or berries and raw veggies OR eggs and veggies
    Lunch: Starch (preferably whole grain) with veggies and meat/fish/eggs/seafood/beans/tofu
    Snack: Nuts, fruit and raw vegetables
    Dinner: Vegetables, meat/fish/beans/tofu, and maybe starch

    +1

    I think you might miss variety and those occasional extras like cheese or chocolate or whatever it is you enjoy more than you think now, but as for the plan itself I also would recommend adding in more veg and more protein, much like set forth above.

    I think people go to extremes sometimes and assume that if you eat a healthful diet that must mean only foods stereotyped as super healthy and/or low cal, vs. trying to focus on getting in what you need (or having a good understanding of what they need nutritionally). (And thus this annoying and meaningless "clean" jargon that seems to be so popular these days.) I also think that being satisfied with one's diet makes it a LOT easier to stick to a healthful diet.
  • gettingto65
    gettingto65 Posts: 78 Member
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    Thank you for all your replies! Much appreciated. I would definitely include more variety than that I just mean as a standard sort of thing.

    Il be sure to revisit this and add more protein, veges and fat. I'm just trying to cut back as I don't actually eat that badly in terms of junk food so I feel like restricting is the only way to go. Guess it's just trial and error til I suds out my ideal!

    Thank you again x
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    When you start to log for a while you will see ways to save calories that are easy. I feel like I eat basically the same as before I started this, but it's surprising what you can mindlessly include that adds up.

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