questions on nutritional planning or supplementation?

49erDude51 wrote: »

I'm on a low income budget now that I'm medically retired from the Army. Where can I go to find cheap and simple daily meal plans to achieve a 1500 calorie / 188 carb / 50 fat / 75 protein / 2300 protein / 56 sugar goal?

firstly thank you for your service. secondly, I feel you have a few options available at budget. I spend $80-$100 per 7 day week and I eat 6 meals daily consisting of chicken breast x2, red meat x1, white fish x2 and egg whites x1, all for competition bodybuilding purposes. I am on just over 4000cal/day though still able to maintain and lose weight as the 4000cal are healthy and balanced. I would suggest (assuming you have worked out your macro count correctly), you be flexible and try a IIFYM. all you need to do for this is sit down with a pad and pen and look at different food online, literally just type in google how much protein in chicken breast, look at sources of protein that you like, look a the weight and P/C/F value and make a spreadsheet, replicate this over types of fats, types of carbs, all the foods you like and you have yourself a designer nutritional plan, if you get sick of once particular meal change it out using the macro break down of that meal, each meal with have its own marco breakdown i.e. 230g of protein divide say 5 meals is 46g per meal which in my opinion is very high, you just need to make sure what ever protein you supplement in your meal (chicken, meat, fish, eggs, tuna, tofu) must be around 46g.

my only point on IIFYM is that its not realistic to fit a tub of ice cream into your diet ever day or few days just because it 'fits' just be conscious to eat 5-6 days good and on the 7th if you feel you have been working really hard then 'fit' that tub of ice-cream in. Also you have your marco already, I would for 1 week eat how you think you should, use the MFP app to scan in and record all your food and you will see if it is on track or not, you will see how out your macro count is. After the first week then tweek it slightly until you find a healthy balance. Do not try and hard cut or make changes as you will not enjoy the change and feel it is more a diet than nutritional plan.

As always keeping a healthy life style includes exercise, factor in on your training days you will expel around 500-700cal min, on your non training days you may need to be sure you don't go over your cal limit. I would aim for 3 solid meals and 2 snacks or if your training is intense 4 meals and a snack.

Feel free to put something together then PM me and i'd be happy to make some suggestions. The reason I have opted for this option in this case is that I feel you are not asking for a strict diet to compete or cut weight for a competition, rather a flexible daily meal plan that allows you to eat healthy, keep in shape though also enjoy what you re eating. IIFYM is the best way to incorporate all of those factors.

I hope that has helped, feel free to reach out if you need clarification or what to follow up