Meal plan purchase

I taught myself. Everything you need is available online and through using your FOOD page as a learning tool.

I studied my FOOD page and learned which foods had the percentage of macros I needed to hit. Pre-logging a day's meals is really helpful. I now have a large number of meals I can rotate to hit my goals. The "Add Meal" function on the FOOD page here is really useful for me.

No way I would pay someone, but there are a lot of online nutrition "experts" that would be happy to take your money. Buyer beware!

Anyone can become a nutritionist and claim to be an expert, when in reality they have followed a 2 day marketing course for a particular brand of meal replacement shakes. Of course not all nutritionists are bad, but it's an unregulated industry. Like @cmriverside, I taught myself. If I don't know something I read up on it via different sources, so that I can make up my mind on something.

Find something that works for you; only you know your body. So set yourself a goal, and look at ways of achieving them. Look at your own diet and if you feel you are lacking in, for example, protein, maybe search for high protein foods (Google is your friend), and find a way to incorporate them. It's not as quick as being given a meal plan, but it is so much more beneficial long term to understand what you are eating and why, and how it benefits you. Plus, it's easier to tailor it to your own tastes and preferences, and adjust it whenever the *kitten* you like, which instantly makes it more sustainable than any meal plan anyone could ever give you.

Iragen wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

I taught myself. Everything you need is available online and through using your FOOD page as a learning tool.

I studied my FOOD page and learned which foods had the percentage of macros I needed to hit. Pre-logging a day's meals is really helpful. I now have a large number of meals I can rotate to hit my goals. The "Add Meal" function on the FOOD page here is really useful for me.

No way I would pay someone, but there are a lot of online nutrition "experts" that would be happy to take your money. Buyer beware!

Appreciate the insight. This is something I wasn't sure if I was jumping the gun on since I know there are levels to where expert guidance is needed unless you want to spend the time borderline getting a certification in nutrition lol

I'll review my eating habits, which I know are already terrible and need a lot of work and try to explore how to eat the right macros to lower body fat, maintain satiety and help me continue building strength.

I would suggest that
#1. Eat the food you like. Log it, look at it, see how the numbers work out. I try to split my calories fairly equally between two larger meals and a snack, but I'm an older woman and don't need as many calories as you will. Stay in your calories and study that food diary! No foods are really bad or off-limits, you just start making choices once you see the calories and that a chicken breast and three cookies are equal calorie-wise, but that chicken will help you feel full for hours and those cookies probably won't. Choices.

#2. Try to hit those protein goals in your diary. Protein is really important. Don't try to cut fat too much - fat doesn't make us fat and it's a necessary nutrient. Again, look at fat as a minimum goal to hit.

#3. Add a vegetable or fruit to every meal or snack. Find new vegetables you will eat. That's one way to stay fuller (fiber) and to get needed nutrients.

It's pretty easy, just takes some practice. Meat and a vegetable, just like you've heard all your life.

Here's my issue with most "meal plans" that are sold online - they don't TEACH you how to do anything for yourself.

If you are simply TOLD, "eat X amount of this, Y amount of this, and Z amount of that," are you actually learning anything? Do you know WHY you are eating those things in those amounts? What happens if you want to go out to eat with friends or family and they don't have those exact foods on the menu? What if you don't like the foods on the meal plan? What happens if/when you reach your goals - are you going to continue to eat those EXACT same foods in those EXACT same quantities forever - or will you revert to your old eating habits (which is what brought you to this point in the first place)?

I mean literally anyone can write up a "meal plan" for weight loss, but is it GOOD? Is it comprised of foods you ENJOY? Are your nutritional needs being met? Is it flexible enough to allow you to go out to a restaurant sometimes? Is it sustainable for the long-term (or will there be tweaks/modifications once you reach goal weight to put you into maintenance as opposed to just stopping and you fall off a cliff)? Is the meal plan going to be specifically for weight loss (helloooooooooooo crash diet) or will it also support any athletic/exercise endeavors?