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Lesson 4: Quick and Easy Meal Planning

Meal Planning Guide

You already eat every day, so it’s not all that difficult to add a little structure to the routine, especially when the results are noticeable!

Below are some simple meal ideas to get you started. The trick lies in choosing 2 to 3 meals you really enjoy and cook them in bulk. You save time, money and calories! No matter what meal you decide to prepare, make it a rule to always include a protein and lots of fresh vegetables.

To design a well balanced meal, just pick one quality protein, one complex carbohydrate, and one fibrous carbohydrate.

Quality Protein - Complex Carb – Fibrous Carb

Hard-cooked egg white or tuna mix into whole grain macaroni Add fresh/ frozen vegetables

Black, kidney, or navy beans

Grated low-fat cheese put in a whole wheat tortilla serve with salsa and side of sliced fruit

Add tofu or grilled chicken to whole wheat noodles in low sodium chicken broth stir in cooked frozen vegetables

2-3 Scrambled egg whites to one whole egg on whole wheat toast, bagel, English muffin or wrap top with spinach and salsa and side of fresh fruit

Canned Tuna or Wild Salmon on whole wheat bread, pita or wrap Top with salsa and fresh tomatoes and a side of fresh fruit

Mix an egg white into lean ground beef or turkey, form into burgers, grill and serve on a whole wheat bun or bread add lettuce, tomato and fresh vegetables  and a side of fresh fruit

1-2 TBSP Natural Peanut butter on whole wheat toast or crackers Top with fresh sliced fruit

Brown lean ground beef or turkey add to cooked whole wheat pasta add frozen vegetables and tomato sauce

Stir fry sliced beef, chicken or tofu with a light oriental sauce serve with cooked brown rice or whole wheat noodles add fresh or frozen veggies to meat while cooking

Grilled chicken breast, tofu or salmon serve with cooked brown rice add cooked frozen vegetables

Scramble 3 egg whites to one whole eggs, top with low-fat cheese serve with whole wheat toast, bread, or wrap add vegetables to eggs and cook together

Grilled chicken breast, tofu or salmon sweet potato Side spinach salad, loaded with fresh vegetables, top with balsamic vinegar

Grilled Chicken or tofu couscous Bell peppers, onions, tomatoes and curry

Roasted Turkey Breast 3 roasted red skin potatoes w/ 1/2 oz. olive oil 1 cup mixed steamed/frozen vegetables

3 oz. Pork Chop quinoa steamed asparagus and yellow squash

3 egg whites and 1 whole egg oatmeal grapefruit

Diced, grilled chicken breast grated cheese serve on whole wheat wrap add diced avocado, tomato, salsa, and lettuce medium apple

20 g whey protein powder mix into 1 cup of low fat cottage cheese or yogurt add 1/2 cup of diced pineapple and 1/2 cup blueberries

What a Typical Day should Look Like

Once you put it all together, your typical daily meal plan should look similar to the example below:

Breakfast (6am): 2 Hard-boiled omega-3 eggs, 2 slices of 100% whole grain toast, 1 grapefruit, whole food nutrient complex, fish oil supplement

Snack (9am): Handful of almonds, medium apple

Lunch (12pm): Whole wheat wrap with 4 oz. chicken breast, diced avocado, romaine lettuce, salsa, and low fat cheese.

Snack (3pm): Meal replacement shake.

Dinner 6pm): 4 oz. lean steak, sweet potato with light butter and dash of cinnamon, spinach side salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Pre-bedtime snack (9pm): 1 cup low fat cottage cheese with 1/2 cup of blueberries and 1 oz. walnuts.

How to Determine Your Caloric Needs

Low Activity LBM x 10 = Calories

Medium Activity LBM x 12 = Calories

High Activity LBM x 15-18 = Calories

LBM is simply your Total Weight – Fat Weight (you don’t need to feed fat!)

Now that you know which nutrient rich foods to choose from when designing your meal plan, the next step is to help fill in any gaps with supportive supplementation.

In lesson 5 you’ll learn why you absolutely need to add supplements to your diet in order for you body to preserve lean muscle and burn fat efficiently (and no, I’m not talking about magical weight loss pills) … until tomorrow’s lesson from the best personal trainer and fitness coach in Hendersonville, NC!

Lesson 3: Menu Design Planner

The Menu Design Planner allows you to construct meals that are visually balanced. This is a list of nutrient rich foods grouped into three categories. The idea is to choose one food item from each of the three categories as you plan each meal. Create snacks with the same idea. Make an effort to choose FRESH over frozen whenever possible.

Quality Proteins

Fish: Salmon (wild over farm raised), Tuna (canned in water not oil) Tuna Steak, Halibut, Swordfish, Anchovies, Cod, Flounder, Mahi Mahi, Grouper, Mackerel, Sushi

Shellfish: Shrimp, Crab, Lobster, Oysters, Clams, Mussels

Poultry: Chicken breast (Skinless), Turkey breast, ground turkey (extra lean)

Meat: Flank steak, top and bottom round, filet mignon, london broil, ground beef (93% lean), ham (96% fat-free), buffalo, venison

Eggs: Omega 3 eggs, egg beaters

Dairy: Cheeses (less than 2% fat), organic milk (1%, skim, non-fat), yogurt (low fat, low sugar), 1% cottage cheese

Complex Carbohydrates

WW= Whole Wheat

Sweet potatoes, yams, peas, corn, oatmeal, brown rice, wild rice, barley, couscous, quinoa, WW tortillas, WW pasta, WW bread, WW bagels, WW crackers, fibrous cereals, hummus, WW pita, beans, legumes, lentils

*Avoid enriched or processed items

Fibrous Carbohydrates

Veggies and Fruits: Goal is 7-10 servings a day

Vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green peppers, yellow peppers, red peppers, mushrooms, onions, spinach/romaine, squash/zucchini, string beans, cucumbers, sprouts, collard greens/kale, brussels sprouts.

Fruits: oranges, apples, berries, grapes, pineapple,  pears, peaches, melons, cherries, plums, apricots, grapefruit, mango, dried fruit (no sugar added)

Other

Healthy Fats: Olive oil, coconut oil, avocado, flax seed, fish oil (omega-3′s), natural peanut butter, almonds, walnuts

Beverages: WATER! Green tea (brewed), Low-sodium V-8 juice, Crystal Light or similar (choose aspartame free products).

Flavor Enhancers: Read more

Lesson 2: Fundamentals of Fat Loss (Part 2)

Are you ready?

It’s time to improve your nutrition and begin to eat supportively. I have some good news for you. Once you incorporate and live by the 10 Rules listed below, you can expect to begin losing at the very least 1 pound of fat per week….simply from the above nutritional changes. Add in your metabolism boosting exercises and you’ll experience your transformation twice as fast!

Fundamental #3

Accelerate Your Metabolism: 10 Rules to Live By

1. Eat a supportive meal every 3 to 3 ½ hours. This routine has the tremendous power to rev up your metabolism. The more often you eat supportive foods throughout the day the easier it will be to burn fat. Why? Every time you eat your metabolism goes up!  Supportive foods require more energy to be digested. This is called the “thermic effect” of food (calories used to digest food) and is part of the reason why, when you begin to eat the supportively you are going to feel like you are eating what appears to be a tremendous amount of food. That’s because you’re taking out so many of those empty calorie foods and replacing them with high quality proteins and complex , nutrient rich carbohydrates.

To truly grasp the metabolism concept – picture your metabolism as a fire. The food you eat will fuel this fire. The stronger your fire burns, the more calories and fat your body will burn. But if you don’t replenish the fuel often enough, the fire will die down which means your body is burning less calories (energy). So, if you don’t eat often enough, your metabolism slows down and you don’t burn through calories very quickly. Worse yet, your body will begin storing almost everything that you do eat as fat! In essence, every time you starve yourself in your honest effort to “lose weight”, you are actually slowing down your metabolism as well as making your body more efficient at storing fat.

Bonus: By eating frequently you will also have more control over your blood sugar levels. Controlling your blood sugar is key to suppressing your appetite and prevents fatigue.

2. Eat Supportive Foods. The types of foods that you eat along with how big of a caloric deficit you create will be the main factors in determining if you are going to lose fat only or both fat and muscle. To build your fat burning muscle without packing on body fat, you’ve got to eat the right kind of calories. High quality fuel “supportive foods”– are your quality proteins, complex carbohydrates and fibrous carbohydrates that must be eaten frequently throughout the day. Specific examples are provided in the Menu Design Planner, in tomorrow’s lesson.

Each meal you eat should be a balanced combination of these supportive foods. Everything you eat is basically made of carbohydrates, fats and protein. Despite what some fad diets preach, you do need all three for they are a vital source of vitamins, minerals and many other elements your body needs to protect your health and rev up your metabolism. Supportive food choices are low in calories and loaded with the building blocks needed to achieve a healthy and lean body. For rapid results, strive to eat at least 1 serving of protein and 1 serving of fruits and veggies with every meal you create.

Carbohydrates: For athletes carbohydrates are your body’s first source of fuel – especially when you are exercising. If you do not have the right amount in your body, when you do exercise, your body will turn to its next source of fuel – the protein in your muscles. Your body will begin to break down the very muscle you are trying to build.  Most people over consume carbohydrates however, since they are really not training like an athlete.  Carbs have their place, but you need to earn them with activity.

Proteins: Beside water, protein is the most plentiful substance in the body.  Proteins are the “building blocks” of the body.  They help build and repair tissues of the body, provide energy and are involved in preservation of the immune system. Read more

Lesson 1: Fundamentals of Fat Loss

Congratulations! You’ve made the decision to get serious about losing weight – now you want to see RESULTS and see them fast!

Making the best food choices is your secret weapon in the quest to get your best body ever. Eating supportively will help you boost your metabolism, burn more fat and increase your energy dramatically.

An effective exercise program is crucial but the foods you eat will make or break your efforts. You could be following the best designed workouts in the world, and you won’t lose fat if you fail to eat supportively.

The best and only way to accelerate your results is to change your eating habits. Nutrition is about 75% responsible for how your body looks, feels and performs. After today, you will not only find the answers to your questions, but solutions that guarantee your results – all by making a few small changes to the way you eat. Yes, Nutrition is that powerful!  Now don’t expect to start eating perfectly tomorrow, just like setting your fitness goals, you must be realistic.

Instead, begin by slowly building up to making choices that are a little bit better and more supportive than the day before. Initially aim for 2-3 improvements each week. Making these small nutritional changes will quickly add up to amazing results as you gain control over your metabolism.

Let’s begin with the Fundamentals of Fat Loss. If your goal is to create a positive physical change, you must understand how food affects your body.

Fundamental #1

Nutrition is essential to metabolism

Everyone is familiar with the word “metabolism”, but not a lot of people know what it means.  You probably know someone who can eat anything they want and not gain weight. Well if you believe some people are just born with robust metabolism, it’s a myth! You are about to discover that you are not the victim of your metabolism, you are the creator of your metabolism.

Metabolism, by definition, very simply means the speed with which your body processes food. In other words, how fast your body burns calories. The faster your metabolism, the more food you can eat without gaining weight.

Food is energy. Your body requires energy. Food in the forms of protein, carbohydrate and fat are your main sources of energy (calories). Take in more energy than you need from any of these and your body will store it as fat. Fat loss is all about calorie, “energy” balance. Your results are determined by a caloric deficit; when you eat fewer calories than you burn.  In order to create a deficit, you must understand the law of thermodynamics – energy balance.

Calories In vs. Calories Out

If you eat the SAME amount of Calories your body burns, what will happen to your weight? Maintain.

If you eat MORE calories than your body burns, what will happen to your weight? Gain Weight

If you eat slightly LESS calories than your body burns off, what will happen to your weight? Lose Weight

Sounds simple, but many people who seek to lose weight run into the issue of not eating enough – yes, you heard that right – in order to release more fat, you do need to eat.

There are 2 main reasons why your metabolism slows down. Read more