Diet - Writing a Diet Plan

Further to my last post about diet [http://mattsgymfitnessblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/diet-personal-experience-and-iifym.html], planning your food for the week is very useful for a healthy lifestyle. Not only does it ensure that you eat regular, healthy meals. It also gives you a clear plan of your shopping helps you get the essentials so you're less likely to relapse and eat a big bar of chocolate and a tub of ice cream (unless they are part of your plan).

As I've mentioned before I use macro counting (and a bit of common sense) to plan my diet. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what's healthy and what's not. The macro counting comes in to make sure you're not having too much of a good thing! The beauty of macro counting is that, and I am an proof of this, you can lose weight on a largely cheese-based diet.

Finding your macros is different for each person. At 85kg and 28% body fat my macros were 180g protein 140g carbs and 40g fat for weight loss of 3lbs a week minimum. In reality my loss was more like 6lbs a week (with plenty of training). To work out your own macros you can read this article [http://www.healthylivingheavylifting.com/how-to-calculate-macros-for-cutting/] or there's a macro calculator at [http://movementfirst.co.uk/macronutrient-calculator/]. Don't take these numbers at face value. Adjust them to fit your lifestyle. If you're tired all the time, up your carbs. If you're not losing weight drop the carbs or fat a bit. Play with it until you find a balance that suits you.

The next step is to create a diet plan. Make it fit your macros, I usually leave a few out of the plan to account for a bit of (healthy) snacking. Keep it simple, so you can add or remove things that don't work for you without messing up your plan, it also makes it easier to count. Make it stuff you like to eat. Don't make chicken and rice the main focus of your diet if you don't like it. There's plenty of healthy food about, just find the stuff you like. Eat small, regular meals. They will fill you up and speed up your metabolism. Plan your meals around your day, eat foods that give you energy if you're training or working.

Here's an example day taken from a diet plan I made:

Macros/Day:

Protein: 150

Carbohydrates: 150

Fat: 35g

Tuesday
Meal 1 7:00	Fruit 150g: 45g carbs
Meal 2 10:00	Nuts 70g: 20g fat, 20g protein
Meal 3 1:00	Prawns 100-200g: 20-40g protein Salad
Meal 4 4:00	Fruit 100g: 30g carbs (banana)
Meal 5 6:00	Turkey Mince 200g: 40g protein Tomatoes Brown rice 100g: 25g Carbs
Meal 6 8:00	Protein Shake: 30g protein Fruit 100g: 30g carbs

Macro Count:

Protein: 130g

Carbohydrates: 130g

Fat: 20g

This is a diet plan that would be suited to me now to cut a little extra weight off (at 10% body fat and 73kgs). There's still space there for a bit of chocolate and cheese! I use this plan as an example, it should be made to fit your own likes/dislikes and the numbers should be changed (though this plan would work for most people, however it could cause some muscle wastage). I was asked to make a vegetarian alternative, the example is shown below:

Ideal Macro Count:

Protein: 160

Carbohydrates: 160

Fat: 40g

Monday
Meal 1 7:00	Protein Shake: 30g protein 2x Eggs: 12g protein, 10g fat 1 slice toast: 30g carbs, 10g protein
Meal 2 10:00	Fruit 100g: 30g carbs (banana)
Meal 3 1:00	Quorn Chicken pieces 100-200g: 28g Protein, 2g carbs, 3g fat Vegetables 100g: (eg broccoli) 7g carbs, 2g protein
Meal 4 4:00	Fruit 100g: 30g carbs (eg. apple)
Meal 5 6:00	Quorn Turkey Stakes 200g: 33g protein, 12g carbs, 4g fat Sweet potato 100g: 20g carbs
Meal 6 8:00	Fruit 100g: approx 30g carbs Nuts 50g: 15g fat, 15protein

Macro Count:

Protein: 130g

Carbohydrates: 161g

Fat: 32g


The macro count is written on pretty much everything. If it isn't its easy to find online by typing the product followed by nutritional information e.g 'Eggs nutritional information'.

Leave a day unplanned, take a day off once a weak. Don't use it as an excuse to go nuts, you're only cheating yourself! But relax once a week so you don't go crazy! Once it becomes routine it's easy, you will get a feel for it and you'll be able to adjust it to suit your lifestyle and goals.

I hope this is some help to you! Good luck!