Weight Loss Diet Plan
This is a basic diet plan for someone wishing to lose weight. It’s not a “Diet” as a such, but a sustainable way to eat for someone who wants to loose weight. A diet is for life, not just for just after Christmas! It is a dairy free diet and suitable for people who get bloated with too much bread. For a more tailored meal program, you may wish to contact some friends of mine at Key Nutrition.
Eat at regular intervals – not just breakfast, lunch, dinner. This will keep metabolism up and reducing cravings – encourage healthy snacks in between. These should also contain some protein. Oat cake with hummus or nut butter, veg sticks with hummus or bean dip, if a piece of fruit – have it with a small handful of nuts or natural soya yoghurt.
Try to include a reasonable amount of protein with breakfast. It will lower the GI of the meal & take longer to get hungry again. an egg, ground seeds, nuts (more than just the token amount in muesli, say small handful/10), soya yoghurt, nut butter on rye.
When constructing a plate, aim to make it 50% salad/vegetables, 25% protein based foods, 25% complex carbohydrates.
Many people with wheat issues also have issues with Kamut and spelt. Other options may be millet, amaranth, oats, barley.
You can use any fruits – use dried fruit in moderation as they have a lot of sugar and e.g. each dried apricot is a WHOLE apricot).
Good sources of protein are beans/pulses (kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils), fish (mackerel is very healthy but not more than 4 times a week), meat (chicken, turkey, lean pork, lean beef, game meat), veggie protein (soya/tofu, tempeh), eggs are also good (yes even the yolks), nuts.
A fish oil supplement may be worth considering especially for those who do not eat fish. If you are taking any medication, speak to a health care professional before taking.
Examples of good veg are – carrots, leaks, cauliflower, broccoli, bean sprouts, celery, asparagus, cabbage, chard, kale, beetroot, onions, peas
Good carbs and grains are – sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, wholemeal couscous, Kamut/spelt pasta, wholemeal pasta, rye bread (the dark stuff).
Apart from the good fats from fish and nuts a small amount of olive oil is good.
Experiment with lots of fresh herbs to make things interesting.
Following is an example meal plan for one day. You can use it as a template and swap out ingredients each day. Oh, the reason for all the green tea is that it helps the body in regulating blood sugar and so you’re less likely to turn the sugar into fat as you absorb it. It’s also high in antioxidants. But don’t add sugar to it
BREAKFAST
2 shredded wheat with rice or soya milk – add blueberries for sweetness and nuts for protein. You could also have a couple of boiled eggs in addition to the cereal for the protein. Green tea.
You can change the cereals around to any non-sugar ones. muesli, porridge, Weetabix, cornflakes etc.(cereal is quite a carb heavy breakfast and weetabix and cornflakes are high GI and for all their advertising as being ‘wholegrain’ they are not really.)
SNACK
Strawberries, soya yoghurt. Ryvita or rice cake with protein based spread (houmous, mackerel dip, nut butter. Green tea.
LUNCH
Can of tuna/mackerel/sardines with rye bread (the real stuff – many breads sold as rye contain a mix of wheat and rye flour – ask or check labels), celery, peppers, olive oil. Green tea.
SNACK
Rice cakes with apple and protein based spread (houmous, mackerel dip, nut butter). Green tea.
DINNER
Chicken breast (no skin), brown rice, steamed broccoli and carrots, olive oil drizzle. Green tea (if you have troubles sleeping, it may be best not to have green tea after midday).
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