

I love meal prep bowls like this Greek chicken or this buffalo chicken wrap. Usually a banana, half an apple and 1 tbsp of peanut butter, a mini Greek yogurt, or veggies and 2 tbsp hummus. Meal 2: 100 calorie snack, eaten in the morning.I will usually go with a slice of egg white frittata and half a bagel, or a sausage egg Mcmuffin. This is where meal prep helps as part of a diet plan!Īll of the above considered, here is a very simple outline of what a diet plan might look like. Get rid of the packaged foods and cook healthy meals at home. I really encourage an overall lifestyle change in order to achieve long-lasting weight loss results, especially placing an emphasis on eating whole foods and healthy ingredients. I would say you should still be eating about four or five times a day including your snacks, but again, this particular diet plan is what worked best for me.Īny time you start a “diet”, you should really factor in what's realistic for your current lifestyle.

You'd have about 300 calories leftover that could be allotted for snacks (let's say two snacks at 150 calories each). Context is everything!Īs an example, if you were following a 1500-calorie a day diet, then three meals a day at 400 calories each would equal to 1200 calories. You should be using the calculators mentioned above to help determine how much weight you'd like to lose as well. You can read more about why a 1500 calorie a day diet usually works for weight loss here. Again, this is just an approximate benchmark that will apply to many people, myself included, but definitely not all. I typically advocate for recipes to be between 300 to 500 calories when you're looking to experience weight loss based on a 1500-calorie a day diet.

You also want to be careful with calorie counting because it can sometimes cause you to form a bad relationship with food. Now, I place more emphasis on eating mindfully and nourishing my body so that I can be strong, healthy and happy. You will eventually be able to eyeball how much chicken you are eating, for instance, and how many calories each serving of food is. After that, I had a good estimate of the amount of calories I was eating each day. It's usually unsustainable in the long run, and while it was something I did for a bit while I had a weight loss goal, I only really stuck to it for four months. You'll also likely be pretty miserable.Īll of this said, I honestly don't put too much emphasis on calorie counting. The reality is, restricting your diet can actually disrupt your metabolism and cause your body to go into starvation mode and hold onto all the fat you're storing. One of the most common misconceptions about weight loss is that you have to starve yourself or restrict what you're eating. You can calculate the amount of calories you should be eating per day to maintain your weight and you can also calculate the amount of calories for weight loss so you have an idea of how your body is functioning. If you are very active, then you should probably eat a little more to make sure you're fuelling your body and have enough energy throughout the day. It's mostly based on your gender, height, weight, age and activity level – you can read more about calorie counting and weight loss here.Īs a basic rule, you should eat between 1200-1700 calories a day in order to lose weight depending on the factors I listed above. Well, the answer is that it really depends. How many calories should you eat in a day? As a result of being more organized with my meals, I've improved my overall health and have also lost some weight (about 25 lbs) while doing it! Frequently Asked Questions I've been meal prepping on and off for the past five years and it's been a key component of self care that has had some pretty amazing benefits. When you start meal prepping for the first time, you may notice that you end up losing weight just because you're eating healthier and are more prepared for meal time. What worked for me will not work for everybody! Meal Prep for Weight Loss Keep in mind that I'm just a regular person who lost a minor amount of weight through meal prep, healthy eating and exercise and I'm merely sharing my experience and what has worked for me in the past. I have tried to provide accurate sources and a general overview of how you could possibly achieve weight loss through meal prep. If you have experienced body image issues and are conflicted about your reasons for losing weight, you may want to skip this post. Everyone's body and health needs are different and this is not a post detailing or advocating for extreme weight loss measures. I am NOT a doctor and this post should not in any way be taken as complete fact or medical advice.
