For most people, the word diet or eating healthy evokes a feeling of dread. Just the thought of not being able to eat what we want whenever we want and how much we want is enough to start picturing a never-ending road ahead of struggles and anxiety. You might have heard or read many times that to succeed in your fitness goals, you need to have good eating habits. And if you don’t, you will fail. This is true, as what you eat tends to be more important than exercising, especially if your goal is to lose weight. It is false, however, that changing your eating habits and coming up with a decent meal plan is akin to a life of eating tasteless and bland foods that only super committed or fit people follow through. That’s anything but a decent meal plan, as it doesn’t take into consideration the fact we all have our preferences when it comes to anything, food included.
When it comes to a good meal plan, these are the key points you
need to remember:
TIP ONE – It should give your body all the nutrients it needs, but have enough variety. For instance, instead of getting your protein intake from one or two sources every single day, you can add multiple ones like meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts. Same with fruits and vegetables. If all you´re consuming are apples and bananas day after day, that will make you frustrated eventually, and you will be more prone to eating unhealthy foods.
TIP TWO – Soft drink and processed foods are best cut out entirely. This is not because consuming them one or two times will ruin your whole week, but these are highly addictive products that once you start to consume regularly are incredibly hard to quit, and of course, extremely unhealthy in the long run. If you cut them out entirely, I assure you you will notice how you feel much better off without them.
TIP THREE – Meals should be spread out throughout the day to leave you satiated. This means you shouldn’t go too long without eating, so the meals have to be distributed according to your day. They should also have a reasonable amount of calories. For example, if you have consumed 70% of your caloric intake for the day at midday, that will be of no use and will leave you hungry. The same goes for a meal that has 700 calories if your caloric intake is no more than 1800.
TIP FOUR – It should be catered to you and not be general. This means taking into account where you stand and how your eating habits have been in the past. If you have been eating badly for the last 2 years, cutting out too many calories in your meal plan at once will be unrealistic.
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