I need help with my diet! I’m not really sure about which specific foods I should be including in my nutrition plan. Please give me a list of some lean proteins along with a healthy meal plan and some good snacks that I can eat to help me lose weight?
Here is a sample of a quick and healthy daily meal plan for you:
Breakfast:
- Egg white mushroom omelet (4-6 egg whites, mushrooms), 2 pieces of whole wheat toast (no butter).
Mid-Morning Snack:
- Cottage cheese with 1 apple.
Lunch:
- 1 chicken breast (4-6 ounces), 1 cup of steamed brown rice, 1 cup of steamed broccoli.
Mid-Afternoon Snack:
- Handful of almonds.
Dinner:
- 4-6 ounces of fish (salmon, catfish, trout, halibut, cod), 2 cups of steamed veggies, 1 small salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
The best lean proteins to include in your nutrition plan are:
- Chicken breast (skin removed)
- Turkey breast (skin removed)
- Egg Whites
- Fish Fillet (flounder, sole, scrod, cod, etc.)
- Shellfish (clams, lobster, scallop, shrimp)
- Lean Beef (top round)
- Tuna (canned in water)
- Nonfat cottage cheese
- Beans (black beans, kidney, chick peas or lentils)
The best snacks will be high in protein and low in sugars. Here are some great healthy snack ideas that will give you the results you’re looking for:
Black Beans and Tuna:
- Mix a can of each into a bowl and microwave.
Protein Powder and Nonfat Cottage Cheese:
- Mix a scoop of protein with a cup of cottage cheese. Add a little cinnamon for extra flavor.
Protein Bars:
- Choose a bar with at least 25 grams of protein, a maximum of 10 grams of sugar and around 300-400 calories. Throw a box of them into the freezer and they will make a great snack. They’re really good for hitting that sweet tooth late at night.
Chicken Breast Salad:
- Before heading to work, mix up a big Tupperware bowl of romaine lettuce, diced chicken breast and some veggies with Walden Farms zero calorie dressing.
One final note is the importance of hydration. Since your question revolves around weight loss, it is important to understand the role of hydration and how it can affect weight loss in general. Although your question was specifically aimed at meal plans, I feel that any meal plan discussion should include the importance of a properly hydrated body. Without getting into all of the technical aspects of every role water plays in the body let’s just suffice it to say that well over half of your body is made of water. As far as need is concerned, water is only second to breathing, when it comes to the body’s demands. It has often been shown that when we reach for a snack, that is the body signaling thirst as opposed to hunger. Couple this with the statistic that we tend to put something in our mouths every 7 minutes (whether we are hungry or not) and there is cause for weight loss concern. If in those times we were to reach for water instead of a snack, we would not only be fulfilling our body’s need for hydration but saving ourselves lots of calories every day.
