Meal Plan Ideas To Help You Lose Weight

Meal planning is key in your weight loss goals. Having your meals prepped and planned ahead of time will help you stay on track with your diet. When dieting and trying to lose weight, you are more likely to stray from your diet if your meals aren't planned out ahead of time. See below for some meal plans to help you on your weight loss journey, and a few tips to help you as well.

Meal Prep Containers

In order to keep your food the appropriate serving size, use appropriately sized containers. Use tiny containers for salad dressings, smaller containers for fruit, vegetables and other side dishes, and use medium-sized containers for your proteins such as meat and poultry. Watch the serving sizes on the containers and packages your food comes in. Meat should be about the size of your closed fist. Sides such as rice and sweet potatoes should be around 4 ounces. Salad dressing serving sizes are about 2 tablespoons. Sticking to the proper serving sizes will help you in your weight loss journey. You can find different-sized containers at your local big box store.

Weekly Plans

Plan your meal plans one week at a time. Write them out at the beginning of the week and purchase only the foods you need for your weekly plan. Buying anything else, such as high-calorie snacks, will give you an opportunity to cheat, which you do not want. Keeping items like these out of your refrigerator or pantry is best. Planning your meals in advance will also help keep your grocery budget down as well.

Breakfast Meals

Breakfast meals like those listed below are lower in calories and high in protein.

  • 1/2 cup of skim milk, 1 slice of wheat toast, 1 hard boiled egg, and a sliced banana. 
  • 1/2 cup of skim milk, plain yogurt mixed with fresh strawberries, blueberries and granola.
  • 1/2 cup of skim milk, 2-egg omelet with tomatoes, spinach and avocado.

Lunch Meals

  • Burger without a bun and with tomatoes and avocado. Drink with a glass of water.
  • Chicken breast with lettuce and tomatoes, serve with two tablespoons of fat-free salad dressing, and drink with a glass of water.
  • Salad with tuna, cucumber, avocado, tomatoes, and water.

Mid-Day Snacks

Snacking throughout the day will help keep you on track. The mid-day snack will help you stay full in between meals, which will make you less likely to over-eat at dinner.

  • Celery stick with light cream cheese.
  • Carrot sticks with fat-free ranch dressing.
  • Fruit such as one banana, apple, or orange. Or you can choose from a cup of sliced watermelon, cantaloupe or pineapple.

Dinner Meals

Eat the meals below with either unsweetened tea, water, or 1/2 cup of skim milk. Salads can be served with two tablespoons of fat-free dressing.

  • Grilled chicken breast with steamed broccoli and brown rice.
  • Lean steak with steamed asparagus and a mixed green salad.
  • Grilled burger without the bun, thin slice of cheese (optional), baked sweet potato fries, and a mixed green salad.

These meal plans, and meal planning in general, will help you to lose weight and will also make your grocery budget a little cheaper. Pay attention to serving sizes and stick to your meal plans to make your weight loss a success. Experts like Colorado Nutrition for Health Fitness & Performance can also help.


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