How to Make a Comprehensive Meal Plan
A comprehensive or all-encompassing meal plan is about including all the dietary staples in a meal plan while also leaving a little wiggle room for favorite foods and sweet things. Make at least a week to two weeks worth of meals, repeating some meals if necessary, before going shopping and starting the plan again, or reevaluating certain elements. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Decide if you want a vegetarian or omnivore meal plan. For a physically active omnivore, a day of food should consist of at least 3 ounces of whole grains; 2 to 3 cups of vegetables, depending on your age and sex, varying veggies with each meal; 1 1/2 to 2 cups of fruit; 3 cups of dairy or calcium-rich dairy substitute; and 5 to 6 ounces of protein-rich foods, such as lean meat, beans or lentils.
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Complete a healthy meal plan for vegetarians if you want a meat-free meal plan. A day for vegetarians should consist of five to 12 servings of whole grain; one to three servings of legumes or soy; three to four servings of fruit; six to nine servings of vegetables; and one to two servings of nuts or seeds. Vegetables oils, and dairy products can be included sparingly.
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Create a meal plan based on a fully-encompassing diet and your calorie intake. If you are physically active shoot for 2,000 to 2,500 calories if you're female, and between 2,600 and 3,000 calories if you're male. If you are not physically active, your calorie intake should be lowered to 2,000 if you're female, and 2,400 if you're male.
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Sit down and think about your favorite foods that you would include in your weekly diet because you enjoy them regardless. Write them down and then find healthy alternative to those meals. If you enjoy a sausage and potato dinner, purchase a soy sausage substitute, which is very high in protein and low in saturated fat, with a baked sweet potato and a dark leafy green salad. In that meal, you would have gotten two servings of vegetables and a serving of healthy protein. You won't feel as restricted if you are still eating the meals you enjoy.
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Create a least a week's worth of meals that include your new healthy meal alternatives. Look over the list to see if you're including the correct portions of each food group in your daily meals. Include a desert or sweet treat twice a week, but keep them healthy. Instead of a fudge brownie full of saturated fat, make black bean brownies, which are just a rich and delicious, but not bad for you. Go grocery shopping and stick to your list; try and get in and get out as quickly as possible.
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Continue making meal plans until eating a comprehensive diet is second nature. The point of a diet is not to restrict yourself for a few weeks and than eat whatever you want. A diet should eventually feel like a lifestyle choice. Just as eating an unbalanced diet used to be the norm, a new all-encompassing diet will become second nature.
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Tips & Warnings
Vegetarians are used to finding meal alternatives to certain foods, so even if you eat meat, consider perusing vegetarian recipe websites or vegetarian cookbooks to see what they are eating.
A dinner plate should typically be half vegetables or greens, a quarter protein and a quarter starch.
References
- Photo Credit grocery cart image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
