ThinSpace Blog

Is this really a healthy meal plan?

January 29, 2009 6:17 pm admin Health

As a nutritionist, clients and readers are always sending me what they perceive to be a healthy meal plan.  Unfortunately, many times they are misinformed and are following a meal plan that is far from healthy.

Below is a copy of a client’s meal plan.  She believed this plan to be healthy but couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t losing weight.  I was able to help her tweak it so that she was able to achieve the results she was looking for.

Her plan before it was revised:

Breakfast:

Low sugar, honey and maple instant oatmeal (made with milk), small glass of Orange juice

Snack:

Small bag of pretzels

Lunch:

3 oz of grilled chicken on 2 slices of whole wheat bread, 1 pack of 100 calorie snack cookies

Snack:

2 cups of air popped popcorn

Dinner:

2 turkey meatballs, 1/2 cup cooked whole wheat pasta, small salad with fat free dressing

The first thing I did was eliminate all processed and packaged foods from this meal plan.  I also replaced the high number of complex carbs (in the way of bread, pretzels and pasta) with fruits and vegetables instead.  Just that alone allowed her to begin to see the weight loss she was looking for.

Revised meal plan:

Breakfast

1/2 cup slow cooked oats (cooked) made with water and sweetened with cinnamon and stevia, 1 oz walnuts sprinkled in oatmeal

Snack

1/2 apple with 2 tbsp natural almond butter

Lunch

Grilled chicken over large salad, 1/2 cup chick peas, extra virgin olive oil and vinegar as dressing

Snack

1/2 cup whole fat cottage cheese with 1/2 cup strawberries

Dinner

3 turkey meatballs with brocolli and large salad, extra virgin olive oil and vinegar, 4 oz sweet potato

Making sure you are following a truly healthy meal plan is the first step in achieving your weight loss results.