Here’s an example of what an average healthy diet should look like. You can swap out the fruit for whatever is in season.
Breakfast: Instant oats with low fat milk
Snack: Small apple
Lunch: Low GI sandwich with chicken or tuna and lettuce, tomato, cucumber OR pasta rice salad with chicken or tuna
Snack: 2 Kiwi fruit
Supper: Piece of skinless chicken breast or fish with 1 potato and lots of vegetables
Snack: Nectarine
Drinks:
8 glasses of water
2 cups herbal tea
I am being dealt a lot of information based on calorie counting. This diet doesn’t look like it would have enough calories for anyone with a minimum of 1200 calories for women and 1500 for men (excluding what you burn just by living – which averages at about 1800)?
I currently eat slightly more than that and my calories sit at 1205 – with running 5 times a week and doing weights and exercises 4 times a week. I am not eating enough and I am pretty much following the same diet as you have given up there? I don’t lose weight quickly either – because I am battling to fit more food into my diet
How are you supposed to eat enough calories to maintain the required exercise if even your healthy diet doesn’t cater for active individuals?
There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice that isn’t actually good in any way for anyone?
@PloddingOn: Add some extra fat to your diet – nuts, avocado, olives are good choices. Good quality dark chocolate is also an option.
Dear Plodding on: I had exactly the same issues – until I started using the Herbalife program which includes healthy balanced meals in the form of shakes. Soria is 100% correct, you need to up your protein intake. I have lost 25kg and 122cm since starting the program 9 months ago
I can really recommend it, if you need more info, let me know.
Hi Plodding on. I know exactly what you mean! Been there and you just need to try and figure out what works best for your unique body.
I also train 6 days a week. Weight training 4 x week, running 3 x week and the rest abs and cardio. I also try to stay within 1200 calories. I eat more protein as this seems to help me loose weight more that fruit & veg. Here is an example of what I eat and I try to change my workout & diet every 2 weeks to confuse my body.
Breakfast : Egg whites in a wrap with fat free cottage cheese, salsa or chilli sauce (great for the metabolism),
Morning snack : Evox Lean protein shake with yoghurt(fat free)
Lunch : Chicken breast / fish with salad & Balsamic and a small sweet potatoe
Snack : Maxilean bar
Dinner : Chicken / fish with veg & salad
Snack : Evox lean protein
Drink black coffee before exercising and plenty of water.
The snack bar helps with my sweet tooth and I also drink coffee with skim milk.
Good luck & don’t worry you’ll figure it out, trial & error.
Hi Soria,
you seem to know a lot about proteiens..maybe you can help me..I recently joined the gym. always had some weight issues (not big issues) about 10-15kg issues
in 2009 i did tae bo 5 days a week and lost 13kgs..i was happy with my body..i got sick with a bad case of flu and my doc suggested i stop exercising for a little while..after that i couldnt get back into the tae bo. i still tried to eat healthily and i read about diets all the time and healthy living.
i seem to control my breakfast real well, but then in the evenings i only get to eat dinner after 7pm and sometimes i dont even eat lunch. i gained back all the weight in 2010 and now i want to lose it again. anyway so i joined the gym..here’s what i eat for bfast:
smoothie (every morning) im not a big bfast person, and i dont have time to do other bfasts.
smoothie consists of:
2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
4 tablespoons low fat bulgarian/plain yoghurt
1 banana
1 other fruit (usually a nectarine or a kiwi or a cup of strawberries and blueberries)
water
1 scoop usn whey proteien powder.
i take the following supplements with bfast:
3000mg Omega 3′s
1 tablet pro biotic
1 digestive enzyme tablet
2 multi vitamins
I eat this AFTER my gym session (is this okay?) im not sure when to eat when you exercise.
an instructor told me when i told him i take in whey proteien in my bfast…that if i dont gym 2hours a day everyday it will make me fat. is this true? i dont know how credible he is, cz he also seemed to think its a good idea to do strength training everyday without resting your muscles…which I KNOW is crap.
i HATE diets…i dont want to follow a specific plan that tells me exactly what to eat and when to eat it. i feel i want to eat when im hungry..and i dont have the time to pack those expensive lunches for work..i take in my 2 fruits (which i feel is enough) because i also like my glass of juice with dinner. i try to take in 8 glasses of water..but its hard not because i dont like it but because i get so busy at work i dont think about drinking water.
i only drink decaff coffee at home (unfortunately work doesnt have decaff) but i only drink one cup of caffeinated coffee per day.
I love cooking but i dont always have fresh veggies at my disposal (except for salad ingredients)..i buy broccoli and never get around to making it..
sorry im babbling, my real question was: will the whey proteien make me gain weight (even if i only take once a day?)
please feel free to email me (not sure if i’ll be able to get to this site any time soon again) lisaeksteen@gmail.com