Creating a Meal Plan Skeleton!

My Coach Barbie created a nice little 1400 calorie meal plan skeleton.  I love how easy she makes it, so I wanted to share with all my friends.  It really helps you break down a daily sample meal to the basics.  With a nice shopping list and a little creative, your options are really endless!  If you plan out your whole day/week on a nice little calendar like the one attached, you are going to be totally on track to meeting your goals!

1400-calorie meal plan and “skeleton”

Hello! The first step to changing your body—losing weight and getting fit—is to Bring It with your eating! The second step is, of course, bringing it with your workout by pressing play six times a week. In some ways, that seems to be the easy part! I understand that for many, learning how to eat right can seem like an overwhelming task. That’s why I’ve tried to simplify the process of learning to choose the right foods by creating what I term “a skeleton.” 

The skeleton is meant to provide you with a general outline that will allow you to choose the right ratio of carbs, protein, veggies, fruit, and dairy, without having to eat each the exact foods listed.

Please read this document carefully. I want to empower you by helping you choose the right foods on your own! This document is meant to do just that. If you have any questions, please ask! I will be happy to help you. 

Are you ready?

Here we go:

STEP ONE: From Meal Plan to Skeleton

The following seven-day meal plan was taken directly from the Million Dollar Body Club Meal Planner. 

For instructional purposes, we will take one sample day and teach you how to create your own skeleton:

Please take a close look at the proposed meal plan for day 1.  In the column to the right of the food item listed, we have labeled the food “carb”, “protein,” “veggie,” “dairy,” “fruit,” or “fat.”

Basic 1400 Calorie Meal Plan

Today's Nutritional Index

Calories 1,412

Carbs 151 g

Protein 129 g

Fat 36 g

Fiber 25 g

DAY 1

Breakfast

Oatmeal and Blueberries

    * 1 cup cooked oatmeal (CARB)

    * 1 cup nonfat milk (DAIRY)

    * 1 cup blueberries (FRUIT)

Snack

Raspberry Protein Smoothie

    * 1 cup sliced raspberries (FRUIT)

    * 1 scoop Beachbody's Whey Protein Powder (PROTEIN)

    * 1 cup nonfat milk (DAIRY)

Mix ingredients in blender.

Lunch

Turkey Sandwich

    * 2 slices whole wheat bread (CARB)

    * 4 slices turkey (PROTEIN)

    * 4 leaves romaine lettuce (VEGGIE)

    * 1 tsp. mustard (condiment)

    * 2 slices tomato (VEGGIE)

    * 1 cup alfalfa sprouts (VEGGIE)

Snack

Cottage Cheese with Paprika

    * 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese (PROTEIN or DAIRY)

    * 1 tsp. paprika (condiment)

Dinner

Salmon, Brown Rice, Asparagus, and Salad

    * 4 oz. broiled or baked salmon fillet (PROTEIN)

    * 1/2 cup cooked long-grain brown rice (CARB)

    * 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce (VEGGIE)

    * 1 cup chopped steamed asparagus (VEGGIE)

    * 1 cup sliced cucumbers (VEGGIE)

    * 1-1/2 Tbsp. vinegar and oil Italian dressing (condiment, FAT)

By determining, for example, that 4 oz. of salmon is a PROTEIN and  ½ a cup of cooked long grain rice is a CARB, we have just created a skeleton.

Let’s put it all together:

IF you are trying to eat 1400 calories a day, your SKELETON will look like this:

1400 Calorie SKELETON

Breakfast:

--carb

--dairy

--fruit

Snack:

--protein

--dairy

--fruit

Lunch:

--carb (REMOVE IF YOU WANT)

--protein

--veggies

Snack:

--protein

Dinner:

--protein

--veggies

--carb (but try to not eat carbs at night!)

STEP 2: From Skeleton to picking foods you like!

Now that you’ve created your “skeleton,” you’re ready to fill in the categories by picking and choosing foods you like!!

Please refer to 

the Michi’s Ladder chart that came with your Slim in 6 packet. You’ll also find it on my blog at www.HeathersFitnessSpot.com.

pages 24-25, Appendix 2, in the Slim in 6 EXPRESS packet. 

Your printed out shopping list from MBD meal planner. 

Let’s take breakfast as an example of how to move from the skeleton to real foods that you’d actually consider eating!

The meal plan says that on day 1, you can eat:

* 1 cup cooked oatmeal (CARB)

    * 1 cup nonfat milk (DAIRY)

    * 1 cup blueberries (FRUIT

Your skeleton gives you a lot more flexibility! You can select:

A CARB

A DAIRY

A FRUIT

…from the three sources above.

SO: If I look at Michi’s Ladder (stick with the top 2 tiers) to see what options I have when choosing a carb, I see that I can have several breakfast foods in this category such as: bran, cereal (whole grain), oatmeal, banana, raspberries, etc.

What shall you choose? It’s up to you! But if you look at your skeleton, you’ll see that you can also have a fruit. So, your best option is probably bran, cereal, or oatmeal.

You can also refer to pages 24-25 to determine the quantities. Remember, portions count! 

BE SURE TO READ THE LABEL ON YOUR FOOD TO ENSURE THAT YOU ARE EATING A SERVING OF A CERTAIN FOOD ITEM and NOT TWO OR THREE!!

Next, you can decide which fruit to have for breakfast, since your skeleton calls for a fruit. According to Michi’s Ladder, you can have bananas, raspberries, nectarines, pineapple, papaya….the possibilities are endless!! Again, refer to pages 24-25 for serving sizes.

Once you’ve selected your carb and fruit, you are ready to select your dairy. Will you have milk? Soymilk? Yogurt? Cheese? You see, it really is up to you!!

On a typical day, an example breakfast while on Slim in 6 looked like this:

Egg whites (Protein)

Cup of soymilk (Dairy)

½ a banana (Fruit)

To speed up her weight loss, she ate only 2 carbs a day, usually for lunch.

We hope this skeleton will make sense to you! Don’t be afraid to play with it and to post your meal plans on the thread or drop me an email. We’d be glad to provide you with feedback. Here’s to a lifetime of healthful eating!!!

BRING IT! 

(Please feel free to email me any questions on this or how I can help you with your meal plans!)

Heather

HeatherB@BeachbodyCoach.com