Meal Plan - 07/10/12 - 13/10/12

Hello,

           This is the first of what I hope to be of many meal plans I post on here. There are loads of good reasons to do a food plan, the first and most obvious is that if you plan ahead it should be easier to eat healthy as you'll know in advance what your going to eat. Nine times out of ten if you don't know what your going to eat for dinner before you get home its going to be something that comes out of a can or something from the freezer. Planning your food for the week also lowers your food bill at the supermarket, if you know what your going to eat there is no need to spend extra money on those 'I might want this' purchases. Most importantly if you do a food plan (and stick to it!) you know exactly what your putting into your body, so you can have a good idea if your getting enough protein, too much fat or not enough carbohydrates etc.

Right, to business (nearly!). There are several little rules that should be kept to when planning what your going to eat for the week:

1. Eat small meals often - I like to eat about 6 times a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner with 3 snacks between these and 1 after dinner. The reason for this is simple, eating small meals often allows you to keep your metabolism working throughout the day allowing you to burn more fat / carbs without having to do any extra work. It will also keep you alert and energised all day, so if you find yourself flagging at work late in the afternoon it might be an idea planning a snack to help keep you awake!
2. Vary what you eat - If your eating porridge everyday for breakfast then soon enough your going to start craving a McDonald's breakfast on the way to work. As well as this you may find that your neglecting a food group you need, balance is necessary for a healthy body
3. Increase protein, decrease carbs - I'm not saying no carbs, in fact if you are about to exercise then its important to have carbs to burn for a quick response, however if you take in too many carbs then these are broken down in sugars but are not used for energy, they are instead converted into glycogen and stored. When this happens fat cannot be digested and this leads to fatty build up. Protein however is digested slowly and will provide you with a small release of energy over time keeping you full at the same time!

Finally,  below is what my plan for the week coming:

Sunday:

B: Egg and Soldiers

S: Orange + glass of milk

L: Curry + brown rice

S: Raisins

D: Meat Balls with brown bread

S: Toast + Milk

Monday:

B: Porridge
S: Almonds
L: Sandwich + banana
S: Almonds
D: Chicken Stir-fry
S: Blueberries with yogurt

Tuesday:

B: Scrambled eggs + toast
S: Almonds
L: Tomato + garlic pasta
S: Orange
D: Meat Balls with brown bread
S: Banana

Wednesday:

B: Porridge
S: Raisins
L: Tomato + garlic pasta
S: Almonds
D: Blueberry and Banana Smoothie
S: Orange

Thursday

B: Scrambled eggs + Toast

S: Almonds

L: Sandwich + orange
S: Raisins
D: Curry with Brown rice

S: 

Friday:

B: Porridge
S: Almonds
L: Pub Lunch
S: Raisins
D: Turkey + green veg
S: Milkshake

Saturday:

B: Banana Smoothie
S: Banana
L: Unknown
S: Raisins
D: Chicken pita wrap
S: Toast + Orange

B: Breakfast
L: Lunch
D: Dinner
S: Snack

        I'm sure you can notice some patterns appearing on this list, for example during the week I tend to opt for raisins and almonds for snacks fairly regularly, this is purely due to me having a busy week working and I don't have anything else available at the moment to eat when I'm at work. Though the good thing about a meal plan is that you don't need to stick to it religiously but its good to have a back up plan if you can't do what you would like!

        You may also notice that I have a couple of smoothies for main meals on a Wednesday and  on a Saturday. This is because I train / play hockey on these days and I find its a great way to get certain things into my body and stay nicely hydrated at the same time!

If you like the idea of this, try it for yourself, just remember that Its OK to treat yourself every now and again (hence the pub lunch on Friday and the the unknown lunch on Saturday!).

Cheers,

Rich