Proof Meal Planning Ideas: High Protein, Low Cal
On a pretty regular basis I often get asked the following questions….What to eat to get enough protein? How do I plan? How can it be easy without being too boring?
And after my article on what kind of diet did I follow to lose 75 pounds, I got requests for some sample menus. I was a little embarrassed to share because what I eat isn’t very Instagram worthy, or remotely fancy. Josef said, “that’s exactly what the ladies need! People post fancy food on Instagram because it’s neat to look at, but it’s not very helpful to anyone day to day.”
Some of these meal planning ideas look like breakfast, lunch or dinner, and I usually eat breakfast for dinner. I’m not that hungry in the morning, so I don’t force myself to eat extra calories then, and I’m usually busy with emails and getting the girls ready for school. What I’m trying to say is that you can eat at a schedule that works for you.
Most of the time I only eat 2 meals per day because, as I said, I’m not that hungry in the morning. Waiting to eat makes it easier to save some calories, whereas if I forced myself to eat breakfast because of some myth about how skipping it slows your metabolism, I would almost never be able to stay under my calorie goal and eat anything that’s just for pleasure.
Take an idea where you need one. If your lunch is boring, or too low in protein, then try one of these. Tweak for your tastes, but focus mostly on tweaking via adding seasoning (salt, garlic powder, truvia, etc.) and not on adding extra fat. Meaning, do not use low fat Greek yogurt instead of fat free because 2% (low fat) Greek yogurt has 1/3 more calories, for slightly less protein, and fat is the least filling component of your diet. High fat foods that contain protein (i.e. steak) are primarily sources of fat not protein. Save your fat for an infrequent indulgence such as steak.
PS – Make sure to double check your portion sizes and nutrition labels and make sure they work for you and your goals.
Natillie Brandenburg — ACE | FMS 1 & 2 | B.A. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |