Pre-Plan Meals for Weight Loss

In our busy, hectic lifestyle, we often neglect ourselves. When we are too busy, even for ourselves, we can gain weight, purely from not paying attention to what we eat.

The extra pounds can sneak up on us, without being aware because we eat mindlessly, eat on the run, or grab what is easily available.

Eating like this can cause needless weight gain. But if we pay attention to what we eat, we can manage our weight easier.

By putting a little thought into pre planning our meals for the day, we can maintain a lower weight, and even lose some pounds.

To do this, may involve some lifestyle changes, but it is worth it, when you look at the big picture.

• Don’t skip meals, especially breakfast
• Wake up a few minutes earlier, so you are not dashing out the door
• Figure your meals for the day, the week, the month

Things work out more in your favor when you look at the big picture and chart a course towards achieving your desires.
Figuring out what you are going to eat, (with some flexibility) is a way you can help yourself lose weight.

By setting up what your food schedule looks like, you will be helping yourself build new habits. It is a little time consuming to do this, but when you feel good and see the results, you will know it is worth the time to do this for yourself.
It takes discipline to pre plan your meals to lose weight, and it takes discipline to follow it through. But the difference between the people who are successful at anything, is discipline.
There are many benefits to setting up what you want to eat for the day.
Among them, is the idea that you will not only lose weight, but you will be able to maintain your weight. You will be allowing yourself to eat a variety of foods, and losing weight will not feel like it is a chore.

Step1 - write down everything you eat everyday. Even if it was just a bite of something, or a taste while cooking. Keeping a food journal is one of the best things you can do for yourself. By writing things down, you will help make yourself more aware of what you are eating. When you notice more what you are eating, you can self correct to keep yourself on course. You can see where you need to improve. Keep the food journal simple. The easier you make it for yourself, the more readily you will do it.

Step 2 - Set up specific targets you would like to meet. For example, if you like to have muffins at 3:00 in the afternoon, tell yourself, you will have a half a muffin, or some almonds and dried fruit. And keep your promise. Use your weekends to strategize. Decide what you want to eat for the week. Buy what you need at the supermarket. Prepare your meals and freeze them for the week. That way, you are helping yourself to eat better, even if time is short and you need to grab something to eat.

Step 3 - Prepare of list of healthy foods and meals you really enjoy. Look at these foods for substitutes for the higher calorie and less nutritious foods you may be eating. Give yourself to eat a meal any time of the day. If you want cereal for dinner, that is okay. If you want pasta for breakfast, there are no rules to what you eat when. It is more about how much you eat, and what you are eating.

Step 4 - try to avoid pre packaged ready, prepared meals and eating out. By nature, these foods tend to have higher calories and have more fillers and less nutrition, than if you make it yourself. If you think ahead about what you like to eat, you can set up bagged snacks to take with you. Perhaps, you want to make a pot of homemde vegetable soup, freeze it and bring it for lunch, or a ready made part of dinner. Smoothies make great filling meals or snacks. Blending low fat yogurt and some fruit will add a lot of good nutrition to your day. You can prepare salad or pasta so that you have a ready made meal.

Step 5 - Get a physical examination from your doctor. If you are overweight, or run the risk for heart disease, seek proper medical advice

Step 6 - Set up an exercise routine.

Step 7 - Drink plenty of water. Water helps keep you hydrated and is excellent for

Step 8 - Keep your refrigerator well stocked with a selection of food in it. Make it easy for yourself to grab a nutritious snack and to put together a healthy meal.

Step 9 - Don’t totally deprive yourself of sweets, but it is important to limit your intake of chocolate, cakes, cookies, and other sweets.

Step 10 - Eat a variety of foods. This will keep your tastebuds happier, avoid boredom and stop you from feeling constrained by food. A large variety of foods wil also help you eat more balanced and eating healthy will help you feel better overall.

Step 11 - Reward yourself for working towards a achieving weight loss.

Step 12 - Learn to read nutrition labels. Food labels make it easier to compare foods to make healthier choices. Understanding food labels will help you in many ways. Serving size is what the entire label is based on.

To lose a few pounds, it is helpful to set up a sensible eating strategy for yourself, coupled with a practical exercise program.to achieve the best results for losing and maintaining a comfortable weight.

The idea of setting up your pre plan meals is to protect yourself from quickly grabbing food and putting pounds on, when you are not even necessarily enjoying your food. Thinking ahead and preparing what you are going to be eating will help you stay at a healthy weight without feeling food deprived.

The main idea behind pre planning your meals is to always have nutritious food readily available. This isn’t difficult, it is just a little time consuming. But the rewards will help you go far in you setting up good eating habits.

It is very hard to juggle all the things we do in our daily lives. By planning what you will be eating, you will eating better and eating healthier portions, both of which, will help you lose weight.

• your protein should be about the size of your fist
• your carb should be about ½ your fist
• you can eat almost unlimited vegetables

Portion control is an important aspect to maintaining a healthy weight and to losing weight.

If you can’t always pre plan your meals, you can pre think what you are going to do for the meal.

• Let’s say for example, you are going to eat out. Choose the smallest portion size you can. Often we finish what is in our plate, and the more we have in front of us, the more you may eat.

• If you choose a smaller portion, and you still feel hungry, you can always add something to the meal.

• When you are in the mood to eat chips, choose straight cut over crinkle cut to minimize your intake of fat. Straight cut chips have less surface area than crinkle cut, and therefore have less fat.

• All your choices should be to choose food with less fat

• Drink water before each meal to help yourself feel fuller and avoid overeating. Sometimes when we feel hungry, we actually are thirsty. Water fills your stomach and helps you feel less hungry.

• Alcohol is full of calories. Make choices and sacrfices that are wiser for your waistline.

• Eat nuts, even though they are high in fat, but they are filling. You will eat less calories in relation to the fat content.

• When you make choices from a menu, look for the lighter options. Choose boiled, baked, steamed or poached over fried foods to reduce calories and healtier choices.

• Food high in sugar and fat are obviously more in calories. Try to choose foods that are lower in fat. Look for 3 grams or less in fat per 100 grams of servings. Low fat drinks have 1.5ml or less within 100ml serving.

• Foods low in sugar have 5 grams or less per 100 grams servings. Drinks low in sugar have 2.5 ml or less per 100ml servings.

• Foods that are low in salt have about 120 mg or less per 100 grams.
• Share a dessert or even an entree with a friend

• Try to make conscious decisions about what you eat. Many restaurants serve larger portions than we really should eat.

• Try to choose poultry, fish or leaner red meats when choosing your main course. It is a relatively easy way to reduce your fat intake and makes it easy to lose weight. In addition, trim excess fat from your meat and remove the skin from poulty.

• Park your car a little further away so that you walk a little more. This is an easy way to burn extra calories.

• Put your fork down between bites. This gives your body time to digest and allows you to recognize when you are full.

• Try to start your meal with soup or a salad with lower calorie dressing. You will fill up easier and for less calories.

Apply these similar tips to holiday meals too.

Making slight changes can make losing weight easier.

As you pre think and pre plan what you will be doing to eat better and lose more weight, the biggest favor you can give yourself is to set realistic ideals for yourself. Be patient. It takes time to lose weight, but when you are diligent and believe in yourself, you will help yourself achieve your desires.

Set up a support system so that you have people you can turn to when you feel frustrated, or at moments of weakness. It is this support network that will get you through the tough times.

Be conscious of when you are eating and why you are eating. Emotional hunger happens when we eat because of our feelings, not because we are feeling hunger.