Help with my meal plan!

[MealPlanMe]

Hi everyone,

I’m currently trying to shift some weight as someone who is fairly sedentary (and can’t do too much to change that!).

ive prepared this meal plan, and I’m interested in some thoughts/advice!

I will preface this with the fact I don’t eat rice/pasta (I know I will be flamed for that!) but that isn’t going to change so I have planned based on this.

Day 1:
Breakfast - special k cereal w fruit
Lunch - fruit, yoghurt and granola
Dinner - low fat sausages, mash, carrots & peas

Day 2:
Breakfast - toast
Lunch - sandwich, crisps, yoghurt & fruit
Dinner - chicken fajitas

Day 3:
Breakfast - special k cereal w fruit
Lunch - fruit, yoghurt & granola
Dinner - ‘healthy’ pizzas w salad

Day 4:
Breakfast - toast
Lunch - treat day - Greggs chicken goujons & wedges
Dinner - burgers & wedges (gousto healthy option)

Day 5:
Breakfast - special k cereal & fruit
Lunch - sandwich, crisps, yoghurt & fruit
Dinner - chicken tikka loaded fries (another healthy gousto)

Day 6:
Breakfast - weetabix
Lunch - bacon medallion sandwich & a yoghurt/fruit
Dinner: ‘homemade’ fish and chips

Day 7:
Breakfast - weetabix
Lunch - sandwich crisps & yoghurt/fruit
Dinner - Roast

I will probably interchange the breakfasts depending how I feel on the day! I know some aren’t the healthiest (I.e. toast) but I would get bored of the same cereal all the time.

i also really struggle with lunch ideas that are quick but also filling and at least slightly nutritious. I feel making a sandwich from home is at least an improvement on a sausage roll from Greggs!

happy to listen to criticisms and any ideas to improve to add variety!!

thanks :)

This doesn’t read like a healthy meal plan at all to me…

Special K sounds like a deeply unsatisfying breakfast. Consider swapping it for eggs/greek yoghurt/porridge?

Day 4 has two rounds of wedges?

Can you make quick but satisfying salads with chicken/salmon/feta/eggs/pulses/lots of different veg and a lovely dressing? I would suggest planning in more veg.

Ditch the crisps or only have once or twice a week. One day you have special k and then a breakfast yoghurt and fruit for lunch, you could have soup and Ryvita.

It doesn't look great tbh. Have you worked out how many calories you should be eating to lose?

Superdrug Deficit calculator .

I could do Greek yoghurt at breakfast time, but as that’s one of my lunch options i felt like I’d be really repeating myself!

good spot on day 4, i’ll probably swap one of the other gousto dinners so we’re not doubling up there

i generally find salad quite unfulfilling and doesn’t satiate me on its own, but perhaps I haven’t found a nice yummy recipe or one that had things I love in it

Can you fill up with vegetables. That will really help you to feel full.

I want to be in the region of 1600-1800 per day (depending how quickly I want to lose) I’m not fussed about shedding it quickly, I’d rather build healthy habits and keep it off!

i know it’s probably not the best but I really struggle with nutritious meals that are also quick and tasty!

It is hard to work full time, get healthy and cook meals. I am i in the middle of it now. Do you eat eggs or tuna/ salmon.
I tend to make a salad and remove all the seeds from the tomato and cucumber it keeps in the fridge in an air tight jar for a week.
So I would maybe have a salad with fish for lunch. I also make soup and freeze portions that I then heat and bring in a flask to work.
So today I made a jar of salad. 4 portions of leek and potato soup, cooked 4 eggs, a quiche and 4 salmon portions. This will feed DH and myself lunch for the next 3 days. With any spare going into the freezer.
I try to include a protien and fruit/veg in every meal and measure out all portions so we dont over eat.
Good luck going forward.

Quick lunch ideas... Spanish omelette, jacket potato with leftovers from your chicken fajitas or chicken tikka, or make up a batch of veggie chilli to freeze in portions to add to it. Homemade soup (batch cook and freeze portions to reheat) chopped salads (add dates, nuts, feta, grapes, peppers in addition to the usual salad stuff - make a big batch it lasts for days) serve with chicken or mackerel (tinned or fresh)

Why are you having fruit, yoghurt and granola for lunch though? I would ditch this entirely, especially the granola, it’s very sugary and minimal benefit.

What salads have you tried making similar to my suggestion that you have found unsatisfying?

Not convinced by the gousto options.

Swap all the crisps for soup or veg, you’ll feel much more satisfied. What are you putting in your sandwiches?

Could you add some soup in there, hearty soup with lots of vegetables which can make you feel fuller.

Omelette sounds good ICanLiveWithIt

plus love "chopped salads (add dates, nuts, feta, grapes, peppers in addition to the usual salad stuff - make a big batch it lasts for days) serve with chicken or mackerel (tinned or fresh)"

Be interesting to hear if you lose weight. How often are you weighing yourself, MealPlanMe

Your meal plan doesn’t look great for weight loss. It’s incredible carb heavy. Day 2 has a bread type at every meal.

Day 3, you’ll crash an hour after both meals with such sugary, carb heavy options.

Look at protein-heavy meals. For breakfast, things like scrambled eggs, sausage patties, chicken sausages, mini omelettes. Most of those can be made a few nights before and batch cook it to heat ip on the day.

Try and cut down on crisps, yogurt and fruit to bulk up a meal and just have a bigger meal to begin with for lunch. Chicken and egg salad (heavy on the chicken for the protein), a jacket potato with tuna and light mayo, salmon with boiled potatoes etc.

For snacks, something like a baby bel, boiled egg or Peperami will take away hunger pangs.

I am not a big fan of breakfast in a morning so I typically make a protein shake (43g protein), plus something like one mini omelette muffin. That’s low on calories so means I can enjoy a bigger lunch or dinner.

I'd try and add some more filling breakfast items and swap any sandwiches for wraps.

For breakfast I would look at eggs on brown toast maybe with avocado or a side of tomatoes.

Omelettes are also good for breakfast. Greek yogurt, fruit and honey is my fave breakfast!

I would ditch the granola at lunch times and have wraps and/or soup.

For dinner I would focus more on a piece of protein with veg or salad. Chicken with salad is a great option. Try and add some grains too like couscous.

Where’s the veg? Protein?
Cereal is not that healthy I’d be having an egg and some salmon and some tomatoes maybe some avocado. A piece of toast is ok, why not have it every other day?
For lunch, granola is full of sugar and carbs I’d have a salad with chicken or tuna and a multigrain roll. Soup as an alternative. I like Cully and Sully if you can’t make your own (either heat up at home and put in a thermos or use microwave at work). They do a tasty Chicken Risotto too. Might be a bit high on salt but it’s low on calories. Piece of fruit for dessert. Dinners look ok if portions are controlled.
Weigh and measure everything - portion control really is key.

You aren't eating anywhere near enough vegetables (or you haven't listed them in your plan, anyway) - can you rethink your idea of a salad? Maybe batch cook a load of roasted veg and mix it with a protein (for example tinned beans, lentils, chickpeas, smoked mackerel, hot smoked or poached salmon, tuna, egg, feta, roast chicken) and some salad leaves, dress with olive oil and seasoning, or pesto, or harissa, loads of herbs. This kind of salad is more filling. I know you don't want pasta or rice, but how about bulgur or freekeh?

How about wholemeal toast and peanut or almond butter with a scattering of mixed seeds for breakfast instead? Much better for you than Special K and would keep you fuller for longer? I like granola, 15g of pecans, pistachios or almonds, some Greek yoghurt and berries some mornings.

Hi, I would suggest getting some decent cookery books to help you with this. My daily go to’s are Salad Love by David Bez, Jamie O’s 5 ingredients and The Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer (the yellow one all the recipes use just one pan). I think you could find enough tasty, easy prepare and nutritious meals in these to set you up with a decent, varied meal plan. Good luck!

Protein and the tracking of is SO important and will make a big difference.

special K is not filling enough and not high enough in protein.

you should aim for at least 30g of protein per meal.

a day for me might look like:

protein over night oats

sour dough bread with turkey bacon, cheese and salad

a high protein low calorie filling meal (so usually chicken based but not confined to)

treats:
dark chocolate, fibre one bar, cups of tea (I have to have choc each day)
fruit.

Truth be told I actually don’t enjoy breakfast, and I normally would always skip. I find I have to get up way earlier (if I eat too close to getting up I feel sick) so then I’m just miserable because I’m tired!

I would prefer to ditch breakfast really but I’ve always been told it’s worse to just not have anything.

Perhaps some protein shakes I could drink whilst driving to work may be a solution there?

I don’t think I do eat enough veg really, although some meals in the plan would have veg that isn’t stated (eg fajitas and roast dinner)

Special K is not good for you.

Switch to porridge and add in whatever you like, frozen berries, peanut butter, mixed seeds etc. Much less sugar and will keep you fuller for longer. could also do scrambled eggs or avocado on brown toast or Greek yoghurt.

Having a pre made lunch box with sectionals in it is great for snacking when the hunger hits and stops you reaching for the junk. Fill it will cucumber, pepper, carrots, celery sticks and a pot of hummus. Cherry tomato’s, cashews, boiled eggs etc.

Lunches, cous cous is an easy thing to make in batches and you can add in whatever you like. Chicken, tuna, salad, veg etc.