Please could anyone explain how to begin planning a meal plan of 1700 calories. I don't know where to start.

[Chaotic45]

I am not good at knowing approximate calories in foods and I would really like to be able to pull together a meal plan.

Now I realise why I've stuck with SW in the past as left to my own devices I don't know where to start.

I plan to log my food on MFP, but I really need to make a plan ahead of each day so I know what I'm supposed to be eating each day, and also what to shop for.

I'm really not sure how to start!

OP - 1700 calories sounds really sensible especially with the exercise. 1200 is not sustainable unless you are really tiny and sedentary. Your approach of doing the steps and eating a manageable amount of calories sounds much more balanced - obviously you need enough calories to get enough nutrients in your diet as well and that's virtually impossible on 1200 calories.
I followed team RH on Facebook and lost 30lb eating 2300 calories a day with their advice.

1700 sounds good OP, also goes quite quickly so isn't really 'a lot'!

As part of your meal planning decide how many meals you eat, e.g. Breakfast, lunch & dinner, or maybe you have 5 smaller meals etc. then give yourself a daily budget for each meal. Think about what you'd really like to eat for each - or what you usually eat - and calculate the calories. If its way over, then try healthy swaps to create the same meal for fewer calories, otherwise find an alternative.

Batch cooking to keep some back up options in the freezer can be good when you don't feel like what's written on your plan on a given day.

You need a scales but I'd also recommend measuring spoons, I find it easier to do a 1/2 cup of porridge, 1 cup of milk etc. and find calories that way.

Only other thing is to make sure you have included a decent amount of protein in all your meals - even if it feels like extra calories for no reason - this will keep you full and make it easier to stick to it.

Good luck!

Measuring spoons are absolutely needed for sauces. Apparently my non measured idea of tablespoon is... A laddle😂😂😂

Thank you so much for all the advice.

@Jigglemonster do you use American cups as your measures? Can I input this into MFP?

Once you start logging you’ll begin to get a feel of what a meal looks like for calories.
I give myself 1600kcal and tend to aim for around 300 breakfast and lunch, 600 tea and a bit to play around with, as I do like my snacks or the odd glass of wine.
You’ll get more bang for your buck if you base your meals on protein and reduce your carbs a bit.

You can choose which measure to use on mfp. I usually use grams, but for some things tea or table spoons. You definitely need proper measuring equipment to avoid the laddles 🤣🤣🤣

I have MFP set to sedentary which gives me 1200 and than if I do exercise I go a bit over that. Unless you are very large / a man 1700 sounds a lot.

1700 is maintenance weight for me at 5’ 5 and 10 st 9 so might be why you gained,

Do you want actual menu plans, op? Breakfast, lunch, dinner?

I’m in my early forties which makes a difference but probably not that much...

BBC Good Food website has calories- maybe have a look there for inspiration/an idea of what things contain. They have a 600 calorie meal section and a 400 calorie meal section too. You could start like that. I also started out using a fair few more ready meals than I normally would just while I was getting used to the deficit and to avoid me getting so hungry (while thinking/preparing) I binged. I don’t use them at all now but it did help to start.