Example of Diet Meal Plan
Article by Sky Taylor, Diet Bites
Weight Loss Advice: Serving Size Matters
A big key to fast weight loss is learning the recommended serving sizes of the foods that you eat. Take Sue...
Sue loved peanut butter, but wasn't so fond of meat. Since peanut butter is considered a protein, Sue decided that she would rather incorporate more peanut butter into her diet than meat.
She also loved beans and discovered that they, too, were a protein that could take the place of meat in her diet.
Sue began her diet on a Monday, weighing in at 162 pounds. She planned to drop 20 pounds in two months, which was a very achievable and smart target weight.
She also decided to cut out all snacks except for a bedtime snack. It was hard for Sue to sleep on an empty tummy. She also planned to walk every other day for 15 minutes.
This was a typical diet menu for Sue:
Breakfast Menu
1 bowl of oatmeal, 1 glass of milk, 1 banana, 1 slice of toast with butter, 1 cup of coffee with cream and sugar
Lunch Menu
1 peanut butter sandwich, an apple, 1 glass of milk, 1 glass of sweetened green tea
Dinner, Supper Menu
1 bowl of pinto beans, a wedge of cornbread, another banana, 1 glass of milk
Bedtime Snack
One bowl of cereal with sugar and fruit slices.
The Verdict: Weight Loss or Gain Results?
At the end of the week, Sue hopped up on the scales, hopeful to see that her weight had dropped. From some reason, she didn't feel light at all; she felt much like she always felt. To her surprise, she had actually gained weight.
Sue had read that often times, dieters tend to gain weight at the beginning of their diet, so she stuck with her plan. One day she would have salad and fish, the next soup and chili - and then there were those occasional peanut butter and bean days.
But the next time that Sue weighed, she was sad to learn that she had gained three pounds on top of the two that she had gained on her previous weigh-in. Was it all those beans and peanut butter?
Motivated to Keep on Keeping On
Sue was NOT going to give up on losing weight. She was determined to discover why she had experienced a weight gain. She began to study her diet plan and found that she was eating a lot of good things on the official food pyramid, such as the beans, peanut butter and fresh fruit. But what shocked her was the size of her teaspoon.
Although Sue was eating diet-friendly foods, she was eating far too much of these foods. Her glass of milk was equal to 3 cups rather than the recommended 1 cup serving size. That was three times the calories. And Sue wasn't drinking skim milk, rather whole milk with 160 calories per cup.
Her bowl of beans was equal to more than four times the recommended serving size of 1/2 cup. Sue also discovered that she was adding 2 Tablespoons of real sugar to her tea rather than the 2 teaspoons that she thought she'd been adding.
In addition, she discovered that not all fruit calories are equal. A large banana contains far more calories than a stubby one. As for her peanut butter, she had been using a ball about the size of a large plum rather than a golf ball size of peanut butter.
As for her butter, the knife that she used to butter her toast held double the amount that she had believed it would hold.
And finally, that bowl of cereal would have fed Jack's giant as a bedtime snack.
At Times We Have to Change Up Our Fat Loss Plan to Produce Positive Results, It's One Great Big Balancing Act
Sue made some changes in her diet plan and within eight short weeks, she arrived at that magic number on her weight loss scales. It wasn't easy, but well worth the effort. Sue felt better, could breathe better and looked stunning.
Our story of Sue is exaggerated a bit, as it would be difficult for a dieter to go so far out on a Diet Limb when trying to lose weight.
However, we wanted to demonstrate the importance of serving sizes when dieting.
So how big is your teaspoon? If you've read to the end of this article, we'll bet that now, it's just right, you wonderful Diet Bites reader, you!
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