A Healthy 7 Day Meal Plan
Changing your diet to eat healthy foods does not have to be hard, although it does require structure. The best way to get started eating better is to have a meal plan that promotes healthy eating.
Have you ever wanted to eat healthy but didn’t know where to start? Have you tried a diet before but failed?
It is easy to feel defeated when you spend time trying a diet and it doesn’t work out. However, it doesn’t have to be this way.
If you want to live your life eating healthy, then what you need is a meal plan to get you started. Therefore, use this seven day meal plan guide to start you on your journey for healthy eating.
Healthy Eating Habits
People who are successful in eating healthy have a lot in common. In addition, they have similar habits that provide success for healthy eating.
The very first habit of successful healthy eating is to stick to a meal plan (use these money saving tips to save at the grocery!). Almost everybody who eats healthy is eating from a meal plan whether they realize it or not.
While there are several different ways to eat healthy, most meal plans are similar in structure. Although they may have different types of food in the plan, they all focus on consistency.
Furthermore, a meal plan is a basic guide and structure to how you eat in your life. Just like a good fitness routine, a meal plan provides the guard rails for how you should eat if you want to be healthy.
Follow the rules and you will begin to see the results. Although, if you want to see even faster results, be strict on the rules. On the other hand, when you stray away from the guidelines, you will begin to feel sluggish and out of sorts.
Eventually, when you stay on your meal plan for long enough, you will crave the healthy foods you are eating. At first it might be hard, but it gets easier with a little time.
Use your discipline and will power to stick to this meal plan for at least two months. After 60 days you will notice you will have picked up the habits of your own healthy meal plan.
So let’s jump into it!
7 Day Meal Plan Structure
A core tenant of a meal plan is to eat similar foods every day. While you don’t have to eat exactly the same, you should eat the same types of food.
Furthermore, the benefit of eating similar foods is that you can quickly adjust your intake based on your goals.
If you are trying to lose weight, then simply eat less of what you are already eating. On the other hand, if you are trying to gain muscle mass, eat more of what you are already eating.
Additionally, a healthy eating meal plan should consist of a variety of foods spread across different food groups. Although many diets prevent you from eating certain food groups, you need a healthy balance of carbs, proteins, and fats.
Furthermore, you should fill your diet with a nutrient dense foods that keep your body healthy and running efficiently. Focus on healthy fruits and vegetables to provide you the nutrients you need.
Create Your Macros for Your Meal Plan
As mentioned above, a diet consist of three macro nutrients – protein, fats, and carbs. Below are a few basic rules for how to figure out your macro nutrient breakdown.
Determine Your Caloric Intake
The starting place for determining your macro nutrient breakdown is to understand how many calories you’re taking in. An easy way to do this is to use a calorie tracking app such as MyFitnessPal.
Track everything you eat for a week and then take the average of the calories for each day. This will give you a baseline understanding of how many calories you’re consuming.
For the rest of the examples, we will use a 180lb male and 2500 calories per day as a baseline.
Determine Your Ratios
Once you have figured out your calories, now it is time to choose how many grams of each macro nutrient you will intake for your meal plan.
First, you need to understand how many calories each macro nutrients makes up. Protein and carbs both are 4 calories per 1g. Fats are 9 calories per 1g.
As a rule of thumb for an active individual, here is what you should intake:
- Protein – use your bodyweight in lbs to determine how many grams of protein you should consume. For example, using our 180lb male, consume 180g of protein per day.
- Fats – for every 1lb of bodyweight, consume 0.3-0.5g of fat per day. Sticking with the same example of a 180lb male, consume 54-90g of fat per day.
- Carbs – Then fill in the rest of your calories with carbs. Let’s say we chose to eat 180g (720 calories) of protein and 72g (648 calories) of fat. That would leave us with 283g of carbs (1132 calories) if our goal is to consumer 2500 calories per day.
Pick Your Foods
Now that you know how much to eat, it is time to pick what to eat for your meal plan. The first step is to identify foods that are both healthy and also help meet your nutritional needs.
For example, for your protein intake, stick to lean meats, protein powder, greek yogurt, or tofu.
Secondly, for fats stick to olive oil, nuts, avocados, and seeds.
Lastly, for carbs consume a mix of potatoes, fruits, and grains to fuel your diet.
However, the key here is to find foods you enjoy eating for your meal plan and stick to them!
Additionally, supplement your core foods with leafy greens and assorted vegetables. These will help fill in nutritional needs however, not increase your caloric intake significantly.
A Sample Meal Plan
Now that you have your calories, macros, and foods identified, it is time to eat! Below you will find a sample meal plan to get you started. However, this is just a template. Each person will need to make adjustments to fit their needs and before doing anything, it is important to discuss your dietary plan with your Physician.
For example, if you are a smaller person, decrease the portion sizes to fit your macros. On the other hand, if you are working to gain weight, increase the portions.
Monday Meal Plan
Breakfast
- 2 eggs
- 2 slices turkey bacon
- 1 slice toast
- Apple
Lunch
- 4oz Chicken Breast
- Sweet Potato
- Broccoli & Asparagus
Snack
- Small Handful of Almonds
Dinner
- 6oz Ground Beef
- White Rice
- Cooked Spinach & Mushrooms
Late Night Snack
- Greek Yogurt
- Honey
- Mixed Frozen Berries
Tuesday Meal Plan
Breakfast
Breakfast Sandwich
- 2 eggs over easy
- Sausage patty
- 1 slice American cheese
- 1 slice whole wheat bread
Lunch
- 6oz Pork Chop
- Baked Potato
- Cauliflower & Brussel Sprouts
Snack
- Orange
Dinner
- 6oz Flank Steak
- Quinoa with Carrots
- Side Salad
Late Night Snack
- Greek Yogurt
- Spoonful of Fresh Jam
- Spoonful of Peanut Butter
Wednesday Meal Plan
Breakfast
- Protein Shake
- Banana
Lunch
- 6oz Tofu
- White Rice
- Egg Plant & Black Beans
Snack
- Carrots & Hummus
Dinner
- 6oz Wild Game Meat
- Potatoes
- Mushrooms
- Onions
Late Night Snack
- Cottage Cheese
- Avocado
Thursday Meal Plan
Breakfast
- Oats
- Almonds
- Blueberries
- Chia Seeds
Lunch
Shredded Chicken Tacos
- 6oz Chicken
- Whole Wheat Taco Shell
- Brown Rice
- Pinto Beans
- Salsa
Dinner
Breakfast for Dinner
- 2 Eggs
- 2 slices Bacon
- Diced Potatoes
Late Night Snack
Protein Smoothie
- Protein Powder
- Raspberries
- Peanut Butter
- Greek Yogurt
- Orange Juice
Friday Meal Plan
Breakfast
Egg Omlete
- 3 Eggs
- Onion
- Pepper
- American Cheese
- Kiwi on side
Lunch
Chicken Salad
- 6oz Chicken
- Spinach
- Kale
- Carrots
- Oil & Vinegar dressing
Dinner
- Meat Loaf
- Vegetable Medley
Late Night Snack
- Banana & Almond Butter
Saturday Meal Plan
Breakfast
- 2 Hard Boiled Eggs
- Homemade Power Balls
Lunch
- 6oz Turkey Breast
- Spinach
- Onion
- Avocado
- Radish
Dinner
- Enjoy a cheat meal out with friends or family!
Late Night Snack
Hummus Plate
- Carrots
- Cucumber
- Celery
- Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Sunday Meal Plan
Breakfast
Breakfast Bowl
- Steel Cut Oats
- Black Berries
- Chia Seeds
- Granola
- Greek Yogurt
Lunch
Black Bean Salad
- Black Beans
- Corn
- Salsa
- Avocado
- Red Onion
Dinner
- Big Bowl of Chili
- Cheese
Late Night Snack
- Enjoy a late night snack of your choice!
For educational purposes only. Therefore, this is not dietary advice. Consult with your physician before making any dietary changes.
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