The Perfect Day of Eating

Calories, calories, calories. We count them, we curse them, we love them, we hate them, but there is not denying that we need them. So why not make the most of them, right? The average woman needs to eat between 1600 and 1800 per day to maintain her body weight. But let’s be realistic, there are very few of out there (us included!) who wouldn’t like to lose a pound or two, and the only way to do that is to start shedding your calories. Believe it or not, cutting just 100 calories a day from your diet will help you lose approximately a pound every two weeks (a completely acceptable time for weight loss). But what exactly does 1500 calories-a-day look like? What exactly is the perfect day of eating?

Breakfast (approx. 8am)
Not only is this the most important meal of the day (meaning you should never, ever skip it!) but what you eat for this meal is also exceptionally important. Ingesting a good balance of carbs and protein within two hours of waking is essential for keeping your body and mind running at its maximum potential all day long. Skip the processed OJ and start your morning off with a medium size navel orange (it is always best to eat fruit on an empty stomach) and then follow with one cup of high protein cereal such as Kashi Go Lean! with one cup of skim milk. Get your caffeine buzz going with one medium size coffee with one sweetener and one milk.

Calorie Aim: 300-350
Total Calories: 302

Morning Snack (approx. 10am)
A mid-morning pick-me-up never hurts if your stomach starts to grumble just before that meeting with the boss. Pack up half a cup of low-fat plain yogurt with half a cup of fresh blueberries for a quick, high-protein snack that boasts less than 100 calories. For those who wish to cut a few more calories, you can skip this snack and move your lunch up by one hour, to 12pm, saving yourself almost one hundred calories per day. That’s nearly 700 calories a week…more than half a pound!

Calorie Aim: 100
Total Calories: 97

Lunch (approx. 1pm)
Lunch is a meal that works like a fine balancing act. Eating too little will leave you lacking energy and satisfaction, meaning you’ll be more likely to overeat later, but eating too much can often leave you feeling lethargic and bloated. A good goal for lunch is to, once again, find a good mix of energy-boosting carbs and proteins that ring in between 300 and 350 calories. Pop a Healthy Choice Steamers in Balsamic Garlic Chicken in the microwave and in five minutes you have yourself a hot, delicious, nutritionally balanced meal. Enjoy your meal with an 8oz glass of water and finish with a cup of green tea and medium apple for dessert.

Calorie Aim: 300-350
Total Calories: 332

Afternoon Snack (approx. 3pm)
An afternoon snack is almost as essential as your three major meals of the day. Your afternoon’s tend to be busier than your mornings and the stretch between lunch and dinner can often seem much, much longer than that between breakfast and lunch. A quick and filling 150 to 200 calorie snack that you can munch on while you work is the perfect solution. Pack up your bag with 12 baby carrots, one tablespoons of light ranch dip (to drizzle over the carrots), and one cheese string. A balanced snack that will have you flying through to dinner.

Calorie Aim: 150-200
Total Calories: 166

Post-Workout Snack
Making sure you take the time to exercise at least 3-4 times per week is also essential to reaching and maintaining a healthy body weight. And a post-workout snack that allows you to reap all the benefits of your hard is absolutely mandatory! Blend together one scoop of IsoFlex Vanilla Whey Protein with half a cup of skim milk and half a cup of frozen strawberries for a healthy mix of carbs and protein that will help restore energy levels and repair your fatigued muscles. Didn’t have time to hit the gym today? Don’t despair, you can easily skip this step and save yourself 200 calories you didn’t have a chance to burn off or stir it up post-dinner for a delectable vanilla-berry dessert!

Calorie Aim: 200
Total Calories: 201

Dinner (approx. 7:30pm)
Portion control is exceptionally important, in particular, when it comes to dinnertime. This is the meal that people are most likely to overindulge in, especially if they happened to be parked in front of the television set while they eat it. Instead grill up 3oz of salmon (about the size of a deck of cards) and serve it at the dinner table (with the television switched off!) with 2/3 of a cup of cooked brown rice and one cup of seasoned steamed broccoli. Enjoy with an 8oz glass of skim milk for a completely satisfying, hunger-busting, waist-line-friendly dinner.

Calorie Aim: 400-450
Total Calories: 430

Before Bed (approx. 10pm)
Finish your night off right with a calming cup of chamomile tea and a pat on the back for an awesomely healthy day!

Calorie Aim: 10
Total Calories: 2

Total Calories: 1500

Tags: calorie counting, calories, Diet, Fitness, Health, meal plan, Weight, weightloss

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