Meal plan for weight loss Male

John Berardi is a nutrition coach and exercise physiologist. He also serves as a performance consultant for Nike and as an adjunct instructor at Eastern Michigan University and the University of Texas. Berardi received his Ph.D. in exercise physiology and nutrient biochemistry at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Focus on nutrient-dense foods that make you feel more full. Photo Credit iStock/Getty/bhofack2

Overview

If you analyzed every “popular” weight-loss plan ever created, they’d all seem to have similar strategies – usually involving eating less, blaming certain foods for your problems, or prescribing “cheap” approaches that over-promise on results.

While these approaches can work in the short term, they’re usually not sustainable because the plan is so strict you almost feel like you’re a prisoner to your dietary warden.

We developed a system to make it easier for you to lose weight. It’s a diet approach that—over and over again—has lead to weight loss in our Lean Eating programs.

This approach focuses on habits that put YOU in control of your weight loss. Sure, you’re going to see calories and food suggestions like other plans. But that’s where the similarities end. The bigger picture is that you’re going to understand how you can adapt this plan to almost any food preference and any schedule. And once that happens, you’ll not only feel less stressed by your diet, you’ll also be able to directly influence the way you look.

It’s not how often you eat, but rather what you eat that makes the biggest difference.

This example eating plan has been specifically created with your goals in mind. During a get-lean plan, the goal is to shift the way you eat to drop fat without having to feel like you’ve cut calories.

So while you will be eating less, you’ll be focusing on more nutrient dense foods that will have you feeling fuller, which makes the process easier than you’d expect. More importantly, you’ll be supplying your body with the type of food you need to burn fat and look ripped.

To this end, we’ve created a four-meal plan that can apply to any type of daily schedule. We selected four meals because it’s a realistic option for most people that live busy lives. Oftentimes, eating too frequently becomes a hassle and is too difficult to schedule, while eating fewer meals might lead to binge-type eating that undercuts your goals.

However, you can follow this plan as outlined or you can make small adjustments that allow you to eat the number of meals that works best for you. From a scientific perspective, it’s not how often you eat, but rather what you eat that makes the biggest difference.

Photo Credit John Berardi/Precision Nutrition

The plan below outlines a day of perfect eating for someone trying to drop a few pounds. We’ve outlined calorie goals and meal breakdowns for those of you who like to do calorie math.

But the truth is, we’re not big fans of counting calories. We think you should eat according to hunger cues and adjust according to results.