Healthy Meal Plans for Long-Term Weight Loss

Healthy Meal Plans for Long-Term Weight Loss

When you don't understand the ins and outs of healthy eating, losing weight can seem more complicated than it actually is. If you've tried diet after diet to no avail, get off the fad diet bandwagon and learn to create healthy meal plans for long-term weight loss success.

Start By Eliminating Processed Foods

Take a look at your existing diet and see how many processed foods it contains. Once you've identified these foods, create a plan to nix them from your diet. Examples of these foods include:

• cold cuts
• hot dogs
• frozen fish sticks
• chicken nuggets
• baked goods (cookies, cupcakes, bread, crackers, etc.)
• canned goods
• pasta
• chips
• frozen vegetables
• milk, cheese and other dairy

Processed foods are full of chemicals and other additives that contribute to obesity and poor health. For example, a common ingredient in processed foods is trans fat. Trans fat is commonly added to processed goods because it prolongs shelf-life and makes the items more palatable.

Even small amounts of this fat can contribute to heart disease, clogged arteries and hypertension.

Another common additive found in processed foods is processed sugar. This ingredient contributes to weight gain and diabetes. Processed sugar also increases cholesterol, causes cardiovascular disease, weakens eyesight and interferes with the absorption of protein.

Processed foods are void of nutrition because most of the vitamins and minerals are stripped during the manufacturing process. When you consume these foods, you not only litter your body with dangerous additives, you fill it with hundreds of empty calories.

Sometimes manufacturers will try to replace stripped nutrients by enriching processed foods with synthetic vitamins. The problem with this is that the body does not absorb these fake vitamins efficiently.

Include Nutrient-Dense Foods in Your Meal Plans

A healthy meal plan should include plenty of natural foods like fruits, vegetables, fish, lean meats, poultry, eggs, beans, raw nuts and legumes. These types of foods are not processed so all the nutrients stay in tact.

Unlike with processed foods, you have 100-percent control over the ingredients you use in your dishes. This means you can maximize nutritional value and customize meals to suit your taste.

Buy all of your meats and produce organic whenever possible. This will reduce your risk of ingesting the pesticides, hormones and antibiotics used by commercial farmers to grow crops and raise livestock.

Plan Your Meals Ahead of Time

When you spend your days uncertain about what you're going to eat, you are more likely to swing by the nearest fast food joint or raid the vending machine at work. Planning weekly meals reduces backsliding so you stay on track. Here are some healthy meal ideas to get you started.

• Quinoa with raisins and nuts.
• Grilled shrimp over a bed of brown rice with steamed broccoli and cauliflower.
• Grilled tuna with mango salsa and a green salad.
• Grilled chicken and salsa with steamed green beans and carrots.
• Beefsteak, a small sweet potato and green salad.
• Smoked salmon, steamed vegetable medley and beets.
• Oatmeal with cinnamon, raisins and pecans.
• Baked chicken thighs, sautéed spinach and a cucumber tomato salad.
• Grilled pork chops, brown rice, steamed cauliflower and sliced cucumbers.
• Omelet with tomato, spinach and mushrooms.
• Turkey bacon and hot cream of rice cereal.
• Canadian bacon, poached eggs with spinach and an apple.

When you pre-plan your meals, use your menu to make a grocery list before you head to the store. This will reduce the temptation to grab unhealthy processed foods off the shelf.

There are plenty of cookbooks on the market to help you learn how to plan meals and prepare them using natural ingredients. You can also experiment with combining your favorite foods to create your own unique recipes.