How to Make a Diet Plan for People

Constructing a diet plan is not difficult once you know the basic things to look out for. In weight loss or weight gain, the most important thing first and foremost is calorie output versus calorie input. If your daily or weekly calories exceed your calories being burned, you will gain weight and vice versa if you are trying to lose weight. There are other factors that play into weight loss and gain such as insulin levels. Insulin levels refer to your blood sugar levels; high insulin can inhibit fat loss. This is why it is important to consume healthy foods.

Instructions

• 1

  Set a diet goal. A diet aimed at losing weight will be different than a diet aimed at gaining weight. Find out the specific wishes of the person you are making the diet plan for so you can tailor the plan precisely.

• 2

  Calculate the amount of calories needed to reach the target weight. A good rule of thumb is that you take the target weight and multiply it by ten and this will give you a rough estimate of the amount of calories needed to reach this weight. So, if you weigh 200 pounds and want to weigh 150 pounds, your calorie needs per day will come to 1,500.

• 3

  Make a list of unhealthy foods that cannot be consumed on the diet. Cut out any foods that are high on the glycemic index, such as refined sugar, white bread and white rice, because these type of foods spike insulin levels and cause the body to retain body fat. If body fat is not an issue, this is not as important; however, these type of foods are considered unhealthy and have been linked to heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

• 4

  Make a list of healthy foods such as whole grain carbohydrates, fish, meat, fruit and vegetables and use an Internet calorie calculator to find out specifically how many calories are in each of these foods. Write these down on a list so that the person adhering to the diet can easily count up the amount of each food he's permitted to eat per day if he wishes to reach his target weight.