7 Day Meal Plans While on a Diet

Losing weight boils down to one simple equation: calories in < calories out. When it comes to dieting, exactly what you eat throughout the day is vital in determining just how quickly you reach your weight loss goals. Dieting is all about calorie restriction, but at the same time, if you eat too little, you'll slow down your metabolism, which will reverse your efforts. The following is a general guideline for meal plans that you can easily follow that will leave you satisfied. It can keep you metabolism working efficiently so you can reach your weight-loss goals.

Breakfast

• A bowl of oatmeal topped with fresh fruit is just one of many healthy, diet-friendly ways to start your day.

  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and eating it is crucial to the success of your diet, whether you're hungry when you wake up or not. Slow digesting carbs are essential in the morning, so don't just opt for a piece of fruit. The following are the best breakfast options as rated by fitness models, trainers, dietitians and fitness experts alike: oatmeal topped with fruit and egg whites, a whole grain wrap with peanut butter and banana slices, or a fruit and protein smoothie with nonfat milk.

Lunch

• Eating complex carbs during the lunch hour will help you stick to your diet and see results.

  To maintain steady weight- and fat-loss goals, an important factor to consider is mid-day carbohydrates, according to Harvard.edu. Most people barely eat lunch and then have a carb-heavy dinner. However, the exact opposite should be true. By front-loading your carbs, you'll be using the calories and energy from the foods you eat at lunch more than you will if you eat them at night, according to Shannon Clark at Bodybuilding.com. Some healthy options she recommends for lunches include: tuna with low-fat mayo on a whole wheat wrap, chicken stir-fry with brown rice, shrimp salad with pasta, or a baked potato with cottage cheese.

Dinner

• A dinner composed of healthy fats, lean proteins, and fibrous vegetables will keep you losing weight while staying satisfied.

  Because dinner is your last large meal of the day, consider your post-meal activity level. If you're not going to be very active, you should cut out all heavy carbs and stick with protein sources, carbs in the form of vegetables and healthy fats to keep you satisfied, according to BodyBuilding.com. Some healthy dinner meals are: salmon with avocado salsa and greens, grilled chicken and vegetable kebabs with olive oil marinade, steak salad with strawberries and balsamic vinegar.

Snacks

• Snacks are essential to keeping your blood sugar stable so you don't crash prior to your next scheduled meal.

  When it comes to your diet, scheduled snacks are essential to keeping your metabolism running efficiently and keeping you satisfied so you don't sabotage your diet at your regular meals, according to bodybuilding.com. Fit snacks in wherever you find yourself the hungriest between meals--breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner, and/or after dinner. Some diet-friendly snacks include: an apple with raw almonds, rice cakes with peanut butter, protein shakes, protein or energy bars, raw vegetables.