We take our breakfast lunch and dinner for granted and we eat and drink whenever we can whatever we want. But we can only do that until you get to know you have diabetes, cholesterol or fatty liver.
The reason for this is most of us are not taught to eat in a healthy way since our childhood. Instead we were told to eat rice three times a day, eat as much as we can. And a fat child is considered as a healthy child in most societies.
However, after you finish reading this post you will understand how to make a healthier meal plan for your day.
The basics structure of a healthy meal plan
A healthy person should basically have three main meals with two snacks in between.
You should be selecting healthy food for your main meals and snacks with low in added sugars and carbs and also rich in fibres and proteins. Your food should ideally also have a low glycemic index. And low in saturated fats.
The breakfast
The breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it helps to start your day. So don’t skip your breakfast and try to take your breakfast around the same time everyday.
You can start your day by having a glass of coffee or fresh milk after getting up from the bed.
When you take the breakfast the ideal choice is beans or legumes. They have lots of proteins and fibres and also low in carbs.
You can also add a scrambled egg and a slice of whole-grain bread with butter.
Oatmeal is also a great choice for cereal lovers, it is also good for people having diabetes.
Snack number one
After about three hours from breakfast you can have your first snack.
Your first snack can include a fruits, nuts, berries, a sandwich using whole-grain bread.
When selecting fruits make sure to eat fruits with low glycemic index like an apple, or a banana.
Cashew nuts, peanuts and almonds are ideal as they have lots of proteins and nutrition and low in carbs.
The lunch
If you are coming from an Asian country or someone who likes to eat rice then lunch is the ideal time to eat your meal of rice and curry. You can have your lunch after three hours of taking your first snack.
Most of us are used to eat a full bowl of rice, which is wrong and it is not healthy because it will increase your blood sugar levels.
However, even if you are eating one meal of rice a day there are few things you should remember.
- You should ideally eat a low glycemic index rice and that should not be more than 25% of your lunch.
- You should include lean meat or fish and that should be ideally 25% of your meal.
- The green vegetables should fill another 25% of you meal.
- Finally your last 25% should include other different kinds of vegetables.
Snack number two
After about three hours from lunch you can take your second snack of the day.
This is also similar to your first snack and it can include similar food such as fruits like apple, nuts, berries, a whole-grain bread sandwich.
Make sure not to eat snacks like burgers, pizzas or fries for your snacks as they are loaded with carbs, calories and fat.
And finally the dinner
Your dinner is equally as important as your breakfast. You should try to take your dinner around the same time every day.
You should try to take your dinner three hours from your second snack and at least two hours before sleep.
Your dinner should be as light as possible. And it should not include lots of carbs or added sugar. However including protein can be a great way to make sure you won’t be hungry in the middle of the night.
The ideal dinner can include boiled vegetables, a sausage, a slice of whole-grain bread with unsalted butter. Sausage or a slice of ham for protein or even scrambled eggs or is also great.
Try to avoid rice as much as possible for your dinner, as they include lots of carbs.
Fruits
It is recommended to eat at 400 grams of fruits per day. However when you are eating make sure you don’t eat fruits with a high glycemic index like water melon on a regular basis.
It is also recommended to eat fruits with a high content of carbs like bananas in moderation. And try not to eat more than two bananas a day.
Apple and similar fruits with a low glycemic index are ideal for consumption on a regular basis.
Lifehack simplify to make your meal planning
If you think it is difficult to eat your snack on time while you are at your office, you can use a similar food container and bring your snack with you to your office.
If you can stick to this simple meal plan for one month you will see that making a healthy meal plan is not difficult after all. And it can lead to a healthier life in no time.
