It is important to have a diet plan if you want to get a particular result in fitness. That’s what this article will help you achieve.

Diet is very important to fitness. Fitness is 70 percent diet and 30 percent exercise.

Answer These Questions Before making of a Diet Plan

1. What is your goal?
What are you trying to achieve with this diet plan? You must have a goal. Read how to make fitness goals here.

An example of a goal is to lose weight. You must be specific. Say, to lose 10kgs/22lbs in 5 months.

2. What’s your budget?
How much do you plan to spend on a diet? This will vary from person to person and so will your diet plan. Cut your coat according to your size.

Don’t make plans you can’t achieve. There are so many ways to go about your diet that won’t cost you much.

3. Will your diet plan fit into your schedule?
If you live a very busy life, it might be impossible to cook all the time.

You might have to make changes like ordering food from specific restaurants, eating fruits as a snack at work and other ways to work out your diet plan. You want to limit bad eating habits as much as possible.

4. How many times do you eat in a day?
This also varies from person to person. Somebody might eat 3 times a day while others eat 7 times a day. Both people might get the same result or different. It depends on what each meal consists of and the number of their calories.

5. How many calories are you eating now?
Write down all the food you usually eat per day and calculate their calories. Some common food and the calories they contain have been listed below.

6. How many activities do you do in a day?
Is your job high activity or you just sit all day at work? How often do you exercise? Your level of activity determines the number of calories you burn.

If your job is high activity, you might require a higher calorie intake than someone whose job isn’t and vice versa.

Common food and the calories you get from it
The exact number of calories might vary. This is an approximate measure.

Apple, medium: 72
Bagel: 289
Banana, medium: 105
Beer (regular, 12 ounces): 153
Bread (one slice, wheat or white): 66
Butter (salted, 1 tablespoon): 102
Carrots (raw, 1 cup): 52
Cheddar cheese (1 slice): 113
Chicken breast (boneless, skinless, roasted, 3 ounces): 142
Chili with beans (canned, 1 cup): 287
Chocolate chip cookie (from packaged dough): 59
Coffee (regular, brewed from grounds, black): 2
Cola (12 ounces): 136
Corn (canned, sweet yellow whole kernel, drained, 1 cup): 180
Egg (large, scrambled): 102
Graham cracker (plain, honey, or cinnamon): 59
Granola bar (chewy, with raisins, 1.5-ounce bar): 193
Green beans (canned, drained, 1 cup): 40
Ground beef patty 193 (15 per cent fat, 4 ounces, pan-broiled):
Hot dog (beef and pork): 137
Ice cream (vanilla, 4 ounces): 145
Jelly doughnut: 289
Ketchup (1 tablespoon): 15
Milk (2 per cent milk fat, 8 ounces): 122
Mixed nuts (dry roasted, with peanuts, salted, 1 ounce): 168
Mustard, yellow (2 teaspoons): 6
Oatmeal (plain, cooked in water without salt, 1 cup): 147
Orange juice (frozen concentrate, made with water, 8 ounces): 112
Peanut butter (creamy, 2 tablespoons): 180
Pizza (pepperoni, regular crust, one slice): 298
Pork chop (centre rib, boneless, broiled, 3 ounces): 221
Potato, medium (baked, including skin): 161
Potato chips (plain, salted, 1 ounce): 155
Pretzels (hard, plain, salted, 1 ounce): 108
Raisins (1.5 ounces): 130
Ranch salad dressing (2 tablespoons): 146
Red wine (cabernet sauvignon, 5 ounces): 123
Rice (white, long grain, cooked, 1 cup): 205
Salsa (4 ounces): 35
Shrimp (cooked under moist heat, 3 ounces): 84
Spaghetti (cooked, enriched, without added salt, 1 cup): 221
Spaghetti sauce (marinara, ready to serve, 4 ounces): 92
Tuna (light, canned in water, drained, 3 ounces): 100
White wine (sauvignon blanc, 5 ounces): 121
Yellow cake with chocolate frosting (one piece): 243

Characteristics of a Good Diet Plan

1. The diet must be easily available
Your diet plan should contain only food that you know is readily available. This makes it easy to accomplish.

For example, if bread is easily available than oats for breakfast, then you go for bread in your diet plan.

And same for fruits too. If you live in an area where a particular fruit is common, then you want to go for that fruit.

2. It Should be balanced
You must endeavour to eat a balanced diet. Know that all nutrient are optimal — carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamin, mineral, fibre and water play a role in nutrition and one can’t be substituted for the other.

Proteins such as beans, eggs, meat, fish help our body grow. They are what makes your muscles bigger after a workout. About 12 to 20 per cent of your total daily caloric intake should come from proteins.

Carbohydrates such as bread rice, pasta, are the primary source of energy. About 50 to 60 per cent of your total daily caloric intake should come from carbohydrate.

Fats such as milk cheese cream, fatty cuts of meat, olive oil help the body store energy. About 30 per cent of your total daily caloric intake should come from proteins.

Fruits contain vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre which have several health benefits, ranging from fighting infections to helping you lose weight. Aim for two cups of fruit per day.

Water is very essential to health. You should definitely be drinking lots of water if you want to lose weight. It’s recommended to take 8 cups of water per day.


3. It must meet your goal
What’s your goal? If you’re trying to lose some weight, then your diet plan has to reflect this. The number of calories you consume must be less than the number of calories you spend. You can calculate the total number of calories by adding the sum of calories of each food or their approximate values.

In order to know the number of calories you spend, you must calculate the total metabolic rate. You can do this using the TDEE Calculator.

Making Your Diet Plan
It’s recommended that an average woman eats about 2000 calories per day to maintain, and 1500 calories to lose one pound of weight per week. An average man needs 2500 calories to maintain, and 2000 to lose one pound of weight per week.

Write everything you eat down or what you plan to eat. You must know the number of calories they contain or have an approximate value.

Once you’ve done this, you’re set.

Make sure they are balanced and in the right proportion.

For example, if your goal is to lose let’s say 10kgs/22lbs in 6 months, then you can aim for losing an average of 0.5kgs/1lb per week. A diet of 1000 to 1500 calories should get you there.

You can get this free 1000 calories diet plan for women here.

You can make a similar one for yourself or if you want a free ready-made diet plan then check here.

Conclusion
Diet plays a major role in fitness. This is very true if you want to lose weight. You have to make sure the total number of calories you eat must be less than the number of calories you spend.

Subtract the total number of calories you eat from the total metabolic rate. If the result is positive, then you’re doing it right. If it’s negative, you have to work more. You can spend more energy by doing cardio and strength training.

And lastly, don’t forget several factors contribute to weight loss and weight gain which include metabolism, genetics, ageing, diet, hormone regulation, and the impact of the environment on your lifestyle, including sleep, physical activity and stress.

Read the article here https://abcstrength.com/how-to-make-a-diet-plan/

Truthfully, I didn't take into account what I'm eating. I used to eat whatever I want, and whenever I want. Also, I used to make fun of my colleague that calculated each calorie she consumed. Now, I cannot fit into my office chair, and I need to lose weight, but I don't know where to start.

I think it's karma! But your problem can be solved. Just start with things that your colleague does. I used to be obese a little, and everyone was making fun of me. But I was okay with that and even sometimes laughed with everyone. This continued until I faced some serious issues with my health. I decided that it was time to take my eating habits under control. Thankfully my friends and family were supportive of all steps. One of my friends sent me this info https://kitodiet.me about the intermittent fasting. I started with that also I added some long-distance walks. Because I was overweight, extra lbs were leaving my body quickly. Now, my weight is 130 lbs, and I’m quite happy with it. Also, I love to see how my mean former classmates gained extra weight, and I look skinny compared with them.

MelCam24:
I think it's karma! But your problem can be solved. Just start with things that your colleague does. I used to be obese a little, and everyone was making fun of me. But I was okay with that and even sometimes laughed with everyone. This continued until I faced some serious issues with my health. I decided that it was time to take my eating habits under control. Thankfully my friends and family were supportive of all steps. One of my friends sent me this info https://kitodiet.me about the intermittent fasting. I started with that also I added some long-distance walks. Because I was overweight, extra lbs were leaving my body quickly. Now, my weight is 130 lbs, and I’m quite happy with it. Also, I love to see how my mean former classmates gained extra weight, and I look skinny compared with them.

Thank you for sharing your story. I am curious what your weight was before? I am also overweight and looking for some good real-life example