Meal Plans for Healthy Weight Loss - Diet Doctor (2024)

FAQs

What is the most effective meal schedule for weight loss? ›

1: Make breakfast your biggest meal of the day. Make lunch mid-size and dinner the smallest. 2: Eat dinner four hours before bedtime, rather than right before bedtime. 3: Eat lunch earlier, and always before 3 p.m.

The potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of this particular eating style remain the keys to its health-promoting benefits. The Mediterranean diet also takes the top spot for the best diet overall. Learn more about the Mediterranean diet in our guide.

The one-meal-a-day diet is a weight loss plan in which a person eats only one meal per day. On this plan, they will not eat or drink anything containing calories for most of the day. It is a type of intermittent fasting.

The premise of 2 Meal Day is that by eating just two meals in a day — either breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner, thus introducing a daily 16-hour fasting period — you can retrain your body to become "fat adapted," meaning you burn stored body fat for energy, rather than being dependent on sugars from food.

Most people are brought up thinking that dinner should be the biggest meal of the day, meaning they opt for a light breakfast and lunch. However, research has found that a smaller dinner and larger lunch could be the key to helping you shift those weight.

Focusing on plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Choosing lean sources of protein, such as fish and low-fat dairy products. Limiting processed meats, as well as the saturated fat that's found in meat and high-fat dairy products, such as cheese and butter.

The OMAD diet is an extreme intermittent fasting method that restricts your eating periods to only one hour per day. Some evidence suggests that prolonged periods of not eating might result in weight loss. Still, experts say that this type of intermittent fasting may result in fatigue and severe hunger.

Eat breakfast every day: Start your day with a combination of lean protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates, such as these tasty recipes: Cold or hot granola with fruit, nuts, or seeds and low-fat milk. Yogurt topped with granola, wheat germ, fruit, nuts, or seeds. Whole-grain toast with peanut or almond butter.

How do I start a weight loss meal plan? ›

While there is no one perfect way to time your meals, there is some evidence that suggests that eating most of your food earlier in the day, going lighter at your evening meal and leaving at least 12 hours between dinner and breakfast may have some health benefits—including enhanced weight loss.

Diet quality

Specifically, those who consume at least three meals per day are more likely to have a greater intake of vegetables, greens, legumes, fruit, whole grains, and dairy. These individuals are also more likely to consume less sodium and added sugars than those who consume two meals per day.

Authors Liz Vaccariello and Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, claim that in 32 days, you can lose up to 15 pounds and drop belly fat by following their plan: Eat 400 calories per meal, four times per day (daily total: 1,600). Don't go longer than 4 hours without eating.

The Bottom Line

While there is no one perfect way to time your meals, there is some evidence that suggests that eating most of your food earlier in the day, going lighter at your evening meal and leaving at least 12 hours between dinner and breakfast may have some health benefits—including enhanced weight loss.

The “4-30-10” method is a way of structuring a weekly workout plan: 4 – four strength training workouts per week. 30 – 30 grams of protein at breakfast, lunch and dinner. 10 – ten thousand steps per day (for reference, 10,000 steps is approximately five miles).

Multiple studies have compared eating many smaller versus fewer larger meals and concluded that there is no significant effect on either metabolic rate or the total amount of fat lost ( 1 , 2 ). Eating more frequently does not increase your overall metabolic rate, or the numbers of calories you burn over the day.

A 2023 review of research found that the 16/8 method and 16/8 combined with restricting calories were effective strategies for weight control in adults with overweight or obesity. An eating window starting before noon led to greater weight loss than one that began after noon.