Step-by-Step Weight Loss Meal Plan

To lose weight and tone up, you have to combine exercise and a healthy meal plan. Sometimes, trying to diet can seem like a drag, especially if you believe you will need to eat uninteresting, bland foods to lose the weight — but that's not the case. You can keep your daily calories around 1,200 — the recommended number for losing weight — yet eat interesting, tasty meals. Combine this with cardiovascular exercise two to three times a week, and you will lose the weight you want.

Breakfast Idea

1. Toast one slice of whole-wheat, multi-grain bread.

2. Spread 1 tbsp. of peanut butter or a low-sugar jam over the toast. Peanut butter is full of fiber and protein. The high protein content in peanut butter helps to regulate blood sugar levels and keeps you feeling fuller longer.

3. Eat with a low-fat yogurt and any piece of fruit. If you drink coffee, add a coffee and have a glass of water. This will work out at around 300 calories, perfect for a healthy, low-fat breakfast.


Lunch Ideas

1. Cut the top off a pepper, and wash out the seeds that are inside. Keep the pepper's top.

2. Stuff the pepper with flavored rice.

3. Place a 3-gram piece of goat cheese on top of the rice, then seal the pepper with its top. Bake in an oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. The rice will soften, and the cheese will melt. This meal comes in around 330 calories

Dinner Ideas

1. Place 1 cup of whole-wheat pasta in a pan, and cook for 12 minutes. Pallavi Sinha, Ph.D., suggests that whole-wheat pasta is better for your health as it contains three important parts of the grain: the bran, the germ and the endosperm, whereas white pasta loses the bran and the germ when being processed.

2. Chop up a salad, and place in a bowl. All types of salad ingredients — including, lettuce, onions, tomatoes and cucumber — contain very few calories, so you can eat as much as you want. Dress with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

3. Drain the pasta once it's cooked, and and toss together with your salad. This healthful meal contains less that 300 calories.

Snack Ideas

1. Cut up one apple, and eat slowly. Eating slowly gives the body time to absorb the food, leaving you feeling fuller and less hungry.

2. Grab a cereal bar when you're on the go. Many varieties contain 100 or fewer calories.

3. Eat a handful of nuts. According to Boots, the leading British pharmacy, nuts contain good fats and vitamins that potentially help prevent heart disease.