Meal Plans

The Be Good To Yourself Meal Plans encourage your eating to be broken up into smaller portions and consumed as a range of “main meals” and “snack meals” over a whole day. We benefit from eating smaller meals more regularly, because otherwise our body can go in to “starvation mode”. In starvation mode our blood sugars drop and we can often crave sugary foods causing us to make poor food choices that are not helpful for weight loss.

TIP: It has been shown that “grazing” or having smaller meals more frequently reduces our overall hunger and stabilises our blood sugar levels, thus avoiding large peaks and troughs that can lead to over-eating.

The Be Good To Yourself program has three standard Meal Plans based around consuming 1200, 1400 and 1800 Calories per day. The meal plan that is most appropriate for you will depend on how many calories your individual body uses up every day. This is known as your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). You do not need to count calories on the Be Good To Yourself Meal Plan, simply stick to the correct foods, portion size and products and you will be on the right track!

Your Amcal Be Good To Yourself Wellness Coach can calculate your individual calorie requirements accounting for your gender, age, height, current weight and your level of physical activity. Alternatively, you can work out your own TDEE using this online calculator.

Below is a sample meal plan. To find out which meal plan will suit your weight loss needs visit your local Amcal Pharmacy or your Information Booklet & Dietary Guide available from Amcal Pharmacies.

TIP: Research shows that you have much better results when you write down exactly what you eat and drink. Use this Weekly Plan Tracker to record your daily consumption.

Foods, snacks and drinks to Shape Your Body

It is important that you follow your Be Good To Yourself Meal Plan and do not have Be Good To Yourself Shakes or Bars for more than two of your three main meals each day. When it comes to preparing your main meal we recommend that you always aim to build your plate around the proportions of 50 – 60% protein, 20 – 30% carbohydrate and 10% fat. All you need to do to plan a meal is choose whatever you like from the protein and carbohydrate lists below and then add vegetables or salad and the allowable condiments.

Main Meal Planning is as Simple as 1,2,3,4

1. Choose your protein − palm-sized portion

(100 – 130g raw weight)

• Beans – e.g. navy beans, lima beans
• Chickpeas
• Eggs – 2 x 60g eggs per serve
• Grilled skinless chicken breasts
• Grilled skinless chicken thigh
• Lean beef – whole muscle cuts best – sirloin, topside, silverside
• Lean lamb (trimmed) – leg steaks, fillets and back-straps
• Lean veal – all cuts
• Lentils
• Low-fat beef mince (4 star or Heart Smart)
• Oily fish (at least one serve per week)
• Seafood – shell fish and crustaceans
• Skinless turkey breast fillet – slices
• Tempe and Tofu
• White fish – all species OK

2. Choose your carb

• Bread – choose wholemeal or wholegrain – 1 slice
• Corn – fresh or canned
• Cous cous
• English muffi n – ½ a wholegrain muffi n
• Pasta – choose wholemeal or wholegrain
• Peas – fresh or canned
• Potato – boiled, baked or mashed
• Pumpkin – boiled, baked or mashed
• Rice – choose brown, basmati or wild rice
• Sweet Potato – boiled, baked or mashed

3. Add your unlimited vegetables

• Asparagus
• Bean Shoots
• Bok Choy
• Broccoli
• Broccolini
• Cabbage – red or green
• Capsicum
• Carrots – raw
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Chinese Cabbage
• Cucumber
• Egg Plant
• Garlic
• Green Beans
• Green Gai Lan
• Herbs and Spices
• Leeks
• Lettuce – mixed/Iceberg
• Mushrooms
• Onions
• Parsley
• Radish
• Rocket
• Silverbeet
• Spinach
• Spring Onions
• Squash/Marrow
• Tomatoes
• Zucchini

Moderation vegetables

• Artichokes
• Avocado
• Beetroot canned and fresh
• Canned tomatoes
• Carrots – cooked
• Olives (5 – 10)
• Pickled cabbage
• Pickles and Gherkins
• Swedes
• Turnips

4. Add your sauces and dressings

Often extra dietary calories can be hidden within sauces and dressings − so it is important to flavour your meals with healthy, low calorie options. Flavour can always be added to a meal using the unlimited herbs and spices from your vegetable lists or you may choose from the list below:

• Balsamic Vinegar – Unlimited amount
• Herbs and Spices – Unlimited (no salt)
• Lemon / Lime Juice – Unlimited
• Mustard – 1 tablespoon
• Olive Oil – 1 tablespoon
• Sour cream – 1 teaspoon
• Soy sauce or Tamari – 1 tablespoon
• Worcestershire sauce – 1 tablespoon

Snacks

Snacking is an important component of weight management as this reduces peaks and troughs in the blood sugar and therefore reduces the likelihood of overeating. It is important however, to select appropriate snacks that are filling and healthy. Below is a list of acceptable snacks while on the Be Good To Yourself Program.

Fruit −Two serves per day and aim for variety

• ½ cup of fresh cherries
• ½ cup fresh berries – strawberries, blueberries, loganberries, raspberries, grapes
• ½ grapefruit – be aware that grapefruit is not recommended with some medications
• ½ mango
• 70g of watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew, paw-paw, pineapple
• 1 mandarin
• 1 medium peach
• 1 small apple
• 1 small banana
• 1 small kiwifruit
• 1 small nashi
• 1 small orange
• 1 small pear

Fruits to avoid

These fruits are very concentrated sources of sugar and have a high calorie content when compared with other fruits:

• All canned fruit
• All dried fruits
• Dates
• Prunes

Dairy − 1 serve per day*

• Choose from any of the following dairy serves
• Reduced fat or low-fat cheese (50g)
• Low-fat ricotta cheese (50g)
• Low-fat cheese slices (50g)
• Low-fat cottage cheese (50g)
• Soy cheese (50g)
• Small serve of natural or plain yoghurt (100g)
• Low-fat milk (250ml or 1 cup)

If you do not eat dairy products it is recommended that you seek advice about calcium supplementation whilst you are on the Be Good To Yourself Weight Management Program.

Drinks

Remember it is important that you keep yourself well-hydrated with plain water, you will need to consume 1.5 – 2 litres per day.

TIP: Fill up a 2-litre container of water and carry it with you − ensure that you have consumed it all by the end of the day and then you will know you have had what you needed.

Other drinks to enjoy

• Herbal teas – especially green tea for general health and weight loss.
• Mineral and carbonated or still spring water – can be lightly flavoured with 5% juice or less.
• Diet cordials, avoid aspartame (951).
• Black coffee and tea with or without a small dash of milk. Use a sucralose-based sugar replacer such as Splenda instead of sugar. Limit to one or two cups of coffee or tea per day.
• Low-fat milk as per your dairy serve.

What not to drink

• Soft drinks
• Sports drinks
• Flavoured milks
• Fruit juices
• Commercially produced vegetable juices
• Standard cordials
• Any other alcoholic drinks − beer, cocktails, spirits, liqueurs.