1. Plating and Pre-planning
Meals on the Body for Life Plan should follow some simple guidelines. You should make up your plate of a lean protein, complex carbohydrates, some vegetables and some essential fats. Following this composition for each meal complies with the 10 guidelines for Body for Life. You should take meals six times a day, including meal replacement drinks. Make a Body for Life meal by combining protein and carbohydrates at every meal as the priority rule. The author also recommends planning your meals ahead and storing in food containers for easy access when you're busy. You can even freeze some types of containers for you to use throughout the week.
2. Portion Control
The author, Bill Phillips, emphasizes portion control in Body for Life eating to ensure you are getting adequate nutrients for intense training and weight loss without unnecessary weight gain. A portion size is the equivalent of a deck of playing cards, a closed fist or the palm of your hand. He restricts fats to 1 tbsp. of unsaturated oil daily. Drink a glass of water at every Body for Life meal, and drink in between meals to total at least 10 glasses a day.
3. No and Yes Lists
Meals for Body for Life restrict fats. Avoid butter, sweets, fried foods, mayonnaise and full fat dairy products. It permits flax, sunflower, olive and canola oils. Avocado and cold water fish provide good sources of unsaturated fat for the plan. Tempeh, soy and tofu are good vegetarian alternatives to protein. Veggie burgers constitute one portion size. The diet also suggests egg white substitutes. It does not allow pork, unless it is lean ham. The recommended fish sources are orange roughy, tuna, salmon and haddock, although other sources are appropriate. Fruit ideas are strawberries, apples, melons and oranges.
4. Easy Examples
Eating for Body for Life in a restaurant of steak, baked potato with low-fat sour cream and green beans is a good meal for dinner. Don't eat beyond the portion recommendation. Take home portions larger than the palm of your hand to eat the next day. Ask for the green beans and potato to be prepared with no butter. A lunch you prepare for eating during the week includes a chicken breast and a lettuce salad with oil and vinegar, carrots, tomato and cucumber. The complex carbohydrate portion could be some whole grain rice or squash. A wrap with a whole-wheat tortilla, seasoned cut up chicken and beans with lettuce and tomato is good for lunch. Breakfast could include a mushroom egg white omelet with some strawberries and fat-free yogurt.
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