Low-calorie Everyday Meals

If you are overweight, losing just 5 percent to 10 percent of your body weight can help reduce your risk of developing many chronic health conditions. Reducing your daily calorie intake is essential to helping you lose weight. Coming up with low-calorie meal plans that taste good and are easy to prepare can be daunting, but with a little know-how and preparation, you can create low-calorie everyday meal plans to support your weight-loss efforts.

Features

A low-calorie, everyday meal plan ensures proper nutrition while keeping your calorie intake below your calorie burn rate. The Institute of Medicine recommends that you get 45 percent to 65 percent of your daily calories from carbohydrates, 10 percent to 35 percent from proteins and 20 percent to 35 percent from fats. As long as you stick to these guidelines, the precise ratio of nutrients is not a significant factor in weight loss, according to a study published in the "New England Journal of Medicine" in February 2009. Researchers from Harvard University compared diets with various ratios of fat, carbs and protein, and found that as long as a diet was low-calorie, it resulted in weight loss.

Specific Foods

Low-calorie meal plans emphasize fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, nonfat dairy and unsaturated fats. Along with white-meat poultry, fish and extra lean beef, beans and tofu should be part of everyday meal plans for weight loss. Plan to consume a minimum of 3 ounces of whole grains daily to provide vitamins and minerals as well as fiber to help you feel full. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends most adults consume 3 cups of dairy daily; choose skim milk and low- or nonfat cheese and yogurt. Although fat contains more calories than other foods, you need an adequate amount daily to support important bodily functions. Stick to heart-healthy unsaturated versions found in nuts, fatty fish, plant oils and avocados.

Strategies

Divide your allotted number of calories among at least three meals daily. Plan for each meal to feature a healthy carbohydrate such as whole grains, vegetables or fruit, and a lean protein. Broiling and roasting meat is easy and adds few calories. Steam vegetables or add them to the cooking water when you prepare whole-wheat pasta. When devising a low-calorie, everyday meal plan, review your calendar as well. If you have dinners out or social functions, check restaurant menus and plan a strategy for what you will eat to avoid overconsuming high-fat, high-calorie foods.

Portion Control

One of the biggest reasons people gain weight is because they eat too much food, according to the Cleveland Clinic. In addition to choosing healthy foods, you need to keep portion sizes under control when creating your meal plans. Stick to just 3 to 4 ounces of meats, ½ to 1 cup of grains or cereal and 1 to 2 teaspoons of fats at each meal.

Sample Plan

A three-day meal plan might feature breakfasts such as oatmeal with skim milk and fruit; egg whites with spinach, feta and whole-wheat toast; and nonfat, plain yogurt mixed with whole-grain cereal and berries. Lunches can include foods such as turkey sandwiches on whole-wheat pita bread; whole-wheat pasta; broccoli and chicken salad dressed with olive oil and lemon juice; and homemade soup made with chicken broth, rice noodles, shrimp, snow peas and soy sauce. Round out your lunches with cut-up vegetables and fresh fruit. For dinner, broil proteins such as flank steak, turkey tenders or salmon, and serve with brown rice, baked sweet potatoes or quinoa. Load up half of your dinner plate with green vegetables such as spinach, kale, peppers and zucchini. Low-calorie, everyday meal plans also feature snacks such as 1 tablespoon of nut butter with celery, whole-grain crackers with low-fat cheese, or low-fat cottage cheese with 1 tablespoon of raisins.