I have been spreading out my new meal plan through the last few weeks and figured today would be a good day to finish up. My dinners and snacks are both pretty small topics to talk about, so I figured I would just include them both in one big post rather than fighting to produce two.

Let's start with dinner and then make our way to snacks. Honestly I do not have a whole lot to say about dinner. Despite the popular opinion that dinner shouldn't be this big filling meal, I keep dinner as my lightest meal of the day. Think about it... by the time you are eating dinner most of the time you are winding down for the day. I know I personally eat dinner as soon as I get home from work and the gym. Once I finish with dinner I usually get in the shower and then straight into my pajamas to settle in for the evening. You eat food for energy to keep yourself going so to me it makes the most logical sense that dinner would be a smaller meal as you do not need as much energy anymore.

My usual dinner is some sort of protein and a vegetable. I tend to lean more towards a leaner protein like chicken or a nice piece of salmon and on the side I usually will have a nice mixed green salad with a light dressing. Another nice side option are some nice steamed vegetables, especially green vegetables. I have been loving zucchini and picked out some nice asparagus to go with dinners this week for myself. Steak is an occasional protein option for me as well. Honestly I am not too much of a red meat eater to begin with, but sometimes I really just want it. Pick a small steak for yourself if you are on the same boat (I usually stay in the 6 oz range) and eating red meat is just fine in my opinion. As you can see I try to stay away from carbs at dinner time. I mean obvious carbs by this not the naturally occurring ones in some of the other foods. Potatoes, bread, rice etc. I tend to steer clear from for dinner. Overall dinner is just a small meal to replenish myself after my long day and my nice workout. 

Snacks are pretty important in the meal plan I have myself following as well. I know that probably sounds crazy, but snacks are not an enemy at all as long as you are smart about them. It is important to eat snacks in between meals for me in order to keep my metabolism going, and trust me ever since I started doing this I can absolutely tell my metabolism is boosted. I start to get hungry between all my meals, so a snack is great to stick in there to help with that while keeping hunger at bay to make it to the next meal.

The most important part of snacking, however, is to make sure you are not overdoing it. My snacks are typically in the 100-200 calorie range. I have been having a 100 calorie pack of nuts between breakfast and dinner. Between lunch and the gym I have another small snack. That is around 3 pm (I have lunch right at noon). I have been eating an apple with one tablespoon of all natural peanut butter. This week my plan is 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt with berries and a teaspoon or so of natural peanut butter as well. It does not need to be anything huge, just something nice that will give me some fuel for my workout. The last snack I typically have is a protein shake. I make this in my car as soon as I leave the gym and drink it on my drive home. I personally have a 30-40 minute drive home, so this snack is really just to keep my hunger at bay while I drive home and cook my dinner. If I skipped this one I would literally be snacking the entire time I was cooking my dinner which would obviously lead to overeating.    

Overall I feel that this new meal plan is absolutely working for me. Sure the number on the scale is hovering in the same area right now as it has for a while, but I feel the changes in myself ad know I am getting healthier. Some of my clothes are too big for me to wear at this point and I feel the clothes that used to be tight fitting me correctly now. I see little signs in the mirror as well. My collar bone is a bit more visible now, my face is visibly slimmer in pictures, and I totally see more of a shape forming on my hips than I ever have. As I mentioned before I am working with a personal trainer now and doing a lot more weight training. My trainer said it is 100% normal to be staying the same or even gaining weight right now as I am weight training and building muscle, so I am not worried at all. I think this is the best meal plan for me and it seems to be working a lot. With a bit more discipline I will be golden. I hope this series of posts inspires you to come up with your own!