Take an honest and open look at your meal plan by using the following checklist to see just how well your meal plan is matched to your fat loss goals.

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Answer yes or no to the following:

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1. I reduce the amount of food I eat on lighter or non-training days. For example, post-training or mid meal snacks are not included in my meal plan or I reduce the size of mid meal snacks on days I don’t train.
    

2. I avoid energy containing drinks like juices, cordial, soft drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, & alcohol & my sports drink of choice for most training sessions is water.
    

3. I avoid the temptation to eat food when I’m not hungry, depressed or bored & fill my time with other activities.
    

4. I eat at least 3-4 cups of vegetables each day of the week (cooked & salad vegetables). These are generally eaten at the start of the meal to help fill me up.
    

5. I include a small serve of protein rich food at each meal & snack. For example…
   • Low fat or skim milk on cereal or eggs at breakfast
   • Low fat yoghurt at mid meal snacks
   • Fat-trimmed cold meats (e.g. ham, pastrami, corned beef, tinned fish, skinless chicken) on sandwiches at lunch &/or low fat cheese
   • Palm (minus fingers & thumb) of fat-trimmed meat, skinless poultry, seafood or vegetarian alternatives like tofu with dinner.
    

6. I drink at least 1-2 glasses of water or occasionally some diet cordial at each meal, preferably towards the start of the meal. This not only helps fill me up but also helps maintain my hydration status.
    

7. If I have a mid-meal snack, I focus on lower energy, nutrient rich snacks like fresh fruit, diet yoghurts or vegetable sticks.
    

8. I ensure that I take the time to enjoy my food, putting my knife & fork down, chewing each mouthful before taking another bite. I am often one of the last people to finish a meal at the table.
    

9. I enjoy high fat snacks like potato or corn crisps, nuts, chocolate, pastries, biscuits & cakes only on special occasions (if at all) & in small quantities.
    

10. I know how to read food labels & use the information they provide to help make informed decisions when comparing different foods. Rather than being tricked by terms like ‘No Cholesterol’, ‘Baked, not fried’ & ‘Light’ I compare labels for energy, fat, carbohydrate, protein & other important nutrients.

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Over the next week, focus your energies on changing your meal plan around, turning any ‘NO’ responses into a ‘YES’.

Read our tips to help you better understand why the above points are key to successfully losing the weight off and keeping it off.