How To Create Your Own Diet Plan

Most people know that you need to combine exercise with a healthy diet. The problem that most people have is that they do not know how to create their own diet plan. This is why they will often turn to a fad diet which does not actually help them in the long run. Fortunately, it is possible to create your own diet plan as long as you know what to focus on.

Learn What Foods To Eat

The first step in creating your own diet plan is knowing what you should eat and when you should eat it. Most diet plans will have breakfast, lunch, a snack, dinner and then another snack. The type of food that you eat will vary depending on the time of day.
It is recommended that you have protein and fruit for breakfast. The foods you have for lunch will vary depending on how many calories you want your diet plan to provide. For 1200 calories, you should have a lunch which consists of protein, vegetables and leafy green. If you want more calories, you can include a starch to this.

The snacks on your diet plan should be fruit. For dinner, if you want 1200 calories you should have protein, starch, vegetables and leafy greens. For more calories, you will keep the same food groups, but you would increase the amount that you are going to have.
Learn About Portion Sizes

Once you know what food groups you should be eating and when, you need to learn about portion sizes. This is one of the most important factors when it comes to creating your own diet plan. There is no point in eating the right food groups if you are eating too much or too little of them.
When looking at protein, you can choose from a range of different foods. However, one unit of protein should be 85 grams of lean meat or poultry or 100 grams of cooked fish or shellfish. A whole egg will also make up a single unit of protein as will 125 grams of tofu.


A single unit of fruit is generally easy to determine as it is a single average size piece of fruit. If you are eating berries and cut fruit, a single unit is 1 cup. Half a cup of pure fruit juice will also count as a unit of fruit.

When looking at vegetables, a single unit will generally be a cup of the vegetable. Leafy greens can be eaten in any amount, but you should never overdo this. Leafy greens can have some compounds that affect certain people and you need to be aware of this.

A single unit of starch will be a half cup of cook grains such as rice, beans, corn and quinoa. A single slice of whole grain bread will also count as a single unit of starch. Half of a large potato will also be classed as a single unit.

When you create your own diet plan, you need to consider when you eat certain food groups and how much you should be eating. It is recommended that you consult with your doctor before you use the diet plan to ensure that you are getting all of the nutrients that you need.