NEW PRODUCT

Looking for a diet plan suitable for active or larger people? Three meals and three snacks a day are called for on a 2200 calorie diet plan.

A 2200 calorie diet plan can be a weight loss plan – if you’re a pretty big guy who’s getting regular exercise, but you’ve still got a bit of a spare tire. But just because you can eat a bit more than other people and still lose weight, that doesn’t give you the license to eat whatever you want. Your diet plan still needs to include all the nutrients your larger body needs – the protein, vitamins and minerals – so it’s important that you pay attention to the number of servings from the different food groups that are recommended for you. That way, you’ll be sure to meet your nutrient needs.  If you’ve looked at the lower calorie diet plans in this series, you’ll notice that your plan looks very similar – you just get a few more servings of various foods throughout the day.

Who should choose a 2200 calorie diet plan?

A 2200 calorie meal plan might be right for you if you are a large-framed, active male who is seeking weight loss. This plan may be too high in calories for you if you are female, or if you are a smaller-framed male – unless your activity level is very high. A drop of no more than 2 pounds (1 kg) per week is considered a safe rate of weight loss. If you are losing more quickly than that, you can gradually add servings from any food group to your plan until you achieve a calorie level that leads to a safe rate of loss. If you are losing too slowly, you can drop down to the 1800 calorie plan. As with any diet plan, regular exercise is not only a healthy habit, it also helps you to burn more calories to help you reach your weight goals.

2200 calorie diet plan overview

This plan calls for three meals and three snacks each day. Here is the basic breakdown for the 2200 calorie diet plan:

Breakfast: 2 Protein + 1 Fruit (+ vegetables if desired) + 1 Starch/Grain

Snack: 1 Protein Snack

Lunch: 2 Protein + 2 Vegetable + Leafy Greens + 1 Starch/Grain + 1 Taste Enhancer + 1 Fruit

Snack: 1 Protein Snack + 1 Fruit or Vegetable

Dinner: 2 Protein + 2 Starch/Grain + 2 Vegetable + Leafy Greens + 2 Taste Enhancer

Snack: 1 Fruit

Daily Totals: 6 Protein, 3-4 Fruit, 5-6 Vegetable, 4 Starch/Grain, 2 Protein Snack, Leafy Greens – no limit,  3 Taste Enhancers

To create the menus for the 2200 calorie plan, I simply plug in different foods based on my“How to Create Your Own Sample Diet Plan” article which provides all the details on portion sizes for each food group. You can follow this 3-day plan, or you can swap foods in and out depending on what you like, and what’s convenient for you to prepare. The beauty of this system is that it’s relatively simple, but it allows you to customize your menus to your liking. My 2200 calorie meal plan calls for three meals and snacks in the mid-morning, mid-afternoon and after dinner – but you have some flexibility to move things around as long as you don’t exceed the total number of servings from each food group for the day. Some people, for example, prefer to eat a larger meal at lunch, so they’ll ‘steal’ a starch/grain serving from the dinner meal and have it at lunch instead. Also, you can always swap out one or two meals for a Herbalife Formula 1 Healthy Meal Drink or an Herbalife Express Meal Bar if you’re on the go or don’t feel like cooking from scratch. Herbalife Protein Bars are also a good way to make sure your snacks contain the right level of protein.

3-day menus for a 2200 calorie diet

DAY 1 Breakfast

• 1 cup (250g) nonfat cottage cheese
• 1 cup (80g) strawberries
• Sprinkled with cinnamon
• 1 slice whole grain toast topped with:
• 3 ounces (85 gm) sliced turkey breast

Snack

• ½ cup (125g) nonfat vanilla yogurt

Lunch Large Salad made with:

• Leafy greens (lettuce, spinach) – any amount
• 2 cups (160g) chopped mixed vegetables (carrots, peppers, tomato)
• 6 ounces (170g) grilled chicken breast
• ½ cup (150g) cooked white beans
• 2 tablespoons (30g) reduced-calorie salad dressing
• 1 tangerine

Snack

• 1 ounce (30g) soy nuts
• Carrot and celery sticks 

Dinner

• 8 ounces (200g) grilled salmon with lemon
• 2 cups (160g) steamed green beans with garlic
• 1 cup (300g) cooked brown rice
• large leafy green salad – any amount
• ¼ medium avocado for salad
• 2 Tablespoons (30g) reduced calorie salad dressing

Snack

• 1 orange

DAY 2 Breakfast

• 1 whole egg + 4 egg whites scrambled in nonstick pan with pan spray
• Topped with tomato salsa
• 2 corn tortillas
• 1 cup (250g) nonfat cottage cheese
• 1 cup (80g) cut melon

Snack

• ½ cup (125g) vanilla yogurt

Lunch Chicken-veggie stir-fry. Saute together tofu, chicken and veggies:

• 5 ounces (125g) firm tofu, cut into cubes
• 3 ounces (85g) chicken breast, cut into strips
• 2 cups (80g) broccoli florets
• Large bunch fresh spinach leaves
• 2 tsp. (10 ml) oil to stir-fry
• Season with soy sauce, garlic, pepper and ginger
• ½ cup (150g) steamed brown rice
• ½ medium mango

Snack

• 4 Tablespoons (60g) prepared hummus
• 1 cup (80g) baby carrots

Dinner Grain salad with protein. Toss together:

• 8 ounces (200g) grilled shrimp
• 1 cup (300g) cooked quinoa
• 2 cups (160g) chopped mixed vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, carrots, cucumber, onion)
• 2 Tablespoons (30g) reduced calorie vinaigrette dressing
• Place on a bed of leafy greens

Snack

• 1 fresh orange

DAY 3 Breakfast

• 1 whole egg + 4 egg whites scrambled in a non-stick pan
• ½ toasted whole grain English Muffin
• 1 cup (250g) plain nonfat yogurt topped with:
• 1 banana, sliced
• Sprinkle with nutmeg

Snack

• 1 ounce (30g) lowfat mozzarella cheese

Lunch

• 8 ounces (200g) grilled halibut
• 2 cups (80g) steamed asparagus with lemon
• ½ cup (150g) whole grain pasta
• Mixed leafy greens salad – any amount
• 2 Tablespoons (30g) reduced calorie salad dressing
• 1 cup (80g) berries

Snack

• ½ cup (125g) nonfat cottage cheese
• 1 cup (80g) chopped mixed raw vegetables
• season with salt, pepper, dried dill or chives

Dinner

• 6 ounces (170g) grilled lean steak
• 2 cups (160g) roasted Brussels sprouts (halve, toss with olive oil, roast at 400 F / 205 C  for 20 minutes)
• 2 tsp. (10 ml) olive oil (for Brussels sprouts)
• Steamed kale, spinach or Swiss chard with vinegar
• 1 small sweet potato sprinkled with ginger

Snack

• 1 cup (80g) diced fresh pineapple

I hope you can make this calorie plan work for you. Sometimes, seeing exactly how much you should be eating each day can help kick-start a new approach to healthy eating. It’s important to consume the right levels of nutrients from the right food groups each day and I hope this diet plan helped you to see how these can easily be distributed across a day.

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

Try this 3-day 1200 calorie diet plan

Looking for sample menus for a 1200 calorie diet plan? This 3-day diet plan packs a lot of nutrition into 1200 calories.

A 1200 calorie diet plan calls for some careful planning – not that higher calorie level diet plans don’t – but when you only have 1200 calories to work with and you want to hit all your nutritional targets, every calorie really counts. This 1200 calorie sample diet plan gives you 3 nutrition-packed daily menus to follow.

Who should choose a 1200 calorie diet plan?

A 1200 calorie diet plan would be appropriate for an adult woman who gets little to no activity and who desires weight loss. If this applies to you, I recommend that you start with a 1200 calorie plan, but that you also begin a regular exercise program as well. A 1200 calorie plan may also be appropriate for small-to-medium framed women over the age of 50 who are only lightly active. This calorie level is probably too low for most men.

A drop of no more than 2 pounds (1 kg) per week is considered a safe rate of weight loss. If you are losing weight more quickly than that, move up to the next highest calorie level. If you are losing more slowly, you should not eat fewer than 1200 calories per day – instead, you need to step up your activity level.

1200 Calorie Diet Plan Overview

This plan calls for three meals and two snacks each day. Here is the basic breakdown for the 1200 calorie diet plan:

Breakfast: 1 Protein + 1 Fruit (+ vegetables if desired)

Lunch: 1 Protein + 1 Vegetable + Leafy Greens + 1 Taste Enhancer

Snack: 1 Protein Snack + 1 Fruit or Vegetable

Dinner: 1 Protein + 1 Starch/Grain + 2 Vegetable + Leafy Greens + 1 Taste Enhancer

Snack: 1 Fruit

Daily Totals:   3 Protein, 2-3 Fruit, 3-4 Vegetable, 1 Starch/Grain, 1 Protein Snack, Leafy Greens – no limit, 2 Taste Enhancers

I’ve structured the diet this way so that your meals and afternoon snack will be evenly spaced throughout the day, providing the proper nutrition to help keep your energy level up. However, feel free to move foods around if it suits you better. For example, if you feel that you need a snack mid-morning, you can move the evening fruit snack to the mid-morning instead. As long as you don’t exceed the daily totals for each food group, you’re good!

Take a look at my ‘How to Create Your Own Sample Diet Plan” article which provides all the details on portion sizes for each food group. This will help you when it comes to designing your own 1200 calorie diet plans. Also, you can always swap out one or two meals for a Herbalife Formula 1 Healthy Meal Drink or an Express Meal Bar if you’re on the go or don’t feel like cooking from scratch.

3-Day Menus for a 1200 Calorie Diet

DAY 1

Breakfast

• 1 cup (250g) nonfat cottage cheese
• 1 cup (80g) strawberries
• Sprinkled with cinnamon

Lunch

Large salad made with:

• Leafy greens (lettuce, spinach) – any amount
• 1 cup (80g) chopped mixed vegetables (carrots, peppers, tomato)
• 3 ounces (85g) grilled chicken breast (link to video – quick way to cook chicken breasts)
• 2 tablespoons (30g) reduced calorie salad dressing (link to salad dressing video)

Snack

• 1 ounce (30g) soy nuts
• 1 fresh apple

Dinner

• 4 ounces (100g) grilled salmon with lemon
• 2 cups (160g) steamed green beans with garlic
• ½ cup (150g) cooked brown rice
• large leafy green salad – any amount
• 2 Tablespoons (30g) reduced calorie salad dressing

Snack

• 1 orange

DAY 2

Breakfast

• 1 whole egg + 4 egg whites scrambled in nonstick pan with pan spray
• Topped with tomato salsa
• 1 cup (80g) cut melon

Lunch

Veggie stir-fry.  Saute together:

• 5 ounces (125g) firm tofu, cut into cubes
• 1 cup (80g) broccoli florets
• Large bunch fresh spinach leaves
• 2 tsp. (10 ml) oil to stir-fry
• Season with soy sauce, garlic, pepper and ginger

Snack

• 4 Tablespoons (60g) prepared hummus
• 1 cup (80g) baby carrots

Grain salad with protein. Toss together:

• 4 ounces (100g) grilled shrimp
• ½ cup (150g) cooked quinoa
• 2 cups (160g) chopped mixed vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, carrots, cucumber, onion)
• 2 Tablespoons (30g) reduced calorie vinaigrette dressing
• Place on a bed of leafy greens

Snack

• 1 fresh orange

DAY 3

Breakfast

• 1 cup (250g) plain nonfat yogurt
• 1 banana, sliced
• Sprinkle with nutmeg

Lunch

• 4 ounces (100g) grilled halibut
• 1 cup (80g) steamed asparagus with lemon
• Mixed leafy greens salad – any amount
• 2 Tablespoons (30g) reduced calorie salad dressing

Snack

• ½ cup (125g) nonfat cottage cheese
• 1 cup (80g) chopped mixed raw vegetables
• season with salt, pepper, dried dill or chives

Dinner

• 3 ounces (85g) grilled lean steak
• 2 cups (160g) roasted Brussels sprouts (halve, toss with olive oil, roast at 400 F / 205 C for 20 minutes)
• 2 tsp. (10 ml) olive oil (for Brussels sprouts)
• Steamed kale, spinach or Swiss chard with vinegar – any amount
• ½ small sweet potato sprinkled with ginger

Snack

• 1 cup (80g) diced fresh pineapple

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

The holiday season is supposed to be fun-filled, but it can also be stressful and busy, which makes it challenging to eat right, exercise and get enough sleep. Herbalife’s nutrition expert Susan Bowerman shares her top tips to help you feel your best during this busy time.

Use a meal replacement shake to control your calories. 
Meal replacements can help you keep your daily calorie intake in check when you’re tempted by festive treats. A Herbalife® Formula 1 Shake made with semi-skimmed milk or soy milk will give you the protein and energy you need. If you have a party in the mid-afternoon, have a shake beforehand so you’re not famished when you arrive. 

Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. 
Fruits and vegetables are low in calories and are one of the best defences against weight gain. Eat some fresh fruit and vegetables at meals and snacks, and seek them out at festive parties and buffets. 

Watch your alcohol intake. 
The calories in alcoholic beverages add up fast. To reduce your overall intake, try alternating an alcoholic beverage with a calorie-free beverage. If you don’t feel sociable without a drink in your hand, a glass of sparkling mineral water with a slice of lime or lemon will do the trick. 

Save your calories for special holiday foods. 
We all have certain foods that we associate with the festive season, foods that we don’t eat at any other time of the year. You don’t need to avoid them entirely, just save your calories for these special items and stay away from the “everyday treats” that you could eat any time. 

Stay active. 
Set aside time for your regular exercise routine. It will help keep your weight under control and it is a great stress reducer during this busy time of the year. If you don’t exercise regularly, now is a great time to get ahead of those New Year’s resolutions. 

Written by Susan Bowerman MS, RD, CSSD, Herbalife’s nutrition expert and registered dietician.