A personalized nutrition plan is a great way to keep your calorie intake under control. Sample plans are useful if you are just beginning and are not sure of how much or what you should eat. While using sample diet plans help, it is better to have a plan specific to the portion sizes you need.

Find Appropriate Foods for Meals and Snacks

Your first step in creating a personal diet plan is learning which foods to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You also want to find out about snacks, since snacking between meals can led to packing on extra pounds.

One way to approach this is to break down your meals and snacks into groups such as:

  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Leafy greens
  • Starch/grains
  • Protein snacks and taste enhancers

The structure of diet plans are based on these groups, which makes it easy to remember what to eat for each meal.

Learn about Portion Sizes

Once you know how to break down meals into the above mentioned groups, the next step is becoming familiar with portion sizes. Whether you are trying to lose weight or reverse negative effects of a medical condition, eating too much of certain foods could defeat your efforts.

It is very important to keep your calorie intake in check. Measuring the amount you eat from each group can also give balance to what you eat on a daily basis.

Create Menus for Each Meal

Creating your menus is the fun part. After all, food should be enjoyed. Changing poor eating habits does not equal a bland and uneventful lifestyle. You simply take your understanding of calories and portion sizes for each food group and put delicious meals together.

Choose a daily calorie level such as 1,200 or 2,200 calories and plug in foods from each group to reach the total for your personalized plan.

Some people choose to buy a personalized diet plan from a certified nutritionist or registered dietician. Others manage to develop a no-cost diet plan to fit their needs. Include daily physical activity because exercise has a major role in how many calories you consume and burn.

Consult with your doctor before incorporating a new weight loss strategy with your diet. An effective nutrition plan is flexible, enjoyable and balanced to help you lose or maintain a healthy weight. Stay motivated and committed to eat right so you can reach your personal goals.