Photo by Aylanah
Every Friday is Health Tip Day at Zen Habits.
I’ve decided that in order to get serious about losing weight, you need to count calories. I’ve tried doing it without counting, and while you do see some weight loss, it’s not the results I’m looking for.
However, I’m too lazy to measure and calculate the calories of every single thing I put in my mouth.
So how have I solved that problem? I call it the Zen Habits Meal Plan (clever, huh?).

Notice that it’s not the “Zen Habits Diet”. That’s because to me, diets are intended to be restrictive and temporary. I’ve created an easy way to plan my meals so that I don’t overeat, so that I’m eating fairly healthy, and so that it’s got some leeway for pleasurable eating. And for me, this has to be something I can do for life.
So here are my requirements when I was coming up with this plan:

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• Easy - I don’t want to have to measure or calculate calories for each meal or snack. I need to track calories, but nothing hard or complicated.
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• Healthy - I want to incorporate a lot of good, whole foods into my plan.
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• Not restrictive – I don’t want to feel like I’m starving myself or restricting myself from yummy foods.
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• Sustainable - This is not a temporary plan. It’s something I want to do for the rest of my life.
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• Prevent binging – If you allow yourself to get too hungry, you tend to binge. I don’t want that.
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