How to Design a Successful Meal Plan

**Dr. Gabrielle Lyon** (0:02)
Welcome to the Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Show, where I believe a healthy world is based on transparent conversation.
What's up, guys? Dr. Gabrielle Lyon here, and today, I am doing my very first solo cast. Here is why I wanted to do it. I wanna do a solo cast because we've heard so much great science information, but the reality is I want to personally set you up for success. So in this podcast, I am going to give you, number one, my top strategies for meal plan success. I don't care if you are keto, carnivore, vegan, vegetarian, erratarian, whatever it is. Well, I guess if you're just eating air, well, that's an oxymoron, you're not doing that. But I don't care. The point is I don't care what diet strategy you follow. I am going to give you framework for it to be the most successful plan that you have ever done. So I'm gonna tell you strategies for meal planning. Then I'm going to tell you how to find out where your calories should be. I know that there's a lot of talk about that and it's quite confusing, but the reality is you do need to get some kind of sense of your total calories. Again, you don't drive down the highway without going a certain speed limit.
Whether you agree with that speed limit or not, there is still a speed limit and you still track that number. You have to do the same for calories, at least to start.
Then I am going to give you some guidelines for how you can design a protein forward diet. Very specific for you. Again, I am going to make general recommendations, but the information provided will allow you to have somewhat of a guide rail to get you unstuck and really getting you on the path, the path that you want to be on. We are going to talk about how do we build your diet around protein, how do we think about it in terms of amounts. Then the other thing that I am going to also mention is how I think about carbohydrates.
Finally, how I think about fats. So this episode is going to provide you with a great foundational framework for thinking about designing a nutrition plan for yourself.
All right, let's rock and roll, people. Thank you to another one of our sponsors, Paleo Valley. Today, I want to highlight their beef sticks. This is a staple in our house. I love the Paleo Valley beef sticks. They are 100% grass-fed and grass-finished, which is amazing. They are beef sourced from small domestic farms in the US. This is really important. They use real organic spices to flavor their beef sticks versus conventionally sprayed spices, another plus. My favorite aspect of this product is that they ferment their beef sticks, which creates naturally occurring probiotics, which are great for gut health. And just overall, this product tastes absolutely amazing. They have omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, CLA, bioavailable protein. Head on over to paleovalley.com/dr.lyon, and you will get a 15% off discount. These are amazing, great protein snacks, a grab and go. That's paleovalley.com/dr.lyon. Thank you to Timeline for sponsoring this very special episode of the Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Show. You guys know I love muscle health, and with muscle health comes the health of our mitochondria. Of course, as we age, they can become damaged, and it makes it harder to produce the energy that we need to feel our best. Really everything that I am talking about in this episode. One reason why I absolutely love Mitopure is that it helps our mitochondria produce energy more efficiently by triggering our body's natural cellular renewal process. If you have not tried Mitopure, this is an absolute go-to for me. Head on over to timelinenutrition.com/dr.lyon, and you will get 10% off your order. That's timelinenutrition.com/dr.lyon, one of my absolute favorite supplements on the market. All right, friends, you've no doubt heard that there are a million different ways to skin the proverbial cat.
Before you jump in to any kind of meal plan, I want to lay out a handful of strategies that I have found in clinical practice to be incredibly layered with success. Okay, are you ready? Grab a notebook, get to it. Number one, find a consistent eating schedule. Yes, food impacts your body's circadian cycles, rhythms, whatever you want to call it.
You want your body to have predictability, and you want to create a plan so you don't get distracted by food. What does this mean? This means that when you wake up, maybe an hour, hour and a half after you wake up, you have your first meal. You do this every day. This is exactly how you are going to execute. Your second meal, maybe, I don't know, five hours later, and then you have your dinner meal at, say, 6 p.m. before bed. And that is the strategy. That is your schedule. You are not distracted by, well, today I ate at 9, tomorrow, I don't know, it's already past 11 and you haven't eaten breakfast.