Reminder: not all calories are created equal. While you may need a calorie deficit or surplus to hit your goals, paying attention to the types of foods you eat and the types of foods that work with your body is just as important. Macronutrients are helpful in setting a ballpark idea of the types of foods you should be eating.

Check out my sample meal plan below.

Meal Plan for the 1,800 Calorie Bracket

7:00am Pre-Workout: Beachbody Performance Pre-Workout + Kaged Muscle Pure BCAAs
9:00am Meal 1 (post workout): Overnight Oats: 1/2 cups oats, 1 scoop chocolate protein, water & 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
11:00am Snack 1 (M/W): 3/4 cup greek yogurt w/ liquid stevia & cinnamon, almonds, sliced bell peppers and baby carrots
11:00am Snack 1 (T/Thur): 2 eggs, celery, baby carrots & 2 tbsp peanut butter
1:00pm Lunch (Mon/Wed): 4oz ground turkey, 1 cup bell peppers, 1/2 cup pico de gillo & 1/2 cup white rice
1:00pm Lunch (Tue/Thur): 4oz turmeric ground bison, 1 cup purple cabbage, cherry tomatoes, green bell peppers & 1/2 cup white rice
3:00pm Snack 2: 3 cups popped popcorn
6:00pm Dinner: Turkey salad jar: balsamic vinegar, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup bell peppers, 4 oz ground turkey, 1/4 cup onions, + spinach
8:00pm Snack 3: 1 cup cottage cheese

Sample Macro Breakdown

Here’s an example day for me.

My total calories for the day are 1,779. I train hard and this is about what I need to maintain my weight!

If I’m interested in losing weight, I’d drop my calories by about 200 and decrease my carbs a bit. Currently, I am 5’6″, 138 pounds and about 18% body fat.

Grocery List for the 1,800 Calorie Meal Plan

There’s more food above than you’ll find in the meal plan. I’ll eat some of it on Friday and the rest will hold me over for the weekend!

Below are my groceries for the week based on this meal plan.

Protein:
half dozen eggs
8 oz. ground bison
24 oz. ground turkey
cottage cheese
Beachbody Performance Recover
Vega Performance protein

Fruit:
1 container pomegranate seeds

Vegetables:
2 cartons cherry tomatoes
1 bag purple cabbage
3-4 yellow bell peppers
2 red bell peppers
3 orange bell peppers
1 green bell pepper
1 bag celery
1 bag baby carrots
cilantro
1 bag spinach
1 white onion (or 1 bag chopped white onion)

Dry, Carbs and Canned Goods:
1 bag ancient grain oatmeal (Trader Joe’s brand)
white rice

Pantry:
cooking spray
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
popcorn
tumeric
peanut butter
MCT oil (for my coffee)

Meal Prep Containers:
black chefland containers
16 oz mason jars (for oats)
24 -32 oz mason jars (for salads)

Seasonings:
Flavorgod

Pre-workout:
Beachbody Performance Pre-Workout