Clean and Lean Diet Plan: How to Prep Simple Meals for Beginners

Grab your “Clean & Lean Meal Plan Sample”!

“The Final Push” Challenge

On DAY01 of this challenge, I gave you 3 assignments; the second one was to “Revamp your Diet Plan & Training program”. Today I’ll be sharing a Clean & Lean MEAL PLAN Sample that conforms to the guidelines I have listed on your assignments.

Let’s review these guidelines quickly, and feel free to go back to DAY01 to get into more details.

• Eat CLEAN non-processed food (throw out the junk)
• Learn how to prepare meals with basic natural ingredients (they are truly delicious)
• Eat when you feel hungry, not before and not when you are starving (listen to your body)
• Control your portion size (yes, calories do matter!)
• Get out of the comfort zone daily (try something new, eat more veggies than you usually would, etc.)

Assuming you’ve got all of the above covered, let’s see what an actual “Clean & Lean meal plan” might look like!

Fist, some helpful tools…

• Check out my Instagram account to have a look at my daily menu. I keep it simple since I don’t have much time to spend in the kitchen. Yet, I manage to eat clean (most of the time) on a low-budget.
• As I mentioned earlier this week, no one-person needs the same amount of calories, there are so many variables that affect your own personal needs (genetics, metabolism, hormones, activity level, age, gender, etc.). However, you can calculate your estimated caloric daily needs HERE and make some adjustments from there. Listen to your body; see how you feel and how your body is reacting to your food intake.
• Refer to these articles for more insight about eating clean: Calorie Shifting: Perfecting your figure and learn how to trick your body into loosing fat; 10 day eating CLEAN & LEAN Challenge Wrap Up.

WARNING: YOU WILL NOT FEEL DEPRIVED, THIS FOOD IS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!

Listed below are a few suggestions for eating  a “Clean & Lean” diet.  I’m giving you 5 options for each meal. Feel free to have the same meal every morning, like I do. But in case you like variety, you can mix it up.

I have listed 5 daily meals but some of you might have only 4 or perhaps 6. Don’t forget to adjust your portion size so that it fits into your caloric needs.

Click on each meal to redirect to see the recipe or image.

Meal01 / Breakfast

• Cottage Cheese Pancakes
• Peanut Butter Cup Oatmeal
• Rise & Shine Breakfast Smoothie
• Protein Pancakes
• Broccoli & Feta Omelet with Toast

Meal02 / Morning Snack

• Celery topped with peanut butter
• Piece of fruit
• Handful of nut mix
• Apple Cranberry & Walnut Muffins
• Avocado Toast

Meal03 / Dinner

• Healthy Pasta Carbonara
• Quinoa Burger
• Pesto Vegetable Wrap with Sprouts
• Lentil Soup
• Curry Chicken

Meal04 / Mid-day snack

• Carrots & Hummus
• Peach Protein Shake
• Cottage Cheese & Berries
• Cucumber-Mint Yogurt Dip with Veggies
• Kale Chips

Meal05 / Supper

• Vegetarian Chili
• Pizza Omelette
• Garbanzo Beans & Kale
• Fresh Salmon Salad with Chickpeas and Tomatoes
• The Muscle Taco

What to drink?

Water & some more water, tea, if you drink coffee; limit your intake to one cup a day.

Daily treats? Of course!

• 1-2 squares of dark chocolate (70% cacao or more)
• Half a glass of red wine
• 1 square of Black Bean Brownies
• Super Healthy Ice Cream
• 1 square of No-Bake CHOCO-PEANUT Protein Bar

A few EXTRA TIPS…

• Limit your dairy intake,
• Max out on veggies, especially leafy greens,
• Drink up… drink enough water throughout the day.

Your goal this week is to follow a Clean & Lean Diet and to give yourself that extra push while working out. Next week I will be sharing new guidelines and “The Final Cut Diet Plan”. Yes, we will get a little strict and be cutting out some of our favorite foods, but guess what? It’s only for a week and it’s all going to be worth the extra effort after seeing those results!

Disclaimer: PLEASE consult a registered dietitian, nutritionist, or doctor before making any drastic changes to your diet.