Summer is upon us and that means one thing; bathing suit season! The following 1300 calorie meal plan is great if you need a jumpstart after a long winter, have a special event coming up, or want to feel bikini-body confident in a hurry.

This simple meal plan is based on The Mediterranean Diet Food Pyramid, requires no supplements, and is based on 5 meals spread throughout the day. Macronutrients are balanced with protein, providing just a little bit more calories than fats or carbohydrates.  The plan’s high fiber intake is great and helps make you feel satiated.

Note: 1300 calories is a rather low amount of calories for most people. However, if it fits your daily calorie needs, this meal plan is highly recommended. If you need more calories, feel free to play a little bit with amounts of food (more on that later).

List of foods, amounts, and macronutrient content is given in the following table:

1300 Calories Diet Meal Plan

8:00 am Breakfast

This meal is a fruit smoothie with cottage cheese. Blend cheese, berries and some liquid in a blender.

Note:

Low fat cottage cheese is rich in slow digesting protein and calcium. Blackberries are loaded with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. This has everything needed for a great start to the day.

Goat’s milk is great unless you are lactose intolerant, in which case you should make a fruit smoothie with water. Goat milk is rich not only in calcium, but in many other minerals and has an excellent fat profile. If you’re on a diet, it’s a good idea to lower fat intake, so consumed fats should be as high-quality as possible.

If the breakfast is too small for you and your nutrition plan allows more calories, feel free to add a slice of whole grain bread, or put some oats in the smoothie. Just be sure to measure them, since ⅓ cup of oats contains around 35g of carbohydrates!

Although this meal plan is free of supplements, if you want to add more protein to this meal, feel free to add some whey protein. Even better, use a protein blend powder. Usually 30g of such powders contain around 25g of protein, 2g of carbs and 1g of fat. This is an easy method for increasing protein content in meals like this.

11:00 am Brunch

Salmon fillets are prepared on a non-stick grilling pan. If you have time, try to marinate them with a low calorie marinade and herbs - this improves their taste and aroma. As a salad, you can eat a medium sized tomato with some salt and vinegar. A slice of whole grain bread completes the ingredients for this meal.

Note: No oil is used for preparing this meal. If you require more calories, feel free to prepare this meal using a single tablespoon of extra virgin oil, but be sure to use medium heat only. A single tablespoon of olive oil is an additional 135 additional calories.

For making the salad, feel free to add some spring onions and/or cucumbers to the tomatoes. You can add a teaspoon of olive oil, around 5g of more fat, to make the salad more palatable. Just be sure to count those calories, too.

3:00 pm Fruit Snack

The fruit salad is made using oranges and kiwis. Both fruits are rich in various vitamins and minerals, but also in medium complex carbs. These carbs will help keep you going through the rest of the day while fiber will keep you full.

Instead of oranges or kiwis, you can use any similar fruit like apricots, tangerines, pomegranate, apples, and various berries, etc.

5:00 pm Late Afternoon Lunch

This meal is an omelet made using 5 egg whites, 1 organic or omega-3 egg with some steamed cauliflower as a side dish. Again, no oil was used for making this meal. If you need more taste and aroma, add just a teaspoon of olive oil to the cauliflower when served. That is an additional 5g of fat.

If you need more carbs, a slice of whole grain bread or some whole grain pasta is a good choice, just be aware of carbs in bread or pasta.

8:00 pm Dinner

For dinner, some low fat or cottage cheese is consumed with spinach. Again, no oil is added when preparing spinach. As a dessert, have a few almonds. Almonds are a source of healthy fats, vitamins and minerals, but they are calorie dense food, so beware of amounts. Instead of almonds you can eat walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachio, peanuts, and other nuts. It is good to vary types of nuts in order to avoid boredom.

To increase protein content, feel free to consume some chicken or turkey breast fillets grilled on a non-stick grilling pan. 3-4 ounces of such fillets contains around 22-25 grams of lean protein. If you add olive oil to this meal, substitute it for the almonds.

 This meal plan provides you with 125 grams of protein, 100 grams of carbohydrates and 45g of fat. When on low calorie diets, be sure to consume plenty of water. Water hydrates the body and helps flush out toxins.

Diet Pills and Other Supplements

Diet pills are great for increasing energy levels and making you satiated for longer. However, they also can cause increased heart rate, increased blood pressure and can have other effects on human body. Before taking them or even going on a diet, be sure to visit your doctor. Better safe than sorry.

Omega-3 and other fatty acid pills don’t have to be taken. This meal plan provides plenty of good fat sources (salmon, almonds, omega-3 egg, etc.) and taking such pills are not required.

I’d rather eat berries, kiwis, oranges and other healthy foods than take pills. However, if you are planning on going on a diet for longer periods of time, vitamin and mineral supplements can help in avoiding various deficiencies.

 Author: Patrick Mayer is a strength coach and sports nutritionist specializing in training and nutrition for both beginners and advanced trainees. For staying fit and healthy, he highly recommends physical activity with or without exercise equipment, proper nutrition, and enough sleep and rest. Patrick Mayer is one of the leading authors on Staying Fit site.