Meal Plans for a High-Protein Diet

Whether you are a bodybuilder or a competitive athlete, or you just feel better on a high-protein diet, inventing a high-protein meal plan for day-to-day life can be difficult. Unlike a typical restrictive diet, such as a low-carb diet, a high-protein diet affords you nothing but opportunity--if it walks, crawls or moves at all, it can be dinner. But high-protein diets are not a license to skimp on the other macro-nutrients your body needs for staying healthy.

Healthy High-Protein Diet

A healthy high-protein diet contains plenty of lean meat, but it should not skimp on fruits, vegetables or alternative sources of healthy fats. Thus, if you are intent on living your high-protein dreams, your first and last stop when considering proper nutrition should be the Seven Rules of Good Nutrition by Canadian biochemist Dr. John Berardi. Dr. Berardi supports a balanced, high-protein diet for all of his clients, and has compiled seven basic rules to ensure good health.

1. Consume small meals every 2 to 3 hours.
2. Consume lean protein with every meal--meat, fish, chicken or eggs.
3. Consume fruit and vegetables with every meal.
4. Consume carbs from only fruit and vegetables.
5. Consume at least 25 percent of your daily calories from fat.
6. Drink only zero-calorie beverages.
7. Consume only solid meals--no liquid nutrition.

Meal Plans

Sample meal plans combining high-protein goals are as follows:

Breakfast: Six eggs cooked to order, two pieces of fruit, and a bowl of spinach
Mid-morning snack: A grilled chicken breast with cheese, lettuce and tomato
Lunch: Two hamburgers (no buns), with lettuce, tomato, and a garden salad with olive oil dressing
Mid-afternoon snack: A grilled chicken breast with cheese, lettuce and tomato with five fish oil capsules
Dinner: Salmon steak with broccoli drizzled in olive oil, five fish oil caps and an apple

In the alternative, here are some other meal suggestions for a high-protein diet that can be substituted in:

Alternate 1: Bison burgers with Swiss cheese and a fruit salad
Alternate 2: Grilled tilapia with Parmesan, pineapple slices and an avocado
Alternate 3: Beef jerky with walnuts, spinach and an apple
Alternate 4: Melted cheese over scrambled eggs with turkey bacon, an orange and a bowl of berries