Weight Loss Meal Plan: A 7-Day Plan for Australians
A weight loss meal plan sets out what to eat at each meal and snack across the week, using foods from the five food groups in amounts that match your energy needs. The 7-day plan below uses the serves the Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend for an adult woman, with a shopping list and the kilojoules in every meal.
Each day comes to about 7,100 to 7,900 kJ (1,690 to 1,880 calories), worked out from the Australian Food Composition Database. Everything here is general information, not medical advice. Results vary between individuals, and a GP or accredited practising dietitian can tailor a plan to your health.
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Key Points
Eating the recommended serves from the five food groups and leaving out discretionary foods can help many people lose weight while staying healthy (NHMRC). Outcomes vary between individuals.
The plan uses the daily serves for women aged 19 to 50 of average height. Men, taller people and more active people may need extra serves.
Snacks are planned in advance, as part of the day's food, not on top of it.
Water is the main drink, and the plan leaves out discretionary foods.
The plan is meant to go with physical activity on most days, as Australia's physical activity guidelines recommend.
How This Meal Plan Works
Each day gives the guidelines' recommended average daily serves for women aged 19 to 50:
| Food group | Serves a day |
|---|---|
| Vegetables and legumes | 5 |
| Fruit | 2 |
| Grain foods, mostly wholegrain | 6 |
| Lean meats, fish, eggs, nuts, legumes | 2½ |
| Milk, yoghurt, cheese, mostly reduced fat | 2½ |
| Unsaturated spreads and oils | 2 serves (14 to 20 g) |
Day 1 is adapted from the Eat for Health sample meal plan for women, which is for average height, a healthy weight and light activity. Days 2 to 7 use the same serves with different foods, so the week has variety without changing the totals.
Planning matters for weight loss. Well planned snacks let you keep portions smaller at meals, and they stop you getting so hungry that you eat too much or reach for unplanned discretionary foods. For weight loss, a snack counts as part of a meal saved for later, chosen from the five food groups.
Vegetables do a lot of the work. Making half of each meal coloured vegetables or salad, with smaller portions of the other foods, can cut the kilojoules by up to half. Discretionary foods are left out because a serve can hold about as many kilojoules as a serve from the five food groups, yet it is usually much smaller and less filling.
How Many Kilojoules Should Your Meal Plan Have?
To set a daily target for weight loss, Eat for Health suggests working out your energy needs at your ideal body weight, not your current weight. This gives a lower estimate that may help you start losing weight, and this page takes nothing further off it. The plan follows the same idea, because the pattern it is built on is for a woman of average height at a healthy weight.
As an example from the nutrient reference values, a woman aged 31 to 50 who is 1.6 m tall, at a healthy weight (a BMI of 22), needs about 7,600 kJ a day at an activity level of 1.4 times her resting energy use (seated work, with little or no strenuous leisure activity). The plan's days average about 7,500 kJ. Energy needs vary between individuals, even at the same age, sex and body size.
To find your own target, read how many calories a day you need to lose weight, or what a calorie deficit is and how to work out yours. A good weight management service will advise against eating less than 5,000 kJ (1,200 calories) a day (Better Health Channel, Victorian Government).
If your target is different from this plan, change the number of serves:
To add energy, add serves from the five food groups. A serve of grain foods, lean meat or alternatives, or milk, yoghurt or cheese holds about 500 to 600 kJ.
To fill up for fewer kilojoules, add vegetables. It takes 2 serves of starchy vegetables, or up to 5 serves of leafy greens, to reach about 500 to 600 kJ.
For men aged 19 to 50, the guidelines recommend the same serves of fruit, grain foods and dairy, plus these changes:
| Food group | Change for men |
|---|---|
| Vegetables and legumes | 1 more serve (6 a day) |
| Lean meats and alternatives | ½ more serve (3 a day) |
| Unsaturated spreads and oils | 28 to 40 g a day |
Adults who are taller, more active or at the higher end of an age band may need up to 2½ (women) or 3 (men) more serves a day. Once you know your target, you can also look at splitting your daily target into protein, carbohydrate and fat.
The 7-Day Weight Loss Meal Plan
Milk and cheddar are reduced fat, yoghurt is plain (natural), and bread, pasta and rice are wholemeal or brown. The guidelines suggest mostly reduced fat dairy, but the energy figures use regular fat yoghurt and ricotta, so choose reduced fat versions if you like. Meat and fish weights are cooked weights. The pasta dinners include canned tomatoes with no added salt, about 115 g on Day 1 and 75 g on Day 5, plus about 40 g of onion on Day 1. The Day 7 soup's cup of vegetables includes another 75 g of canned tomatoes.
A cup of salad is about 75 g of salad vegetables. A vegetable listed without an amount is one serve, about 75 g or ½ cup cooked. Each day also includes about 15 g of olive oil or margarine (2 serves), usually 10 g of oil to cook dinner and 5 g of margarine on bread, and the energy figures count it.
Day 1
| Meal | What to eat | kJ (cal) |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Wheat flakes 60 g, milk 250 mL, yoghurt 100 g | 1,660 (400) |
| Morning tea | 1 medium apple | 370 (90) |
| Lunch | Sandwich: 2 slices bread, 40 g chicken, 1 cup salad | 1,230 (290) |
| Afternoon tea | Unsalted almonds, 30 g | 720 (170) |
| Dinner | 1 cup pasta, 65 g mince, ¼ cup kidney beans, 2 cups salad | 2,400 (570) |
| Supper | 2 small plums, yoghurt 200 g | 930 (220) |
| Day total | 7,300 (1,740) |
Day 2
| Meal | What to eat | kJ (cal) |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Porridge from 60 g oats, 250 mL milk, 1 banana | 2,010 (480) |
| Morning tea | Yoghurt, 200 g | 610 (150) |
| Lunch | Pita, 100 g tuna, 2 cups salad, margarine | 1,630 (390) |
| Afternoon tea | 1 pear, 15 g unsalted almonds | 700 (170) |
| Dinner | Stir-fry: 80 g chicken, 1½ cups vegetables, 1 cup brown rice | 2,490 (590) |
| Supper | Glass of milk, 125 mL | 240 (60) |
| Day total | 7,700 (1,830) |
Day 3
| Meal | What to eat | kJ (cal) |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 2 eggs on 2 slices toast, grilled tomato, spinach | 1,690 (400) |
| Morning tea | Yoghurt, 200 g | 610 (150) |
| Lunch | Wholemeal roll, 40 g cheese, 1 cup salad | 1,470 (350) |
| Afternoon tea | 1 orange, 15 g unsalted almonds | 620 (150) |
| Dinner | Salmon 100 g, 1 cup brown rice, broccoli, carrots | 2,880 (690) |
| Supper | 1 cup blueberries, yoghurt 100 g | 620 (150) |
| Day total | 7,900 (1,880) |
Day 4
| Meal | What to eat | kJ (cal) |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Muesli 30 g, 1 slice toast, yoghurt 200 g, 1 cup blueberries | 1,940 (460) |
| Morning tea | Glass of milk, 250 mL | 470 (110) |
| Lunch | Pita, ½ cup chickpeas, tomato, 1 cup salad | 1,320 (310) |
| Afternoon tea | 1 apple, 30 g unsalted almonds | 1,080 (260) |
| Dinner | Lamb 65 g, 1 cup couscous, pumpkin, beans, 1 cup salad | 2,390 (570) |
| Supper | Yoghurt, 100 g | 310 (70) |
| Day total | 7,500 (1,790) |
Day 5
| Meal | What to eat | kJ (cal) |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 2 slices toast, ½ cup baked beans, tomato, milk 250 mL | 1,940 (460) |
| Morning tea | 1 orange | 260 (60) |
| Lunch | Tuna rice bowl: 100 g tuna, 1 cup brown rice, 1 cup salad | 2,020 (480) |
| Afternoon tea | Yoghurt, 200 g | 610 (150) |
| Dinner | 1 cup pasta, 65 g mince, ½ cup lentils, 1 cup salad | 2,190 (520) |
| Supper | 1 cup canned peaches in juice, yoghurt 100 g | 590 (140) |
| Day total | 7,600 (1,810) |
Day 6
| Meal | What to eat | kJ (cal) |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 2 small English muffins, ½ cup ricotta, 1 banana | 2,020 (480) |
| Morning tea | Glass of milk, 250 mL | 470 (110) |
| Lunch | Egg sandwich: 2 slices bread, 2 eggs, tomato, 1 cup salad | 1,690 (400) |
| Afternoon tea | 1 pear, 15 g unsalted almonds | 700 (170) |
| Dinner | Baked fish 100 g, 1 cup brown rice, potato, carrot, broccoli | 2,440 (580) |
| Supper | Yoghurt, 100 g | 310 (70) |
| Day total | 7,600 (1,810) |
Day 7
| Meal | What to eat | kJ (cal) |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Porridge from 60 g oats, 250 mL milk, 1 cup blueberries | 1,720 (410) |
| Morning tea | Yoghurt, 200 g | 610 (150) |
| Lunch | Soup: 1 cup lentils, 1 cup vegetables, 2 slices toast | 1,700 (400) |
| Afternoon tea | 1 apple, 15 g unsalted almonds | 720 (170) |
| Dinner | Beef 65 g, 1 cup pasta, zucchini, mushrooms, 1 cup salad | 2,080 (500) |
| Supper | Glass of milk, 125 mL | 240 (60) |
| Day total | 7,100 (1,690) |
The energy figures use the average kilojoules per 100 g for each food in the Australian Food Composition Database (Food Standards Australia New Zealand), multiplied by the amounts shown. Meal figures are rounded to the nearest 10 kJ and day totals to the nearest 100 kJ, with calories as kilojoules divided by 4.2 (shown in brackets). These figures are arithmetic only. Brands and recipes differ, and results vary between individuals.
Shopping List for the Week
Planning meals for the week and writing a list makes shopping easier and cheaper, and helps you avoid unplanned extra kilojoules. These are the amounts the plan uses over 7 days, so buy the nearest pack size and use the rest the next week. Dry weights for pasta, rice and couscous are worked out from the cooked amounts in the plan.
Vegetables
Tomatoes, about 550 g, and canned tomatoes with no added salt, about 265 g
Cos lettuce, about 470 g, and cucumber, about 180 g
Broccoli and carrots, about 150 g each
Baby spinach, red capsicum, pumpkin, green beans, zucchini and mushrooms, about 75 g each
½ medium potato, onion about 40 g, and frozen mixed vegetables about 225 g
Fruit
3 apples, 2 bananas, 2 pears, 2 oranges and 2 small plums
450 g frozen blueberries
1 cup of peaches canned in juice
Grain foods
Wholemeal bread (11 slices), 2 wholemeal pita breads, 1 wholemeal roll and 2 small English muffins
Rolled oats 120 g, wholegrain wheat flakes 60 g and natural muesli 30 g
Wholemeal pasta about 225 g, brown rice about 345 g and couscous about 80 g, all dry weight
Lean meats, fish, eggs, nuts and legumes
Chicken breast 150 g, lean beef mince 180 to 200 g, rump steak and lean lamb steak 90 to 100 g each, all raw weight
White fish fillet and salmon fillet, about 115 g each, raw weight
2 small cans of tuna, 4 eggs and 120 g unsalted almonds
Cooked or canned lentils about 225 g, canned chickpeas about 75 g and canned kidney beans about 40 g, all drained
A small can of reduced salt baked beans
Milk, yoghurt and cheese
Reduced fat milk 1.75 L and plain yoghurt 1.7 kg
Reduced fat cheddar 40 g and ricotta 120 g
Pantry
Olive oil, about 70 g, and polyunsaturated margarine, about 35 g
Swaps That Keep the Same Serves
You can change any food for another from the same food group without changing the serves. For a vegetarian week, swap each meat or fish serve for one of the alternatives below.
| Instead of | Swap for |
|---|---|
| 65 g cooked lean red meat | 170 g tofu, or 2 large eggs |
| 100 g cooked fish fillet | 1 cup cooked lentils, chickpeas or beans |
| 1 cup milk (250 mL) | 1 cup soy drink with added calcium |
| 1 slice bread | ½ cup cooked rice, pasta or porridge |
| 1 medium apple | 1 cup diced or canned fruit, no added sugar |
Each pair is one serve in the Australian Dietary Guidelines. The soy drink needs at least 100 mg of added calcium per 100 mL. Nuts and seeds (30 g) also count as a serve in the meat group and give about the same kilojoules, but they provide less protein, iron or zinc. For that reason the guidelines suggest using them only occasionally in place of other foods in the group. The sample meal plan for women still includes 30 g of unsalted nuts as an afternoon snack, and this plan uses 15 to 30 g on most days, alongside other foods from the group.
Pair the Plan With Physical Activity
Australia's physical activity guidelines for adults recommend moderate to vigorous activity for 30 minutes or more on most days, and muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week. Adults should also break up long periods of sitting as often as possible.
For a walking target, see how many steps a day can support weight loss, and for the bigger picture, read our guide on how to lose weight.
Who Should Get Personal Advice First
There is no one-size-fits-all eating plan for weight loss (healthdirect). Talk to a GP or accredited practising dietitian before following this plan if you:
are pregnant or breastfeeding, as recommended serves are higher at these times
are under 18, as children and teenagers have their own recommended serves
are worried about your diet or weight
If your weight does not change over time, read about why you may not be losing weight.
Where Medical Treatment Fits
For people living with obesity, treatment may include a low-calorie diet, more physical activity, weight loss medication or bariatric surgery (healthdirect). Weight loss medication is meant to be used while you reduce your kilojoule intake and increase your physical activity, not instead of them. It has side effects and can be harmful for some people. Any medical treatment is a decision for a doctor or nurse practitioner after an individual assessment, and outcomes vary between individuals. To learn more, read how medical weight loss programs work.
A structured meal plan is a strong start, and when weeks of following it have not shifted your weight, Burst Health provides medical weight loss plans online, reviewed by an Australian-registered doctor or nurse practitioner: check whether you are eligible.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best meal plan for losing weight?
The best plan uses foods from the five food groups in the right amounts for you, with changes you can keep up. Planning meals and snacks based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines is the key to healthy eating, and it helps you choose foods high in nutrients but lower in kilojoules (NHMRC). Plans that cut out whole food groups are a sign of a fad diet.
Can you follow a 7-day meal plan on a low budget?
Yes. Planning the week and sticking to a list helps you stay on budget, and not shopping when hungry limits unplanned kilojoules too. Spend most of your money on the five food groups, use what is in season or on special, and freeze leftovers for lunches. Water costs nothing and has no kilojoules, so it can replace juice and sweetened drinks.
How much weight can you lose in a week on a meal plan?
It varies between individuals, so no meal plan can promise a number. As a guide, a good weight management service recommends a gradual loss of around 1 to 4 kg a month to begin with (Better Health Channel). For the detail, see how much weight you can realistically lose in a month.
Where can I get a free weight loss meal plan?
This page is free, and Eat for Health publishes free sample meal plans for men and women aged 19 to 50, along with the daily serves for every age group. For a plan built around your own health, budget and tastes, an accredited practising dietitian can help you make changes you can keep up.
Can I follow this meal plan if I am vegetarian?
Yes, with swaps. Replace each meat or fish serve with 2 eggs, 170 g tofu or 1 cup of cooked legumes such as lentils or chickpeas, as shown in the swaps table. Keep milk, yoghurt and cheese, or use soy drinks with added calcium. If you eat no animal foods at all, a dietitian can check your plan.
Medical weight loss plans, online
In three steps.
- 1Answer a quick questionnaireOnline, no appointment, no in-person visit.
- 2A practitioner reviews itAn Australian-registered doctor or nurse practitioner decides whether treatment is suitable for you.
- 3Start your planIf treatment is suitable, you start your plan with the practitioner supporting you throughout.
References
Eat for Health (NHMRC). Recommended number of serves for adults.
Eat for Health (NHMRC). Daily energy requirements calculator.
Eat for Health (NHMRC). Nutrient reference values: dietary energy.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Australian Food Composition Database, Release 3.
Better Health Channel (Victorian Government). Weight management services.
Better Health Channel (Victorian Government). Weight loss and fad diets.
This article is general information only and does not replace individual medical advice. Please speak with a registered Australian healthcare practitioner about your own circumstances.