28-DAYS-TO-LEAN MEAL PLAN

With the right plan and the right discipline, you can get seriously shredded in just 28 days.

By Beth Sonnenburg, MPH

You’re training hard every day with your program, going heavy on the weights and sweating up a storm with cardio. News flash: While that’s critical to your ultimate success, it’s just not enough for you to lose the excess fat.

To reach your get-lean goal, you must also follow a get-lean diet, filled with the best foods to burn fat. Why? Even if you work out hard for an hour every day, that still leaves 23 more hours for you to wreck all your hard work in the gym with just one slip-up: a measly handful of chips, a beer with the guys, or a burger at lunch. Diet is a huge, so to speak, part of the fat loss equation. It’s the backbone of your entire plan, the foundation of a hard body.

Bodybuilding nutrition consultant Jim Juge says nutrition determines your success or failure, plain and simple. “The diet is 65% of what you need to get in shape,” he says. Juge would know, as he’s helped countless dedicated people reach their goals, from achieving their best body ever to placing first in bodybuilding competitions.

You’ve got 28 days to get to your goal, so we’ve recruited Juge to help you every step of the way. He’s adapted a traditional bodybuilding competitor’s diet for a non competitor (that means you!) who wants to look his best, shedding as much fat as possible in a very short time. With just under a month, there’s no time to fool around, so get started on your high protein meal plan now to lose weight and build muscle while you’re at it. Go to the grocery store and stock up tonight. Come breakfast time tomorrow, follow his plan as strictly as you can and get ready to show off those impressive muscles in a month.

Your Get-Lean Principles

Strict. Strict. Strict. This is your mantra for the next 28 days. There’s just no way around the diet, says Juge, and eating clean is the name of this get-lean game. Juge’s diet plan is filled with fresh, clean foods that are as unprocessed as possible. Here are his three simple principles to shed fat fast.

Eat at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight, daily. If your protein intake is too low on a restricted-calorie diet, you’ll lose a lot of muscle in addition to any fat you’re lucky enough to shed. A high-protein intake will help you preserve lean mass during your dieting phase. Choose lean, high-quality proteins like egg whites, poultry, lean red meat, and protein supplements. The diet provided here contains about 220-250g of protein daily, fine for a male weighing 200-250lbs. Up your protein only if you’re heavier than 250lbs, or you’re very hungry and need to add food during the day. Juge suggests an additional protein shake for an easy quick fix. (If you’re under 180lbs, cut out 3oz of meat or chicken per day from the diet.)
Keep your carbohydrates low to moderate when trying to lose weight. “On a low day you’ll have closer to 100g of carbs,” he says. “A moderate day is about 150g of carbs.” Juge prefers to rotate low and moderate days to keep energy high and provide a change of pace. Good, clean, fiber-rich carbs include oats, potatoes, rice, and whole-grain bread.
Drink at least a gallon of water per day. It’ll keep you hydrated and healthy. Water should be your primary beverage during dieting. Though many rely on diet sodas, Crystal Light, and other low-calorie sweetened drinks, plain old water is really your best bet.

How to Stay on Track

Habits and cravings are the devil when it comes to dieting. Let’s first deal with habits. Juge explains that it takes a good week or two to ease into dieting. “Fast food is so easy and there’s a McDonald’s on every corner. The hardest thing is to develop the new habit of preparing your meals and taking them with you.” The first week is the most difficult, so prepare yourself for some challenges as you abandon your usual routine. For example, you might usually go out for a sub sandwich or burger at lunch. You’ll now have to bring your food with you and resist the temptation of spicing up your meal with the Doritos in the vending machine or your usual can of Coke. It can be a real mental battle to stick to your food plan.

To stay motivated and deal with cravings, Juge has a couple of great recommendations. First, schedule a cheat meal on every seventh day. “Many of my clients have their cheat meal on Sunday, so then they’re ready for Monday and the week to come,” he says. If you feel deprived during the week, concentrate on the cheat meal to come, knowing you can eat absolutely anything you want to—pizza, lasagna, doughnuts, beer, chips, you name it. Remember, though, it’s just one cheat meal, not an entire day of cheating. Afterward, get right back on the wagon with your next scheduled meal.

Second, take a few photos of yourself to keep your motivation up. “Most of the people who come to me are doing it for a reason,” he explains. “They’re going on vacation, competing in a bodybuilding show, or maybe going to a reunion. I always have them strive for that goal. I take front, side, and back pictures of them at the beginning and have them post the photos on their mirror at home. I tell them, just keep looking at that picture and think of what you’re going to look like in a few weeks.”

When it comes to cravings, protein drinks and bars may also help cure your need for sugar, says Juge. He recommends mixing a flavored protein powder in a blender with as much ice as possible, so it’ll taste more like a milkshake. Day Five’s protein shake includes a cup of berries, which will also help with sugar cravings. Once or twice per week, Juge adds, you can have a low-sugar, high-protein bar. The newest varieties taste more like candy bars, with state-of-the-art sweetening techniques.

Your habits and cravings may both rear their heads at restaurants, where it’s easy to blow your diet in seconds. To stick to the plan, says Juge, be diligent in ordering. “Ask them to grill your meat without oil or grease. Ask for steamed vegetables with no butter. Get a salad (no cheese) with either fat-free dressing or a vinaigrette.” After his 14 years in bodybuilding, Juge testifies that he’s found many restaurants are accommodating, so there’s no reason to avoid them as long as they’ll cook to your preferences.

What to Expect

Some men can lose up to 5 lbs. per week, says Juge, if they follow the diet strictly. He recommends striving for a weekly 2- to 3-lb. loss for more lasting effects. “That way it’s not such a drastic change and you’ll be less likely to put all the weight back on when the diet’s done,” he adds. Weigh yourself naked just once per week, at the same time, preferably on the same scale. That way it’ll be as accurate as possible.

If you haven’t lost any weight after the first week, it may be time to troubleshoot. In addition to following an exercise program, Juge’s first line of defense is upping your cardio. Instead of one cardio session per day, he recommends doing 45 minutes of cardio in the morning on an empty stomach. Then add a second 30-minute session in the late afternoon or evening.

If that doesn’t stimulate weight loss, Juge’s second line of defense is to cut carbs slightly. On lower days, drop to 60-80g a day rather than 100. Eat this low-carb diet for two days, then insert one higher-carb day (150g).

Think of your nutritional plan as the anchor to stabilize all of your other efforts. Eating right will help you shed fat, increase your energy, and definitely look the way you want to. Follow this get-lean plan faithfully and you’ll be showing off your new, leaner body in less than a month.

Favorite Diet Foods

Here are Juge’s picks for the top three foods to turn to when you’re trying to shed fat.

Egg whites

“There’s no fat or cholesterol and they’re pure protein. They’re very easy to prepare—they take just a couple of minutes to make.”

Oatmeal

It’s low in sugar, high in fiber, and provides sustained energy. Choose the old-fashioned variety if you have a few minutes to spare, and the one-minute oats if you’re in a rush. In a pinch, you can even rip open a packet of instant oatmeal (plain flavor only)—just add hot water and stir.

Green veggies

They’re healthy and deliver many benefits, like fiber for improved digestion. They contain many valuable vitamins, phytochemicals, and antioxidants for better health. Plus, they’re bulky and fill you up for just a few grams of carbs per cup of veggies.

(Quick tip: To quickly steam veggies, put an inch or two of water in a bowl, add veggies, cover bowl, and microwave for 2-3 minutes.)

Maintain Your Gains

Your 28 days are up; you look great and want to keep it that way. Juge has an easy plan to maintain your body, yet enjoy greater flexibility with your diet. No.1, he says, is to eat a good, clean breakfast. If you’re at home, it’s much easier to do—just scramble a few egg whites and have a whole-grain item (whole-wheat bread or a bagel, for instance), and/or some fruit. Eat dinner at home, again a healthy, clean meal consisting of a lean protein source, green vegetable, and whole grains. Then, bring a protein shake or bar with you to work for a midday meal. “You’ve now got three clean meals taken care of,” says Juge. So if you’re eating at a restaurant at lunch and you want to have something different, you can have it. Just keep the rest of your meals pretty strict, without added sugars and fats.

Day One

Meal 1

1/2 cup oatmeal (dry amount) made with water
1/2 cup strawberries
6 egg whites cooked with 1 yolk

Meal 2

1 cup green vegetables
8 oz. chicken breast

Meal 3

Tuna sandwich made with 6-oz. can tuna (in spring water), 2 slices whole-wheat bread, 1 Tbsp. fat-free mayo, 2 leaves romaine lettuce

Meal 4

Protein shake made w/ 40 g whey protein

Meal 5

Chicken salad made with 8 oz. chicken breast, 2 Tbsp. Italian dressing, 1/2 medium tomato, 2 leaves romaine lettuce, 1/2 cup broccoli

1,817 calories, 255 g protein, 98 g carbohydrate, 37 g fat, 20 g fiber

Day Two

Meal 1

1 medium bagel with 2 tbsp. reduced-fat peanut butter
6 egg whites cooked with 1 yolk

Meal 2

1 cup brown long-grain rice (cooked amount)
1 cup green veggies
6 oz. chicken breast

Meal 3

1 cup green veggies
6 oz. lean steak

Meal 4

Protein shake made w/ 30-40 g whey protein

Meal 5

8 oz. red snapper or halibut
1 cup broccoli

1,959 calories, 254 g protein, 132 g carbohydrate, 39 g fat, 17 g fiber

Day Three

Meal 1

1/2 cup oatmeal made with water
6 egg whites cooked with 1 yolk
1 piece fruit

Meal 2

1 cup green veggies
8 oz. chicken breast

Meal 3

1 cup green veggies
6 oz. lean steak
Large baked potato with skin (3-4″ in diameter)

Meal 4

Low-carb, low-sugar protein bar

Meal 5

Omelet made with 8 egg whites and 1 yolk, cooked with 1/2 cup broccoli, 2 mushrooms, fresh salsa

1,862 calories, 226 g protein, 149 g carbohydrate, 35 g fat, 23 g fiber

Day Four

Meal 1

1 cup whole-grain cereal
1 cup 1% milk
1 piece fruit
1 Tbsp. peanut butter

Meal 2

Large baked potato with skin (3-4″ in diameter)
1 cup green veggies
6 oz. chicken breast

Meal 3

Large baked potato with skin (3-4″ in diameter)
1 cup green veggies
6 oz. lean steak

Meal 4

Protein shake made w/ 30-40 g whey protein

Meal 5

16-oz. can tuna (in spring water) made with 1 Tbsp. fat-free mayo
6-8 stalks asparagus

1,984 calories, 226 g protein, 200 g carbohydrate, 29 g fat, 28 g fiber

Day Five

Meal 1

1/2 cup oatmeal made with water
7 egg whites cooked with 1 yolk
1/2 cup strawberries

Meal 2

1 cup green veggies
8 oz. chicken breast

Meal 3

Large baked potato with skin (3-4″ in diameter)
1 cup green veggies
8 oz. sliced turkey

Meal 4

Protein shake made w/ 30-40 g whey protein and 1 cup berries

Meal 5

7 oz. lean steak
6-8 stalks asparagus

1,846 calories, 258 g protein, 122 g carbohydrate, 32 g fat, 23 g fiber