How to Create a Diet for Fat Loss

At The Aesthetic Concierge, we find that lifestyle changes while on the medication are beneficial to long-term success. And just like life off of the medication, the perfect diet can vary from person to person. We can however use data to make a multitude of recommendations. For most people a GLP-1 diet is one that pulls in nutrition focused foods from all food groups is absolutely fine, but for some patients implementing a diet specifically optimized for fat loss can be beneficial to kicking off loss. 

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The first thing you’ll want to do to kick off a diet plan for fat loss is use the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation to estimate your maintenance calories (calories to maintain current weight) so you have that as a baseline. Once you have that baseline, we know that a healthy fat loss range is around 1–1.5 lbs per week, which typically requires a calorie deficit of 500–750 kcal/day so we’ll take your baseline and subtract between 500 and 750 calories from that. For example, a woman weighing 160 at 5’5” has a maintenance calorie threshold of 1,950–2,000 kcal/day, meaning the target calorie intake for fat loss would be 1,400–1,500 kcal/day. 

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Now that we have a caloric threshold, it’s important to  break down how those calories should be spread out over food groups. We recommend focusing on high protein, low to moderate carbs, and moderate fat to support fat loss and muscle retention. This could look like: 

• Protein: ~120g (≈ 480 kcal)
• Carbs (complex, not simple): ~120g (≈ 480 kcal)
• Fats: ~55g (≈ 490 kcal)

Here’s a sample meal plan, keeping those guidelines in mind: 

Sample Daily Meal Plan (1,450 kcal)

Breakfast (~350 kcal)

• 2 boiled eggs
• 1 slice sprouted grain toast
• ½ avocado
• Black coffee or tea

Lunch (~400 kcal)

• Grilled chicken breast (~4 oz)
• Mixed greens salad w/ cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, balsamic vinegar, olive oil
• ¼ cup quinoa or chickpeas

Snack (~150 kcal)

• Greek yogurt (plain, low-fat, ¾ cup)
• A few berries or a drizzle of honey

Dinner (~500 kcal)

• Baked salmon (~5 oz) or tofu if vegetarian
• Roasted veggies (broccoli, zucchini, carrots)
• ½ cup cooked brown rice or sweet potato
• 1 tsp olive oil for cooking

Calorie restriction is traditionally tough and according to many studies, it’s historically why diets don’t work. When you’re on a GLP-1 program like ours, it’s easier to transform your diet and nutrition with the hope of making lasting changes on your eating habits. 

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