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3000 Calorie Meal Plan: Here’s What You Need To Know!
Being underweight or overweight leads to health problems. A 3000 calorie meal plan can help you prevent health issues if you fall in an underweight category or wish to gain weight for other reasons.
A 2,000-calorie meal plan is deemed standard and matches the nutritional necessities of maximum people. Nonetheless, you might want more based on the activity level, fitness goals, and body size.
This article examines all details you wish to understand about a 3000 calorie meal plan, comprising reasons for changing the diet, what foods to consume and avoid, and a great sample menu for better understanding.
Who should follow a 3000 calorie meal plan?
The daily calorie requirements rely on numerous factors, comprising:
- Gender. Women commonly burn 5–10% lesser calories at rest compared to men of the exact height
- Age. The amount of calories you expend at rest decreases with growing age.
- Height. The taller your height is, the extra calories you require to maintain the weight.
- Activity. Workouts and activities such as fidgeting and yard work boost calorie requirements.
Everyday calorie requirements span from 1,600–2,400 calories each day for grown-up women, whereas it is 2,000–3,000 calories for grown-up men, with the low calories of the extents being for inactive people and the high-calorie needs for those who are athletic or active.
These measures are established on certain equations utilizing a standard height and decent weight for grown-up women and men. The reference height for a woman is 5’4” (or 163 cm) tall, and weight is 126 pounds (or 57.3 kg); on the other hand, the reference man’s height is 5’10” (178 cm), and weight is 154 pounds (or 70 kg).
Based on the body size and training level, you can need a 3000 calorie meal plan or more every day to retain the average body weight.
Though athletes commonly have elevated calorie wants than the common public, people working in physically demanding businesses, such as construction workers and farm laborers, might furthermore want a high amount of calories to retain their weight.
Contrarily, suppose you try a mild workout a few days every week with little activity in between. In that case, you possibly do not require that many calories, as the workout burns far lesser calories than many people speculate.
3000 Calorie Meal Plan Can help you gain weight
While most people intend to shed weight, others want to gain it.
Weight gain happens when you invariably eat more calories than you burn every day. Based on your workout level and body measurement, a 3000 calorie meal plan might be greater than your existing calorie requirements, resulting in increased weight.
Why you may want to gain weight-
There are various explanations for wishing to increase weight.
If you are categorized as underweight as per your body mass index (BMI), the doctor or registered dietitian might suggest that you increase weight.
Alternatively, if you are an athlete, you might want to increase weight — generally in the form of muscle mass — to give a better performance at the sport.
Furthermore, if you are a bodybuilder or enjoy powerlifting, you might need to increase weight for boosted muscle size and stamina.
In different circumstances, you might have a health ailment that heightens your calorie requirements, such as cancer or illness or be recovering from surgery.
A safe rate of gaining weight
While researches on the subject are limited, a reasonable rate of gaining weight is 0.5–2 pounds (or 0.2–0.9 kg) each week.
Nonetheless, a weight gain of nearly 4.4 pounds (or 2 kg) every week for seriously undernutrition people has been achieved safely.
Quick weight gain might direct to uneasy side effects, such as fluid retention, stomach distress, and bloating. If you are an athlete by profession, such side effects can inhibit your performance negatively by affecting your pieces of training or practices.
Further, quick weight gain can boost triglyceride levels, boosting the chance of heart disease.
How rapidly you increase weight is based on how many calories you require to retain your average weight.
If you hold your standard weight on 2,000 calories every day, you are likely to gain weight much earlier on a 3000 calorie meal plan than a person who conserves their average weight on 2,500 calories every day.
For example, one 8-week study indicated that when 25 active people consumed an additional 950 calories over their regular weight-maintenance needs, they increased a standard of 11.7 pounds (or 5.3 kg) — 7.7 pounds (or 3.5 kg) of this was fat.
If that partaker consumed just 500 calories over their maintenance calorie requirements for the exact duration, they would possibly gain much lesser weight.
How to follow a healthy 3000 calorie meal plan
The calories in your body arrive from three significant macronutrients — carbs, protein, and fat.
Protein and carbs give four calories every gram, correlated with nine for fat.
The Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges (AMDRs) put forward by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies suggest that people receive:
- 45–65% of the total calories from carbs
- 20–35% of the total calories from fat
- 10–35% of the total calories from protein
The points given below apply these proportions to a 3000 calorie meal plan:
- Calories-3000
- Carbs- 338 to 488 gm
- Fat- 67 to 117 gm
- Protein- 75 to 263 gm
When added with resistance workout, protein consumption on the more fantastic end of the AMDR has been demonstrated to lessen body fat gain because of surplus calorie intake and boost muscle mass.
Resistance training can improve muscle gain rather than fat gain when following a high-calorie diet such as a 3000 calorie meal plan.
Eat protein around the workouts and equally space the intake throughout the day to improve muscle healing and growth.
Foods to eat and foods to resist when following 3000 calorie meal plan
Consuming a 3000 calorie meal plan including whole, minimally processed, or unprocessed foods, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and proteins, can be struggling.
That is because such foods have multiple nutrients but relatively fewer calories, compelling you to consume a much larger quantity of food.
Contrarily, it would be pretty simple to eat a 3000 calorie meal plan from highly refined foods, such as sugary drinks, candies, bacon, potato chips, cookies, and sweetened cereals, as they are highly palatable and loaded with calories.
However, because such junk foods are shortage in crucial nutrients for health, it is essential to obtain most of the calories from healthy whole foods, comprising:
- Animal-based lean proteins: salmon, bison, turkey, whole eggs, chicken, and slight scrapes of beef, such as sirloin steak or flank.
- Plant-based proteins: chickpeas, tofu, edamame, peas, and tempeh.
- Grains: oats, quinoa, rice, bread, and pasta.
- Dairy: milk, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and kefir.
- Fats and oils: almonds, olive oil, walnuts, flax seeds, and nut butter such as natural or almond butter
- Fruits: avocados, grapes, berries, apples, pears, bananas, oranges, etc.
- Vegetables: squash, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, peppers, kale, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
Additionally, protein powders, comprising casein, whey, and plant-based powders such as rice, pea, or soy, can be combined with smoothies for a calorie- and nutrient-packed snack.
Furthermore, mass gaining supplements, which usually give 1,000 calories every serving, are a convenient alternative, but it is excellent to fulfill your calorie and nutrition requirements through your diet.
Ultra-processed, nutrient-lacking foods to prevent or limit on a 3000 calorie meal plan are:
- Fried foods: French fries, cheese sticks, onion rings, chicken sticks, doughnuts, etc
- Fast food: tacos, pizza, burgers, hot dogs, etc.
- Sugary foods and drinks: soda, ice cream, candy, sports drinks, sweetened tea, sweet coffee drinks, etc.
- Refined carbs: cookies, pastries, chips, sugary cereals, etc.
If most of the diet comprises whole, nutrient-enriched foods, you can relish your favorite delights in moderation.
Reasons To Gain Weight
- You Are Underweight
While most people are usually struggling with being overweight, another group of people are underweight and so are required to gain weight. How do you know if you are underweight, you may ask. If you have a body mass index (BMI) below 18.5, you are considered underweight. This is because this is the amount estimated to be less than the body mass needed to sustain optimal health.
Health Problems Of Being Underweight
- High chances of early death is an issue. A study conducted recently showed that the health of underweight males is associated with a one hundred and forty percent greater risk of early death, while for women, it is a hundred percent. This factor is even more significant for obese people.
- Leads to low immunity. Being underweight can impair your immune system and raise your risk of getting infections.
Some of the reasons as to why a person could be underweight are:
- The person may have an eating disorder- An example is anorexia nervosa.
- Underlying thyroid issues- Hyperthyroidism may boost high metabolism and lead to unhealthy weight loss.
- Diabetes- Type one diabetes is learned to cause severe weight loss
- Cancer.
- Having conditions like HIV/AIDS
- Recent disease or period of restricted food intake
If you are underweight, it is good to see a doctor or an expert in that field. This is because the doctor can help identify the cause of your underweight condition and direct you on how to gain weight.
How To Divide Your 3000 Calorie Meal
To eat a 3000 calorie meal plan, you must divide the foods reasonably. The most analytical way to eat a 3000 calorie meal plan would be over two snacks and three meals.
You should have foods in the following proportions:
- Ten ounces of grains- One ounce of grain equals one slice of a bread loaf or half a cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta. It also measures as one ounce of prepared-to-eat cereal.
- Four vegetable cups- A cup of vegetables equals two leafy salad greens, one cup of cooked vegetables, or one cup of 100 percent vegetable juice.
- Two and a half cups of fruits- A cup of fresh fruit is equivalent to one cup of 100% fruit juice or half a cup of dried fruit.
- Three cups of dairy- A cup of dairy totals as either one cup of milk, a cup of yogurt, a cup of fortified soy beverage, one and a half ounces of cheese, or two ounces of refined or processed cheese.
- Seven ounces of protein meals- A source of protein foods measures as one ounce of boiled lean meats, seafood, or poultry. It is also calculated as a tablespoon of peanut butter or a quarter of boiled peas or beans. It also measures half an ounce of seeds or nuts.
Sample menu
Here is what five whole days on a 3000 calorie meal plan might look like.
Monday
- Breakfast: One cup (or 80 grams) of oats served with one cup (or 240 ml) of plant-based milk or dairy, one banana, and two tablespoons (or 33 grams) of peanut butter
- Snack: trail blend prepared with 1 cup (or 80 grams) of dry cereal, 1/4 cup (or 34 grams) of dried fruit, 1/4 cup (or 30 grams) of granola, and 20 nuts
- Lunch: 1 cup (or 100 grams) of spaghetti served with 3/4 cups (or 183 grams) of tomato sauce and four ounces (or 112 grams) of boiled ground beef, alongside a medium-sized breadstick with a tablespoon (or 14 grams) of butter
- Snack: A single cup (or 226 grams) of cottage cheese and half a cup (or 70 grams) of blueberries
- Dinner: Four ounces (or 110 grams) of salmon served with 1 cup (or 100 grams) of five asparagus spears and brown rice.
Tuesday
- Breakfast: smoothie prepared with two cups (or 480 ml) of plant-based milk or dairy or, 1 cup (or 227 grams) of Greek yogurt, a single cup (or 140 grams) of blueberries, along with two tablespoons (or 33 grams) of any butter like almond butter.
- Snack: 1 piece of fruit, one granola bar, and two pieces of string cheese
- Lunch: 12-inch sub-sandwich served with meat, veggies, and cheese with 3 ounces (or 85 grams) of baby carrots, 2 tbsp (or 28 grams) of hummus with thin apple slices on the side.
- Snack: a single scoop of protein powder blended in 1 cup (or 240 ml) of plant-based milk or dairy.
- Dinner: 4 ounces (or 113-gram) sirloin steak, a medium-sized (or 173-gram) baked potato served with a tablespoon (or 14 grams) of butter, and a single cup (or 85 grams) of broccoli.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: three whole-wheat waffles served with two tablespoons (or 33 grams) of peanut butter, 2 cups (480 ml) of plant-based milk or dairy, and one orange.
- Snack: one nut-based granola bar with 1 ounce (or 28 grams) of almonds.
- Lunch: 6-ounce (or 170-gram) 90%-lean burger served on a whole-wheat bun along with a lettuce leaf and tomato slice, as well as one and a half cups (or 86 grams) of sweet potato fries cooked in olive oil (made at home)
- Snack: a cup (or 227 grams) of Greek yogurt and a cup (or 140 grams) of strawberries
- Dinner: 4-ounce (or 112-gram) chicken breast along with 1 1/3 cups (or 85 grams) of sugar snap peas and 1/2 cup (or 84 grams) of quinoa.
Thursday
- Breakfast: 3 egg omelets alongside sliced onions, green and red bell peppers, and 1/4 cup (or 28 grams) of sliced cheese along with 2 cups (or 480 ml) of plant-based milk or dairy milk to drink.
- Snack: 2 tablespoons (or 33 grams) of peanut butter and a banana on a piece of whole-wheat bread.
- Lunch: 8 ounces (or 226 grams) of tilapia fillets served with a salad topped with 1/4 cup (30 grams) of walnuts and 1/4 cup (or 32 grams) of lentils.
- Snack: 2 hard-boiled, sliced eggs atop a varied green salad
- Dinner: turkey chili prepared with a 4-ounce (or 114-gram) turkey breast, chopped celery, onions, garlic, and sweet peppers, half a cup (or 123 grams) of diced, canned tomatoes, and half a cup (or 120 grams) of cannellini beans served with 1/4 cup (or 28 grams) of sliced cheese. Eat oregano, cumin, bay leaves, and chili powder for desired taste.
Friday
- Breakfast: Three entire eggs with one apple and a cup (or 80 grams) of oatmeal prepared with a cup (or 240 ml) of dairy milk or plant-based milk
- Snack: a cup (or 226 grams) of yogurt served with 1/4 cup (or 30 grams) of granola and half a cup (or 70 grams) of raspberries.
- Lunch: 6 ounces (or 168 gram) of chicken breast, one medium size (or 151 gram) sweet potato, an ounce (28 grams) of nuts, and 3/4 cup (or 85 grams) of green beans.
- Snack: half a cup (or 130 grams) of chickpeas atop greens.
- Dinner: a burrito bowl with 6 ounces (or 170 grams) of diced sirloin steak, half a cup (or 130 grams) of black beans, half cup (or 90 grams) of brown rice, a cup (or 35 grams) of shredded lettuce, spinach, and two tablespoons (or 16 grams) of salsa.
How Many Calories Should I Eat A Day?
The amount of calories you must consume in a day differs for individuals. Some elements assist in determining the number of calories you must consume in a day. These elements are gender, weight goal, age, height, and activities in a day.
Who Should Consume 3000 Calories A Day?
A three-thousand-calorie meal plan should be eaten by athletes, highly active people, and people who wish to acquire weight. If you are unsure of the calories you must eat in a day; you must always confer with a professional for better guidance.
Can I Lose Weight If You Eat 3000 Calories A Day?
Yes, you can. However, this might not seem very easy. For you to shed fat from consuming 3000 calories each day, this must imply your body expends more than 3000 calories in one day. People who use a 3000 calorie meal plan are highly active.
The bottom line
Based on various factors, comprising your workout level and body size, a 3000 calorie meal plan might help you retain or gain weight.
Whole, not processed, or minimally processed meals, such as fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats, Must make up the majority — if not all — of the diet.
On the other hand, ultra-processed refined meals such as bacon, chips, sweetened cereals, cookies, candies, and sugary drinks must be restricted.
