This 7-day meal plan gives a man over 40 about 2,000 to 2,350 calories and 160 to 190 grams of protein a day, built from ordinary Canadian grocery food. That’s a fat-loss intake for most men around 80 to 100 kg, and it scales up or down with the swaps table below. The numbers are approximate, calculated from standard nutrition values for the portions listed.
How this plan is built
Every day follows the same structure: three meals with 30 to 60 grams of protein each, and one snack. That matches the per-meal dose that research suggests older muscle needs, roughly 0.4 g per kg of body weight, and keeps the daily total near 1.6 to 2.0 g/kg for a man of about 90 kg. The ISSN protein position stand puts the daily range for people who exercise at 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg.
Plates roughly follow Canada’s food guide plate: plenty of vegetables, a solid protein portion and a smaller serving of whole grains or potatoes. The protein portion is bigger than the guide’s quarter-plate, on purpose.
Portions use cooked weights for meat and fish, and cooked volumes for rice, pasta and grains.
The 7-day plan
| Day | Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Snack |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | 250 g plain Greek yogurt, 1 cup berries, 50 g oats | 150 g chicken breast, 1 cup rice, 2 cups vegetables, 1 tbsp olive oil | 150 g salmon, 250 g roast potatoes, side salad with dressing | Apple, 250 g 1% cottage cheese |
| Tue | 3 eggs plus 1 cup egg whites, 2 slices whole-grain toast | 1 can tuna, 1 cup black beans, side salad | 150 g lean ground turkey, 1½ cups whole-wheat pasta, ½ cup tomato sauce, 2 cups vegetables | Protein shake with 250 ml 1% milk, banana |
| Wed | 50 g oats cooked in 250 ml milk, 1 scoop whey, berries | 150 g chicken thighs, 1 cup quinoa, 2 cups vegetables | 150 g sirloin, 200 g sweet potato, side salad | 250 g Greek yogurt, 30 g almonds |
| Thu | 3 eggs, 2 slices whole-grain toast, apple | 150 g chicken in a whole-wheat wrap with 60 g hummus and vegetables | 200 g firm tofu stir-fry with 2 cups vegetables, 1 cup rice | 250 g cottage cheese, berries |
| Fri | 250 g Greek yogurt, 1 cup berries, 50 g oats | Burrito bowl: 150 g extra-lean ground beef, 1 cup black beans, 1 cup rice, salsa and vegetables | 150 g shrimp, 1½ cups whole-wheat pasta, tomato sauce, side salad | 30 g beef jerky, apple |
| Sat | 3 eggs plus 1 cup egg whites, 250 g potatoes and peppers | 150 g salmon, 1 cup quinoa, side salad | Pork souvlaki: 150 g pork tenderloin, whole-wheat pita, tzatziki, salad, 1 cup rice | 20 g dark chocolate, 250 ml milk |
| Sun | Breakfast burrito: 3 eggs, 1 cup egg whites, 30 g cheddar, large wrap | 1 can tuna on 2 slices toast, side salad | 150 g chicken breast, 250 g potatoes, 2 cups vegetables, 1 tbsp olive oil | 250 g Greek yogurt, berries |
Several of these meals have full recipes on the site, including sheet pan chicken and vegetables, high-protein chili and the salmon traybake, if you want to swap a dinner.
Daily calories and protein
| Day | Calories (approx.) | Protein (approx.) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | 2,030 | 161 g | Two fish or poultry meals |
| Tue | 2,025 | 191 g | Highest protein day |
| Wed | 2,010 | 171 g | Red meat at dinner |
| Thu | 2,105 | 162 g | Plant-protein dinner |
| Fri | 2,055 | 161 g | Lighter snack |
| Sat | 2,345 | 165 g | Built-in treat, larger dinner |
| Sun | 2,000 | 180 g | Easy prep day |
The weekly average comes out around 2,080 calories and 170 grams of protein. Saturday is deliberately higher, because a plan that ignores the weekend usually gets abandoned by the second one.
Scaling the plan to your calories
Find your maintenance number first with the calorie guide, then adjust the plan with these swaps rather than rewriting it:
| To add about… | Add this | Protein added |
|---|---|---|
| 100 calories | 1 extra slice of whole-grain toast, or a piece of fruit | 0 to 4 g |
| 200 calories | 1 extra cup of cooked rice, or 30 g almonds | 4 to 6 g |
| 250 calories | 1 extra egg and a slice of toast at breakfast plus a fruit | 10 g |
| 350 calories | Second snack of 250 g Greek yogurt and 2 tbsp peanut butter | 33 g |
To drop calories, remove carbs and fats first (rice, potatoes, oil, nuts) and keep the protein portions intact. Dropping below about 1,800 calories makes it hard to hit protein and recover from training, so go slower rather than lower.
Making it work in a real week
You don’t need to cook 21 separate meals. Cook proteins and grains in two batches, on Sunday and Wednesday, and assemble the rest. Health Canada lists cooked meat, poultry and fish as safe for 3 to 4 days in a fridge at 4 °C or colder (Health Canada), which is why a single Sunday cook won’t safely cover Friday. The meal prep guide for busy men has prep formats that fit different schedules, and the fat-loss grocery list covers the shopping.
Running the plan for a week
Use this week as a template, not a prescription. Run it for seven days, log your morning weight, and keep the meals you liked. Swap the ones you didn’t for something with similar protein and calories. If you’d like the plan built around your own maintenance number, schedule and food preferences, then adjusted every month from your results, monthly 1:1 coaching handles that for you.
Questions people also ask
Is 2,000 calories enough for a man over 40 trying to lose weight?
For many men it's a reasonable fat-loss intake, sitting 500 to 900 below maintenance. If you're tall, heavy or very active, it may be too low. Scale the plan up using the swaps table rather than forcing yourself to stay hungry.
Can I repeat the same meals every day?
Yes. Repeating breakfasts and lunches is one of the easiest ways to stay on track. Just rotate your vegetables and protein sources across the week so you get variety where it matters.
What if I'm vegetarian?
Swap the meat and fish for tofu, tempeh, lentils, beans, eggs, Greek yogurt and cottage cheese. Plant proteins have a little less protein per calorie, so portions get slightly larger to hit the same target.
Do I have to weigh my food to follow this plan?
Weigh it for the first week so you learn what 150 g of chicken or a cup of rice looks like. After that, most men can eyeball portions closely enough.