7 Day Bright Line Eating Meal Plan
If you are following the weight loss protocol of Bright line eating, this Bright Line Eating meal plan can give you ideas to stay on track!
Recently I wrote about my experience following Bright Line Eating, a diet program that has clear boundaries around common addictive foods.
And, while I shared the foods that I ate for those 7 days, it kind of got lost in the long post where I reviewed the program itself and talked about my 7 pound weight loss. So, I decided to create a new article just for the meal plan I followed during my Bright Line Eating program!
As a recap, to follow the Bright Line Eating program, there are only 4 rules. They are:
- No Flour
- No sugar
- No eating between meals
- Eat a specific amount of pre-selected food.
For a deeper dive on the program, head over to my original post Bright Line Eating In the meantime, here’s a printable page you can use to follow the Bright Line Eating plan for 7 days.
7 Day Bright Line Eating Meal Plan
The Bright Line food plan for weight loss is:
- Breakfast: 1 protein, 1 grain, 1 fruit
- Lunch: 1 protein, 6 ounces, vegetables, 1 fruit, 1 fat
- Dinner 1 Protein, 6 ounce vegetables, 8 ounces salad, and 1 fat.
1 protein can be acquired via 4 ounces of meat, 8 ounces of dairy, 2 eggs, or 2 ounces of cheese.
So, with those requirements, this is a possible 7 day meal plan:
Day 1
- Breakfast; 2 eggs, 1 ounce oats, 6 ounces berries.
- Lunch; 4 oz deli turkey, 6 oz carrots, 1 tbl ranch dressing
- Dinner; 4 oz chicken, 6 oz zucchini and 8 ounces salad with ranch dressing.
See here for a variety of ways to cook your eggs for breakfast!
Day 2:
- Breakfast; 6 oz peach, 1 egg + 1/2 ounce cheese, 1 ounce oats.
- Lunch; 6 ounces cucumber, 1 cup Greek yogurt, 6 ounces blueberries and ranch.
- Dinner: 3 ounces steak, 6 ounces peppers cooked in 1 tablespoon oil, 8 ounces salad, and dressing
Day 3
- Breakfast: 1 ounce oats, 6 ounces berries, 8 ounces Greek yogurt.
- Lunch: 4 ounce rotisserie chicken, 6 ounces cucumbers, 2 ounces cherry tomatoes, 6 ounces grapes, 2 tbls dressing.
- Dinner: 4 ounces steak, 8 ounces salad, 6 ounces broccoli and olive oil.
By this time, if you’re eating the same salad, you might want something to switch it up. Here are some of my absolute favorite salads to make and eat!
Day 4:
- Breakfast: 1 egg, egg whites, apricots, and sweet potato.
- Lunch: 4 ounces steak, lettuce, poppyseed dressing, pumpkin seeds, and apple.
- Dinner: 6 ounces Zucchini noodles, 4 oz ground beef, 8 ounces lettuce, cherry tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, and dressing.
Here are my tips for making zoodles (zucchini noodles).
Day 5
- Breakfast: 1 ounce shredded wheat, 6 ounces grapes, 2 eggs.
- Lunch: 3 ounces Roasted chickpeas, 1 tbl olive oil, 3 apricots, and 6 ounces carrots.
- Dinner: 4 oz Rotisserie chicken, 8 oz salad, 6 oz broccoli, and 1 tbl dressing.
Day 6
- Breakfast: 1 oz oats, 1 egg plus 1 oz cheese, 6 oz cantaloupe.
- Lunch: 4 oz chicken patty, 1 tbl mayo, 1 apricots, 1/2 banana, 6 oz corn.
- Dinner: 3 oz Zucchini, 4 oz beef burger, 3 oz mushrooms, 8 oz lettuce, and 1 tbl ranch.
Here’s how I make my high protein overnight oats!
Day 7
- Breakfast: 1 oz Shredded wheat, 6 oz strawberries, and 1 cup yogurt.
- Lunch: 6 oz Strawberries, 4 oz rotisserie chicken and Parmesan cheese, 6 oz spaghetti squash, and 1 tbl avocado!
- Dinner: Pork salad with 4 oz pork, 8 oz salad, 6 oz chopped veggies, 1 tbl dressing
Bright Line Eating PDF
To print the 7 day sample meal plan for Bright Line Eating, click the image below.
To see pictures of these meals, head over to the post, 7 pounds in 7 days with Bright Line Eating, or my instagram!
Stay connected and get all my new recipes by following me on Pinterest!
I am an Intensive Care Unit RN and I work night shift. I have little structure at work when to eat. I just fit it in as I can, usually after 2 am. I sleep at least 6-8 hours when I get home. My eating is all over the place. I work 12 hour shifts ,3 days a week. I am so confused about how to do this. I think I could do intermittent fasting during my work hours. Any ideas ?
Kim! I’m so sorry. This kind of schedule is just so hard to eat consistently, especially when you are only on the night shift 3 days a week!
I think intermittent fasting is a great idea. I would delay breakfast on most days until 11am or 12, whether you worked the night before or not, and see how that goes.
Good luck to you!
Amy Roskelley
Hi, I am on a low histamine diet, so I cannot eat lunch meat, cheese, yogurt, rotisserie chicken, avocados, tomatoes, spinach, citrus, bananas, pears, pineapple, salad dressing with vinegar, wheat products, mushrooms, beans, walnuts, cashews, anything fermented, any aged meats, and fruit that is not in season. Will this diet work for me for weight loss?
Hi Shar!
That sounds very restrictive, and something I’m likely not qualified to advise about. I can help you find a local dietitian that would probably accept health insurance if you want to let me know where you live.
Good luck to you!
A question that jumped out at me is WHY are you on such a restrictive diet? I’ve been where where you are and it was misery street – food restriction does the opposite of what we think it ought to do and makes us focus on food all of the time. It sets up craving. 24/7. Your root cause (because an uncomfortable histamine response is a symptom, NOT the cause of your metabolic reaction to a trigger) may be a SNP (mutation) on your DNA that codes for the enzyme DAO. If you have a relevant SNP it may be affecting your ability to break down histamine in the body. Be a detective in your personal wellness; if you can, research DAO enzyme, its role, how to find out if you have a SNP or what steps to take to if you want to treat yourself like you have a DAO mutation and what steps to take. There’s a great book by Dr Ben Lynch called Dirty Genes and i think you can get free resources on how to treat a ‘dirty’ DAO gene on his site. All the best. Long long post but wanted to share support. I feel ya 🙂
I am making overnight oats for my breakfast with quick oats, unflavored greek yogurt , water and chia seeds and I had a Tab. or so of craisins… is this acceptable ? I also use Stevia in the Raw. I would like to follow the basics but modify a bit so I can stick to it longer and make it a lifestyle. I am not concerned with starvation quick weight loss and with under 1200 calories a day and NO CARBS other than the oats I feel I will get quite frustrated. I love sweet potatoes though and even eat the skins. Do you think this is doable for me ? Can I make a protein powder smoothie with frozen fruit for my lunch ?
Hi Carol! If you are specifically asking if those modifications are acceptable on Bright Line Eating, I’m definitely not an expert in that diet. I just tried it temporarily and wrote about it.If you want my opinion though, I TOTALLY agree that those modifications, if they help you stick with something long term are GREAT! I say, take the things from each diet that work with you and create the lifestyle that you will enjoy sticking with!
I’m just learning about this program how can it be adapted for a vegan diet. Tofu, beans etc acceptable protein options?
Yes, Bright Line Eating works really well with a vegan diet. 6 oz beans is one protein serving, 4 oz hummus, 4 oz tofu. In the cookbook or the main book, she describes the plant-based options.
Susan Pierce Thompson is a vegan and she is the author of the books and food plan. You’ll fit right in.
But the plan is doable for keto, vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters. Very sustainable for life.
If you have shredded wheat on day 5, what is it in? Also how are you cooking the zuccini on day 1?
I eat shredded wheat like a snack, nothing on it and dry. You could add a little milk though.
Zucchini is cooked in cooking spray on a skillet!
Can I eat carbnaut bread
I would avoid any processed breads while you are on Bright Line Eating. If you find you can enjoy them without having it cross you over into losing control though, I would add it back in. But if you feel like it makes you lose control, I’d keep any bread products out of your diet, no matter what they are made from.
You are allowed 1 piece of Ezekiel Bread as your grain for breakfast.
I’m 66 years old . I started BLE June 2021 . I was 279 lbs. Last week my wife and I went to the dentist . It’s 6 months since I was last there . Everyone there was scrambling to look up BLE and find out how to join . They asked my wife if she was remarried , “That’s not your Husband ?”
I’m 188 lbs today and shooting for 179 lbs . I feel better than ever . I am ever grateful that Susan Pierce Thompson put together this plan . Benjamin
WOW!! that’s amazing Benjamin. I’m so glad you shared this. What a testimonial!
Congratulations Benjamin. you look AND feel better. Hit the jackpot 🙂
Can I ask your opinion? I work an early shift & get up 430a/5am (shift starting at 6) – first 2 hours of my job are quite physical and I get a 30min lunch 4 hours in (around 10am). I get off work at 1/2pm and head home. With the 3 square approach, I have a hard time knowing when to eat “lunch” in the middle bc of my schedule. When would you do it? I end up eating when I get home but then dinner is a few hours later.
Hi Ashley,
Have you ever tried a modified fast/intermittent fasting and not have your first meal until 10? Then you would eat at 10:00, 2:00. and 6:00? that spaces everything four hours apart, which I think is good.
If you haven’t tried it, it’s not as hard as it sounds. Otherwise, if you just can’t get the energy for those first few hours of work, I would eat at 5:00am, 10:00, and and early dinner at 4:00.
Of course, one more option is to decide you’ll be a three meals a day, with one snack person- which is actually How I eat most of the meals these days. So, you could do, 5:00am, 10:00 am, 2:00 (small snack), and 5:00 dinner!
You can do the 2 meal thing where you split the food and eat 2 bigger meals
Hi,
My doctor/dietician would like to adjust the plan according to my health conditions.
The only fruit I can eat (now) is a lime or lemon. It will be too restrictive at least for
Lunch. Can I add another 6oz of vegetables for Lunch? Or a 8oz glass of green juice(cucumbers and romaine lettuce) I have impaired digestion and vitamin deficiencies an he wants me to have green juice and Breakfast and Lunch.
Ditto the dr. input. Mine liked the plan, thought it was too few calories for good health, added whole grains to lunch & dinner, fat to breakfast. The tweaked plan is intended to yield no less than 1500 cal, no more than 1600, about 500 cal per meal at about the same time each day (6-8 am, noon-2pm, 6-8 pm), no sugar, no refined flours, no snacks, 3 squares a day. So far, 52 lbs gone since March.
I love this plan Emily!! I just said to the prior commenter, make it your own plan and you’ll be successful! Modification is what makes a program work for you!
I wouldn’t hesitate to make any modifications to your dr. thinks is good. In fact, I would modify the plan to fit your needs no matter what. Make this YOUR plan, and you’ll be successful!
I can’t have shredded wheat or yogurt bc of borderline diabetes what do you suggest I substitute in place these items? Thank you!
I would eat oatmeal instead of shredded wheat and I would just skip the yogurt!
What kind of greek yogurt can we have? Does it matter on % eg. Fage 0%, 2%, 5%?
It sounds like she recommends 2%. From the book, she states: Regular and Greek yogurt are equally suitable. The preference would be for low-fat, rather than nonfat or whole milk products, but there’s no hard and fast rule.
Hope that helps!
Hi
For the oats. Is 1/3 cup of dry oats= 1 ounce?
Thanks
Yes- 1/3 cup is one ounce of dry oats!
Hi there. Would you please share the type of salad dressing you used, and how much for each salad?
Thank you!
I used Bolthouse ranch salad dressing. You can find it in the produce dept. It’s my favorite!
We are allowed 1 tablespoon of salad dressing right
Yes! It would be counted as your one serving of fats.
But Bolthouse ranch has added sugar, it’s right on the label (says “added” sugar in nutrition facts in addition to the natural occur sugar). I thought Brightline is no sugar allowed except fruit?
Hi Rachel,
My bottle doesn’t have any ingredients that would be considered added sugar. What is the ingredient you’re referring to?
Day 1 needs a fruit at lunch. Right?
Thanks for all your suggestions!
Oh my gosh!! Yes, it does. I don’t know how I missed that!! In over a year, you are the first person who caught that error! Dang.
I had done bright line eating for a little over a year with a total weight loss of 45 lbs. Granted I lost most of it in about 5 months then I went on the maintenance plan. After a few months it became east and temptations for “no, no” foods was easy. A dinner trick was to use heavy vegetables like Brussel sprouts and asparagus. I couldn’t eat a whole salad every night. Fajitas was my go to, easy and loaded with bell peppers, onions and jalapeños. Stick to it and stay on target. There will be days when weight loss doesn’t occur like you would like it to be but it’s a marathon not a sprint.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience Roy! I couldn’t agree more and you said it well, It’s a marathon, not a sprint!!
Please keep me updated!
Hi there, thank you for all the resources. When I add to MFP, it comes out to under 1K in Calories. Is that accurate?
Yes Leslie! That was my biggest complaint with the program. You can see my review here https://healthbeet.org/bright-line-eating/
I definitely added food when I did it because I couldn’t believe how low in calories it was!
What should I replace the eggs with? I’m allergic to them
Hi Casey- You can repeat day three, where there is Greek yogurt for the protein!
What should I replace the eggs with? I’m allergic to them
These sample meal plans could also help diabetics. Thanks for the article.