How Much is Enough? What You Need to Know about Portions and Servings!

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A short while ago I wrote a review about the Instinct Diet. The research behind this diet is so meaningful because it supports what we already knew all too well. We eat more than we need because we CAN! We have evolved as human beings in a way that prompts us to eat when food is available. That’s normal! The problem is that food is available all too often and we no longer have a good concept of what is enough. How has this come about? Having access to plenty of food is a blessing, something that was not experienced by most humans throughout history. Knowing what to do about the easy access to abundant food is another story. It has become harder to judge what is enough in part because the norm no longer matches our needs. Portion sizes in restaurants and packaged foods have grown substantially over the years. What was once considered to be a large portion is now standard fare. Combine larger portions with the admonishment to clean our plates and we have a real problem. As a general rule Americans have learned to eat the food they are served. This is one way in which we limit what we eat by external cues. In many other cultures, people will more often limit what they eat based on internal cues of fullness and satisfaction. (To learn more about internal vs. external cues for eating as well as the dominant food culture in the United States read See it, Eat it with tips from Brian Wansink, PhD, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think ) Research by Marion Nestle, PhD (chair, Nutrition and Food Studies, NYU) has shown us that the trend toward bigger portions began in the 1970’s. I was a college student in the 70’s. I remember how a serving of french fries was a small amount, about 2-4 ounces totaling 210 calories. Now fries can be 6-7 ounces with a whopping 610 calories or so. Bagels were once about 3 inches in diameter and had about 140 calories. Now bagels can be 5-6 inches in size and have 350 calories or more! Beverages need an entire article of their own to cover the changes over the last 30-40 years. (You may want to read: The Beverages You Drink May be Making you Fat!) Here’s what you can keep in mind to gain back some control over how much you eat. “Portions” refer to how much we are served by a restaurant or food packager or what we serve ourselves and it may have little to do with what we need. “Serving sizes” relate to the recommended amount of food a person needs based on sex, age, and activity level. You can get a sense of how much you need by referring to the USDA Food Pyramid. (Be prepared to click on lots of links!) Or better yet, determine your caloric needs and then refer to the 1200 calorie diet plan or 1500 calorie diet plan I share on this site. You’ll get an idea of how many servings you need from each food group and how much constitutes a serving. (Read Calories Count to determine your caloric needs for weight loss or maintenance.) To learn more about how much you eat and the ways in which you may need to change you may want to read about the benefits of keeping a food diary You might also find it helpful to have a visual in your mind of the size of a serving. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has come up with some visual guidelines to give you an easy to remember picture in your mind of the size of a serving for different foods. What Does a Serving Look Like? Vegetables and Fruits: 1 cup of salad greens = a baseball 1 baked potato = a fist 1 medium fruit = a baseball 1/2 cup cut fresh fruit = 1/2 baseball 1/4 cup of raisins = a large egg Grain Products: 1 cup of cereal flakes = 1 fist 1 pancake = compact disc 1/2 cup cooked rice, pasta, or potato = 1/2 baseball 1 piece of cornbread = a bar of soap Dairy and Cheese: 1 1/2 oz. cheese = 4 stacked dice or 2 cheese slices (Yes, my drawing only shows 3 Dice!) 1/2 cup ice cream = 1/2 baseball Meat and Alternatives: 3 oz. meat, fish, or poultry = a deck of cards 3 oz. grilled/baked fish = a checkbook 2 Tbsp. of Peanut Butter = a ping pong ball Fats: 1 tsp. margarine or spreads = 1 dice Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute If you have been making progress with respect to eating a healthier diet then getting a handle on portion size may be your next step to successful weight loss and maintenance. Good luck! In my next post I will share the menu for day 2 of the 7 Day Diet Plan for weight loss with a healthy 1200 calorie diet including how you can modify the plan for a 1300, 1400, or 1500 calorie diet. Till then watch those calories, portion sizes, and eat healthy food! Maintenance weight loss Maintenance, weight lossportions portion size eating calories food culture United States weight loss diet

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The Instinct Diet: A Review

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I’m pleased to say there is now available a diet book, researched and written by an expert in BOTH nutrition and psychiatry, that you may find to be reassuring. No matter what your weight might be you will discover how your food habits are strongly influenced by hardwired instincts. If you have found weight loss to be an uphill battle there is a good reason why! Dr. Susan B. Roberts, the author of The Instinct Diet, will teach you how to work WITH your instincts rather than against them to make weight loss less of a struggle. Dr. Robert’s credentials for writing the weight loss book are impressive. Not only is she a professor of nutrition and psychiatry at Tufts University in Boston, she is also the director of an Energy and Metabolism Laboratory. Her book is the synthesis of more than 20 years of research about why we eat what we eat. What Dr. Roberts learned in her many years of research studying eating behavior is that we are guided by unlearned, instinctive responses to our environment. Although we might think we are different from one another in our responses to eating and enjoying food we share the same biological tendencies. We each have moments when we sense an almost uncontrollable urge to eat. The stimulus for that urge comes from the inner workings of our subconscious. Dr. Roberts identified five basic food instincts that have an enormous impact on our eating behavior. 1. Hunger: We have a strong and very normal need to satisfy our hunger. 2. Availability: We tend to eat whenever we can. 3. Calorie Density: The more calorie dense a food the more we like it! 4. Familiarity: We prefer and like familiar foods because we associate such food with safety and comfort. 5. Variety: The more food choices we have the more we eat. Each of these seemingly simple responses to food are the result of learning how to survive in less than hospitable conditions throughout much of human history. What worked so well for thousands of years now works against us. All too often we are surrounded by endless opportunities to eat. The book is divided into two parts. The first half is devoted to the three stages of the diet plan including strategies for how to overcome entrenched habits. The second half of the book includes menu plans and recipes. There are four basic variations to the menu plan. You can select either a meat-based or vegetarian diet and for each of these you have a choice between making home-cooked foods or buying prepared foods depending on what would work better with your lifestyle. Included with the book are more than 100 recipes and 8 weeks of menus. This diet may not be for everyone. It does require some advance planning to be prepared with meals and snacks throughout the week. Dr. Roberts teaches you ways to eat less without feeling hungry as I do on this website. However, don’t expect to never, ever be hungry. That’s just not realistic. Although I have spent a good deal of time researching what this book is about and reading some excerpts, I have not yet had an opportunity to read the entire book. I need to finish reading Tom Venuto’s new book The Body Fat Solution: Five Principles for Burning Fat, Building Lean Muscles, Ending Emotional Eating, and Maintaining Your Perfect Weight, which I’m enjoying, as well as a number of others. I own a Kindle reading device (Kindle 2: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation)) from Amazon.com and so I am in the middle of about 5 or 6 books at the same time. Having to keep track of only one reading device for all the many different books is wonderful. But I think I may have gotten a little carried away! I am eager, however, to read The Instinct Diet: Use Your Five Food Instincts to Lose Weight and Keep it Off as soon as I can. I didn’t want to wait to let you know it is available! Do take a look at the reviews on Amazon.com and elsewhere. There seem to be quite a number of satisfied weight loss customers. Till next time, watch those calories and remember to eat healthy food! Weight Loss Programs Weight Loss Programsdiet weight loss The Instinct Diet instincts food habits food behavior

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Planning a 7 Day Diet Menu

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I’ve wanted to plan and share a 7 Day Diet Menu for some time now. Why have I held off? Simply put it takes more time and effort to plan a nutritionally balanced low calorie diet for a week than a single day. I hope you have found the one-day sample menu plans that I offer on this site to be helpful but I think you will find my 7-Day Menu Plan to be better. If I weren’t concerned about nutritional balance creating a 7 Day plan would be easy. Getting the right balance is not. Do be careful of the menus provided online because many I have seen have not been designed for health. I also wanted to incorporate ease of preparation along with nutritional balance and a reasonable cost. Although my primary goal as a Nutritionist is nutritional balance, ease of preparation is a close second because as I have shared before I don’t want to spend my life in the kitchen. I’m guessing you may not either. Also, given that all too many Americans are feeling a financial pinch with the downturn in the economy I wanted to do my best to minimize costs. Where to start? I thought I would first share with you my thought process for planning the week’s menu to give you a guideline to follow should you decide to plan your own menu. There are a series of steps to follow to make it all work out more quickly and easily. Planning for a 1200 calorie diet , which is my goal, is tough. But if your goal is to have a 1300, 1400, or 1500 calorie diet plan it’s a bit easier. If you like my sample meal plan and you’d rather not create your own, I’ll tell you how you can easily add additional calories to the basic 1200 to meet your needs. What to keep in mind First and foremost whether we like it or not calories count! Contrary to what you have heard or may have read online or elsewhere, the ONLY way to lose weight is to consume fewer calories than you expend. I am not aware of any research studies to have EVER demonstrated weight loss with unlimited calorie intake over energy needs. I can’t recommend Tom Venuto’s books and articles highly enough for how thoroughly he covers this concept. You can choose to eat any combination of food you like for weight loss as long as your calorie count is less than your daily energy needs. However, if you want to not only lose weight but to look better and feel better as well, you will want to keep track of the quality of those calories. Am I starting to sound like a broken record? Sorry. I am adamant about this. When it comes to health, nutritional balance matters! What’s nice about following a basic guideline for nutritional balance such as the plans I share on this site is that you have some control over the nature of the balance as long as you stay within certain guidelines. (See my 1200 calorie diet plan and 1500 calorie diet plan) You can choose to increase the fiber content of your diet to improve your chances for weight loss success. You might choose to have a somewhat higher protein and lower carbohydrate intake (assuming you get enough carbohydrates! Read Dietary Fiber: Can it Help You with Weight Loss? ). Or you might choose a higher intake of complex carbohydrates with plenty of fiber and less fat. If you follow the guidelines you will be more likely to get enough of all the nutrients you need. Here’s what the National Academy of Sciences recommends for most people to meet nutritional needs: 10-35% Protein 20-35% Fat 45-65% Carbohydrates Another benefit to planning ahead, or simply keeping track of what you eat whether you have a plan or not, is that you learn so much about the strengths and weaknesses of your daily choices. Dieters who keep food records are much more likely to succeed with weight loss than those who don’t. (Keeping Records: Best Chance for Weight Loss Success) Does that mean you need to keep tedious notes for a long period of time? No. Just try it for a while, I can guarantee that you will learn something helpful. I know a lot about nutrition and weight loss but I keep learning! What comes first with creating a 7-day menu plan? 1. Choose protein foods. Getting enough protein can be a problem on a low calorie diet so I start with choosing the high protein foods around which I will build the rest of the plan. Two to four high protein foods for the week should be enough. I’ve chosen chicken, eggs, hummus, and black beans for my main protein foods. 2. Select the accompanying grains (breads and cereals). The grains I’ve selected are oats (to make oatmeal) and whole wheat bread (actually I’m considering whole wheat pitas). 3. Add vegetables, fruit, and milk products. Now I need to get creative about the meals and snacks I might enjoy eating for 7 days that won’t take too much time to prepare. As I come up with recipes and meals I do my best to include enough fruits, vegetables, and milk or milk products to round out the balance. If milk does not work for you by preference or necessity you can incorporate other sources of calcium and B vitamins. (Stephanie Gail, R.D. has an excellent article on the health benefits, nutrition, and availability of non-dairy milk) 4. Pick meals and snacks. I look at my own recipe file to see what I have already made in the past that might work. If I’m not inspired I then go to one of my favorite recipe sites online for new ideas. I often use RecipeZaar.com. I like the way I can drill down to find recipes that combine specific ingredients. Another potentially good site is EatingWell.com, which I only just found in the last few weeks. For a list of other potentially helpful recipe sites you may want to read one of my previous articles: Healthy Low Calorie Recipes: 8 Super Sites to See 5. Create a rough outline After doing a little bit of searching I have lots of great ideas. Now I need to rough out a basic outline of meals and snacks for the week. I try to keep in mind the approximate calories for each menu item. If I’m not sure of the calorie count for a food item or dish I have certain sites I check for calorie counts. My favorite free online nutrition/calorie calculator is CalorieLab.com. This site provides a great service because you can see at a glance which commercial brands have the fewest calories per serving for a given product. (It’s also wonderful for researching the calorie count for restaurant food.) If you need the calorie count or nutrient information for whole foods such as fruits or vegetables I recommend the USDA National Nutrient Database for a free database or MyFoodDiary.com for a paid service (I subscribe to this service.). The best site I have found if you need to determine something very specific such as the calories in a single grape then you will want to use DietandFitnessToday.com. (For easy access to these sites, I provide the links with my free 1200 calorie toolbar that you can download from the 1200 calorie diet page.) A couple of other sites to keep in mind are Calorie King and Nutrition Data. Calorie King provides a good source of information for brand name products (not as good as Calorie Lab but worth remembering.) Nutrition Data is a wonderful resource if you need to find foods/brand name products that are good sources of specific nutrients. To read more about these and other nutrient databases online you may want to read my review: Nutrition Calculators: Review of the Best Sites Online 6. Check your plan for the calorie count and nutritional balance. Revise as necessary. Once I have my basic outline of meals and snacks, I then go to MyFoodDiary.com to check and revise each menu for nutritional balance. I love the feedback I receive at this site when I plan a menu. It helps me to make revisions and come up with the best balance I can achieve before I post a sample menu on this website. [Note: You don’t have to use a paid service. I believe you can set up a menu on a service such as FitDay or FoodCount for free. I like MyFoodDiary because I can keep my favorite recipes and other foods in a “refrigerator” for quick access when I am menu planning.] So there you have it. Planning a week’s worth of meals plus a grocery list isn’t easy but with all of the online resources it is so much easier than it was many years ago. I hope you will check back to see what I purchase at the grocery store (probably this weekend) and follow along with me as I share the menus and recipes over the coming weeks. weight loss weight loss7 Day Diet Menu 7 Day Diet sample menu 7 days diet menu planning nutrients nutritional balance ease of preparation

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Ten Top Breakfast Cereals for Weight Loss

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A couple of months back I shared my thoughts on selecting the best hot cereals for weight loss and better health. With the temperatures finally beginning to warm up here in the Midwest, I’ll be ready for cold breakfast cereals very soon. I’ve found some brands in the past few years that meet or come very close to meeting my expectations for calorie count, dietary fiber, whole grain content and more. There are all too many that don’t! Image via Wikipedia So what should you look for when picking out a nutritious yet low calorie breakfast cereal? Here’s what I recommend. If possible choose cereals made with 100% whole grain. Otherwise, pick a cereal with a significant amount of whole grain. You can determine this by checking to see if a whole grain is listed as the first ingredient in the ingredient list. (see Whole Grains are a Weight Loss Winner for the benefits of whole grain) Choose cereals with a high dietary fiber content. Products that offer 5 grams of dietary fiber or more are deemed to be an excellent source of fiber by the health agencies of the U.S. government. Take a look at the sugar content. Look for cereals with little or no sugar; if possible, choose those with 8 grams of sugar or less. Keep in mind that each four grams of sugar equals approximately one teaspoon. I would think 2 teaspoons of sugar for a bowl of cereal should be plenty. However, go ahead and allow for somewhat more sugar if you have a cereal with a reasonable calorie count and the added sweetness comes from dried fruit. Given that your most important goal for weight loss is to consume fewer calories than you expend, I recommend picking cereals with less than 200 calories per serving. It’s hard to achieve a balance of nutrients on low calorie diets of 1200 to 1500 calories so choose carefully. Having said that, do keep in mind your nutrient needs when selecting a cereal brand and not just calories. For example, cereal can be an excellent source of iron for younger women. However, post menopausal women no longer need the extra iron. Cold breakfast cereals are generally not a good source of protein. You’ll want to round out the nutritional balance of your breakfast by adding a protein source. The milk you add to your cereal will add some protein but not much and all too many people don’t even drink the milk that is left in the bowl. If you don’t drink the milk you miss out not only on the protein but the other nutrients present in milk and some of the nutrients in the cereal that leach into the milk. (To learn more about the importance of getting enough protein with breakfast you may want to read: Best Healthy Breakfasts for Weight Loss: Part 1 ) Last but not least, sodium matters. If possible keep your sodium intake to 200 mg or less. (Excessive sodium can lead to water retention as well as other health issues especially as you age.) To recap, here’s a short list of what to watch for: Best Breakfast Cereals for Weight Loss 1. 100% whole Grain if possible. Otherwise, look to see if a whole grain is mentioned first in the list of ingredients. 2. 5 grams of dietary fiber per serving or more 3. 8 grams of sugar or less per serving 4. Less than 200 calories per serving 5. Less than 200 mg of sodium Finding products that meet these criteria is tough. As you will see some of the cereal recommendations I’m giving you comply with all of the suggested guidelines. NOTE: As with other product suggestions I’ve made previously, I need to stress that this list is by no means a review of all breakfast cereals on the market. I’m always on the lookout for good choices but I like to try the products I recommend. So I am limited by what is available locally and to those I find on my travels across the country. Also, I’ve made no attempt to provide a review with respect to taste. These are all cereals I have eaten and would purchase again but they may or may not appeal to you. 1. Heart to Heart by Kashi Serving = 3/4 cup with 110 calories Dietary Fiber = 5 grams Soluble Fiber = 1 gram Protein = 4 grams Iron = 10% of the DV for a 2,000 calorie diet Sugars = 5 grams Sodium = 90 mg 1st Ingredient = Whole Oat Flour Comments: Low calorie. Is a good source of whole grain but it is not 100% whole grain. Low iron. 2. Organic Whole Wheat Biscuits by Kashi Serving = 1 cup with 190 calories Dietary Fiber = 6 grams Soluble Fiber = 1 gram Insoluble Fiber = 5 grams Protein = 5 grams Iron = 8% Sugars = 7 grams Sodium = 0 mg 1st Ingredient = Organic Whole Grain Wheat Comments: This is a 100% whole grain product. Low iron. Certified organic. 3. Organic Flax Plus by Nature’s Path Serving = 3/4 cup with 110 calories Dietary Fiber = 5 grams Protein = 4 grams Iron = 10% Sugars = 4 grams Sodium = 135 mg 1st Ingredient = Organic Whole Wheat Flour Comments: Source of whole grain. Low iron. Certified organic. 4. Honey Sunshine by Kashi Serving = 3/4 cup with 100 calories Dietary Fiber = 6 grams Protein = 2 grams Iron = 0% Sugars = 6 grams Sodium = 140 mg 1st Ingredient = Whole Grain Yellow Corn Meal Comments: Source of whole grain. No iron. Very low protein. 5. 100% Whole Grain Wheat Chex by General Mills Serving = 3/4 cup with 160 calories Dietary Fiber = 5 grams Soluble Fiber = 1 gram Protein = 5 grams Iron = 80% Sugars = 5 grams Sodium = 340 mg 1st Ingredient = Whole Grain Wheat Comments: Source of whole grain. Significant source of iron. Fair amount of sodium. 6. Multigrain Chex Cereal by General Mills Serving = 3/4 cup with 160 calories Dietary Fiber = 6 grams Protein = 3 grams Iron = 90% Sugars = 10 grams Sodium = 310 mg 1st Ingredient = Corn Meal Comments: Little whole grain. Significant source of iron. Fair amount of sodium. 7. Post Grape-Nuts Trail Mix Crunch by Post Serving = 3/4 cup with 180 calories Dietary Fiber = 5 grams Protein = 4 grams Sugars = 10 grams Iron = 90% Sugars = 10 grams Sodium = 210 mg 1st Ingredient = Whole Grain Wheat Comments: Source of whole grain. Significant source of iron. More sugar than some other cereals but it comes from added raisins. 8. Organic Promise Cinnamon Harvest by Kashi Serving = 1 cup with 190 calories Dietary Fiber = 5 grams Soluble =1 gram Insoluble = 4 grams Protein = 4 grams Sugars = 9 grams Iron = 8% 1st Ingredient = Organic Whole Wheat Comments: 100% whole grain. Certified organic. Low iron. 9. Quaker Crunchy Corn Bran by Quaker Serving = 3/4 cup with 90 calories Dietary Fiber = 5 grams Insoluble = 4 grams Protein = 2 grams Iron = 45% Sugars = 6 grams Sodium = 240 mg 1st Ingredient = Corn Flour Comments: Very low calorie. Not a whole grain cereal. Fair amount of iron. 10. Raisin Bran by Kraft Serving = 1 cup with 190 calories Dietary Fiber = 8 grams Soluble Fiber = 1 gram Protein = 4 grams Sugars = 19 grams (High sugar content because of the raisins.) Sodium = 300 mg Iron = 60% 1st Ingredient = Whole Grain Wheat Comments: Source of whole grain. Fair amount of iron. Fair amount of sodium. High sugar from the raisins. For those of you who are wondering what happened to the 7 Day Diet Plan, I promise it is coming. I had a number of things come up this week and last that threw me off schedule. But I am happy to say I have been testing the plan and I must say I am very pleased. I’m now on day 5 so I hope to begin sharing my results with you very soon. Till next time, watch those calories and eat healthy food! calories Health weight loss calories, Health, weight lossbreakfast cereal cold cereal cereal low calorie nutritious low calorie cereal nutritious cereal weight loss diet calories

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Grocery Shopping for a 7 Day Diet Menu

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A little over a week ago I wrote about the steps I take to plan a 7 day diet menu. I wanted to give you some tips and resources to make the process a little easier should you decide to plan your own menu. I also promised to begin sharing the results of my menu soon. Well it’s taken me a bit longer than I would have liked but life got in the way and gave me some extra challenges. I’m getting back on track now, however, before I share Day 1 of the 7-day menu I’d like to tell you about some of the important observations I made along the way. My main goal was to have a nutritionally balanced 7-Day - 1200 calorie daily menu for one person (with suggestions on how to increase the calorie count for a 1300, 1400, or 1500 calorie diet). I also wanted a plan that would not require too much time and effort to prepare. And I wanted to keep the cost down. My previous article (Planning a 7 Day Diet Menu) goes into the details of how I designed the diet. Today I’m covering the grocery shopping. To minimize costs I decided to shop at a Wal-Mart superstore. I don’t normally shop at Wal-Mart and I discovered this to be something of a challenge because this store seems to be more geared to selling large amounts/volume than small packages for one person. I came up with options that worked but I had to do some creative thinking for certain products. For example, with the yogurt I had planned on using the 6 oz. containers of Stonyfield Farm low fat yogurt for meals and snacks. However, Wal-Mart only carried 32 oz. containers and only two flavors, plain and vanilla yogurt. I selected the 32 oz. fat free French Vanilla made with nonfat milk and the added benefit of NO artificial sweeteners! This turned out to be cheaper per ounce but I had to forgo the variety of flavors. Fortunately, the calorie count per ounce is close. Here’s a simple sketch of the foods I used to prepare the menus (both purchased items and what I had on hand): I bought a number of items that you might already have in your kitchen. At the time, it seemed like a good idea to assume that someone might not have any of the foods in their “pantry”. So I bought things like coffee and tea along with everything else. I thought I had purchased just about everything I would need for the week. I then realized there were some ingredients for certain recipes I planned on using that I already had at home. I didn’t want to buy additional refrigerated items that I might not use up in time. This included mixed salad greens and a carton of orange juice. I had a couple of potatoes that I needed to use anyway. I also had plenty of frozen chopped onions because I use them so often. And I already own a full range of herbs and spices. I believe everything else for the 7 Day 1200 Calorie Menu was accounted for with my purchases. [Sometime I’ll share my thoughts on what to keep on hand for a well stocked, nutritious, and low calorie pantry. But that’s getting ahead of myself. If you’d like some ideas now I would encourage you to read the well-written and informative articles of a Twitter friend of mine Darya Pino (How to Get Started Eating Healthy: Stock Your Pantry). ] I bought a fresh whole chicken, whole wheat bread (sandwich thins) by Arnold, oatmeal, raisins, almonds, reduced fat Mexican blend cheese by Sargento, milk, yogurt, Babybel lite cheese, oranges, tomatoes, celery, Gala apples, 2 lemons, broccoli, a bell pepper, cucumbers, an avocado, half a carton of fresh eggs, canned black beans, can of green chilies, canned diced tomatoes, and a bag of Tostitos tortilla chips. I spent $52.40 cents. However, at some point in the coming weeks I will calculate what I actually used to get a more accurate idea of the cost for the week. Some of the items, for example, the coffee and tea, I only used a small amount of the package. So there are leftovers. On the other hand, I need to estimate the cost of items I already had at home and add it to the total. I learned that I could purchase a whole chicken at a significant savings over an already cooked rotisserie chicken. The rotisserie chickens at Wal-Mart are low priced but you can do better. The added benefit is that you will likely reduce the fat and sodium as well by preparing your own chicken. But the cost savings is only true if you’re not particular about the brand. The chicken I bought weighed in at about 5 pounds for a total cost of $5.00. However, had I chosen to purchase an organic, free-range chicken which I would have preferred, the cost would have been two to three dollars higher or more. I had imagined buying whole wheat tortillas and then crisping a few in the oven to make my own tortilla chips. However, I learned that I was not going to save much if anything either in cost or calories so I purchased whole grain Tostitos (that contain “some” whole grain but it’s not clear how much. See Whole Grains are a Weight Loss Winner). [Update April 16, 2009: I want to point out that Tostitos tortilla chips are not the best choice. I just now remembered that I had purchased Plocky’s Three Grain Tortilla Chips from our local Midwest Hy-Vee grocery store. If you can find Plocky’s give it a try. It has fewer calories per ounce (129 calories vs. 150 for Tostitos). It also has 84% whole grain. The whole grain content for Tostitos is not clear and not likely to be very much or they would let you know. Also, Plocky’s has 0 grams of saturated fat and trans fat. Tostitos has 1 gram of saturated fat and 0 grams of trans fat.] I ditched the idea of making my own hummus for this project. I do like my recipe for homemade hummus but I didn’t think I would save anything on the cost and I do value my time. I purchased a sweet red pepper flavored hummus by Tribe (a new brand to me) and it turned out to be quite good (8 oz. for $1.98). When buying fresh produce it pays to do comparisons. I discovered the Gala apples, which I prefer anyway, were substantially cheaper ($1.00/lb) than the Red Rome, Delicious, Fuji, and Granny Smith ($1.49/lb.). Medium-sized individual potatoes were not available at Wal-Mart but I already had a couple at home. They did have large potatoes (very large!) so I guess I could have purchased a large potato and then cut it in half (and refrigerated the second half till ready to use). In the end result what I am particularly pleased about is the way I was be able to use up most if not all of the food purchased for my menu plan without any waste or going over the calorie limit. Most people who decide to go on a 1200 calorie diet actually need somewhat more then they might think so be sure to check (Read 1200 Calorie Diet: Getting Started! to determine your need.) I need about 1400 calories when I’m not dieting or exercising. Yes, you read that right. I’m petite and getting older so my needs are minimal. But I exercise most of the time and that means getting enough calories to cover the energy cost of exercise. Right now I need more than usual. I’m actually training to run in a half-marathon (this may turn out to be a bad idea at my age, we’ll see!) So I need significantly more than the 1200 calories I was testing. But it worked for me; I just supplemented my diet with additional healthy food to increase the calorie count. [The training for the half-marathon has been one of my challenges recently. I seem to have hurt my back a little, which may change my plans for continuing. Sigh… But I’m pleased to say that at age 54 I’ve succeeded so far in running six miles without stopping. If I can’t continue with the training, I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished!] Coming soon (Really!): Day One of the plan. Till next time, watch those calories and eat healthy food! calories weight loss calories, weight loss7 Day Diet grocery shopping weight loss diet menu 1200 calorie diet 1300 1400 1500 diet calories

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Day 1 Diet Sample Menu

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O.K. here’s Day 1 of the 7 Day Diet Menu! If possible, the best way to start out this weekly plan is the evening before Day 1. For many people, Day 1 will work best on a Sunday so the day before would be Saturday. Spend just a little time in the afternoon or evening on Saturday or the day before you begin this 7 Day Diet menu plan to prepare Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal . By starting a day in advance and then doing a little food preparation each day throughout the week you can minimize the time you invest. The oatmeal recipe makes about six 1/2 cup servings. That’s enough for most of the week! And by changing the toppings or accompanying food with each serving you can add variety to an otherwise monotonous breakfast routine. I included an orange with breakfast on Day 1 rather than orange juice because it provides a much better source of nutrients and fiber with fewer calories. I suggest including tea but you might choose water or coffee instead. Just forgo any caloric sweeteners. I had intended to include whole wheat pita bread in this week’s plan but I wasn’t successful in finding any at WalMart when I did my shopping. (Grocery shopping for a 7 Day Diet Menu ) However, I discovered Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins by Arnold which have turned out to be quite tasty and filling for only 100 calories a roll. They make a good substitute for pita and they are also a good source of nutrients and fiber (5 grams dietary fiber per roll). I suggest starting Day 1 of this menu plan on a Sunday because it calls for preparing a roast chicken, a baked potato, and steamed broccoli. That’s more cooking than what is required for the rest of the week. If you are not a cook don’t get flustered. Roasting a chicken is not difficult. You can follow the instructions that come with the raw whole chicken or you might want to watch one or more videos of how others prepare chicken on YouTube. To keep the calorie count down limit the amount of oil or other fat you use to baste the chicken. (When you serve yourself the cooked chicken avoid the skin and other fatty parts.) Here’s a good instruction video on how to prepare a roast chicken: Easy Roast Chicken No need to add the vegetables. Just keep the chicken a little elevated so it roasts and doesn’t cook in its own juices (many inexpensive roasting pans are designed to keep the bird positioned a little higher than the bottom of the pan.) I only use olive oil and a little seasoning (no butter) and I don’t particularly like thyme. Get creative and use the seasonings that appeal to you. Do add the lemon halves/slices to the inside of the bird. I find it adds a lot of flavor for no additional calories. After roasting the chicken cut the breast meat off the bones and separate the wing, leg, and thigh meat from the rest of the chicken. If the meat has been cooked well enough (to an internal temperature of 180 degrees F for safety) the chicken should pull apart easily. Don’t worry about how it looks! It’s food not something to impress others. After eating your meal, refrigerate the extra leftover meat. This is what you will use to prepare many of the meals for the coming week. (If you don’t want to roast a chicken you could bake some chicken breasts or you could buy already cooked chicken. The cost will be higher but if you can afford to do so you will save time.) [Optional: Keep the bones to prepare some broth but throw away the skin and fatty pieces. Making chicken broth is easy. Typically it is prepared with some uncooked chicken pieces, however, the cooked bones with some meat still attached will work almost as well. Preparing your own broth will keep the costs down for the week and you can choose to add less salt (sodium) than what you will find with most commercial brands of chicken broth. (I typically forgo this step and buy commercial. As I’ve shared before I value my time. But in this instance, I made homemade broth and I came up with about six cups. I kept some in the refrigerator for use later in the week and I froze some for another time.) ] Breakfast 1 serving (1/2 cup) Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal 4 oz. Nonfat (skim) milk 1 orange 1 cup tea (white, black, or green) unsweetened Morning Snack 1 piece Mini Babybel Light Original Cheese (50 calories) Lunch 1 roll (Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins by Arnold -100 calories per roll) 2 Tbsp. Hummus (about 50 calories) 1 Apple Water, unsweetened tea or coffee Afternoon Snack 1 6-oz. container low fat Stonyfield Farm Yogurt (your choice of flavor, 130 calories) Supper 1 medium baked potato (scrubbed well, the whole potato can be eaten skin and all for lots of fiber - 6.6 grams; however, the day’s menu will provide you with plenty of dietary fiber otherwise if you prefer to not eat the skin.) 1 cup steamed broccoli 1 tbsp. Light Butter with canola oil (Land O’Lakes) 3 oz. Sliced chicken breast, oven roasted (about 110 calories) Water, unsweetened tea, or coffee (Always remember to get plenty of water throughout the day.) Total Calories = 1224 Total Fiber = 32.1 grams (this includes the dietary fiber from the skin of the potato) Fat = 14% (the fat content is slightly on the low side but acceptable, 15-35% would be better) Carbs = 65% Protein = 21% Calcium = 928 mg (Women between 19 and 50 years need approximately 1,000 mg a day, 51+ need 1,200 mg a day) Iron = 9.5 mg (Women 19 to 50 years need 18 mg of iron, 51+ need 8 mg) Vitamin C= 232 mg ———————— 1300, 1400, or 1500 Calorie Diet Menu (Modify the basic 1200 calorie plan to suit your needs) If you are 50 or younger, you might choose to boost iron intake by adding a good source of iron or by taking a basic vitamin and mineral supplement. Good sources of iron include lean red meat, the dark meat of poultry, tuna, salmon, iron-fortified cereals, dried beans, whole grains, eggs, and dried fruit. However, getting enough iron from food sources isn’t easy when you need to limit your calories. My recommendation would be to add a small bowl of iron fortified cereal for an evening snack or otherwise during the day. Some good low calorie cereals with significant iron include 100% Whole Grain Wheat Chex and Multigrain Chex cereals by General Mills and Oatmeal Squares by Quaker. (To learn more about healthy breakfast cereals for weight loss you may want to read: Ten Top Breakfast Cereals for Weight Loss) Women over 50 (postmenopausal) will want to get extra calcium and vitamin D. A supplement would be fine. As for additional calories, you might choose to have an extra serving of one or more of the items already on the menu or add additional calories of your choice. With the exceptions noted above, the menu is already fairly well-balanced for nutrition. [NOTE: The menu plan was designed to meet the needs of one person on a 1200 calorie diet for one week. Although there will be a little extra food to meet the additional calorie needs for a 1300 to 1500 calorie diet, I recommend adding additional foods to the basic menu plan to stay on track. That is, rather than eating additional servings for the first few days and risk running out of the food to prepare and serve the remaining meals for the week, just stick with the plan. Simply add other food of your choice for more calories. Toward the end of the week you will have a better sense of how much extra you may have and when it will work to have a second serving.] That’s it for Day 1. Check back for the rest of the plan. When I have shared all 7 days I will also provide a shopping list and a final assessment about the approximate cost for the week.If you would like to prepare your own weekly menu you may want to read my previous article Planning a 7 Day Diet Menu . I use and recommend My Food Diary as a service for calculating the nutritional content of meals and snacks and preparing all of the menu plans I share on this website. (For more 1200 calorie menu plans see 1200 Calorie Diet Plan) Till next time, watch those calories and eat healthy food! 1200 calorie diet 1300 1400 1500 calorie diet 7 Day Diet Menu calories diet diet plan healthy low calorie nutritious sample diet menu weekly diet menu weight loss 1200 calorie diet, 1300, 1400, 1500 calorie diet, 7 Day Diet Menu, calories, diet, diet plan, healthy, low calorie, nutritious, sample diet menu, weekly diet menu, weight loss7 Day Diet Menu sample diet menu diet plan healthy nutritious low calorie weight loss diet weekly diet menu 1200 calorie diet 1300 1400 1500 calorie diet

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