Day 3 Sample Diet Menu for 1200 Calories or More!

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Today I’m sharing Day 3 of the 7 Day Diet Menu. We continue to keep things simple, quick, and easy by eating leftovers for breakfast and lunch and then making Roasted Chicken Pizza for supper in minutes with a just a few healthy low cal ingredients. If the menu seems to be lacking in variation remember that part of the goal for this plan is to keep the cost down by making use of what is on hand. Have you seen weekly menu plans for making a different cut of meat and/or fish dish every night of the week? Can you imagine how much that would cost? And what do you do with all the leftovers from one day to the next? The way I see it, leftovers are good. I call them planned-overs. They save me time in the kitchen and with a little creativity just a few high protein foods can be prepared in a variety of ways for unique and tasty dishes. The focus for this week long menu is on roast chicken with hummus, eggs, and black beans as the other protein foods around which the menu is planned. (See Day 1 of the 7 Day Diet Menu for how to prepare the roast chicken at the beginning of the week.) This menu is healthy and fairly well-balanced it gets good marks from MyFoodDiary where I do my planning. Take a look at the feedback: [I recommend My Food Diary as a service for tracking your calorie and nutrient intake especially if you are just starting out with a low calorie diet. (If you would like to learn more about this service you may want to read: Food Diary Review: MyFoodDiary.com)] Sample Menu Day 3 Breakfast 1/2 cup Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal 1/2 cup orange juice Snack 1/4 cup almonds Lunch 1 serving Low Fat Chicken and Apple Salad (leftover from Day 2 of the 7 Day Diet Menu) 1 Whole Wheat Sandwich Thin (Arnold, 100 calories) 8 oz. nonfat (skim) milk Snack 2 stalks celery (raw) 4 Tbsp. hummus Supper 2 Roast Chicken Pizzas (made with 2 halves of a Whole Wheat Sandwich Thin by Arnold, 100 calories) Water, unsweetened tea or coffee, or diet soda (Always remember to get plenty of water throughout the day.) Total Calories = 1202 Total Fiber = 25.5 grams Fat = 29% Carbs = 49% Protein = 16% Calcium = 999 mg (Women between 19 and 50 years need approximately 1,000 mg a day, 51+ need 1,200 mg a day) Iron = 9.8 mg (Women 19 to 50 years need 18 mg of iron, 51+ need 8 mg) The menu comes up a little short on iron for women 19 to 50 years of age and on calcium for women 51+. Today might be a good day for a supplement. 1300, 1400, or 1500 Calorie Diet Menu Modify the 1200 Calorie Diet Menu to fit your needs. If you are over 50 and needing a little more calcium you may want to add another cup serving of skim milk (80 calories, 223 mg calcium). Yogurt is another good choice for getting extra calcium (see Yogurt for a Healthy Low Calorie Diet for some ideas on which yogurt to buy.) Given that the iron count is a little low, if you are between the ages of 19 and 50, today would be a good day for an iron supplement. Other than these tips you can choose what you like for the additional 100-300 calories. As I have noted on Day 1 and 2 the overall plan is designed for 1200 calories so there won’t be a lot of extra food for having a second serving to up your calorie intake. I recommend purchasing a little extra food of your choice for bringing the calorie count up to meet your needs. For Day 4 of the 7 Day Diet Menu I’ll be sharing a recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup to use up more of the roast chicken from Day 1. Mmm…It’s good. Something else I will be writing about soon is choosing tea for weight loss and better health. Are all teas equally good? Check back in the next week or so to find out. (See Planning a 7 Day Diet Menu to learn more about how I created this weeklong menu and some tips for planning your own 7 Day low calorie menu.) Need other 1200 or 1500 calorie diet menus for ideas? (Scroll to the bottom of each page for links): 1200 Calorie Diet Plan 1500 Calorie Diet Plan Till next time watch those calories and remember to eat healthy food! calories Health weight loss calories, Health, weight loss7 Day Diet Menu diet plan 1200 calorie diet 1300 1400 1500 calorie diet healthy low calorie weight loss

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Yogurt for a Healthy Low Calorie Diet

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Yogurt may not live up to the promise of ALL the hyped up health claims you may have heard, but it can be a nutritious choice for a low calorie diet. Most importantly, yogurt can be a great source of calcium and protein, two nutrients that might be in short supply when your caloric intake is reduced. In addition to these nutrients, yogurt has vitamin B-12, riboflavin, potassium, and magnesium. An added plus is that it may contribute to maintaining a healthy digestive tract. But are you getting what you think when you make a purchase? At one time yogurt was something of a novelty item and choices were limited. However, by the year 2005 the production of yogurt in the United States was five times greater than it had been in 1980, only 25 years earlier. The potential benefits of yogurt have caught on but there are so many different yogurt products that deciding which one to purchase can be a daunting task! If you look closely at the many yogurt options lining supermarket shelves, you may find plain, flavored, whole, low-fat, fat-free, creamy, fruity, fruit on the bottom, reduced-calorie, sugar-free, no sugar added, granola-topped, drinkable, organic, probiotic, source of dietary fiber, and possibly others I have yet to discover! How about a few guidelines to help you make a better selection? First of all, I would keep in mind what yogurt does best to prevent yourself from being pulled in by seductive advertising claims and walking off with something you don’t want. Yogurt is typically made from cow’s milk in the U.S. but it might also be made from the milk of goats, sheep, and water buffalo. Like the milk from which it is made, traditional yogurt is good source of calcium and protein. Yogurt might also be made from soymilk, which is a good source of protein. Because soymilk is usually fortified with calcium it is equally as good a source or better than cow’s milk. Yogurts can also be a source of helpful bacteria or what you may be familiar with as probiotics. But are all yogurts nutritionally equivalent? The answer to that is a resounding NO! As with other food products you will need to read the label. Here is a comparison of two different products and ingredient lists for an example of how yogurt can differ: Yoplait Light Peach Yogurt Cultured Pasteurized Grade A Nonfat Milk, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Peaches, Modified Cornstarch, Whey Protein Concentrate, Kosher Gelatin, Citric Acid, Tricalcium Phosphate, Aspartame, Potassium Sorbate Added to Maintain Freshness and Natural Color, Colored with Annato Extract, Retinyl Acetate (Vitamin A), Vitamin D3 Fage - All Natural-Nonfat Greek Strained Yogurt Grade A Pasteurized Skim Milk, Live Active Yogurt Cultures (L. bulgaricus, S. thermophilus) Quite a difference! All yogurts are made with two live active cultures L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus. These bacteria cultures break down natural milk sugar to give yogurt its tangy taste. After processing, however, the benefits of these bacteria may be small. For probiotic benefits, I would encourage you to look for not only the words active culture but also see if beneficial bacteria have been added to the product. Lactobacillus (L. acidophilus), Bifidobacterium (B. bifidum), and others are often added for the health benefits they may impart. Check the ingredient list. To discover the BEST low cal nutritious yogurts here are a few recommendations to keep in mind: 1. Pick yogurt having no more than 150 calories per 6 oz. container*. On low calorie diets of 1200 to 1500 calories, every calorie may count with respect to getting a healthy balance of nutrients. It is possible to find products that satisfy your need for taste and health without unnecessary calories from sugar or fat. Choose yogurt that contributes plenty of calcium and protein. Avoid choosing yogurt specifically as a source of fruit or fiber. I am not aware of any yogurt product that includes enough fruit to count as a serving of fruit. Also, yogurts with fruit on the bottom can contribute a lot of extra sugar and calories. For a healthier choice buy a plain yogurt and mix in fresh fruit. Your best bet for dietary fiber comes from eating fresh fruit or vegetables and whole grains not yogurt. 2. Look for a minimum of 6 grams of protein in a 6 oz. carton* of yogurt. For even more protein consider Greek style yogurt. This is a thick and creamy yogurt that has had much of the liquid whey strained off. As a result it can have as much as two times or more the protein of most American style yogurts. However, the calcium count may be lower. 3. Try to find yogurts with 20 grams of sugar or less. Some sugar is to be expected. Yogurt is made from milk, which has its own natural sugar, about 12 grams per cup. So there is nothing unusual about finding sugar in yogurt products. On the other hand, every 4 grams contributes about a tsp. of sugar so you are better off limiting any added sugars. Unfortunately, there is no way to distinguish between natural sugar and what has been added when you check the total sugar count on the Nutrition Facts label. Some yogurts include a no sugar added statement on the label. Otherwise, I recommend scanning the ingredient list for unnecessary sources of sugar such as high fructose corn syrup, which has been implicated with weight gain and type II diabetes. (See Sources of Hidden Sugar: What You Need to Know) Light, reduced calorie, and sugar free yogurts have sugar calories replaced with no calorie sweeteners such as NutraSweet (aspartame) or Splenda (sucralose). The jury is still out with respect to the safety and effectiveness of these sweeteners. I choose to err on the side of caution and so I avoid all artificial sweeteners. 4. Look for 20% or more of the daily value for calcium (20% = 200 mg). Twenty percent or more will give you a significant boost toward meeting your calcium need of 1000 to 1200 mg a day. (Women aged 19-50 need 1000 mg of calcium and ages 51+ need 1200 mg or more.) 5. Remember that fat free yogurt may not mean low in calories! * Although individual yogurts vary in size, I have found 6 oz. to be one of the most commonly found on grocery store shelves in the Midwest and elsewhere. So my guidelines refer to a 6 oz. container. Some of the brands with products that meet these guidelines include: Fage Greek style yogurt Cascade Fresh yogurt Dannon yogurt Brown Cow Farms Stonyfield Farms Oikos Greek style yogurt by Stonyfield Farms Cultural Revolution Not all of the yogurt products for each of these companies are low calorie. Nor are they necessarily a good source of protein or calcium. Read the labels! Let me know if you are aware of other nutritious yogurt products that might be available where you live. Thanks! Tell next time, watch those calories and eat healthy food! calories Health weight loss calories, Health, weight lossyogurt healthy nutritious low calorie diet weight loss probiotics

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Day 2 Sample Diet Menu for a 7 Day Diet Plan

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Day 2 of the 7-Day Diet Plan for 1200 calories (or more) is easy! This plan requires some advance preparation and a fair amount of cooking on or before Day 1 of the sample diet menu, however, the rest of the week is quite simple. You will have much of the work already accomplished! For Day 2 Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal is on the menu again but today we’ll pair it up with some yogurt instead of milk for a good source of protein and calcium. To keep the total calories distributed throughout the day I suggest you hold off till mid-morning to enjoy an orange for a snack and satisfy your need for a good source of vitamin C and additional fiber at that time. Lunch is easy, especially if you like cold chicken. If you prefer your chicken to be warmed simply program your microwave for a low setting to heat for 2 to 3 minutes. While you’re waiting on the microwave, wash and cut all of the celery into snack size pieces about 4 inches in length. Save out about 5-6 pieces for your meal and refrigerate the rest. Now pour a cup of skim milk and you’re set. If you don’t like or can’t tolerate cow’s milk you may want to read Healthy Low Calorie Beverages for some great ideas on how to meet your nutrient needs with nondairy choices. The afternoon snack calls for about 4 tbsp. of mashed avocado (about 1/2 or so of a medium sized avocado) along with some tortilla chips. You may want to go ahead and mash up the whole avocado and refrigerate the extra for Day 4. (Add a little lemon or lime juice to keep the avocado from turning brown.) Enjoy the mashed avocado plain or season to taste with zero calorie herbs and/or spices. Dinner will require a few minutes of meal preparation to make a low calorie yet delicious Apple and Chicken salad. I am including chicken for meals twice in one day to minimize the number of ingredients needed for the week and to keep the cost down. I think the taste of the salad is surprisingly good and delightfully different from the chicken wing and leg for lunch. So hopefully you won’t even notice. I’ve posted the recipe for Low Calorie Apple and Chicken Salad on the Best Easy Healthy Recipes site. Day 2 of the 7-Day Diet Plan for 1200 Calories Plus Breakfast 1/2 cup Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal 1 6-oz. container Stonyfield Farms Low Fat Yogurt of your choice (130 calories) 1 cup or more of unsweetened tea, coffee, or water Snack 1 medium orange Lunch 1 chicken wing (skin removed) 1 chicken leg (just the leg not the thigh meat, skin removed) 2 stalks of celery (about 5-6 4-inch pieces or so) 8 oz. skim (nonfat) milk plain or make your own cafe au lait (see Healthy Low Calorie Beverages for other nondairy choices) Snack 8 Tostitos Multigrain Chips 4 tbsp. mashed avocado (plain or seasoned to taste) Supper 1/2 cup Low Calorie Apple and Chicken Salad 2 cups mixed salad greens 1/2 whole wheat roll by Arnold (toast lightly and you won’t feel a need to add a spread and additional calories!) 8 oz. skim (nonfat) milk plain or make your own cafe au lait (see Healthy Low Calorie Beverages for other nondairy choices) Here’s how Day 2 stacks up for nutritional balance as rated by MyFoodDiary (the service I use to design diet menus). (Remember to get plenty of water throughout the day.) Total Calories = 1188 Total Fiber = 24.6 Fat = 26% Carbs = 50% Protein = 23% Calcium = 1046 mg (Women between 19 and 50 years need approximately 1,000 mg a day, 51+ need 1,200 mg a day) Iron = 10.8 mg (Women 19 to 50 years need 18 mg of iron, 51+ need 8 mg) 1300, 1400, 1500 Calorie Diet Menu Modify the 1200 Calorie Diet Menu to fit your needs. The iron count is on the low side if you are between the ages of 19 and 50. Today might be a good day for an iron supplement. I recommend taking your supplement at the same time you have the orange for a snack. Vitamin C in the orange will enhance the absorption of the iron in your body. Calcium comes up a little short for women 51+. You might supplement this menu plan with a small piece of low fat cheese such as Sargento Light String Cheese or BabyBel Mini Light Cheese for an additional 50 calories. However, if you need to keep your saturated fat intake down, this might be a good day for a calcium supplement. With the exception of iron for young women and calcium for older women, the menu is fairly well balanced for most nutrients. So go ahead and choose what you might like to add to the menu plan for Day 2 to get your additional calories! That’s it for Day 2. Check back for Day 3 coming soon and another creative way to use the leftover chicken from Day 1 to keep things simple and minimize cost. I also plan on sharing an article about choosing the best healthy low calorie yogurts. Till my next post, watch those calories and eat healthy food! 1200 calories 1300 1400 1500 calories calories Day 2 diet diet plan healthy sample menu weight loss 1200 calories, 1300, 1400, 1500 calories, calories, Day 2, diet, diet plan, healthy, sample menu, weight lossDay 2 sample menu diet plan 1200 calories weight loss diet healthy 1300 1400 1500 calories

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