Easy Diet Menu: Day 6

Today’s easy diet menu, the 6th day of the latest weekly plan is a cinch. Each of the nutritious meals and snacks can be ready to enjoy in just minutes. Breakfast is the same as days 2 and 4 with a serving of instant homemade oatmeal, a 1/2 cup of orange juice and 1/2 of a fresh pear. Similar to days 1 and 3, lunch calls for a whole-wheat sandwich but the filling this time is slices of deli turkey and apple (instead of turkey with pear slices). Dinner is another in the series of meals including frozen entrees by Lean Cuisine. I don’t recommend having frozen entrees for meals every day of the week but this weekly plan shows you how it might be accomplished with reasonable nutritional balance. To read more about some of the top rated frozen entrees for both nutrition and taste you may want to read: Best Low Calorie Frozen Entrees . Today’s menu includes a Spa Cuisine Classic: Chicken in Peanut Sauce. As with the Chicken Mediterranean entree on day one and the Salmon with Basil on day three, the Chicken in Peanut Sauce includes a whole grain. (See Whole Grains are a Weight Loss Winner). To modify today’s menu for a 1300, 1400, or 1500 calorie diet, look for my comments below. 1200 Calorie Menu (Day 6) Breakfast 1 serving Homemade Instant Oatmeal (236 calories) 1/2 pear 1/2 cup Orange Juice Snack 1 container French Vanilla Yogurt (Dannon - Light ‘n Fit, 100 calories) Lunch Whole Wheat Sandwich with Turkey & Pear Water, unsweetened tea, or coffee (Make a sandwich with Arnold Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins. Add 6 oz. of shaved turkey with 1/2 medium ripe apple sliced, 2 tsp. of spicy brown mustard optional.) water, unsweetened tea, or coffee Snack Starbucks Cafe au Lait w/Nonfat milk (Tall, 60 calories) 1 piece Sargento mozzarella string cheese Supper 1 Lean Cuisine (Spa Cuisine Classics) Chicken in Peanut Sauce 1 cup Steamed or Boiled Broccoli 1/2 cup Lite Vanilla Ice Cream (Blue Bunny, 100 calories) Water, unsweetened tea, or coffee (Always remember to get plenty of water throughout the day. Read Water, Weight, and Women to learn more about your water needs.) Total Calories = 1207 Total Fiber = 23.9 g Fat = 15% Carbs = 59% Protein = 25% (U.S. Dietary Guidelines Recommended percentages: Fat 20-35%, Carbohydrates 45-65%, Protein 10-35%) Calcium = 1182 mg (Women between 19 and 50 years need approximately 1,000 mg a day, 51+ need 1,200 + mg a day) Iron = 6.6 mg (Women 19 to 50 years need 18 mg of iron, 51+ need 8 mg) [Note: This menu is slightly on the low side for fat if you look at the USDA Dietary Guidelines. However, this shouldn’t be a problem. Most women need more than 1200 calories to keep metabolism running smoothly. Consuming more than 1200 calories makes it easier to get all the nutrients you need. I strongly encourage you to make sure you are getting enough calories in the first place. There are many reasons why 1200 calories is likely to be too little. A couple of my previous articles will help you learn how to determine your minimum SAFE calorie intake. 1. How Many Calories Per Day Do I Need? 2. 1200 Calorie Diet: How to Get Started ] 1300, 1400, or 1500 Calorie Diet Menu This menu has a fairly good balance of nutrients. However, iron comes up short for women who are premenopausal (with a regular monthly period). With a menu such as this one, a supplement might be a good idea. Otherwise, for women of all ages, simply add an additional serving or two of one of the menu items or other food of your choice to bring the total calories up to the level you need. Here are the links for day one through five of this latest weekly plan: Diet Menu Plan Weekly Diet Menu: Day 2 1200 Diet Menu: Day 3 Low Fat Diet Menu: Day 4 1200 Calorie Diet Meal Plan: Day 5 Hope you enjoy this easy diet menu. Till next time watch those calories and eat healthy food! calories weight loss calories, weight losseasy diet menu diet menu diet plan healthy diet plan healthy diet menu simple diet menu nutritious

Overcoming a Weight Loss Plateau: Part 2

In Part One of this two-part series on overcoming a weight loss plateau I covered why it is not uncommon to reach a point in dieting when weight loss slows dramatically or stops completely. I also talked about why you may want to re-evaluate your goals and the need you may have to reassess certain important measurements (Body Mass Index or BMI, Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR, and your weight loss range). (See Overcoming a Weight Loss Plateau: Part 1 to assess your current situation.) If you have determined that further weight loss is appropriate then the next step is to determine what strategy or combination of strategies might be your best bet. However, before you begin, I strongly encourage you to spend some time keeping a food diary. It’s all too easy to consume more calories than you might realize. Even when you are being diligent about your caloric intake assessing an accurate total is not easy! If you are not doing so already, keep some form of detailed food records for a minimum of a few days and preferably for a week or more. You need to reassess how many calories you are consuming and how many calories you expend with physical activities. Any assessment you make will still be an estimate but the closer you can get to an accurate count the better your chances of understanding what you need to do to get back on track with weight loss. Keeping your own food diary with pen and paper is fine if that works for you (see Keeping a Food Diary). Many people take advantage of one of the online food diaries and record- keeping systems (Calorie counts and nutrients: Best Sites Online). I use and like MyFoodDiary . Develop a New Strategy Once you have determined your BMI, BMR, and your new weight loss range (See Overcoming a Weight Loss Plateau: Part 1), you may need to adjust your caloric intake. For some people a reduction in calories and/or an increase in physical activity may be needed. For others, an increase in caloric intake might be a better choice. Reduce Caloric Intake You may find you need to reduce your caloric intake. Your previous intake for weight loss may no longer be low enough for your new weight. Do not, however, reduce your intake below 1200 calories. I also recommend taking into account the caloric cost of formal exercise. (See 1200 Calorie Diet: Getting Started for more information.) Increase Caloric Intake If you have been following a very low calorie intake with less than 1200 calories you should INCREASE your caloric intake to convince your body that you are not starving. This is also true if you are experiencing a weight loss plateau even though you have been consuming enough calories to cover your BMR plus the energy cost of exercise. increasing your caloric intake for at least a few days or longer could be just what you need. This may be enough to break the plateau and allow you to continue with weight loss. How much you need to increase your caloric intake and for how long will vary depending on your circumstances. I would suggest increasing your caloric intake by a minimum of 200-300 calories over your estimated caloric needs (BMR plus the calories needed to cover the energy cost of exercise) for at least a few days. Increase Physical Activity Consider increasing your level of physical activity. Start a new exercise regime or get creative with the exercise you are already doing. Your body can become accustomed to what you have been doing and it will no longer be as effective as it once was in burning calories. So change it up! You could try something completely new or alternate between your original exercise regime and a new one. Get a pedometer. Health professionals recommend getting 10,000 steps a day. Wearing a pedometer is a great way to give you a sense of how much physical activity you get each day. I use and obtain great feedback from the Omron HJ-720ITC Pocket Pedometer with Advanced Omron Health Management Software To learn more about it you can read a review I wrote of weight loss products and services (scroll down a little to 1. Get a Pedometer!) When All Else Fails First and foremost, give your body some time to adjust to any changes you make. Weight loss may not pick up at the same rate as what you experienced in the beginning days or weeks. That’s normal. A loss of 1-2 pounds a week is good. However, a much slower rate of only 1/2 pound a week or even 1/4 pound a week may be appropriate for your situation. It can be frustrating but slow and steady weight loss is good! What if you have tried all of these suggestions and a few weeks have gone by but the weight scale still won’t budge? If your weight loss goal is realistic and no attempt to change your caloric intake and/or increase your level of physical activity has resulted in a resumption of weight loss, it may be time to take a different approach. You may need to change your focus from one of weight loss to one of fat loss. Muscle weighs more than fat. If you have been doing weight lifting or resistance training you may have acquired some additional muscle tissue. Do your clothes fit better? Do you look better and feel better? If so, you may have succeeded in toning and trimming your body but the number on your body weight scale will not reflect this. It might be time for you to start tracking fat loss rather than weight loss. (See Body Fat Scales for fat measurement with a bathroom scale designed to measure body fat and not just total weight.) The other possibility to consider is that you may have a medical condition requiring the intervention of a physician. For example, hormonal imbalances are not uncommon. A healthy well balanced diet will go a long way to keep hormones balanced but medical conditions other than diet can throw that balance out of whack. This in turn can influence your weight. Some medications can actually cause you to GAIN weight. Weight loss plateaus can be very frustrating. I hope you find that one or more of the suggestions I’ve covered will help you turn things around. Let me know what other questions or concerns you might have. Till next time, watch those calories and be healthy! weight loss weight lossweight loss plateau plateau weight loss strategy diet overcome increase calories decrease calories

Overcoming a Weight Loss Plateau: Part 1

Weight loss plateaus are all too common. You start out on a diet with great determination to achieve your weight loss goal. This time you will NOT give up! You do all the right things and you begin to shed those unwanted pounds. You’re feeling great! You CAN do this. Then without warning the weight scale won’t budge. Despite your best efforts you can’t seem to shed another pound. What’s up with this??? There are steps you can take that should help you overcome a weight loss plateau. However, having said that, there are no guarantees. It is not uncommon to find plateaus that seem unbreakable even with a negative energy balance (consuming fewer calories than the total burned). Despite many years of research, weight loss experts will admit that we understand less than we might like to know about what brings on a plateau, how long it will last, and how often it may occur. When I was a student of human nutrition many years ago we believed the body might have a mechanism by which it fought to maintain a certain body weight. The theory was called “set point” and it referred to a relatively narrow range around which the body weight of an individual would hover. Any attempts to reduce body weight or fat loss below this point are resisted. Although I don’t hear as much about the set point theory today, I sometimes wonder if there might be some truth to the idea. We do know that the human body has evolved with a highly refined ability to protect the body from starvation. Throughout most of human history, our ancestors had to survive frequent periods of food shortage punctuated by relatively short periods of food abundance. Our bodies became conditioned to store fat easily when food was available and hold on to it fiercely in times of shortage to assure survival during famines. Because our bodies have not had time to adjust to the new reality of continual food abundance, we have to stay vigilant and fight our natural instincts to eat food whenever it is available, especially tasty food rich in fat, sugar, and/or salt! (See The Instinct Diet) To break free of a plateau there are a number of different strategies you can take. All of these strategies revolve around the need for you to have a clear understanding of your CURRENT weight and health. Questions to Ask Yourself What is a healthy weight for you? Have you been realistic about your weight loss goal? Maybe you need to reevaluate. If further weight loss IS realistic then you must have a firm understanding of your caloric needs. When you lose weight your caloric needs change. Your weight loss strategy must change as well. The change in your caloric needs relates to a change in metabolic rate. As you lose weight your metabolism slows because you have decreased your body mass. This means you require fewer calories to maintain. You may also have lost muscle tissue with your weight loss efforts. Less muscle means a slower metabolism also. To learn more about what affects your metabolic rate read Increase Your Metabolism. Reassess Your Needs Take time to reassess your BMI (body mass index) to see if you have now reached a healthy body weight. If you are already in a healthy weight range further weight loss may not be appropriate for you. Reassess BMR (basal metabolic rate) and your weight loss range (the difference between your minimum caloric needs and the calories needed to maintain your current weight). I recommend that you read: How Many Calories Per Day Do I Need? for more information on how this works. What you learn will help you determine an appropriate caloric intake for your current situation to continue with weight loss. To find out more about the specific strategies you can take to overcome a weight loss plateau, check back soon for part 2 of this series! weight loss weight lossweight loss plateau plateau weight loss diet exercise calories food diary.

Easy Diet Menu: Day 6

Overcoming a Weight Loss Plateau: Part 2

Overcoming a Weight Loss Plateau: Part 1

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