Meal Plans

I did some looking around to find some meal plans. The site I really like isn't working but I sent them an email and hopefully we can get the stuff from it soon. These meals are just to give you an idea of what you can eat. You don't need to do everything it says but use it as tool to make your own meal plan. If you don't have all of the ingredients add something else instead. I don't like fish and I don't know if many other people really buy it to eat? Maybe you do and good for you! If you don't substitute it for chicken. Don't add a bunch of salt and salty seasonings to your food. Add pepper and other spices to add flavor. Although these meals are all good ideas it's easy to make them bad for you quickly. That doesn't mean you can't eat anything that is high in fat or calories. For example one of the meals has mashed potatoes. You can put alittle cheese and sour cream on them but small amounts. Read the labels of your food!! You may be surprised at some things that are supposed to be good for you and really aren't. Utilize your books that I have made for you. I spent a lot of time researching and putting them together so you know what good choices are and how much of everything you can and should be eating. These meals don't give you a specific recipe and I noticed they don't have a great description. To make them more enjoyable add things like onions, garlic, ginger. These are all all really good for you and have tons of flavor. If you wants tips on putting any of these meals together I am more than happy to help. I am going to be adding more stuff so keeping checking back for more ideas.PLEASE STAY OFF YOUR SCALES!!! I am only trying to help make this experience more satisfying. It doesn't matter if you lost or gained a few ounces during the day. We want to look at the bigger picture and looking at how little progress you have made from day to day or hour to hour isn't going to motivate you to do any better. You are coming to the class for my help(I hope anyway)and I really want to, so please come to me if you are struggling or need extra help.
Day One
Breakfast:
Spicy breakfast burrito (spinach or whole wheat tortilla, scrambled egg, black beans and salsa)
1 cup orange juice
1 cup fat-free milk
Lunch:
A "deli special" roast beef or chicken sandwich on whole-grain bread (with lettuce, sauteed mushrooms, part-skim mozzarella, and yellow mustard)
3/4 cup baked potato wedges
Dinner:
5-ounce broiled salmon (stuffed with bread crumbs, celery, and onions) served with rice and slivered almonds
1/2 cup steamed broccoli
1 cup fat-free milk
Snacks:
1 cup cantaloupe
Day Two
Breakfast:
Cold cereal with raisins and fat-free milk
1 small banana
Slice of whole-wheat toast with jelly
Lunch:
Smoked turkey sandwich on whole-wheat pita bread (with romaine lettuce, tomato slices, salad dressing and mustard)
1/2 cup apple slices
1 cup tomato juice
Dinner:
5-ounce grilled top loin steak
3/4 cup mashed potatoes
1/2 cup steamed carrots with honey
Whole-wheat dinner roll
1 cup fat-free milk
Snacks:
1 cup low-fat yogurt with fruit
Day Three
Breakfast:
Cooked oatmeal with raisins and margarine
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1 cup orange juice
Lunch:
"South-of-the-border" taco salad (tortilla chips, ground turkey, black beans, lettuce, tomato slices, low-fat cheddar, salsa, avocado and lime juice)
1 unsweetened drink
Dinner:
Spinach lasagna with ricotta and mozzarella cheese
Whole-wheat dinner roll
One cup fat-free milk
Snack:
1/2-ounce dry-roasted almonds
1/4 cup pineapple
2 tablespoons raisins
Day Four
Breakfast:
3 buckwheat pancakes
1/2 cup strawberries
3/4 cup honeydew melon
1/2 cup fat-free milk
Lunch:
Chicken Noodle Soup(look for any low sodium and fat soup)
10 whole-wheat crackers
1 medium orange
1 cup fat-free milk
Dinner:
Asian veggie stir fry (with lots of veggies, chicken,be careful with sauce)
1 cup brown rice
Snacks:
1 large banana
1 cup yogurt with fruit
1 ounce sunflower seeds

Lunch

I made myself a great lunch yesterday, I thought I would share. I had some left over lettuce from some lettuce wraps we had over the weekend. It was butter lettuce I had never tried it before, it was good. So anyway I thought I would make myself a nice salad. Obviously you can use any lettuce you want, the best choice is fresh spinach. The worst choice is iceburg. Iceburg lettuce has no nutritional value, try to avoid it. Then I got a chicken tenderloin(no breading) and baked it with pepper and few spices. I also cut up a string cheese stick. Then I made my own vinegarette dressing. So my salad was lettuce, chicken, and cut up string cheese. You could also add an apple, pear, or nuts. Then for my dressing 1 TBS of rice vinegar, 1 TBS oil(olive oil is the best choice),a 1/2 tsp soy sauce and a tsp of raspberry jam(or just a tsp sugar).
Nutrional Facts
Lettuce-7 cal, 0 fat, .5g carbs, 0 sugar, 22.5 mg sod., 1 g protein
String Cheese-80 cal, 6 g fat, 0 carbs and sugar, 200mg sod., 6 g protein
Chicken- 55 cal, .5g fat, 0 carbs and sugars, 100mg sod., 12.5 g protein
Vinegar-0 everything
Olive Oil- 119 cal,13.5 g fat(this is good fat),0 carbs and sugar, .4 g sod., 0 protein
Soy Sauce-2 cal, 0 fat,0 carbs and sugar, 115mg sod., .5 g protein
Jam- 15 cal., 0 fat, 3.5 g carbs, 2.8 g sugar, 0 sod, 0 protein

Total Overall Meal.
278 Calories
20 g Fat
4 g Carbs
2.8 g Sugar
437.9 mg Sodium
20 g Protein

Yummy Snack

Here's my first food post. Soon I hope you will all start sharing some of your meal plans and food ideas so we can help each other. So here is a great snack to get you started.

Cucumbers and Vinegar

Slice up half of a cucumber. Put it in some kind of plastic container with a lid. Put in 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar(white vinegar works too). Add about 2 TBS water(you may want to add more or less water,the water is to dilute the vinegar). If the cucumbers aren't covered all the way add a little more vinegar and water. Add a dash of salt. Let sit for awhile in the fridge. When I take them out to eat I put pepper on them and enjoy. Obviously the longer they soak the stronger the taste. If you let them sit for more than 2 days or so they are too strong(for me anyway). That is why I only cut up a half a cumber, so I know I can eat them all before they get too strong. When you finish eating them you can just cut up more and use the vinegar again. Cucumbers and vinegar are really cheap! Side note, I was eating them one day and my 2 year old said she wanted some. Of course I thought she would hate it and I didn't really want to share :). I gave her one and she wouldn't leave me alone, she wanted more. You may be surprised that your kids like this too and it is a very easy after school snack.

Nutritional Facts for this snack
Cucumber(serving size 1/2 cup)
7 calories
.3 g proteins
1.9 g carbs
1.0 mg sodium
.1 g fat

Apple Cider Vinegar(serving size 1 cup)
20 calories
every thing else is 0
(you probably only get a calorie or two since we are only using 1/4 cup and you aren't drinking all of it)

Salt
Be careful with your dash of salt.
1/4 tsp salt
590 mg sodium.
* That's about a third of your daily intake.
*Sea salt has the same amount of sodium as salt. Sea salt really isn't any better for you just more natural. It has some other minerals in it but not enough to make it much better for you. I found that coarse kosher salt has 110mg less sodium than iodized and sea salt. That seems like a lot to me considering the serving size is only 1/4 tsp.

Health Benefits of Cucumbers

*The potassium in them is useful for high and low blood pressure problems
*They are the best natural diuretic.
* The help with bloating
* They prevent splitting of your finger and toe nails.

Health Benefits of Cider Vinegar
* Apple Cider vinegar is really good for you, unfortunately most of the cider we can buy in the store has been filtered and distilled so we have lost all of the health benefits. You can buy the raw stuff. How do you know its good? It will look brownish and have stuff floating around in it. I've never noticed if they sell that kind in the store. Next time I go I will check.

Hope you all enjoy!