Weightloss Made Simple

This book offers ideas on nutrition and fitness

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MENU & NUTRITION

When I first started my diet, I kept a journal of what I ate. I did this for at least two weeks so that I could have a good starting point. After I reviewed my current menu, I found certain foods that I could discard from my diet.

For lunch, I took out the candy bar (300 cal). Then, I switched from regular soda to diet soda (300 cal). It is also a good habit to prepare your own lunches and forego the fast food restaurants. Fast food is a great source for fattening, calorie loaded foods with questionable nutritional content.

For dinner, I tried to cut back on my portions. I also cut down on my fat intake. One way to cheat on your portions is to use smaller plates. A full small plate just seems to hold more food than a half empty large plate.

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For snacks, I needed to turn more to fruits and less to candies and fattening desserts.

At any rate, one of the first things you can do is to look at your current menu and see what you can cut out.

It is important that you eat mostly nutritious foods and cut out any foods without nutritional value. Empty calories are calories that you eat that have no real nutrients. Foods with empty calories are likely to make you fat without giving you any real benefits. The best model is the food pyramid

Generally, you should have 6-11 servings from the bread group, 3-5 from vegetables, 2-4 from fruits, 2-3 from dairy, and 2-3 from meats. Servings will often consist of ½ - 1 full cup. Serving sizes can be surprisingly small.

Here is a sample diet for someone who wishes to consume 2000 calories in a day. It is not perfect. For instance, you may notice that the calorie total for this menu is 1900.

Breakfast
1 bowl cereal w/ skim milk	2 serv bread, 1 serv milk	400 calories
Lunch
1 sandwich	2 serv bread, 1 serv meat	300 calories
1 apple	1 serving fruit	100 calories
1 bag popcorn rice cakes	3 serv bread	300 calories
Dinner
Chicken w/ mushrooms	1 serv meat, 1 serv vegetables	300 calories
1 serv green beans	1 serv vegetables	150 calories
1 serv corn	1 serv vegetables	150 calories
Snacks
1 cup pudding	1 serv milk	100 calories
1 apple	1 serv fruit	100 calories

In this example, I had 1900 calories, 7 servings of bread/pasta, 3 servings of vegetables, 2 servings of fruit, 2 servings of meat and 2 servings of milk and dairy products. Assuming all of my calculations are correct as far as calories per serving, this is not a bad diet. If I were to improve it, I might add another 100 calories in fruits or vegetables. It is always important to keep the food pyramid in mind when planning your menu.

Planning your menu is important. For instance, I generally plan what I will have for dinner for an entire week. Also, I try to keep a running total of my calories and servings so that I can adjust the day's diet accordingly. For instance, if I did go to a fast food restaurant for lunch, I might cut back on my portions for dinner and try to eat more fruits or vegetables.