Free 3 Meal Diet Planner

Written by Diet Bites

Amid meal planning, if you add foods to your plate which are as close to their natural state as possible, you'll be adding the minimal of caloric values.

Why is this important?

When on a caloric-restricted weight loss plan, every calorie counts. By opting for foods that are lowest in caloric values, you can add more food to your plan. Let's take a look at two examples which contain almost identical caloric values; each food choice is based on a singer serving size.

Menu #1:

Fried chicken with ranch dipping sauce: 1 breast plus two Tablespoons of sauce
French fries: 1 small order
Fried okra: 1/2 cup
Fried Apple Pie: 1
Regular Soda: 16 ounces

Now let's see how much more food we could have enjoyed rather than the fatty, high caloric choices in the first menu:

Roasted chicken breast with low fat ranch dipping sauce: 1 breast, 2 Tablespoons of the ranch
1 small baked potato with reduced fat margarine, light sour cream, real bacon bits, chopped tomato, pickled jalapeno peppers
Okra and Tomato Gumbo: 1 cup
Steamed Carrots: 1/2 cup
Sauteed Mushrooms and Onions: 1 cup
Steamed Rice: 1/2 cup
Side Salad Mix: 2 cups of chopped lettuce, 1/2 sliced cucumber, 3 cherry tomatoes, 1 Tablespoon shredded carrot

Look at all that food - and we still have the fried apple pie and regular soda caloric values to work with. The values in the fried pie are quite substantial at 500 calories. The soda contains about 260. That's 800 calories - contained just in these two items!

The beverage could easily be replaced with old-fashioned water - or a myriad of lower caloric beverage choices. As to the fried apple pie, this is how much fruit it takes to equal the 500 mark:

Strawberries: about 12 cups
Blueberries: over 7 cups
Large Banana, Apple, Pear: up to five of each could be enjoyed

To put things into perspective, a large watermelon that is 15 inches long and about 8 inches in diameter contains about 1,400 calories.

On this note, let's create three menus for a weight loss plan that are low in caloric and dietary fat values.

Breakfast Meal Plate: Let's enjoy two pancakes (200 calories) topped with 1/2 cup of sliced peach and a serving of reduced fat whipped cream or low fat whipped topping. Both the topping and the real whipped cream contain about 15 calories for each serving and we prefer the real to the fake, as does the body. Also add 1 cup of reduced fat milk to the meal.

Lunch Meal Plate: Kangaroo pocket (1 full for 150 calories) stuffed with the following mix that has been tossed in balsamic vinegar dressing (5 calories per serving): 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro, 1/2 cup of drained black beans, 1 cup of shredded lettuce of any variety, 1 small chopped tomato or 5 sliced cherry type tomatoes, 1 serving of sun-dried tomatoes - chopped, 5 black or green low sodium olives, halved, 1/4 cup of sliced mushrooms of any variety.

If you don't like some of the recommended vegetables in the recipe, you can opt to add your favorite fresh vegetables. We do hope that you'll try the sun-dried tomatoes with your kangaroo pockets. They are very sweet - and when they are fresh, they have a soft texture to them. We recommended the American grown varieties harvested out of California.

If you're not a fan of balsamic vinegar salad dressing, then use your favorite light, low fat dressing to dress the greens and beans. Also add a cup of fresh berries to your meal plate.

Dinner Meal Plate: Let's pull out our grill - or you can opt to use your oven, toaster oven or stove top to oven-roast or pan-roast a small chicken breast. Be sure to remove the fat and skin before cooking or at minimal, before eating. Add 1 cup of any of the following steamed rice: jasmine, wild, brown or white.

You can jazz-up the rice by adding dried fruits such as cranberries and golden raisins. These work best when added to wild rice; you can also add a few hulled sunflower or pumpkin seeds as well as a chopped English walnut or pecan.

Also add the following to your meal plate: low calorie dipping sauce for the roasted bird, 1/2 cup of cooked carrot, 1 serving of green beans; use reduced fat margarine if desired. Also add a whole grain bread selection such as a dinner roll or a slice of Jewish rye bread.

For dessert add a serving of low fat yogurt; it can be of any variety - Greek, plain or even with fruit or granola in the mix.

In Summary: By making healthier choices, we can 'cram' more food into our daily total. Add exercise to balance the energy-in, and we've taken our plan to a whole new level of great expectations.

Total Food Group Servings: Dairy: 2.5, Fruit: 2, Grain: 6, Vegetable: 5, Protein: 2

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