The following guidelines are a few suggestions. There are infinite examples of healthy meals and snacks. Healthy eating takes practice.
For Breakfast:
Try to limit your carbohydrates to breakfast. Remember, that carbohydrates include your breads, cereal and pastas. Examples of a good breakfast include:
1) Bran or Raisin Bran cereal with skim milk or
2) Plain instant oatmeal. You can add raisins or natural honey as a sweetener.
3) Two pieces of whole grain bread, a tablespoon of peanut butter, small glass
of orange juice.
4) Scrambled eggs with two pieces of whole grain bread
5) Adkins breakfast bars.
For lunch:
1) A salad (2 servings of lettuce, small amount of cheese, tablespoon of ranch dressing, chopped hard boiled eggs, and bacon bits) or a water based soup such as chicken noodle, minestrone or French onion.
2) Mixed fresh fruit
3) Low fat yogurt (Greek or Yoplait)
4) Chicken breast
5) Lean Cuisine meal
For dinner:
1) A serving of a protein (chicken breast, fish or leftover steak)
And
2) A serving or two of vegetables.
3) Some busy people prefer to have a Lean Cuisine or similar prepackaged meal for lunch or dinner. These meals provide a variety of foods and are easy to calorie count.
Snacks:
Studies have shown that people, who consume 25 grams of fiber on a daily basis, lose weight. You get 25 grams of fiber by consuming between 5 and 10 servings of fruits and vegetables throughout the day. Therefore, if you get hungry between meals, have a serving of fruit (e.g. banana, orange, handful of grapes, Bing cherries, sliced apple etc.).
Other late afternoon or night snacks include fruit smoothies, small salads, a serving of almonds. Plain oatmeal is a great pre-workout snack.
A word about protein shakes:
There are many protein shakes that claim to provide high quality protein with a great taste. However, many of these shakes contain a lot of sugar. While losing weight, I would suggest avoiding shakes altogether.
Food diary:
The easiest way to lose weight is to limit your total daily caloric intake to 1200 Calories per day. If you own an IPhone, Smartphone or Android, using an Application such MyFitnessPal or Calorie Counter by Fatsecret is the best method of keeping track. Clients who try to “guess” their total calories usually underestimate their calories.
If you don’t have a phone that supports an Application, simply writing down everything you eat in a small spiral notebook will make you aware and conscientious of your eating habits. T the end of the day, you can calculate your total calories by visiting www.fatsecret.com
Eating at night:
I recommend not eating after 9 pm. However, what you eat is more important than the time of day.
Snacks at work:
Many people bring unhealthy, processed, refined, high in sugar snacks to work. I suggest bringing your own snacks. For example, I like to have a bag of almonds in my desk drawer in case I get hungry. Other examples include FiberOne bars, apples, oranges, Special K (90 Calorie bars).
