The Plan (Rough Draft # 1)

Here's Ms. RD's first draft of the plan. She says "you don't have to eat all this" and I say, "really, is this all I get?" Oh this is going to be a long road. So before further comments and analysis of my progress along the way, I give you "The Plan":

You don't have to eat all of this, but it's important that you don't get hungry too quickly, because that's when the bad things happen

Breakfast: never skip it!!

* 1 cup of some lowfat/nonfat milk product (milk or yogurt)

* 1 cup of fruit (not juice), this can be 1 large piece of fruit (apple, orange, pear, berries, whatever). Remember, the more skin on it the better (fiber is your friend!)

* 3/4 cup high fiber (>4 grams/serving) cereal or wheat product (can sub if absolutely necessary for a high fiber bread)

-if butter is used here, don't use more than 1 tsp, and don't use any the rest of the day

* Tea is fine here, but just a drop of cream

Lunch

This and dinner are open to improve, but you have to follow these rules:

* 2 cups of vegetables of your choice, if you want more, that's fine, but don't add additional crap like butter, gravy, sauces etc to them

* 3 oz of lean, non-processed meat (chicken, super lean beef or pork, fish)

* 1/2 cup or one slice of high fiber grain (whole wheat pita, whole grain crackers, wild rice, whole wheat pasta)- can omit if desired

* 1 cup fruit

* water, water, water (flavored is ok too, just no sugar)

Dinner

* at least 2 cups of vegetables (raw or steamed is best, but boiled, grilled and sauteed works too)

* 4-5 oz of lean meat (go fishies!)

* If desired: 1/2 cup-3/4 cup of high fiber grain (see above examples)

Things to keep in mind:

If you want more food at your meals or as a snack, these are safe additions (I would suggest not adding more than one per meal/snack):

* 15 almonds/10 pecan halves/8 cashews/8 walnut halves/20 pistachio kernels

* piece of fruit

* slice of cheese (1 oz)

* cup of yogurt

* glass of low fat/skim milk

* add an extra ounce of lean meat

The key is to keep snacks/meal additions to 100 calories or less

If you use canned fruit, make sure its canned in its own juice

Fats: keep it limited to 3 tsp per day (1 tsp of butter or oil is about 30-40 calories), if you have an ounce of cheese, cut your oil/fat back to just 1-2 tsp

Things you can add as desired: vinegar, spices, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sprouts, cucumbers, etc

If you can stand to have them around, you can have a bite sized chocolate piece when you feel the need (IF you don't go back for more)