Need suggestions for a sample eating plan for a day

So when I get back to college, I figure I should probably try to lose all the weight I gained from the holidays lying around at home. A sample meal plan for a day that I have laid out has the following stats:

Fat - 25.8% (34 grams)
Protein - 20.5% (62 grams)
Carbohydrates - 53.7% (161 grams)
Alcohol - 0.0%
Other - 0.0%

Daily Sodium Intake - 2,643 mg
Daily Sugar Intake - 64 grams
Daily Cholesterol Intake - 268 mg
Daily Saturated Fat Intake - 12 grams
Daily Fiber Intake - 38 grams

Vitamin A - 157%
Vitamin C - 507%
Calcium - 91%
Iron - 86%

Calorie total = 1,129

This is with 3 meals and 2 snacks throughout the day. The cholesterol is mostly from the egg that I planned in, the saturated fat mostly from the (moderate amount of!) chocolate in a snack, and the sodium is from the soy sauce that is already in the meat. I was thinking maybe add in a small snack before I sleep, although I could probably try to fit in some extra calories into a meal or a snack. But I was wondering if anybody had some suggestions on what to eat to improve my ratios. I'm also semi-scared of going over 1350 since it's one of those points in which I do that "all or nothing" mindset and start to deviate from my plan. I'm planning on trying to tone up a little bit, but I'm not sure if that means I should eat even more protein? I'm planning on burning about 2000-2300 calories a day from a sedentary point of 1600 (200-300 is easily walking around campus) with stats 5'3", 120 (used to be 110- yikes!) and aiming for around 112-114 pounds. I am capable of doing cardio every day for 10-30 minutes (alternating ~1-mile days with 3.5-mile days) Suggestions on weight training, maybe?

Thanks in advance. I know I'm asking a lot.

You need to add more calories.  If you're under 21, you shouldn't be planning to eat less than 1500 cals/day.  If you're over 21, you need to stay over 1200 cals/day.  Also, at your size, a deficit of 1000 cals/day is way too big.  If you're planning to burn 2000-2300 cals/day, you need to be eating at least 1300-1600 cals/day (to keep your deficit down in the 500-700 cals/day range).  It's not healthy to aim to lose more than 1% of your weight per week.

Do you have any dairy in your plan?  Adding a glass of milk or some cottage cheese would help increase your protein.  If you like nuts, you could add a handful as a snack (or salad topping) to increase your fat and protein intake.

In terms of the mental 1350 barrier, it might help if you make sure that everything in the plan looks healthy to you so that you don't feel like "oh, well, I added a bunch of junk food to up the calories so I can just go crazy".  That doesn't mean a little junk food doesn't fit nicely into a healthy diet - but if it'll hurt your motivation, that's one thing to think about.

I have a cup of milk in the morning, and that's about it. I'm not exactly sure how the calcium somehow added to 91%, but I like it Would you say adding a glass of warm milk at night to help me sleep would be a good idea? I just hate how dairy is usually really expensive =/

And I'm happy with the 1350 calories in just healthy foods. I normally don't really eat junk foods and don't crave them, but if I eat enough healthy food (like nuts) to go over that mark, I tend to go...well, nuts.

-edit-

Scratch that - I found out that enough cabbage (which is almost always on sale at the supermarket near me!) has a lot of calcium in just half a head. =]

if you are college age you NEED to eat more. you wont lose weight and keep it off at under 1350 cal a day. not a chance and youll be losing muscle not body fat. eat closer to 1800-2000 a day and more if you excersize. maybe its scary to increase so muhcb ut do it for your body or else you will starve it and end up with a binge eating disorder or obsession with food. the best wight loss ration ive found(also, consider though that i am a pretty serious weightlifter) is roughly fat 20%, carbs 45%, and protien 35%. of course its not set in stone- but ageneral idea. if you are excersizing not fret too much over cholesterol. there is good and bad cholesterol, like fat, and you are young and excersizing so a few eggs a week wont hurt you at all. also, if your really into the nutritional aspect as much as wieght loss get more calcium- people our age need more than the recommended dose to build strong bones to grow old with. as far as what to eat... everyone has different taste im sure you kow the basics- lean protien, complex carbs and healthy fats. heres a day in the life for me

breakfast- oats and 1 tblsp peanut butter with 1 cup skim milk

snack- turkey sandwich with lowfat or fat free cheese or cream cheese with lots of veggies

lunch- whole grain pasta with turkey, chicken, or ham- whatever meat i have cooked at the time, maybe a salad on the side

snack(postworkout)- smoothie made with banana, fat free yougurt or skim milk, protien powder, and peanut or almond butter (this is sooo good if you like banana and pb mixed!)

snack- cottage cheese with cinnamon and crushed bran cereal with starwerries, banana slices or blueberries

and of course i stick my head in the fridge for an apple or some baby carrots or something most days, and i add in a protien chake here and there if i need it

i really advocate a high protien diet- it keeps you full like fiber does, and leans you out without muscle loss. i recently read that a woman should get almost 200 grams of protien in a day to prevent muscle loss at a calorie deficit

You seem to always have a problem eating adequate amounts.  Have you had a look at the Advice section?  Specifically, Mary Hartley's Expert articles have several meal plans that would be much more appropriate for you.  Try it!

Original Post by clairelaine:

You seem to always have a problem eating adequate amounts. Have you had a look at the Advice section? Specifically, Mary Hartley's Expert articles have several meal plans that would be much more appropriate for you. Try it!

The problem with those meal plans is that it is based on specific foods, some which may be pretty expensive. What I buy is based on what is seasonal and on sale at the time at the grocery store closest to where I live, since I am a college student living on limited funds. I'm bringing over several pounds of cooked, frozen beef from home (that I'm planning on making sandwiches for), and I'm a choco freak, so I'll be having some of that which was on sale over the holidays to last me a few months. Plus I like how oatmeal is really cheap in bulk, so I am planning on having that for breakfast with some milk (I can never get tired of it for breakfast, honestly XD)

You should join the group *College Students Trying to Lose Weight* We have many people your age with the same problem. Also, not trying to sound like a broken record- but 1200 is the bare minimum that a sedetary small frame female needs for her organs to function. Just exercise more to burn the extra calories and you'll lose weight in no time.

Haha, I'm trying to strictly stick to 1350 as close as I can - I'm nto going to go below 1300 nor trying to go over 1400.

You are doing your body a disservice by being so stringent.  You must eat more calories to have a healthy body.  The idea percentages are 30% Fat, 20% Protein and 50% Carbohydrates.  This is the ADA pyramid.

I'd carry some nuts or beef jerky to get in the protein.  Pistachios have good fat in them so you can have a small handful of those. If you consider what you pay for the junk food you really are not being as spent thrift as you think you are if you are purchasing it.  Think about.

My grocery bill today was 17.00 fruits, 13.00 Staple items 14 dollars lunch meats and cheese, 35.00 meats 20 dollars dairy and beverages which is for a family of 3.  2 Adults and 1 College student.

Hope this information is helpful

I spend $0 on junk foods, really. All junk foods I consume come from free events at the college. It's just that for real foods, the produce at the grocery store is very cheap, and on average I spend about $10 a week on groceries if I just buy vegetables, fruit, bread, and dairy. As for beverages, I'm happy with my Brita pitcher's water, and the occassional free alcoholic beverage =] The only money that I am willing to spend on good food is chocolate (which is on sale!!), and I'll actually also be carting over some mixed nuts with the meat from home as well.

But anyway, the target of this post is to get some suggestions to what I should eat for those extra 200-300 calories after I set up my plan that only has 1100.

Anyone have any more suggestions, or would this be a better post to put under the fitness forum to put my exercise into consideration?

You should not be under 1200 calories and if I remember right 1500 for a person your college age and female.  Check the site and see what it says.  The only suggestion since you haven't posted what you purchase is to look up what you might want to have and see the caloric value of it.  The site is pretty accurate.

The moderators will change the post if they feel it needs to be put some place else, which has been my experience.

Good luck to you my dear, and God Bless.