Opinions on this meal plan

OK - so maybe if I put it in writing it will help.   This is what I'm trying to do each day.   Any opinions on if this sounds OK?  The goal of course is weight loss.

Breakfast:  Packet of oatmeal w/ a little butter

Snack:  Fruit or a 100 cal pack of something (snack mix for example)

Lunch:   Typically a Lean Cuisine meal (about 300 cals); 100 cal pack of chips; & 100 cal pack of cookies (or something similar)

Snack:  Some type of fruit

Dinner:   bowl of cereal with skim milk  (usually something like Fruit Loops, not really healthy but still low in cals.

Snack:    Maybe 100 cal pack of popcorn

This will bring me in at about 1400-1500 cals.  Any opinions? (Currently no exercise)

Stats are:  37 Yrs. 177 lbs,  5'5"

Seems okay calorie-wise but overall, not very healthy. You don't have any vegetables in there, and it looks like you'll get very little protein and not much in the way of whole grains. A little too much junk food, I think.

O_o Where are any of the fruits (besides the one you did name)veggies/grains/proteins?

The100 calorie packs are good but are a rip-off cost wise, and you're going to incur a huge cost eating four of them a day. Same for Lean Cusines--they're good for maybe one/two meals a week but I wouldn't eat them every day for lunch. Plus the sodium is out of control.

Also, dinner shouldn't be a bowl of cereal. I usually eat a chicken breast/salmon, a mix of veggies, and maybe 1/2 a cup of rice if i'm in the mood for it. If not, I just throw in more veggies--I love 'em!

Right now your meal plan sounds like it would leave you hungry, lacking in nutrients, and at a high monetary cost.

(Also, just curious: Butter in your oatmeal? I've never heard of that.)

I would nix the 100 calorie packs. Like minerva moon said, eating 4 a day will cost you a whole lot (I know they run 5/pack so its like you have to buy 6-7 packs a week) and also, it's really unhealthy. You're getting the bad fats like trans fats, tons of preservatives, and refined sugar and flour. I would add more whole grains, veggies, and WAY more protein - it looks like you are getting practically none! Stuff like ground turkey, grilled chicken, whole eggs, low fat dairy.

1500 cals is a good amount of food if you choose whole foods. For instance, 2 cups lettuce with tomatoes and 2 tbsp of low fat dressing is going to fill you up a lot more than a few tiny cookies.

I guess I should have mentioned that I can't cook.

For dinner, if you eat at home, salads are easy to make and the ingredients are fairly cheap. I use raw spinach, romaine lettuce, diced tomatoes, chopped carrots and cucumbers and some low fat cheese sprinkled on top. I like balsamic vinegrette too. I agree with all the previous posts that your diet needs more protein, chicken breast, pinto beans, black beans, fish, edamame or ground turkey are good and easy things to throw next to a salad. I don't have a lot of time to cook and usually take my lunch to school with me so I hardboil eggs to bring for good protein at lunch. I completely think the 100 cal packs are overpriced, especially when you can buy a regular box of crackers or chips and divide it into servings in your own plastic bags. It's a little more work, but it's much cheaper and knowing what one serving looks like is helpful for when you're eating a meal that you have to guesstimate your portions and calorie intake.

Planning meals just takes practice. Good luck!!!

'Can't cook' as physically unable or don't have access to a stove/oven? Or 'can't cook' as in 'am not a good cook'? Because I'm not, either, but everyone's capable of grilling up a chicken breast on a foreman grill or hardboiling or scrambling some eggs. It's not hard and to brush it off as 'I can't cook' is just being, in all honesty, lazy.

If you're physically unable/don't have access, you can still buy raw veggies and fruit, and a lot of supermarkets sell roasted chicken breasts. I'll get them sometimes and tear them into small pieces and freeze them to use them for quesadillas or stir frys.

Can't cook as in last time I tried I nearly caught the kitchen on fire.  Seriously.

I don't have a Forman grill or any other type of thing to use.  I live alone so whenever I do buy a thing of lettuce I end up throwing about 80% of it away.  This is why I use the Lean Cuisine meals.  I can buy them and throw them in the freezer and they never go bad.  Anything else I buy just goes to waste. 

Plus I have less than zero creativity.  So if I have to try to cook something it's just too difficult and I end up going out to eat and eating really bad.

I would definitely recommend buying a Foreman grill. You can buy personal-sized ones for about $25 bucks, which if you can afford to spend so much money on Lean Cusines and 100 calorie packs, should be doable. It's definitely worth it. You can toss pretty much anything on them--you don't even have to defrost chicken before you put it on. You can toss pretty much anything on there.

Lean Cuisines aren't just expensive--they have a ton of sodium and preservatives, as well. Again, they aren't bad once or twice a week, but as a daily staple they aren't such a good idea.

If you need ideas for cooking, there's the Foods and the Recipes forum--I'm sure you could get a ton of replies for easy, delicious, healthy recipes.

Original Post by twt11:

I guess I should have mentioned that I can't cook.

 I should mention I can't cook either.  Can you place a chicken breast on a cookie sheet and put in oven?  I bake fish fillets (unbreaded of course) the same way!

Purchase a vegetable steamer or those steamer bags...put in microwave...VOILA!  Perfect veggies EVERY time.

Your sodium levels I bet, are crazy high.

~H~

If I were to microwave fish at work people would go insane.   The Foreman grill might not be a bad idea.  I guess you just buy a pack of chicken and then freeze what you don't use?  If you cook up some ahead of time how long will it stay "good"?  Like if I cooked 3 pieces on Sunday would it still be good on Friday?  Once again, I have very limited knowledge of cooking. 

And regarding the steamer bags - are they healthy?  I would think they would be similar to the Lean Cuisine meals??

What about rice?  Should I buy the brown rice?  What is the healthiest rice?  Or is there such a thing?

Your meal plan is NOT healthy, you will not be able to sustain dinner on fruit loops and popcorn.

stop making excuses "i can't cook" is code for "i'm too lazy and want to easy way out." Everyone can cook, regardless of weather or not they've burnt the house down before.

Why'd you almost burn the house down? Leave something in the oven too long? Then keep an eye on your food, problem solved.

You don't need to be creative. Put some chicken in a pan and cook it for a few minutes, stirfry a pack of frozen veggies for a few minutes, add it all together, and HEY EASY HEALTHY MEAL.

tldr; dont be lazy and dont eat crap

Umm the steamer bags are in the zip lock isle at the grocery store.  Stock up on big bags of frozen veggies.  Put some frozen veggies in a steamer bag, zip shut, put in microwave for about 5-12 minutes...depends on vegetable.  There are cooking times on each steamer bag...so the steamer bags are empty.  Sorry to confuse you.

I also buy chicken breasts that are flash frozen so I cook 2 or 3 at a time and usually eat them within a couple days.  Again, just put on a cookie sheet and bake. 

~H~

What I do with chicken is: buy a pack of it (I like the super-thin sliced), raw. When I get home, I separate them into individual sandwich bags and throw them in the freezer. Then I can take them out one by one, as I want to use them, and cook them on the foreman grill.

If you wanted to cook them all up at once and refrigerate them, you could do that--they would stay good 5 days to a week, I would guess.

Thanks MM -  I will have to go shopping this weekend! 

Any suggestions regarding the rice?  Should I steer clear of all rice?

Brown rice is really good for you! Just make sure you measure it out to make sure you're not overeating it. Veggies, because they're so low-cal, I just estimate how much I'm eating, but rice I make sure to put in measuring cups.

A great lunch option that I go for often is an apple with two tablespoons peanut butter, and either a yogurt or some baby carrots with hummus. There are lots of options that are easy to throw together! :-) I'm glad you're willing to expand your horizans!

What a horrible diet!  Listen to what others have said and start eating a balanced diet.  You need 5 servings of vegetables, 2 of fruit, 2 to 3 of whole grains, and 2 to 4 servings of protein.  You also need 3 smalls servings of healthy fats like olive oil,  peanut butter, avocados and nuts. 

Go to the Advice section and look at the Q&A, and articles by Mary Hartley, the CC nutritionist.  There are many on balanced meal plans, the food pyramid system, and plenty of information.  You need to educate yourself.

Personally your plan could definitely use some improvement...ok it could use a lot of improvement...even if you cant boil water there are better choices than the ones you are planning on using...additionally, if you try to adhere to JUST what you listed you will get burned out and tired of eating it fairly soon...so my personal feeling nutritionally it isnt a great choice...and plan wise its not very diversified....my 2 cents.

if you have an extra $40, you can get a very nice rice cooker, many of which come with a steamer basket in the top for cooking veggies or meat.

There are a ton on amazon and overstock.com

Literally, all you have to do is measure the rice, rinse it, measure the water, put on the lid, and push a button. It will automatically switch to "warm" once the water is boiled away. Most do a decent job with brown or wild rice too, just follow the different instructions for water amounts.

What about sandwiches? I eat them all the time and they satisfy my hunger better than these Lean cuisine meals. I use Arnold sandwich thins multigrain(100 cal  bread comes already cut in half, 5g fiber), fat free turkey breast or tuna salad (go easy on mayo, but 1tbsp goes a long way) or light cheese, loads of baby spinach, baby arugula or romaine. I only like tomatoes with cheese. But you can vary on the toppings: mushroom, peppers, onions, carrots, etc so you'll get more salad and veggies on your diet. I also love boca burgers (veggie burger), you warm it in the microwave for 2min and with same bread and toppings you have a great low fat burger.

I just found out that some Lean Cuisine meals have just been recalled  today (11/19/08). I hope it's not the ones you usually eat. 

Nestle Prepared Foods Co. has announced a recall on three of its Lean Cuisine entrees.

The entrees might contain small pieces of blue plastics. Those meals are: Pesto Chicken with Bow Tie Pasta, Chicken Mediterranean and Chicken Tuscan, all produced from Aug. 18 to Oct. 27.

Additional information about the recall can be found by calling the Nestlé Consumer Service Center hot line at 1-800-227-6188.