In sharing my weight loss plan, I decided to share my weight loss eating plan, too. I’m gonna admit up front that I’m pretty boring and love the routine of eating a few things I really like over and over again. This list isn’t all that I eat, but it’s a good overall example of the everyday things that I do eat in the course of a week. My plan is to eat 1500-1700 calories a day – so the combinations change up to get me within my calorie range. If I know I’m eating a heavy dinner, I will eat a lighter breakfast and vice versa. Having an idea of what to eat makes it much easier to stick to my plan. Recipes of all of the meals are at the bottom of the post (unless linked to the recipe).
Breakfast (I eat one of the following combinations):
- 4 oz. low fat yogurt, a banana & a Clif Crunch Granola Bar (pack of 2)
- Egg White Omelet with spinach and mushrooms
- Berry Breakfast Parfait
- 1 cup of diced cantaloupe with 1/2 cup of low fat cottage cheese
- Mexican Breakfast Pizza (recipe below)
Lunch
- Subway Grilled Chicken 6 inch sub on whole wheat with lettuce tomatoes & light mayo
- Spinach Mushroom Panini
- 1/2 cup of brown rice with 1/2 cup of black beans + 2 TBS salsa (I cook large batches of brown rice for lunches and for recipes)
- 1 cup of beef stew (leftover from dinner – recipe below)
Dinner
- Spicy Grilled Shrimp Tacos (either mine or 1/2 an order from Chili’s if we eat out)
- Baked Chicken with roasted potatoes & carrots (2 cups of veggies, 4 oz of chicken breast)
- Baked Tilapia or Salmon with steamed broccoli
- 6 oz. Sirlon or Filet Steak with grilled veggies (mushrooms & zucchini)
- 2 cups beef stew
- Chicken & Veggie Fried Rice (recipe below)
Snacks (2-3 a day, depending on my calorie needs)
- Apple slices (with peanut butter if I need more calories)
- Clementine
- Banana
- Pear
- Cliff Crunch Bars
- Cucumber Slices
- Cheese & Crackers
- Starbucks Tall Caramel Frappuccino without whipped cream (only 200 calories!!)
- Snyder’s large pretzels (serving of 3)
- 4 oz. low fat yogurt
Besides these, I have a cup of coffee every morning with cream & sugar (160 calories) and a glass of white wine each night (6 oz for 114 calories).
And that’s my day. I pick one meal from each and a couple of snacks, plus 7 bottles of water. It doesn’t look like much written out, but most days I have problems getting in all my calories so I’m eating an apple and peanut butter after dinner to make it up. Entering any of these foods into the My Fitness Pal app can show you how many calories they have. And, if you want to eat out, there are options on here for that, too.
This is by no means an entire list of what I eat, but it is a good glimpse of a week’s worth of food for me. Many of the recipes below make large batches, so it’s easy to heat up fried rice or beef stew for a quick lunch.
My weight loss eating plan recipes
Crock Pot Beef Stew
3 cups of diced carrots
3 cups of diced yukon gold potatoes
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1 pound of diced beef stew meat
1 tbs salt
1/2 tbs pepper
One 46 oz. can of tomato juice
1 package (12 oz.) of frozen peas
1 package (12 oz.) of frozen niblet corn
Cook all of the ingredients except the peas and corn in a slow cooker on high for 7 hours, add in the frozen peas and corn and cook one more hour. Has about 150 calories per cup.
Chicken & Veggie Fried Rice
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced small
2 zucchini, diced small
1 small onion, diced small
2 red bell peppers, diced small
One (12 oz.) package of frozen peas & carrots
3 cups of pre cooked and cooled brown rice
2 TBS olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
In a non-stick frying pan (or a wok) heat the oil and cook the chicken on medium high heat. When the chicken is done, remove from pan. In the same pan, cook the veggies all together, including the frozen ones. Once the veggies are done, add the chicken back to the pan, add in the rice and soy sauce. Mix together and cook until rice is heated. 1 cup has about 400 calories.
Mexican Breakfast Pizza
1 small whole wheat tortilla (I buy the 50 calorie kind)
1/4 cup of 2% shredded cheddar cheese
1 egg
1 tsp butter
2 TBS salsa
In a non-stick skillet, warm one side of the tortilla, then flip over and spread out the cheese to melt (it works best if pan is covered). Once the cheese is melted, put the tortilla on a plate, and using the butter fry the egg over easy. When the egg is done, put on top of the cheesy tortilla and top with salsa. Sounds weird, but the yolk + tortilla + cheese is outta this world! About 250 calories.