Day 6 of the 7 Day Diet Menu for 1200 calories or more is a great day to use up the rest of the leftover chicken from Day 1 with a simple casserole dish. I included Black Bean Chicken Casserole for lunch to provide some variety with the meals. However, if you started the sample menu for the week on a Sunday, day 6 would be Friday. It might be difficult for you to prepare this dish midday.

What you could do instead is switch the lunch and supper suggestions. Or you might assemble and cook the casserole ahead of time (a night or two before) so that it is ready to heat and eat for lunch on day 6. Whatever works. I’ve made an effort to provide a way to use up most if not all of the food purchased at the beginning of the week to avoid waste and to keep down the total cost. Convenience is hard to come by when you have low cost and healthy.

Preparing your own meals will save money and provide you with healthy low calorie food but you need to make the right choices. So the trade off is that it does take time. The next 7 day sample diet menu I create, I will try a different approach with a plan that requires very little cooking other than maybe heating things up. I guarantee you it won’t be inexpensive! Eating out or purchasing heat and eat entrees or other ready to eat food from grocery stores will cost.

Sample Menu Day 6 - 1200 Calories

Breakfast

1/2 cup Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal (leftover from earlier in the week see Day 1)

1/2 cup medium apple, chopped (add to the Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal for a change from previous days)

1/2 cup Orange Juice

1 cup unsweetened tea

Snack

1 6-oz. container low fat yogurt (Stonyfield Farms, 130 calories, your choice of flavor)

Lunch

3/4 cup Black Bean Chicken Casserole

1/2 medium apple (remaining half from breakfast)

Water, unsweetened coffee or tea

Snack

2 stalks of celery (cut into 3-4 inch pieces)

2 tbsp. hummus

Supper

1 cup Chicken Tortilla Soup (122 calories WITHOUT the addition of tortilla chips to the soup) (leftover from Day 4)

2 cups Mixed Salad Greens

1/2 cup Tomatoes, chopped

1 Whole Wheat Sandwich Thin, as is or toasted

Water, unsweetened tea or coffee

(Always remember to get plenty of water throughout the day.)

Total Calories = 1200

Total Fiber = 28.1 grams (The recommendation for women is to have 20-25

grams of fiber a day.)

Fat = 20%

Carbs = 58%

Protein = 21%

Calcium = 943 mg (Women between 19 and 50 years need approximately

1,000 mg a day, 51+ need 1,200 mg a day.)

Iron = 12.1 mg (Women 19 to 50 years need 18 mg of iron, 51+ need 8 mg.)

With low calorie diets, iron often comes up short for younger women and calcium for women of all ages, particularly older women. This menu is somewhat low in iron for women 19 to 50 years of age and in calcium for women 51+. Today might be a good day for a supplement. Otherwise the menu gets good marks from MyFoodDiary (the service I use to design nutritious low calorie menus) Here’s the feedback for Day 6:

1300, 1400, or 1500 Calorie Diet Menu

Modify the 1200 Calorie Diet Menu to fit your needs.

If you are over 50 and needing a little more calcium you could add another one cup serving of nonfat milk (80 calories, 223 mg calcium). An additional serving of yogurt is another good choice for getting extra calcium (see Yogurt for a Healthy Low Calorie Diet ) for some ideas on which yogurt to buy.) The iron count is low for women 19 to 50 years of age. Today would be a good day for an iron supplement.

At this point in the week you will have a sense of how much extra food you might have. You can choose from the available food to supplement with an extra serving or a leftover from earlier in the week. An additional 1/2 cup of the Black Bean Chicken Casserole will provide you with about 263 calories.

I will be sharing the 7th day of the sample menu soon along with a complete meal plan for the week long menu. It’s been fun doing this. I’ve learned that it isn’t easy to plan a healthy low calorie menu for 7 days that manages to make use of a relatively small amount of food, include variety, and avoid waste. So often the sample week long menus I see in magazines or online call for eating completely different food every day of the week. Who can afford that? (If you are cooking for more than one person it is a little easier.)

Till next time watch those calories and eat healthy food!

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Day 5 of the 7 Day Sample Menu requires very little time to prepare. Although the menu does call for making a couple of new recipes for supper, you’ll find preparation will only take minutes for each.

The Deviled Egg recipe makes use of the remaining hard-boiled eggs prepared on the evening
of Day 3. It also calls for using a little low fat and low calorie plain yogurt instead of the typical higher fat mayonnaise in traditional deviled egg recipes. This keeps the calorie count for a serving of two egg halves to only 84 calories per serving.

The easy to prepare Black Bean Salsa* and a side of hummus with tortilla chips helps to round
out the meal for supper and balance the nutrients. The menu is designed for 1200 calories, however, I include tips on how you might increase the calorie count for a 1300, 1400, or 1500 calorie diet.

Sample Menu Day 4 - 1200 Calories

Breakfast

1/2 cup Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal (leftover from earlier in the week see Day 1)

1/8 cup almonds

1/2 cup Orange Juice

8 oz. Nonfat (skim) milk

(Optional: Have the milk along with a cup of home-brewed coffee for Cafe au Lait.)

Snack

1 6-oz. container low fat yogurt (Stonyfield Farms, 130 calories, your choice of flavor)

Lunch

1 cup Chicken Tortilla Soup (122 calories WITHOUT the addition of tortilla chips to the soup) (leftover from Day 4)

1 medium apple

Water, unsweetened coffee or tea

Snack

1 piece Mini Babybel Light Cheese (50 calories)

Supper

1 serving (2 egg halves) Low Calorie Deviled Eggs

1 serving Black Bean and Corn Salsa (The recipe can be found at the end of this post.)

4 Tbsp. Hummus

8 Tortilla chips (Tostitos, multigrain)

Water, unsweetened tea or coffee

(Always remember to get plenty of water throughout the day.)

Total Calories = 1222

Total Fiber = 21.9 grams (The recommendation for women is to have 20-25

grams of fiber a day.)

Fat = 25%

Carbs = 57%

Protein = 18%

Calcium = 1023 mg (Women between 19 and 50 years need approximately

1,000 mg a day, 51+ need 1,200 mg a day.)

Iron = 9.3 mg (Women 19 to 50 years need 18 mg of iron, 51+ need 8 mg.)

With low calorie diets, iron often comes up short for younger women and calcium can be short
for women of all ages particularly older women. This menu is low in iron for women 19 to 50 years of age and in calcium for women 51+. Today might be a good day for a supplement.

1300, 1400, or 1500 Calorie Diet Menu

Modify the 1200 Calorie Diet Menu to fit your needs.

If you are over 50 and needing a little more calcium you could add another one cup serving of
nonfat milk (80 calories, 223 mg calcium). An additional serving of yogurt is another good choice for getting extra calcium (see Yogurt for a Healthy Low Calorie Diet ) for some ideas on which yogurt to buy.) The iron count is low for women 19 to 50 years of age. Today would be a good day for an iron supplement.

Other than these tips you can choose what you like for the additional 100-300 calories. I
recommend supplementing with foods other than those set aside for the 7 Day Sample Diet
Menu. On Day 6 and 7 you will have a good sense of how much extra food or leftovers you might have to supplement your diet and bring the calorie count up to 1300, 1400, or 1500 depending on your dietary needs. Till then you may need to purchase a little extra.

Till next time watch those calories and eat healthy food!

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

(Makes about six 1/2 cup servings)

Ingredients

1 cup Sweet Corn, fresh or frozen, boiled and drained

1/2 cup Black Beans, canned (drain)

1/4 cup White Onions, chopped

1/4 cup Sweet Red Peppers, chopped

1 Tbsp. Lime Juice

2 tsp. Cilantro leaves, dried

1 tsp. Olive Oil, extra virgin

Add all the ingredients to a small mixing bowl. Stir. Voila! Easy. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate for 2-3 hours to serve chilled. Delicious, nutritious, and low calorie (about 61 calories per 1/2 cup serving).

(Note: Add additional seasoning as desired such as salt, pepper, chili powder, or other. Remember to go easy on the salt. Too much sodium can cause your body to retain excess water.)

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