Today I’m sharing Day 3 of the 7 Day Diet Menu. I’ve tried to keep things simple, quick, and easy by including leftovers for breakfast and lunch and then making Roasted Chicken Pizza for supper in minutes with a just a few healthy low cal ingredients.
If the menu seems to be lacking in variation remember that part of the goal for this plan is to keep the cost down by making use of what is on hand. Have you seen weekly menu plans for making a different cut of meat and/or fish dish every night of the week? Can you imagine how much that would cost? And what do you do with all the leftovers from one day to the next?
The way I see it, leftovers are good. I call them planned-overs. They save me time in the kitchen and with a little creativity just a few high protein foods can be prepared in a variety of ways for unique and tasty dishes. The focus for this week long menu is on roast chicken with hummus, eggs, and black beans as the other protein foods around which the menu is planned. (See Day 1 of the 7 Day Diet Menu for how to prepare the roast chicken at the beginning of the week.)
This menu is healthy and fairly well-balanced it gets good marks from MyFoodDiary where I do my planning. Take a look at the feedback:
[I recommend My Food Diary as a service for tracking your calorie and nutrient intake especially if you are just starting out with a low calorie diet. (If you would like to learn more about this service you may want to read: Food Diary Review: MyFoodDiary.com)]
Sample Menu Day 3
Breakfast
1/2 cup Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal
1/2 cup orange juice
Snack
1/4 cup almonds
Lunch
1/2 cup Low Fat Chicken and Apple Salad (leftover from Day 2 of the 7 Day Diet Menu)
1 Whole Wheat Sandwich Thin (Arnold, 100 calories)
8 oz. nonfat (skim) milk
Snack
2 stalks celery (raw)
4 Tbsp. hummus
Supper
2 Roast Chicken Pizzas (made with 2 halves of a Whole Wheat Sandwich Thin by Arnold, 100 calories)
Water, unsweetened tea or coffee, or diet soda
(Always remember to get plenty of water throughout the day.)
Total Calories = 1202
Total Fiber = 25.5 grams
Fat = 29%
Carbs = 49%
Protein = 16%
Calcium = 999 mg (Women between 19 and 50 years need approximately 1,000 mg a day, 51+ need 1,200 mg a day)
Iron = 9.8 mg (Women 19 to 50 years need 18 mg of iron, 51+ need 8 mg)
The menu comes up a little short on iron for women 19 to 50 years of age and on 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 may want to add another cup serving of skim milk (80 calories, 223 mg calcium). 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.) Given that the iron count is a little low, if you are between the ages of 19 and 50, 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. As I have noted on Day 1 and 2 the overall plan is designed for 1200 calories so there won’t be a lot of extra food for having a second serving to up your calorie intake. I recommend purchasing a little extra food of your choice for bringing the calorie count up to meet your needs.
For Day 4 of the 7 Day Diet Menu I’ll be sharing a recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup to use up more of the roast chicken from Day 1. Mmm…It’s good. Something else I will be writing about soon is choosing tea for weight loss and better health. Are all teas equally good? Check back in the next week or so to find out.
[Note: For Day 4 of the menus you will be having a hard-boiled egg for breakfast. Day 5 calls for having a serving of deviled eggs for supper. So I would encourage you to prepare and then refrigerate 3-4 hard-boiled eggs on the evening of day 3.]
(See Planning a 7 Day Diet Menu to learn more about how I created this weeklong menu and some tips for planning your own 7 Day low calorie menu.)
Need other 1200 or 1500 calorie diet menus for ideas? (Scroll to the bottom of each page for links):
1200 Calorie Diet Plan
1500 Calorie Diet Plan
Till next time watch those calories and remember to eat healthy food!
